Veteran character player of the New York stage since the 1930s who has been a familiar face in TV and films since the 60s. Hughes began his acting career as a member of the Shakespeare Fellowship Company, making his stage debut in a 1934 NY production of "The Taming of the Shrew." He went on to play more than 400 roles on the stage alone. Fame, though, waited until the veteran actor reached his vigorous middle age, when he offered finely nuanced portraits of somewhat flawed doctors, judges, clergymen and other men of authority.