Hecht was briefly enrolled in a master’s program studying Indo-Iranian languages but his studies were cut short by WWII. He served in Europe as a sergeant in the Army-Air Force. After the war, he was employed as a Washington correspondent for Life magazine before working mainly for independent magazines.

In 1956, Hecht worked with Myron Fass on Lunatickle (Whitestone Publishing, a subsidiary of Fawcett), one of the first MAD imitators that featured work by Joe Kubert and Russ Heath.

He also edited some of Stanley Publications war and men's adventure magazines in the 1960s, as well as it's horror magazines Adventures in Horror (1970) and Horror Stories (1971).

Hecht edited Stanley Morse's line of reprint horror comics (Stanley Publications) from 1969 to 1971.