Timothy Hutton

Timothy Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director.^[1] He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for Ordinary People (1980). Hutton has since appeared regularly in feature films and on television, with notable roles including the drama Taps (1981), the spy film The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), and the horror film The Dark Half (1993), among others.

Between 2000 and 2002, Hutton starred as Archie Goodwin in the A&E drama series A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Between 2008 and 2012, he starred as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT drama series Leverage. He also had a role in the first season of the Amazon streaming drama series Jack Ryan.

Early life

Timothy Hutton was born in Malibu, California. His father was actor Jim Hutton; his mother, Maryline Adams (née Poole), was a teacher. His parents divorced when Hutton was three years old, and his mother took him and his older sister, Heidi, with her to Boston, and then to her hometown Harwinton, Connecticut.^[2] The family returned to California when Hutton was 12.^{[citation needed]}

Due to his father being a prominent film actor, Hutton was often thought to have grown up in the entertainment industry. But told Bruce Cook of American Film magazine in 1981: "...that's not how I grew up at all. My mother took us to Cambridge because she wanted to get her M.A."^[3] They later relocated to Berkeley, California.

In 1976, when Hutton was 15, he sought out his father and moved in with him in Los Angeles.^[4] At Fairfax High School, while playing Nathan Detroit in a school production of Guys and Dolls, he realized he wanted to become an actor. With encouragement from both of his parents, he began acting in television.^[3]

On June 2, 1979, Jim Hutton died in Los Angeles from liver cancer two days after his 45th birthday. In 1981, Hutton thanked his father during his Academy Award speech, which he had won for his role in the movie Ordinary People.^[5][6]

Acting career

Timothy Hutton's career began with parts in several television movies, most notably the 1979 ABC TV film Friendly Fire. That year, he also played the son of Donna Reed in the Ross Hunter NBC television film The Best Place to Be. He then made two CBS made-for TV films in 1980: Young Love, First Love with Valerie Bertinelli, and Father Figure with Hal Linden. For his first feature film performance, as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People (1980), Hutton won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. His performance also earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male. Immediately following his success, he starred in the acclaimed 1981 ABC television film A Long Way Home co-starring Brenda Vaccaro.^{[citation needed]}

Hutton's next feature film, Taps (1981, with George C. Scott, Sean Penn, and Tom Cruise), was popular with critics and audiences. But during the next several years, Hutton was featured in a string of commercially disappointing motion pictures, such as Iceman, Daniel, Turk 182, Made in Heaven, and Q&A, struggled at the box office. In 1985 he co-starred with Penn in The Falcon and the Snowman which earned a more positive reception.

In 1984, he directed the music video for the song "Drive" by The Cars.^[7]

In 1989, he made his Broadway stage debut opposite his Ordinary People co-star Elizabeth McGovern in the A.R. Gurney play Love Letters. He followed this with another Broadway role in the Craig Lucas hit comedy, Prelude to a Kiss, which also starred Mary-Louise Parker and Barnard Hughes.^{[citation needed]}

During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Hutton began to take large supporting parts in films, most notably in Everybody's All-American with Jessica Lange and Dennis Quaid and French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. In 1996, he starred in the ensemble film Beautiful Girls playing opposite 14-year-old Natalie Portman in one of her early standout film roles.

Moving on to television, he starred as Archie Goodwin, an assistant to investigator Nero Wolfe in the A&E television series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002) adapted from the novels by Rex Stout. Hutton also served as an executive producer for the series, and directed several episodes. His other directing credits include the family film Digging to China (1997). In 2001, Hutton starred in the television miniseries WW3, and in 2006 he had a lead role in the NBC series Kidnapped, playing Conrad Cain, the wealthy father of a kidnapped teenager. He appeared in 13 feature films from 2006 to 2008.

Hutton starred in the television series Leverage from 2008 to 2012, where he played former insurance investigator Nate Ford, who led a group of thieves who acted as vigilantes to help ordinary people against corporate and government injustice.

In 2014, Hutton was cast opposite Felicity Huffman in John Ridley's ABC crime drama American Crime.^[8]

Other pursuits

Hutton is one of the owners of the New York City restaurant and bar P. J. Clarke's.^[9] In 2003 he became president of Players, a New York actors' club, but he resigned in June 2008 due to work keeping him in Los Angeles. He has also made a few forays into directing, the most famous of which includes the music video for the Cars' hit single "Drive" in 1984. In 2010, he directed the music video for "The House Rules" by country rocker/Leverage co-star Christian Kane. He also directed several episodes of A&E's A Nero Wolfe Mystery, in which he also starred.

