Nathan Hiken (June 23, 1914 – December 7, 1968) was an American radio and television writer, producer, and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1950s. Early years Hiken was born on June 23, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jewish parents. At some point, the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin; a 1939 article in a Milwaukee newspaper referred to him as "a well known Milwaukee boy." He worked on the student newspapers at both Washington High School and the University of Wisconsin. After finishing college, he had a brief stint as a writer for United Press International. Hiken worked for Warner Bros. as a screenwriter beginning in 1940 for the studio's short-subject films. During World War II, Hiken joined the Army Air Force, and although he had a private pilot's license and wanted to be an aviator, the military asked him to produce morale boosting fund-raisers on Broadway. At the end of the war, Hiken left the military to return to being a scriptwriter for Fred Allen, but just as quickly, he was ready to try new things in the new media format of television. He began in television writing scripts for comedian Milton Berle. Radio Hiken created and wrote for The Grouch Club and wrote for Fred Allen's hit radio show. Hiken also created, wrote, and directed the NBC radio program "The Magnificent Montague" which aired Friday nights from November 1950 through November 1951. Television Hiken moved from radio to become head writer of the early television variety show Four Star Revue. However, in 1950, he was named as a Communist sympathizer in the publication Red Channels, probably because of his mother's outspoken political views. Historian Marc Saul writes that "Hiken had to take out an advertisement in Variety denouncing any communist beliefs. Fortunately, it did the trick." Hiken is best known for a number of popular TV series during the 1950s and 1960s, including Car 54, Where Are You? and The Phil Silvers Show, a situation comedy set on a US Army post in which Silvers played Sergeant Ernest G. "Ernie" Bilko; the show was also often referred to as Sgt. Bilko (Hiken had originally titled it You'll Never Get Rich). Hiken was one of TV's first writer-producers and was the head writer for NBC's Four Star Revue. He moved from radio to TV as a writer for Milton Berle's radio show, which preceded his legendary