James Houghton, best known to soap fans for his role as Kenny Ward on “Knots Landing” and a four-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning writer on “The Young and the Restless,” has died. He was 75 years old.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the beloved actor and writer passed away at his home in Encino, California on August 27, 2024 of peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the abdomen, known as the peritoneum. His death was only recently disclosed by his wife, Karen Houghton, the outlet reported, stating, “She did not want to discuss his death until today.”

Born James Carter Houghton on November 7, 1948 in Los Angeles, Houghton was the son of Buck Houghton, a producer on the first three seasons of CBS’ “The Twilight Zone.” That connection helped land the then younger Houghton a role in a 1962 episode of “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank,” marking one of his first onscreen appearances.