Brother Tim Hutton was born in Malibu, California on August 16th, 1960. When he was three years old his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to the Boston area. When he was 12 the family returned to California. At the age of 16 he moved in with his father and attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. There he acted in a school presentation of Guys and Dolls, it was then that he decided to become an actor.
In 1979, Hutton began his career by working in made for television movies leading into 1980. In 1980 he had his first feature film performance in the movie Ordinary People. The movie is about the disintegration of a upper-middle class family after the death of their sons in a boating accident. For his work Hutton received an Academy Award and Golden Globe for best supporting actor. He also received a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male.
In 1981, Hutton stared with Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and George C. Scott in the film Taps. The film was about a group of military school students who take over the academy rather than see it closed. For his work in the film Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe. The film was popular with both critics and audiences. Through the rest of the 80's Hutton made several more films, although most struggled at the box office. In 1984 he tried his hand at directing when he directed a music video for the Cars song 'Drive'.
In 1989, Hutton went to Broadway where he appeared in a couple of plays. One, Love Letters, reunited him with his Ordinary People co-star Elizabeth McGovern.
In the late 80's and early 90's Hutton began to take on larger supporting roles. In the late 90's and into the 2000's returned to television appearing A Nero Wolfe Mystery. He also stared in a miniseries WW3 about a terrorist biological attack in the United States.
From 2008 to 2012, Hutton stared in the television series Leverage about a group of thieves, led by Hutton's character, who are modern day Robin Hoods.
Hutton was raised in Herder Lodge No. 698 in New York City, New York in 2005.