Beloved ‘Knots Landing’ Star James Houghton Passes Away at 75, Leaving a Lasting Legacy

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James Houghton, best known for playing Kenny Ward in the initial four seasons of ‘Knots Landing’, and who garnered four Daytime Emmys for his writing work on ‘The Young and the Restless’, has sadly passed away at the age of 75.

On August 27, Houghton passed away at his Encino residence due to peritoneal mesothelioma, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, according to his wife, Karen Houghton. She had chosen to remain silent about his demise until this point.

In the past, I stepped into the shoes of Nancy Allen’s character’s fiancé in Robert Zemeckis’ movie “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (1978). Later on, during the second season (1986-87), I took on the role of Senator Cash Cassidy, a formidable adversary to Charlton Heston’s character, Jason Colby, an oil tycoon, in the ABC primetime soap “The Colbys”, a spin-off from the popular series “Dynasty”.

Michael Houghton portrayed the character Kenny, a recurring record producer who was frequently unfaithful to his wife Ginger (played by Kim Lankford), during the course of 66 episodes on CBS’s ‘Knots Landing’ from 1979-83.

The young Wards were part of the initial four families who resided on the famous cul-de-sac depicted in the show. The other families consisted of Gary and Val (played by Ted Shackleford and Joan Van Ark), Sid and Karen (Don Murray and Michele Lee), and Richard and Laura (John Pleshette and Constance McCashin).

In a 2006 interview, Houghton remarked that what made “Knots Landing” special was the fact that everyone lived on the same cul-de-sac and regularly interacted with each other, making it feel like a true family.

Moreover, during the early seasons, we were like comrades in a foxhole, united in the belief of ‘We’re all in this together.’ We were all hoping that the show would take off and provide stability for us, something many of us hadn’t known before.

Previously, Greg Foster’s character, portrayed by Houghton, first appeared on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” The lawyer was played by Houghton between 1973 and 1976, with Wings Hauser stepping into the role afterwards.

In 1991, he came back to work on the soap opera again, this time as a writer. From then until 2007, he and his co-writers won four Emmys out of fourteen nominations for their work on the outstanding drama series writing team. During this period, they turned Y&R into a powerful player in daytime television ratings.

James Carter Houghton, born on November 7, 1948, in Los Angeles, is the son of Buck Houghton, who produced the initial three seasons of CBS’ “The Twilight Zone.” This connection led to James making his screen debut on the 1962 episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank,” one of his earliest appearances.

Houghton studied at Harvard School in Studio City, lived at Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland for his boarding school education, and then went on to UC Berkeley. Later, in 1972, he made his television debut on the ABC series “Alias Smith & Jones” and starred in the women-in-prison exploitation film titled “Sweet Sugar.

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

He mentioned that we were both cruising around in worn-out vehicles, barely getting by financially, but for the first time, we didn’t have to stress about our next meal because of this job,” he explained.

After departing from the soap, Houghton joined forces with Martin Kove for the CBS action series titled “Code R“. However, this program, which revolved around a rescue team stationed on the Channel Islands, only aired for 13 episodes in 1977 before it was discontinued.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, his TV wife Lankford was romantically connected with Warren Zevon. This association led to Houghton (and Shackelford) gracing the cover of Zevon’s 1982 album titled “The Envoy“.

Houghton and Lankford, who lived next door to each other in Laurel Canyon during their work on Knots Landing, were removed from the David Jacobs-created Dallas spinoff when their characters Kenny and Ginger decided to leave for Nashville to pursue careers in country music.

Houghton expressed a reluctance to depart, yet as other Dallas spinoff characters were gaining popularity and larger paychecks, he came to terms with the situation.

He mentioned, “Eventually, you need to discard some weight to create space for something new.” He explained, “It’s quite a precise operation. I didn’t consider it as a personal matter.

Houghton’s acting portfolio encompassed various films like “One on One” (1977), “More American Graffiti” (1979), “Superstition” (1982), and “Purple People Eater” (1988). Additionally, he made guest appearances on shows such as “Fantasy Island”, “Hotel”, “The Love Boat”, and “Remington Steele”. Furthermore, he landed a role in the 1986 ABC miniseries titled “North and South: Book 2, Love and War”.

In 1982, he teamed up with his younger sister, Mona Houghton, to pen three episodes of the TV series “Knots Landing”. Following “The Young & the Restless”, he penned scripts for another CBS soap opera, “The Bold and the Beautiful”. Additionally, he wrote a crime thriller titled “The Hooligan’s Game“, which was published in 2017.

For quite a while, Houghton has generously donated both his time and resources to various organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Special Olympics, and School on Wheels.

Apart from his wife (who he met at a T-ball game and they got married in November 1994) and his sister, those who survived are his mother Wanda, his children Daniel and Alisa, Alisa’s husband Jim, and his grandson Milo.

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2025-03-01 01:57