Nat Polen

Nathan Polen was born on June 14, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York, the middle of three children raised by Russian-born parents Jack and Bertha Polen. His father was a singer and stage performer who appeared in a 1915 production of Oskar Nedbal's operetta The Peasant Girl and later worked as assistant stage manager under Josiah Zuro for New York City's Free Open Air Opera at Ebbets Field. Polen graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1931 and went on to study drama at New York University, the American National Theater and Academy, and the Guild School of Drama. During his time at NYU, he organized a dance band that, due to limited university facilities, performed in hotels, earning Polen recognition among professional musicians as a skilled young drummer.

Before pursuing acting, Polen built a career as a jazz drummer. He began performing with bands in 1936, and by 1941 DownBeat magazine ranked him the eleventh best jazz drummer in its annual poll. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946, after which he performed as a drummer for CBS, including with the CBS Symphony Orchestra. In 1947, Polen shifted his focus to acting, turning down offers from Benny Goodman and Woody Herman to pursue work in radio.

His radio career included a continuing role on the Charlie Chan series, as well as appearances on Columbia Workshop and The FBI in Peace and War. Polen made his Broadway debut in 1961, portraying Colonel Egan in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole.

Polen became widely recognized for his long-running roles as physicians on daytime television. He played Dr. Doug Cassen on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns for more than nine years, from April 1957 through October 1966. He subsequently appeared as Ephraim Webster on The Edge of Night and as Dr. John Crager on the ABC afternoon version of The Nurses. From 1969 until shortly before his death, he was the second actor to portray Dr. Jim Craig on One Life to Live. His screen work also included a film role as Lt. Reilly in the 1972 feature Across 110th Street, and he appeared in 37 episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theatre.

Outside of his professional career, Polen was active in his community in East Norwich, New York, where he lived with his wife, Nancy, whom he married in 1941, and their three daughters. He directed plays at Oyster Bay High School, and the local Board of Education established the annual Nat Polen Scholarship Award in his honor. Polen died on May 3, 1981, at the age of 66, from pancreatic cancer at Central Regional Hospital in Plainview, New York.