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Don Hastings

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Don Hastings
Hastings as the teenaged Video Ranger on the DuMont Television Network's Captain Video and His Video Rangers
Born (1934-04-01) April 1, 1934 (age 90)
Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Occupations
  • Radio, theatre, television actor
  • singer
  • screenwriter
Years active1940–2010
Spouse(s)(1) Nan Hastings (divorced); 3 children
(2) Leslie Denniston (m. 1980; 1 child)
RelativesBob Hastings (brother)

Donald Francis Michael Hastings (born April 1, 1934)[1] is an American actor, singer, and writer best known for his 50-year role as Dr. Robert "Bob" Hughes on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns (1960 to 2010). Hastings was the third actor to portray Hughes and is the longest serving living cast member of an American television soap opera, after the death of matriarch Helen Wagner of the same series.[2] Hastings received a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on As the World Turns in 2004.[3]

Early life

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Hastings was born on April 1, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York.[4][1] He is the brother of actor Bob Hastings. His career began at six years old when he went to see his brother perform on a radio show. When the show's producers learned that Hastings was also a singer, he was asked to audition. He won his first role, singing on the radio show Coast to Coast on a Bus.[5][6]

Career

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In 1941, Hastings joined a national tour of Life with Father.[1] He traveled the U.S. with the company by train, from the age of seven until he was ten years old.[5] He made his Broadway debut in I Remember Mama (1944). He then landed another Broadway role in On Whitman Avenue.[6] He made his third appearance on Broadway as a replacement for the part of Grilly in A Young Man's Fancy at the Plymouth Theatre.[7] Hastings played Young John in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke. The play opened at the Music Box Theatre on October 6, 1948.[8][9]

From 1949 to 1955, Hastings played Captain Video's teenaged companion, the Video Ranger, on the DuMont television series, Captain Video and His Video Rangers. He portrayed one of television's first superheroes designed to appeal to children.[6][5]

In the 1940s and 1950s, he made appearances on television and radio shows, including The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, The Magic Cottage, Studio One, Crunch and Des, A Date with Life, Modern Romances, The Road of Life, Hilltop House, Portia Faces Life, and Decoy.[1][6][5]

In 1956, Hastings was cast as Jack Lane on the CBS soap opera, The Edge of Night. He spoke the first line in the premiere episode of the series.[6] He stayed on the show for four and a half years. In 1960, Irna Phillips, the head writer of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, saw his work on The Edge of Night. She thought he would be right for the role of Dr. Bob Hughes on ATWT and he was cast on the show. In the first week of October 1960, Hastings appeared in his last two episodes of The Edge of the Night and also aired in his first two episodes of As the World Turns.[10] The role of Bob had previously been played by a child actor, Bobby Alford, and one adult actor, Ronnie Welsh. In his early years on the show, he was paired romantically with Lisa Miller (Eileen Fulton), but he eventually found true love with Kim Sullivan (Kathryn Hays).[10][2]

In 1965, Hastings was offered a role as one of Macdonald Carey's sons on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, but he declined because he was happy working on As the World Turns.[10] In 1977, he performed with his ATWT co-star, Kathryn Hays, in Hastings & Hays On Love, an event where they would chat and sing about love.[11] In June 1978, they appeared together in Algonquin Sampler at New York's Joseph Jefferson Theater.[12]

He played Bob Hughes on As the World Turns until the show's final airing on September 17, 2010, and spoke the series' final line: "Good Night."

Hastings previously held the record as the longest continuous actor in the history of television serials until November 2010, shortly after As the World Turns ended. Guinness World Records stated that the non-continuous record was held by Hastings' co-star Helen Wagner, who played Nancy Hughes on As the World Turns, from April 2,1956, until her death in May 2010. Wagner departed from the cast of the program, or had only appeared on a recurring basis, between 1981 and 1985.

Hastings is also a screenwriter, and he wrote dialogue for both As the World Turns and Guiding Light under the name J. J. Matthews.

Personal life

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Hastings and his first wife, Nan, had three children, Jennifer, Julie, and Matthew.[13] Hastings lives in upstate New York with his second wife, actress Leslie Denniston. They married in 1980 and have a daughter, Kate. His son Matthew has been active in show business since 1999 as a writer, director, and producer.[citation needed]

Hastings is the younger brother of veteran radio and television actor Bob Hastings, who died in 2014, aged 89.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About the Actors: Don Hastings". Soap Central. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Who's Who In Oakdale: Dr. Robert (Bob) Hughes, M.D." Soapcentral. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  3. ^ McClintock, Pamela (February 3, 2004). "10 clean up at Daytime Emmys". Variety. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  4. ^ Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. New York: Ballantine. p. 270. ISBN 9780345324597.
  5. ^ a b c d Jacobs, Damon L. (January 8, 2010). "Don Hastings: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part One". welovesoaps.net. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e Rout, Nancy E.; Buckley, Ellen (1992). The Soap Opera Book: Who's Who in Daytime Drama. Todd Publications. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-915344-23-9.
  7. ^ "A Young Man's Fancy". Playbill. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  8. ^ "Summer and Smoke". Playbill. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "Don Hastings: Before and After Captain Video!". Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c Jacobs, Damon L. (January 10, 2010). "Don Hastings: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part Two". welovesoaps.net. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  11. ^ Martin, Judith (August 12, 1977). "Evening 'Love'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  12. ^ Gussow, Mel (June 3, 1978). "Algonquin Sampler". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  13. ^ McElwee, Sue. "Don Hastings Really Is 'Mr. Wonderful'". Daily News. Pennsylvania, Huntingdon. p. 3. Retrieved July 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Banks, Alicia (July 2, 2014). "Actor Bob Hastings dies at 89". Los Angeles Times.
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