Tom Hatten (November 14, 1926 – March 16, 2019) was an American radio, film and television personality and actor, known as the long-time host of ''The
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles in the 1960s through the '80s. Hatten was one of those television "pioneers"—from the 1950s and 1960s programs done "live"—no matter what mistakes happened. He also appeared in dozens of musicals, films and television shows.
Early life
Hatten was born in
Jamestown, North Dakota
Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and is ...
. He served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...
In 1952, Hatten started working as a broadcaster at KTLA in Hollywood. He was a newscaster and announcer when the station launched the afternoon children's show, ''The Pier 5 Club'', with Hatten as Skipper Tom in September 1956.
The demise of ''The Pier 5 Club'' came in 1964 when Hatten left KTLA. In 1976, however, he returned to the station and revived the series as ''Popeye and His Friends'', which ran until 1988.
Following the end of the Popeye program, Hatten was host of KTLA's ''Family Film Festival''.
Family Film Festival
The ''Family Film Festival'' was a weekend-afternoon feature on KTLA 5 between 1978 and 1992, with Hatten screening a classic film, often from the 1940s, 1950s or 1960s. During breaks in the show, he would offer anecdotes about the film's history or its actors, or even conduct brief interviews with a cast or crew member (a practice that originally predated the cable networks
American Movie Classics
AMC is an American multinational basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. The channel's programming primarily consists of theatrically released films, along with a limited amount of original programming. T ...
and
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
; see those articles for details). Many "
Gen X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s as ...
"-aged men and women, born throughout the 1970s and raised in Los Angeles, were introduced to the films of Jerry Lewis,
The Little Rascals
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, and
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story w ...
, as well as animated films like ''
Gay Purr-ee
''Gay Purr-ee'' is a 1962 American animated musical film produced by United Productions of America and released by Warner Bros. It features the voice of Judy Garland in her only animated-film role, as well as Robert Goulet in his first feature ...
The Phantom Tollbooth
''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a Juvenile fantasy, children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961 in literature, 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who ...
'', ''
Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...
'' and '' Star Blazers'' through Hatten's Family Film Festival. The
Little River Band
Little River Band (LRB) are a Rock music, rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studi ...
's song
Reminiscing
"Reminiscing" is a song by Australian soft rock music group Little River Band, released in June 1978 as the second single from their fourth studio album ''Sleeper Catcher''. The song was written by the band's guitarist, Graeham Goble, and sung ...
was used as
bumper music
Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature songs or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements, typically lasting no longer than fifteen seconds. It is ...
.
Career
Hatten's acting credits include portraying a corrupt US Army general in the comedy film ''
Spies Like Us
''Spies Like Us'' is a 1985 American spy comedy film directed by John Landis, and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest and Donna Dixon. The film presents the comic adventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Un ...
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
. He appeared as Captain Murdock in several episodes of the television show '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' and had a minor role as an officer in three episodes of '' Hogan's Heroes''. Hatten provided the voice of the character Farmer Fitzgibbons in the animated film ''
The Secret of NIMH
''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel, '' Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH''. The film features the voices ...
''.
On stage, in 1959, Hatten performed in a Los Angeles production of '' The Billy Barnes Revue'' concurrently with hosting the ''Popeye'' TV show. He portrayed Horace Vandergelder in the West Coast Opera Theatre's production of '' Hello, Dolly!'' in 1991. He also appeared in a touring production of the musical '' Annie'' as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
For nearly 20 years, Hatten worked as an award-winning entertainment reporter for KNX 1070 Newsradio in Los Angeles, filing regular reports on the movie industry, new films, and celebrity news. He left the station in 2007.
Hatten served on the board of the
National Student Film Institute The National Student Film Institute (NSFI), formerly the Los Angeles Student Film Institute (LASFI), was founded in 1978 by Brenda Norman, Dave Master, Jutti Marsh and Ralph Rogers as a festival for films made by children from kindergarten through n ...
and was a frequent presenter at its annual film festival.
Personal life
Hatten was in a relationship with costume and set designer Peter Menefee for over fifty years.