Who Is Rif Hutton? ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’s Tribute, Explained

At the end of the first episode of Season 3 of The Walking Dead: Dead City, “Trillium,” there is a special tribute to an actor without whom the terror of The Walking Dead would be much less.

“In Loving Memory of Rif Hutton” appears at the end of the episode, paying tribute to the man who gave the walkers their voice — rather, their growls, moans, snarls, and the distinctive vocalizations that became synonymous with the undead across The Walking Dead universe.

For 16 years, Hutton’s work has been on screens and across The Walking Dead franchise, beginning with The Walking Dead in 2010 and including spinoffs Fear The Walking Dead, World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live.

Hutton died on April 18, 2026, at age 73 after battling brain cancer for just over a year.

Chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, paid tribute to the actor on X, with acknowledgment of the importance of his role in The Walking Dead Universe and his place in pop culture history.

We just lost Rif Hutton, who holds a unique place in TWDU history, doing walker voices across all the shows, since the pilot. The walkers onset generally do not do their own growls, that comes in later — and Rif was one of the greatest of all time. https://t.co/TaB5ht6aNs pic.twitter.com/WR5C6ZFhuk

— Scott M. Gimple (@ScottMGimple) April 20, 2026

“We just lost Rif Hutton, who holds a unique place in TWDU history, doing walker voices across all the shows, since the pilot. The walkers onset generally do not do their own growls, that comes in later — and Rif was one of the greatest of all time.”

NCIS also paid tribute to Hutton in its penultimate episode. Hutton appeared in both the flagship series and the NCIS: Los Angeles spinoff. He guest-starred on NCIS in Season 16 and Season 19 as Marine General Phillip Braxton before taking on an entirely different role in Season 14 of NCIS: Los Angeles, playing Commander Albert Burns.

Hutton was best known for several recurring television roles, including his role as Dr. Ron Welch on Doogie Howser, M.D. and Lt. Cmdr. Alan Mattoni on JAG. He was also widely recognized as a prolific voice actor and the face of KFC commercials in the 1990s.

The Walking Dead: Dead City, Sunday, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+