Don Hastings, born April 1, 1934, is a prominent actor, and among many other things, a writer too. Hastings is best known for his extraordinarily long performance as Dr. Robert Hughes in the decades-long soap opera As the World Turns. He was the youngest son of Hazel and Charles Hastings and comes from Brooklyn, New York. He is married to actress Leslie Denniston whom he met when she was also performing in As the World Turns. They have a daughter Katharine Scott Hastings. Don has three children from his previous marriage. In his free time, Hastings is keen on traveling and playing golf.
Don's acting career began when he was in his teens; he started his career by singing in the radio with his elder brother's help - Hastings wasn't the only actor in his family, as Bob, his nine years older brother is an actor too and was supposedly a great influence on Don. Hastings's acting career began at the age of six and he traveled together with his father in a touring company called Life With Father. When he stopped these performances, Hastings returned to New York and worked at different radio stations on programs such as "Hilltop House, "Theater Guild on the Air", etc. Prior to working in television Hastings was an actor in many Broadway plays, such as I Remember Mama, On Whitman Avenue, and Summer and Smoke in 1948.
His television career began with the television series Captain Video and His Video Rangers, where he starred the teenage Captain Video's assistant from 1949 to 1955; Hastings was indeed one of the first superheroes that were made to be appealing to children. Oddly enough, he claims that he was getting at least one marriage proposal per week during his years in Captain Video; the show which supposedly marked his life with television acting forever, as Don couldn't attend college at the time.
Hastings then went to performing on soap operas, and this choice made his future career associated with soap operas. He portrayed Jack Lane on The Edge of Night for four years (1956-1960) and started starring in his aforementioned "Opus Vitae" - As the World Turns, where he has starred alongside such big names like Meg Ryan, Julianne Moore, and Marissa Tomei. It is important to note that Hastings was also among the scriptwriters of As the World Turns in the 1970s, albeit quit the job for reasons unknown.
Although nowadays soap operas aren't quite the hot stuff, Hastings has made an impressive 50 year acting streak that will become complete on October 2010. Hastings holds the title of the longest performing actor in television series, winning his rival William Roache by two months. He is no doubt one of the people who have stayed in television for the most time. In 2003 Don starred in Decoys, a sci-fi movie directed by his son, and is still growing strong, despite nearing the ninth decade of his life. Although there is no news about new roles that Hastings will perform, we can expect his writing to come out for TV movies, as he said in an interview that he has an old script that he "[is] thinking of getting it out and rewriting it, maybe for a TV movie".
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