Rif Hutton, veteran TV actor with 200+ credits, dies at 73 after battle with brain cancer
Rif Hutton, an actor whose prolific work in television included roles on Doogie Howser, M.D., JAG and General Hospital, among many other series, died Saturday, April 18, at his home in Pasadena following a yearlong battle with the brain cancer Glioblastoma. He was 73.
His death was announced by family to TMZ and by close friends on Facebook.
"A remarkable human being has left this earthly plane," wrote his friend and voice-over colleague Steve Apostolina. "To say that Rif Hutton was one of a kind is a gross understatement...People knew when they hired him for a voice job that he was going to be the most prepared - he always was. He was also always first to show up on a gig - I had the great pleasure of beating him a few times and scooping a treasured chair, but those were few and far between."
Many of Hutton's nearly 200 TV credits were guest shots on such shows as The Jeffersons, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, 227, Night Court, A Different World, Knots Landing, Full House, Married...With Children, Wings, Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, Sister, Sister, Home Improvement, Family Matters, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Seinfeld, American Horror Story, Grace and Frankie and NCIS: Los Angeles.
But he had longer runs on series including 1990's Tribes (95 episodes), Doogie Howser, M.D. (17 episodes from 1989-93), 15 episodes of JAG (1997-2001) and, in 2021 and 2022, 32 episodes of daytime soap General Hospital.
Film credits include the 2022 crime comedy Rattled! and, in 2016, Ice Age: Collision Course.
"When the SAG strike broke out," Apostolina notes, "he was on the line every day at Warner Bros. - a constant vision of support."
Hutton learned he had a brain tumor in March of 2025, and later took part in the National Brain Tumor Society's Southern California Brain Tumor Walk. At the time, he wrote, "Every person facing Glioblastoma, or any brain disorder, deserves this kind of support - to be surrounded by encouragement, by prayer, and by stalwart champions of hope and light. There continues to be meaningful advancements in the fight against [Glioblastoma], and that fight needs all of us. Please support it in whatever way you can."
He is survived by his wife, the voice actor Bridget Hoffman, and son Wolfy.
