Hayden began working at Paramount in the mid 1930's, with several jobs as a production crew member, before getting the job as "Hoppy's sidekick "Lucky Jenkins".
Hayden then went on to being the new sidekick and second lead to veteran Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures. Looking good in the saddle, he soon was given his own series, and those films were slick, cram full of action, and of Hayden really good-looks. Later, he would star in several Canadian mountie yarns for Screen Guild, and he also had time for the lead in THE LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE - Universal, 1946. As the 1940s ended, Hayden was appearing in westerns, often portraying a baddie
As the market for the B western faded in the late 1940s, Hayden found he was not in high demand. For his last hurrah, Hayden signed on with producer Ron Ormond for a new series. After a month or so of work, the miles of completed film were edited into six B westerns.
After the Ormond series, Hayden wound up working primarily on the other side of the camera. In the 1950s, he produced the JUDGE ROY BEAN and 26 MEN TV series. He was the lead on TV's COWBOY G-MEN with one-time child star Jackie Coogan as his lawman partner. Hayden's first wife was actress Jan Clayton, the original "Mom" in the LASSIE TV show with Tommy Rettig.

Hayden passed away in 1981 of natural causes.