Hatten was born in Jamestown, North Dakota. 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.

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.

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.

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.