Hastings is a member of the Writers Guild and wrote scripts for AS THE WORLD TURNS from 1971 to 1972 under series' creator and head writer, Irna Phillips. He has also written for the CBS daytime drama, Guiding Light. In November 1993, he was honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with the Silver Circle award, which recognizes people with a minimum of 25 years of achievement in the television industry. In 1998, he and costar Kathryn Hays received the Soap Opera Digest Editor's Award.

Hastings got his unexpected start in show business at the age of six. While accompanying his older brother Bob to the children's radio program on which he sang, a producer heard that the younger Hastings could sing as well. An audition followed that landed him a part on the radio program Coast to Coast on a Bus. The exposure Hastings received from that radio role led to a part in the national company of Life With Father in 1941. He toured for three seasons and has acted ever since.

Hastings' Broadway credits include his 1944 debut in I Remember Mama, On Whitman Avenue (1946), A Young Man's Fancy (1947) and Summer and Smoke (1948). During these years, he also worked in radio and television.

In 1949, Hastings turned to television full time, playing the Ranger on the children's program Captain Video until the program went off the air six years later. He subsequently worked in a number of television series including Studio One, which was originally a radio show on which Hastings had also played a part; Crunch and Des, and the daytime dramas A Date with Life and Modern Romances.

In April 1956, he joined the cast of his first daytime drama, The Edge of Night, where he remained for four and a half years. He has also worked on Guiding Light.

Hastings met his wife, actress Leslie Denniston, when she was also on AS THE WORLD TURNS. They live in New York State with their daughter, Katharine Scott Hastings (b. 9/23/82). He also has two daughters, Jennifer and Julie, and a son, Matthew, from a previous marriage.

Hastings' interests include travel and golf. He was born on April 1 in Brooklyn, NY.