Raymond (Hutch) Hutchinson; Wrangler

Raymond (Hutch) Hutchinson, who worked as a wrangler and a driver for Universal Studios, has died at a Burbank hospital. He was 86.

A longtime Burbank resident, Hutchinson died Saturday of heart failure, said his wife, Janice R. Hutchinson.

Born in El Dorado, Okla., Hutchinson hopped a freight train and came to California as a teen-ager. He worked in a supermarket and for a furniture company before becoming a wrangler at various studios, including Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal. As a wrangler, he handled horses and other animals used in movies, sometimes appearing on film driving teams of horses or mules.

Hutchinson worked on “How the West Was Won” (1962) and the “Gunsmoke” television series, in addition to several films by director John Ford and with actor John Wayne.

In the mid-1970s, he transferred to the transportation department at Universal Studios, where he worked as a driver until his retirement in the late 1980s.

In addition to his wife of 38 years, Hutchinson is survived by his sons, William T. Hutchinson of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Bruce R. Hutchinson of Burbank; daughters Laura R. Hitchin of Liverpool, N.Y., and Julie P. Hutchinson of Burbank, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church, 438 Harvard Road, Burbank, of which Hutchinson was a longtime member. Burial will be private. Eckerman-Heisman Funeral Service in Burbank is handling the arrangements.

Donations can be made in Hutchinson’s name to a ministry program for missionaries and pastors called Barnabas International, P.O. Box 11211, Rockford, Ill. 61126-1211.