Tom Hatten obit

'Popeye and His Friends' Host Tom Hatten Dead at 92

He was not on the list.


Los Angeles actor, writer and television host Tom Hatten, whose long and diverse career included

hosting "Family Film Festival" on KTLA, died Saturday at age 92. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and used the GI Bill to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He graduated cum laude in 1950.

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. He followed "Skipper Frank" Herman who appeared earlier in the afternoon with Cartoon Carousel.

Dressed in Navy whites, Hatten presented the Popeye cartoons of the 1930's, the animated works of Max and Dave Fleischer, starring the spinach eating Popeye. A skilled artist and cartoonist, Hatten's show included how to segments that taught how to draw the cartoon characters. Real children--three chosen at random from his mail--appeared on each program, and were put in front of a large upright easel and sketch pad. Hatten would draw a figure in his sketch pad called a "Squiggle". During the cartoons, Tom and the kids would create drawings incorporating the squiggle without crossing any of the squiggle's lines. Of course, Hatten's drawings were better--but he'd praise the kids for their work. Hatten hosted two later versions of the show and told anecdotes about the Fleischers, the cartoons, or their studios.

The Pier 5 Club was given a more elaborate studio set and was renamed The Popeye Show. Hatten was dressed as a harbor master in a structure resembling a marina. The squiggle contest was retained and the show expanded to an hour. King Features created a new series of Popeye cartoons for the show. Jack Mercer, who had replaced William Costello (aka "Red Pepper" Sam) as the voice of Fleischer's Popeye, visited the show to recognize Hatten as the biggest promoter of the Max and Dave Fleischer Studio.

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

Following his passing, many of Hatten's fans have come out to memorialize the late TV personality.

"During childhood weekends, I fondly remember tuning to the Family Film Festival on @KTLA. These memories are comforting, as it recalls a time that So Cal felt less like a sprawling metropolis, and more like the familiar place I called home. Farewell, #TomHatten," one person tweeted.

Weekends just weren’t weekends without the family film festival and the kind, happy enthusiasm of Tom Hatten... rest in peace, sir, and thank you for those childhood smiles!" one other fan commented.
In addition to his legendary hosting roles, Hatten also appeared in national TV series such as Gomer Pyle: USMC and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Hatten's acting credits include portraying a corrupt US Army General in the film Spies Like Us, with Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. 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 movie The Secret of NIMH.
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 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. Hatton served on the board of the National Student Film Institute and was a frequent presenter at its annual film festival.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	I Saw What You Did	Gerald Nyes
1965	A Very Special Favor	Therapy Group Member	Uncredited
1967	Easy Come, Easy Go	Lt. J.G	Uncredited
1969	Sweet Charity	Man in Tandem	Uncredited
1975	Promise Him Anything	O'Brien	TV movie
1982	The Secret of NIMH	Farmer Fitzgibbons	Voice
1985	Spies Like Us	General Miegs
2004	Bravura	Mr. Casey	Short, (final film role)