Bob Hastings Collection

Bob Hastings
(1925 – 2014)

The dynamics between siblings have given psychologists and behavioral scientists plenty to talk about for even longer than those supposed sciences have existed. There is the long documented "middle-child syndrome" which theorizes that the oldest child receives more than his share of good fortune simply for being the oldest and the youngest is fawned upon as "the baby", leaving the middle child with a shortage of opportunities and even affection which may result in a badly adjusted and dysfunctional adult. In most societies, the oldest male child stands to inherit the family's fortune and power, whether the individual is best qualified to carry the dynasty into the future or not.

Whether these principles and theories hold merit is beyond the scope of this forum, but we would like to point out one observation: it is difficult for anyone to be compared with a sibling, but it must be especially difficult for an older brother to be outshone by a younger brother.

The Hastings boys were born in Brooklyn, New York, the sons of salesman Charles and Hazel Hastings. Bob was born in 1925, and Don came along in 1934. Bob eventually joined the cast of WJZ's Coast to Coast on a Bus. The Saturday morning kids' program featured Milton Cross, "the Voice of the Metropolitan Opera" as "conductor" and took its young passengers on a weekly bus ride across the country. The show introduced some important young talent during broadcasting's early days, including Ann Blyth, Estelle Levy, Jackie Kelk, and Walter Tetley. In time, Don joined the program as part of the "White Rabbit Chorus" (the bus on the show was part of the White Rabbit Line).

During the War, Bob joined the Army Air Forces and became a navigator on B-29s. Don was still too young to serve, and began a Broadway career, and was just 15 when he was hired to play Video Ranger, an otherwise unnamed sidekick for DuMont TV's Captain Video from 1949 to 1955. The program was one of DuMont's more popular offerings but suffered throughout its run from low budgets. The grueling training of five-to-six days a week live broadcast would be important training for Don's later foray into daytime TV.

By the time Captain Video began airing, older brother Bob had mustered out of the Air Force and began playing the title role on NBC Radio's Archie Andrews. Hastings would be the fourth and final actor to bring the hero of Riverdale from the comics to the radio waves. While Don was appearing on Captain Video, Bob was co-starring in his own low-budget TV Science fiction series, Atom Squad (July 1953 – January 1954). In fact, the Atom Squad's secret New York City headquarters bore a striking resemblance to Captain Video's mysterious mountain hide-out.

Bob went on to guest star in a number of popular TV series in "character roles". One of his most successful roles was as Lieutenant Carpenter, the boot-licking aide to crusty base commander Captain Binghamton on McHale's Navy (1962-1966). During the Seventies, Hastings had a recurring role as Tom Kelsey of Kelsey's Bar, the neighborhood watering hole frequented by Archie Bunker in All in the Family.

After Captain Video ended in 1955, Don began working on daytime serial dramas. Some of the early Soaps he appeared on included A Date With Life, Modern Romances, Guiding Light and The Edge of Night. In 1960, he first appeared as Dr. Bob Hughes on As the World Turns, a role he kept until the program went off the air on September 17, 2010, when he intoned the closing line of the series, "Good Night."

In his later years, Bob visited several Old Time Radio conventions and helped to kick off the OTR Collecting Hobby. He succumbed to prostate cancer on June 30, 2014. He was 89.