Actor Bob Hastings passed away on June 30, 2014, at the age of 89.
And, “best known” was he for the role of Lt. Elroy Carpenter,
the prissy, nervous, and brownnosing aide to Joe Flynn’s Captain Binghamton for
four seasons on McHALE’S NAVY (1962-1966).
After that, Bob Hastings embarked on a long, nearly four-decade, association with characters from DC Comics, starting as the voice of Filmation’s SUPERBOY…
…thru his now-iconic portrayal as Commissioner Gordon in BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES. Imagine that the youthful-voiced portrayer of characters like Archie and Superboy, in his later years, could so perfectly epitomize the older, hardened crime-war veteran that is James Gordon!
There was even an unusual stopover at the BATMAN 1966 TV series, where he essentially recreated Lt. Carpenter as an Army major, doing the “prissy, nervous, and brownnosing” thing to a general played by Alan (voice of Fred Flintstone) Reed!
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| Call me "SIR!" |
Along the way, Hastings was “Kelsey” the bartender for several seasons of ALL IN THE FAMILY…
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| "Call ME "SIR", too!" |
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| Don't worry, Kolchak! Bob Hastings' Commissioner Gordon's got that Werewolf covered in the illustration below! |
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| "D-D-Don't SHOOT! It's ME, Bob Hastings, in a PAST ROLE!" Look it up at IMDB! |
4 comments:
Joe,
Interesting contrast between Hastings' performance as the "prissy" Carpenter and as the level-headed, grimly determined Gordon.
Chris
For years, I thought that Hastings was the voice of Archie Andrews in Filmation's 1968 TV cartoon. And that was before I knew he had played Archie on radio. Maybe I was thinking of Superboy.
He played a lieutenant on Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko show, once again displaying his knack for playing bumbling, brown-nosing officers.
Soap opera fans will remember him for a recurring role as a police captain on General Hospital in the early 1980's.
I actually remember that scene of Capt. Binghamton jumping up into Lt. Carpenter's arms, although I don't recall anything else about that episode. For some reason, that scene really tickled me when I was about six.
And, once again, besides thanking an actor for all the great moments, I would thank him for his service. According to Wikipedia, Hastings (like Russell Johnson) was a navigator in a bomber unit during WWII.
-TC
Chris:
I’d say that shows quite an acting range on Hastings’ part! That’s why I played up the contrast in the post.
TC:
I’d suspect you *were* thinking of Superboy. Before the common proliferation of credits, I thought Hastings was Filmation’s Jimmy Olsen too. But that was Jack Grimes.
Filmation’s Archie was voiced by Dal McKennon, who also voiced Gumby, Courageous Cat, and Buzz Buzzard.
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