James Houghton obit

James Houghton, ‘Knots Landing’ Star and ‘Young and the Restless’ Writer, Dies at 75

His career in soap operas, primetime and daytime, also included ‘The Colbys’ and ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’ 

He was not on the list.

James Houghton, who starred as Seaview Circle resident Kenny Ward on the first four seasons of Knots Landing and received four Daytime Emmys as a writer on The Young and the Restless, has died. He was 75.

Houghton died Aug. 27 at his home in Encino of peritoneal mesothelioma, his wife, Karen Houghton, told The Hollywood Reporter. She did not want to discuss his death until now.

Houghton also portrayed the fiancé of Nancy Allen’s character in Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and he played U.S. senator Cash Cassidy — a bitter rival of Charlton Heston’s oil mogul Jason Colby, on the second season (1986-87) of the ABC primetime soap The Colbys, a spinoff of Dynasty.

Houghton starred as Kenny, a record producer who often fooled around on his wife, Ginger (Kim Lankford), before they had a baby on 66 episodes of CBS’ Knots Landing from 1979-83.

The young Wards were one of the original four couples who lived on the show’s iconic cul-de-sac. Gary and Val (Ted Shackleford and Joan Van Ark), Sid and Karen (Don Murray and Michele Lee) and Richard and Laura (John Pleshette and Constance McCashin) were the others.

“The thing about Knots Landing was, because we were all on a cul-de-sac together and because we interacted with one another, it was still very much a family,” Houghton noted in a 2006 interview.

“Plus, we were putting on a show that — the initial season or two at the very least, a new show — we were in this foxhole mentality of ‘We’re all in this together.’ We’re all praying that it’ll catch fire and we’ll be on a show that will last a while and put us all into some kind of security, which most of us had never had.”

Earlier, Houghton had originated the role of Greg Foster on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, playing the attorney from 1973-76. (Wings Hauser followed him in the part.)

He returned to the soap in 1991 as a writer and shared four Emmys — off 14 nominations — as a member of the outstanding drama series writing team through 2007. He and his fellow writers made Y&R a dominating force in the daytime ratings.

James Carter Houghton was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 7, 1948. His father was Buck Houghton, a producer of the first three seasons of CBS’ The Twilight Zone, and that got his son on the 1962 episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” in one of his first onscreen appearances.

Houghton attended the Harvard School in Studio City, boarding school at the Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland, and UC Berkeley before he appeared in 1972 on the ABC series Alias Smith & Jones and in the women-in-prison exploitation film Sweet Sugar.

He then joined Y&R, where he and William Espy, as Snapper Foster, played brothers.

“We were both driving around in old beat-up cars and just trying to make ends meet, and that was our first job where we actually weren’t worried about where our next meal was coming from,” he said.

Houghton left the soap to star with Martin Kove on the CBS action series Code R, but that show, about a rescue team on the Channel Islands, lasted just 13 episodes in 1977.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, his onscreen wife Lankford had been romantically involved with Warren Zevon, and through that Houghton (and Shackelford) got to be on the cover of the singer-songwriter’s 1982 album, The Envoy.

Houghton and Lankford, who were real-life neighbors in Laurel Canyon while they worked on Knots Landing, were written off the David Jacobs-created Dallas spinoff when Kenny and Ginger move to Nashville to pursue careers in country music.

Houghton said he didn’t want to leave, but with other characters on the Dallas spinoff becoming more popular and getting bigger salaries, he understood.

“There comes a time when you’ve got to throw some ballast overboard in order to make room for something else,” he said. “You know, it’s a pretty surgical process. I didn’t take it personally.”

Houghton’s acting résumé also included the films One on One (1977), More American Graffiti (1979), Superstition (1982) and Purple People Eater (1988); guest spots on Fantasy Island, Hotel, The Love Boat and Remington Steele; and a role on the 1986 ABC miniseries North and South: Book 2, Love and War.

He and his younger sister, Mona Houghton, co-wrote three Knots Landing episodes in 1982, and after The Young & the Restless, he wrote for another CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. He also authored a crime thriller, The Hooligan’s Game, published in 2017.

Over the years, Houghton gave his time and money to such charities as Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Special Olympics and School on Wheels.

In addition to his wife — they met at a T-ball game and were married in November 1994 — and sister, survivors include his mother, Wanda; his children, Daniel and Alisa; his son-in-law, Jim; and his grandson, Milo.

Writer

Trials of the Wild

writer (as Jim Houghton)

ReleasedTV Series

2018

1 episode

 

Heather Tom, Thorsten Kaye, and Katherine Kelly Lang in The Bold and the Beautiful (1987)

The Bold and the Beautiful

3.5

TV Series

written by (as Jim Houghton)

2006

21 episodes

 

Eileen Davidson, Bryton James, Joshua Morrow, Gina Tognoni, Justin Hartley, Melissa Claire Egan, and Peter Bergman in The Young and the Restless (1973)

The Young and the Restless

5.3

TV Series

written by

script writer

associate head writer ...