Hutton starred in a Groupon commercial during the 2011 Super Bowl, which drew public ire for the parodying of the Tibetan resistance movement. The commercials were pulled from rotation on February 10 after continued negative response from the public and activist groups.^[10]

Personal life

Hutton has been married twice. His first marriage (1986–1990) was to actress Debra Winger; they had a son in 1987.^[11][12][13]

Hutton dated Elizabeth McGovern,^[14] Diane Lane,^[15] Patti Davis,^[16] Demi Moore,^[17] Mary-Louise Parker,^[14] Uma Thurman,^[18] and Angelina Jolie.^[19]

In 2000, he married illustrator Aurore Giscard d'Estaing, niece of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Their son was born the following year, in Paris.^[20] In July 2009, Us Weekly reported that Hutton and Giscard d'Estaing had separated.^[21]

Rape accusation

In November 2019, Sera Johnston, a former child model and actress, filed a criminal complaint with the Vancouver Police department accusing Hutton of raping her in 1983, when she was 14.^[22] Hutton, who was 22 when the alleged incident occurred, "completely and unequivocally" denied the accusations and filed a criminal complaint against Johnston for extortion.^[23] In July 2021, Canadian authorities closed their investigation into Johnston's accusations without filing charges.^[24]

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television films

Director

See also

• Lists of American actors
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest winners for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations

References

1. ^ "Timothy Hutton". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
2. ^ Gritten, David (February 8, 1982). "Riding on Taps, Teens and Talent". People. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
3. ^ Cook, Bruce, "Doing What Comes Naturally." American Film, March 1981, pp. 62–65 and 74.
4. ^ "Timothy Hutton Is Too Good to Be True". Rolling Stone, February 1982.
5. ^ Hutton, Timothy. "Academy Award Acceptance Speech, March 31, 1981". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (20 August 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Jim Hutton". Filmink. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
7. ^ Herman, James Patrick (September 16, 2019). "How Timothy Hutton Came to Direct the Cars' 'Drive' Music Video". Variety. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 9, 2014). "ABC New Series Pickups: 'Selfie', 'Forever', Galavant', 'Whispers', 'How To Get Away With Murder', 'American Crime', 'Black-ish', Jeff Lowell Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
9. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (June 1, 2003). "Tables for Two: P. J. Clarke's". The New Yorker. No. June 9, 2003. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
10. ^ Dallke, Jim (February 5, 2016). "5 Years Later, a Look Back at Groupon's Disastrous Super Bowl Ad". Chicagoinno. Archived 3 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
11. ^ O'Malley, Kathy (November 17, 1987). "To Hutton, a Son Seems Made in Heaven". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
12. ^ Mansfield, Stephanie (November 12, 1987). "Timothy Hutton There's Poppa!". Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
13. ^ "Names in the News: A Romance Redux for Winger". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 1990. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
14. ^ "Companions". tcm.com
15. ^ "Walter Scott's Personality Parade". May 24, 1981.
16. ^ Radcliffe, Donnie (April 30, 1992). "Patti Davis Says Mother Popped Pills". The Washington Post.
17. ^ "Show Biz Q&A". Public Opinion. February 17, 1984. "Demi and husband musician Freddy Moore separated a few months ago, and Demi has been seeing eligible and wonderful Tim Hutton."
18. ^ E! True Hollywood Story: "Uma Thurman" (April 18, 2004)
19. ^ Cahalan, Susannah (August 1, 2010). "Angelina: The girl with the bangin' tattoo". New York Post. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
20. ^ Hampson, Sarah. Timothy Hutton interview, The Toronto Globe and Mail (December 28, 2002).
21. ^ "It's Over!" US Weekly (July 20, 2009).
22. ^ Crucchiola, Jordan (March 2, 2020). "A Canadian Woman Says Timothy Hutton Raped Her When She Was 14". Vulture. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
23. ^ Aquilina, Tyler (2 March 2020). "Timothy Hutton denies allegation that he raped a 14-year-old girl in 1983". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
24. ^ Vlessing, Etan (July 21, 2021). "Timothy Hutton to Face No Charge for 1983 Rape Allegation". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
25. ^ "3.193". No. 193. The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Episode 193. Syndicated. pp. 15:46. Retrieved 30 January 2024.

External links

• Timothy Hutton at IMDb