Nat Hiken, radio and television writer-director-producer, was born
on June 23, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was a baby his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his father established a shoemakers' supply business. Hiken received his early education in Milwaukee and rather than seek his future in the family enterprise, he decided instead to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He received a degree in journalism in 1936.
After graduation Hiken initially traveled to Hollywood to do research for a graduate thesis on the syndication of Hollywood news. Instead, he and Jack Lescoulie, an announcer for radio station KFWB in Los Angeles, decided to write and produce an early-morning radio show. The Grouch Club, first aired in 1937, was a direct outgrowth from Hiken's humor column in his college newspaper. Fred Allen discovered Hiken's talent, and for seven years Hiken wrote for The Fred Allen Show. He also wrote for Milton Berle and for Warner Brothers studio.
Hiken served in the U.S. Army during World War II and after his discharge returned to writing radio and nightclub sketches for such personalities as Phil Silvers, Martha Raye, Bert Lahr and Jack Carson. In the late 1940s and 1950s he also did theatrical writing, including sketches and lyrics for Along Fifth Avenue (1949), Two on the Aisle (1951), Two's Company (1952), and The Littlest Revue (1956). Hiken's last venture in radio, The Magnificient Montague, came in 1950 when television began to replace radio as the nation's most popular entertainment medium. The series, starring Monty Woolley, was highly acclaimed but did not last.
Hiken turned to television reluctantly, yet it was there that he
scored his greatest success. He began as a producer and writer for The Jack Carson Show, then wrote and directed The Martha Raye Show. In the mid-fifties Hiken created the character Sergeant Bilko and subsequently became the producer, director and writer for the Bilko series, The Phil Silvers Show, originally titled You'll Never Get Rich. The series ran on CBS for four years, beginning in 1955, and made Phil Silvers one of the most popular actors in the country. Hiken was also creator, director and producer of Car 54, Where Are You?, a series NBC aired for two seasons, 1961-1963. However, Car 54, Where Are You? did not achieve the popularity or the success of the Bilko series. In 1966 Hiken produced and scripted a Carol Burnett special, Carol Plus Two.
After Car 54, Where Are You?, Hiken and his family moved to Los Angeles so Hiken could try his hand at screenwriting. He had just completed writing and directing his first feature film, The Love God, at the time of his death on December 7, 1968. He was survived by his wife, Ambur Dana, a photographer, and two daughters.