1991–2006

1808 episodes

 

Tales from the Darkside (1983)

Tales from the Darkside

7.4

TV Series

teleplay

screenplay

1984–1986

3 episodes

 

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)

Knots Landing

7.0

TV Series

written by

1982

3 episodes

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

5.3

TV Series

script writer

1981

3 episodes

 

Actor

Purple People Eater (1988)

Purple People Eater

4.6

Dad

1988

 

Charlton Heston, Stephanie Beacham, Maxwell Caulfield, Katharine Ross, Tracy Scoggins, Barbara Stanwyck, John James, Emma Samms, and Claire Yarlett in The Colbys (1985)

The Colbys

6.0

TV Series

Cash Cassidy

1986–1987

15 episodes

 

North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986)

North & South: Book 2, Love & War

8.0

TV Mini Series

Lt. Ambrose Pell

1986

4 episodes

 

Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in The Love Boat (1977)

The Love Boat

6.3

TV Series

Buddy Bell

Phil Shayne

Tony Stevens

1983–1986

3 episodes

 

Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist in Remington Steele (1982)

Remington Steele

7.3

TV Series

William Westfield

1985

1 episode

 

Anthony Franciosa and Christopher Norris in Finder of Lost Loves (1984)

Finder of Lost Loves

6.6

TV Series

Nicholas Simmonds

1985

1 episode

 

Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca in Hotel (1983)

Hotel

6.4

TV Series

Jon Kolzak

Rob

1983–1984

2 episodes

 

Trauma Center (1983)

Trauma Center

6.4

TV Series

Randy Dade

1983

1 episode

 

Ricardo Montalban and Hervé Villechaize in Fantasy Island (1977)

Fantasy Island

6.6

TV Series

Jeffrey Dorner

Jack Friday

1982–1983

2 episodes

 

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)

Knots Landing

7.0

TV Series

Kenny Ward

1979–1983

75 episodes

 

Superstition (1982)

Superstition

5.7

Rev. David Thompson

1982

 

Ron Howard in More American Graffiti (1979)

More American Graffiti

5.4

Sinclair

1979

 

Buddy Ebsen in Barnaby Jones (1973)

Barnaby Jones

6.9

TV Series

Steve McShane

1979

1 episode

 

The Next Step Beyond (1978)

The Next Step Beyond

7.6

TV Series

Randall Prieste

1978

1 episode

 

Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in CHiPs (1977)

CHiPs

6.5

TV Series

Pete Bertram

1978

1 episode

 

Nancy Allen, Eddie Deezen, Theresa Saldana, and Wendie Jo Sperber in I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

6.8

Eddie

1978

 

See How She Runs (1978)

See How She Runs

7.2

TV Movie

Handsome Man (as Jim Houghton)

1978

 

Aspen (1977)

Aspen

7.0

TV Mini Series

John Desterreich

1977

1 episode

 

Robby Benson and Annette O'Toole in One on One (1977)

One on One

6.5

Jeff

1977

 

Code R (1977)

Code R

7.2

TV Series

Rick Wilson

Rick WIlson

1977

13 episodes

 

Kim Hunter and John Anderson in The Dark Side of Innocence (1976)

The Dark Side of Innocence

7.0

TV Movie

Dennis Hancock

1976

 

Eileen Davidson, Bryton James, Joshua Morrow, Gina Tognoni, Justin Hartley, Melissa Claire Egan, and Peter Bergman in The Young and the Restless (1973)

The Young and the Restless

5.3

TV Series

Greg Foster

1973–1976

8 episodes

 

Harrison Ford and Stacy Keach in Dynasty (1976)

Dynasty

4.9

TV Movie

Alfred Brinkerhoff

1976

 

Pamela Collins, Phyllis Davis, and Ellaraino in Sweet Sugar (1972)

Sweet Sugar

5.1

Rick

1972

 

Pete Duel and Ben Murphy in Alias Smith and Jones (1971)

Alias Smith and Jones

7.6

TV Series

Barker's Assistant

1971

1 episode

 

The Richard Boone Show (1963)

The Richard Boone Show

8.5

TV Series

(as Jim Houghton)

1964

1 episode

 

McKeever and the Colonel (1962)

McKeever and the Colonel

7.3

TV Series

Lt. Postlethwaite

Lieutenant Postelwaite

1962–1963

5 episodes

 

Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone (1959)

The Twilight Zone

9.0

TV Series

Jerry (as Jim Houghton)

1962

1 episode

 

Man with a Camera (1958)

Man with a Camera

7.2

TV Series

Boy (as Jim Houghton)

1959

1 episode

 

Camera and Electrical Department

AC/DC in AC/DC: If You Want Blood, You Got It (1979)

AC/DC: If You Want Blood, You Got It

7.6

Music Video

photographer (as Jim Houghton)

1979

 

Thanks

Lake of Fire: James Houghton on Superstition (2019)

Lake of Fire: James Houghton on Superstition

thanks

2019

 

Self

Lake of Fire: James Houghton on Superstition (2019)

Lake of Fire: James Houghton on Superstition

Self

2019

 

Working in the Theatre (1976)

Working in the Theatre

6.3

TV Series

Self - Artistic Director

Self - Moderator

2004–2007

2 episodes

 

Archive Footage

William Devane, Kevin Dobson, Lisa Hartman, Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Michelle Phillips, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again (2005)

Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again

8.0

TV Movie

Kenny Ward (archive footage, uncredited)

2005

 

The Knots Landing Block Party (1993)

The Knots Landing Block Party

8.8

TV Special

Kenny Ward (archive footage, uncredited)

1993