Donald Francis Michael Hastings (born April 1, 1934) is a longtime American actor, singer, and writer best known for his 50-year role as Dr. Robert "Bob" Hughes on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

''. Hastings was the third actor to portray Hughes and is the longest serving cast member of an American television soap opera, after the death of matriarch Helen Wagner of the same series. Hastings has been active in show business since 1940 and on television itself since 1947, primarily on soap operas. A rare exception was his appearance as Dave Carter in the 1958 episode "The Savage Payoff" of

Beverly Garland Beverly Lucy Garland (née Fessenden; October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress. Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movie ...

's groundbreaking

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

, ''

Decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...

''.

Career

Born on April 1, 1934, in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough of New York City, he lived his earliest years in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district. He started working in radio at the age of six, as a member of the "Bus Bunny" chorus on the serial ''Coast to Coast on a Bus''. From 1944 to 1948, he acted in four Broadway plays. From 1949 to 1955, Hastings played

Captain Video ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...

's teenaged companion, the Video Ranger, on the DuMont

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

, ''

Captain Video and His Video Rangers ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...

''. He portrayed one of television's first superheroes designed to appeal to children. Hastings was cast from 1956 to 1960 as Jack Lane on the CBS soap opera, ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that netwo ...

''. He played Bob Hughes on ''As the World Turns'' from October 1960 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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' stated that the non-continuous record was held by Hastings' costar Helen Wagner, who played Nancy Hughes on ''As the World Turns'', from April 2, 1956 until her death in May 2010. Wagner departed the cast of the program, or had only appeared on a recurring basis, between 1981 and 1985. Hastings is also a screenwriter, and wrote dialogue for both ''

'' and '' Guiding Light'' under the name J. J. Matthews.

Personal life

Hastings and his first wife, Nan, had three children, Jennifer, Julie, and Matthew. Hastings lives in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

with his second wife, actress Leslie Denniston, whom he married in 1980 and with whom he has a daughter, Kate. His son Matthew has been active in show business since 1999 as a writer, director, and producer. Hastings is the younger brother of actor Bob Hastings, who died in June 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Don 1934 births Living people American male child actors American male radio actors American male soap opera actors American male stage actors American male screenwriters American male singers Male actors from New York City Musicians from Brooklyn Screenwriters from New York (state)