Will Hutchins, Star of ABC's 'Sugarfoot,' Dies at 94
Source: Hollywood Reporter
The onetime Warner Bros. contract player also appeared in two Elvis films and played a New York City landlord and Dagwood Bumstead on short-lived sitcoms.
By Mike Barnes
April 22, 2025 9:03am
Will Hutchins, the eccentric actor who portrayed the wholesome sharpshooter and frontier lawyer Tom Brewster on the 1957-61 ABC Western Sugarfoot, has died. He was 94.
Hutchins died Monday of respiratory failure at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, his wife, Barbara, told The Hollywood Reporter. “He was hysterical, everyone loved him,” she said. “He had a great sense of humor, and it never gave up on him.”
Hutchins also starred as Woody Banner, who inherits a Manhattan brownstone from his uncle, on the 1966-67 NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord, created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, fresh off their work on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Two years later, the blue-eyed Los Angeles native played Dagwood Bumstead opposite Patricia Harty on the 1968-69 CBS comedy Blondie. Based on the comic strip and following a set of films and a 1957 NBC series, it lasted just 16 episodes before being canceled.
Will Hutchins on 'Sugarfoot' Courtesy Everett Collection
Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/will-hutchins-dead-sugarfoot-1236197846/
= new reply since forum marked as read
He's the lopin' cattle ropin' Sugarfoot. Once he gets his dander up there's no one who's quicker on the draw. You'll find him on the side of law and order from the Mexicali border to The rolling hills of something something something something.
I did not do a search for that. It came straight out of my head. 
Oops, replied to the wrong post. See post directly below, unless someone replies to this.
I thought he was easy loping cattle roping, close enough for a kid I guess 
out singing the show's theme every once in a while, I only remember the first line, I'm fine with that.
RIP Will 
If I was trying to prove my mental acuity by quoting almost the whole thing, I guess I failed. 
rsdsharp
His characters were so wholesome. 
He was born on the same day as Tommy Kirk.
Rettig in Death Valley Days in 1962
Born: Thomas Noel Rettig, December 10, 1941; Queens, New York
Died: February 15, 1996 (aged 54); Marina del Rey, California, US
Occupation: Actor, software engineer, author
{snip}
Early life and acting career
{snip}
On October 28, 1958, Rettig guest-starred in the episode "The Ghost" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Sugarfoot with Will Hutchins in the title role. In the series installment, Rettig played Steve Carter, a troubled youth whom Sugarfoot is taking to Missouri to collect an inheritance. Rettig also sang the popular ballad "The Streets of Laredo" in the episode.
Rettig (left) with Will Hutchins in Sugarfoot (1958).
{snip}
Post-acting career
{snip}
On February 15, 1996, Rettig died of heart failure at age 54. He was cremated through Inglewood Park mortuary, and his ashes were scattered at sea three miles off Marina del Rey, California with the ashes of his friend Rusty Hamer in a combined ceremony.
{snip}
Tue Dec 10, 2024: On this day, December 10, 1941, Tommy Rettig, "Jeff Miller" in the original "Lassie," was born.