Will Hutchins was born Marshall Lowell Hutchason on May 5 1930 in Los Angeles. When he was a boy he visited a film shoot and wound up in a crowd scene in the W.C. Fields movie Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). He attended John Marshall High School in the Los Feliz in Los Angeles and then Pomona College. During the Korean War he served for two years in the United States Army Signal Corps as a cryptographer in Paris He attended the UCLA film school on the G.I. Bill following his service.
Wil Hutchins was in a play with fellow Pomona College alumnus Richard Chamberlain at the Ivar Theater in Hollywood, Mr. Chamberlain's agent, Dick Clayton, took notice of Will Hutchins and signed him a contract with him as a client. Because he resembled Will Rogers Jr., Marshall Hutcason took the stage name "Will Hutchins." He made his debut in an episode of Conflict in 1956. He made his film debut in a bit part in Bombers B-52 (1957).
Will Hutchins was cast int the role of Tom Brewster, who was nicknamed "Sugarfoot," who earned the name int the show's first episode because he was "...someone who’s trying to work his way up to tenderfoot." The show was loosely based on 1954 Will Rogers Jr. movie The Boy from Oklahoma., which starred Will Rogers Jr. "Sugarfoot" Brewster didn't care for firearms in general and never carried a gun. When all else failed, he took out villains through his skill with a lasso. He drank nothing stronger than sarsaparilla "with a dash of cherry." On Sugarfoot Will Huthcins also played Tom's evil lookalike cousin, The Canary Kid, one of the earliest evil twins on television. Warner Bros.' Western TV shows of the time existed in a shared universe, so that Brewster also appeared in episodes of Maverick, Cheyenne, and Bronco.
In the late Fifties Will Hutchins guest starred on such shows as Warner Bros. Conflicts, Matinee Theatre, and 77 Sunset Strip. In movies he played B-24 pilot Lt. Bridges, who has the misfortune of having a hangover, in No Time for Sergeants (1958). He also appeared in the movie Lafayette Escadrille (1958).
In the Sixties Will Hutchins played the lead in the short-lived sitcom Hey, Landlord and Dagwood Bumstead in the short-lived, but notorious sitcom Blondie. He guest starred on the shows The Roaring 20s, Surfside 6, Gunsmoke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and Perry Mason. He appeared in the movies Claudelle Inglish (1961), Merrill's Marauders (1962), The Shooting (1966), Spinout (1966), Clambake (1967), and Shanghai Patrol (1970). He also appeared on Broadway in Never Too Late.
In the Seventies Will Hutchins appeared in the movies Magnum Force (1973), Slumber Party '57 (1976), and The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977). He guest starred on the shows Love, American Style; The Nw Perry Mason; Emergency!; Chase; Movin' On; The Streets of San Francisco; and The Quest.
Will Hutchins appeared in the movie Roar (1981) before leaving Hollywood and joining the circus. At various times he served as a ringmaster and was a member of a troop of clowns in Los Angeles. He spent three years travelling throughout Australia as Patches the Clown in the Ashton Family Circus. He also appeared in the movies The Gunfighter (1999) and The Romantics (2010).
Will Hutchins was a very talented actor. He certainly had a gift for comedy, and that gift was certainly on display on Sugarfoot, which was television's first comedic Western (it beat Maverick to the air by five days). On the show not only did Will Hutchins do well as would-be lawyer Tom Brewster, but as Brewster's evil cousin, The Canary Kid. Of course, Will Hutchins's career went beyond Sugarfoot. While Blondie was not a particularly good show, Will Hutchins was ideal as Dagwood and did well as the classic cartoon character. Over the years he played many good roles from store owner's on Dennis Peasley in Clauelle Inglish to clumsy police officer Lt. Tracy Richards in Spinout to real-life scout Frederick Russell Burnham in Shanghai Patrol. Will Hutchins had a great deal of talent and always gave a good performance.
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