[5] Horton's experience on stage included work with the American Theatre Wing in New York City, where he was the "resident leading man".

Fuller, a veteran of the western series Laramie, resembled Horton, and the two actors coincidentally shared the same birthday, albeit nine years apart.

The ruggedly handsome Horton made dozens of appearances in movies and television shows between 1951 and 1989, including a small role in the film Bright Road starring Dorothy Dandridge, an episode of Ray Milland's sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley and on the syndicated Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield.

Horton appeared on seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including memorably as a tennis-playing insurance investigator and blackmailer opposite Betsy von Furstenberg in "The Disappearing Trick", directed by Arthur Hiller.

In the 1960s, Horton made two 45 RPM singles on the Columbia Records label: "The Very Thought of You"/"Hey There" and "King of the Road"/"Julie".

In 1963, producer David Merrick hired him as the male lead in the musical version of N. Richard Nash's play The Rainmaker (titled 110 in the Shade).

[11]: 649 In 1966, he starred in The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones, the first Western made specifically for television and simultaneous distribution to cinemas in Europe.

[17] In 1968, two years later, Horton co-starred in The Green Slime, a low-budget Japanese-American science fiction film, directed by Kinji Fukasaku and shot entirely in Japan, but with an American and European cast.

[22] "His three greatest thrills were his first solo flight, a performance before Queen Elizabeth II, and being featured on Ralph Edwards' This Is Your Life.