Sean Hayes Joining The Millers; Remembering Bob Hastings of McHale's Navy

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Sean Hayes Joining The Millers; Remembering Bob Hastings of McHale's Navy

Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes has joined the cast of The Millers as a series regular. His character will be introduced during the comedy's second season premiere, Thursday, Oct. 30 at 8:30PM ET/PT on CBS. Hayes will play Kip Withers, Carol Miller's (Margo Martindale) new best friend and a new source of friction for Carol's son, Nathan (Will Arnett). Sean Hayes is an actor, producer and Emmy Award winner for his role as Jack McFarland for eight seasons on the sitcom Will & Grace. Most recently, Hayes starred in and executive produced the comedy series Sean Saves the World. His additional television credits include Smash, Up All Night and playing icon Jerry Lewis in Martin & Lewis.

The Millers stars Will Arnett, Beau Bridges, Margo Martindale, Jayma Mays, JB Smoove, Nelson Franklin and Lulu Wilson. Greg Garcia and James Burrows serve as executive producers.

Bob Hastings

Actor Bob Hastings, who starred as Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter in McHale's Navy, has died. He died from prostate cancer on June 30 in Burbank, California. Mr. Hastings was 89.

Hastings' early television appearances included Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Atom Squad, The United States Steel Hour, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, The Edge of Night, The Big Story and Deadline. His first recurring role was as a lieutenant in The Phil Silvers Show (aka Sergeant Bilko). He appeared in a total of eight episodes.

He made guest appearances in many sitcoms in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including The Real McCoys, Hennesey, The Donna Reed Show, Window on Main Street, The Gertrude Berg Show, Car 54, Where Are You?, Pete and Gladys (three episodes), Room for One More, Dennis the Menace (five episodes) and Petticoat Junction.

Bob Hastings - McHale's Navy

Hastings starred as the yes-man Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter in ABC's McHale's Navy. The popular sitcom ran four seasons from 1962-1966. His character was Binghamton's (Joe Flynn) sycophantic aide. He was humorously called "Carpy" and "Little Leadbottom" by McHale and his men. Hastings reunited with other cast members for "The Crew Remembers" special feature on the McHale's Navy - Season One DVD release in 2007.

Some of his other sitcom work included the voice of The Raven in The Munsters. He also played "Cousin Phantom of the Opera" in the TV movie The Munsters' Revenge in 1981. Hastings made guest appearances in Hogan's Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, The Good Guys, The Flying Nun, Here's Lucy, Green Acres, Nanny and the Professor, My Three Sons, Love, American Style and The Odd Couple.

Bob Hastings - All in the Family

He had a recurring role as bar owner Tommy Kelsey (or Kelcy) in All in the Family from 1973-1977. His other sitcom guest appearances in the 1970s included Karen, The Love Boat, Szysznyk, Operation Petticoat, Alice and Three's Company. He provided voices for many animated series, including Beany and Cecil, The New Adventures of Superboy, Jeannie, Clue Club, Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. For a complete listing of his credits, please visit his IMDB page.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Joan, four children, ten grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. Mr. Hastings was a terrific on-screen and off-screen character actor. He seemed to drop in almost every major sitcom in the 1960s. We thank him for entertaining us for many years. He will be greatly missed.

Antenna TV commemorated the life of actor Bob Hastings with a marathon of his work on Saturday, July, 5 featuring episodes of McHale's Navy as well as other sitcoms where he had guest appearances like Dennis the Menace, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, Green Acres and All in the Family.

Share your memories on our McHale's Navy message board. View photos in our galleries.