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Veteran Character Actor Bob Hastings dead at 89
http://www.burbankleader.com/news/tn-blr-me-0702-actor-bob-hastings-dies-at-89-20140701,0,3724879.story
By Alicia Banks, alicia.banks@latimes.com
July 1, 2014 | 6:09 p.m.
Robert "Bob" Francis Hastings, Sr., a radio actor who found his footing in television, notably for portraying "yes man" Lt. Elroy Carpenter on the popular sitcom "McHale's Navy," has died. He was 89.
Hastings died Monday at his Burbank home. He had pancreatic cancer, his third bout with the illness in 15 years.
Hastings began his career in radio in 1936 at the age of 11. He was featured on a variety of shows such as "The Daily Mirror Radio Gang" and "Adventures in King Arthurland." Less than a decade later, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 navigator during World War II. Upon his return, his voice found the airwaves again, voicing Archie Andrews until 1953, the main character of the popular comic, according to the Internet Movie Database.
In 1949, Hastings moved to television with roles such as Hal on "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." That work, and his keen ear for foreign accents, led to a recurring role as a lieutenant on "Sergeant Bilko" in 1956.
Reached in New York, Don Hastings called his older brother and fellow actor his hero.
"I miss him. He was a great guy. He was a good father and a good husband," Don said. "That's hard to be in show business."
The younger Hastings played Dr. Bob Hughes on the soap opera "As The World Turns" for decades.
</snip>
By Alicia Banks, alicia.banks@latimes.com
July 1, 2014 | 6:09 p.m.
Robert "Bob" Francis Hastings, Sr., a radio actor who found his footing in television, notably for portraying "yes man" Lt. Elroy Carpenter on the popular sitcom "McHale's Navy," has died. He was 89.
Hastings died Monday at his Burbank home. He had pancreatic cancer, his third bout with the illness in 15 years.
Hastings began his career in radio in 1936 at the age of 11. He was featured on a variety of shows such as "The Daily Mirror Radio Gang" and "Adventures in King Arthurland." Less than a decade later, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 navigator during World War II. Upon his return, his voice found the airwaves again, voicing Archie Andrews until 1953, the main character of the popular comic, according to the Internet Movie Database.
In 1949, Hastings moved to television with roles such as Hal on "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." That work, and his keen ear for foreign accents, led to a recurring role as a lieutenant on "Sergeant Bilko" in 1956.
Reached in New York, Don Hastings called his older brother and fellow actor his hero.
"I miss him. He was a great guy. He was a good father and a good husband," Don said. "That's hard to be in show business."
The younger Hastings played Dr. Bob Hughes on the soap opera "As The World Turns" for decades.
</snip>
Cross gently, Bob.
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I think it's because he was a Marine Raider, First Marine Division in WWII, and wished that McHale's Navy was the way serving in the Pacific would have been instead of the horror that it actually was.
Likeable actor, as is his brother. 
