Houghton was born in Los Angeles, California on November 7, 1948. He was the son of producer
Buck Houghton. He began his acting career with appearances in the television shows
Man With A Camera,
The Twilight Zone, and
McKeever & the Colonel. He was an original cast member of
CBS daytime soap opera
The Young and the Restless where he played Greg Foster from 1973 to 1976. After leaving daytime, Houghton was cast in a leading role in the short-lived CBS action series
Code R in 1977. His most prominent role is that of Kenny Ward,
Kim Lankford's character's husband, on the long-running CBS prime time soap opera
Knots Landingfrom 1979 to 1983. During the 1980s, he also guest-starred on
Fantasy Island,
Hotel,
The Love Boat, and
Remington Steele. In 1986, he had a small role in the ABC miniseries
North and South, Book II and went on to play
Cash Cassidy on the
ABC prime time soap opera
The Colbys from 1986 to 1987. Houghton appeared in a number of films, including,
Sweet Sugar (1972),
One on One (1977),
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978),
More American Graffiti (1979),
Superstition (1982) and
Purple People Eater (1988). In 1991, Houghton returned to
The Young and the Restlessand also
The Bold and the Beautiful as a script writer, a position he held into the 2000s. ==Awards and nominations==