Donald Francis Michael Hastings (born April 1, 1934)[1] is an American television actor, singer, and writer.

In the 1940s, he appeared on Broadway in I Remember Mama, On Whitman Avenue, A Young Man's Fancy, and Summer and Smoke.

[4] He made his third appearance on Broadway as a replacement for the part of Grilly in A Young Man's Fancy at the Plymouth Theatre.

[5] Hastings played Young John in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke.

In 1960, Irna Phillips, the head writer of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, saw his work on The Edge of Night.

In his early years on the show, he was paired romantically with Lisa Miller (Eileen Fulton), but he eventually found true love with Kim Sullivan (Kathryn Hays).

[8][9] Hastings began writing sample scripts for the NBC soap opera Another World and submitting them to the show's head writer, Harding Lemay.

[8] In 1965, Hastings was offered a role as one of Macdonald Carey's sons on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, but he declined because he was happy working on As the World Turns.

[11] In June 1978, they appeared together in Algonquin Sampler, a literary review performed at New York's Joseph Jefferson Theater.

"[16][17] 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.