Timothy Hutton

Image
Caption	Hutton in 2008
Birth Date	1960-8-16
Birth Place	Malibu, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor ⋅ film director
Years Active	1965–present
Children	2
Father	Jim Hutton

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. The family returned to California when Hutton was 12.

"A lot of people think that because my father was an actor, I come from this big show-business background," Hutton told Bruce Cook of American Film magazine in 1981.

But that's not how I grew up at all. My mother took us to Cambridge because she wanted to get her M.A. She wound up teaching in Connecticut, but the way she saw it, after a while, if we all stayed there, my sister and I would just wind up as the proprietors of the local drugstore or something, so that was why she took us to Berkeley, California—to get us into the world, I guess. Now she's given up teaching and she's into printing miniature books.

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.

Hutton's next feature film, Taps (with George C. Scott, Sean Penn, and Tom Cruise), was popular with critics and audiences, but during the next several years, his motion pictures, such as Iceman, Daniel, Turk 182, Made in Heaven, and Q&A, struggled at the box office. His only substantial hit was 1985's The Falcon and the Snowman which teamed him again with Sean Penn.

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

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.

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 popular 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 Nero Wolfe's assistant and leg-man Archie Goodwin in the A&E television series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002); he also served as an executive producer, and also directed several episodes of the series. 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 modern-day Robin Hoods.

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

Other pursuits

Hutton is one of the owners of the New York City restaurant and bar P. J. Clarke's. 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.

Personal life

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

Hutton dated Elizabeth McGovern, Diane Lane, Patti Davis, Demi Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Uma Thurman, and Angelina Jolie.

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. In July 2009, Us Weekly reported that Hutton and Giscard d'Estaing had separated.

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. Hutton, who was 22 when the alleged incident occurred, "completely and unequivocally" denied the accusations and filed a criminal complaint against Johnston for extortion. In July 2021, Canadian authorities closed their investigation into Johnston's accusations without filing charges.

Filmography

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

• Timothy Hutton, Encyclopedia Britannica, July 21, 2021
• Gritten, David, February 8, 1982, Riding on Taps, Teens and Talent, People, July 26, 2021
• Hutton, Timothy, Academy Award Acceptance Speech, March 31, 1981, oscars.org, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2 February 2016
• Filmink, Stephen, Vagg, 20 August 2025, 20 August 2025, Not Quite Movie Stars: Jim Hutton
• Herman, James Patrick, How Timothy Hutton Came to Direct the Cars' 'Drive' Music Video, September 16, 2019, Variety, January 27, 2021
• Andreeva, Nellie, ABC New Series Pickups: 'Selfie', 'Forever', Galavant', 'Whispers', 'How To Get Away With Murder', 'American Crime', 'Black-ish', Jeff Lowell Comedy, May 9, 2014, Deadline Hollywood, 2014-05-12
• Paumgarten, Nick, Tables for Two: P. J. Clarke's, June 1, 2003, The New Yorker, June 9, 2003, January 27, 2022
• Dallke, Jim, 5 Years Later, a Look Back at Groupon's Disastrous Super Bowl Ad, Chicagoinno, February 5, 2016, 23 April 2025, 3 January 2018
• O'Malley, Kathy, To Hutton, a Son Seems Made in Heaven, November 17, 1987, Chicago Tribune, February 1, 2022
• Mansfield, Stephanie, Timothy Hutton There's Poppa!, November 12, 1987, Washington Post, February 1, 2022
• subscription, Names in the News: A Romance Redux for Winger, March 13, 1990, Los Angeles Times, Times Wire Services, February 1, 2022
• 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."
• Angelina: The girl with the bangin' tattoo, Susannah, Cahalan, Susannah Cahalan, August 1, 2010, New York Post, August 28, 2010
• Jordan, Crucchiola, A Canadian Woman Says Timothy Hutton Raped Her When She Was 14, Vulture, March 2, 2020, March 3, 2020
• Timothy Hutton denies allegation that he raped a 14-year-old girl in 1983, Entertainment Weekly, 3 March 2020, Tyler, Aquilina, 2 March 2020
• Etan, Vlessing, Timothy Hutton to Face No Charge for 1983 Rape Allegation, Hollywood Reporter, July 21, 2021, July 30, 2021
• 3.193, 30 January 2024, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Syndicated, 3, 193, 15:46, English

External links