July 6, 1943. Mutual Radio. Lon Clark as Detective Nick Carter. Nick Carter, Master Detective was a popular radio show that aired from 1939 to 1955. The show followed the adventures of Nick Carter, a private detective who solving crimes using his keen intellect and athletic prowess. Although the cases were often based on real life events, the characters and locations were often fictionalized for dramatic effect. Nonetheless, the show was widely popular and helped to cement the image of the private detective as a smart and resourceful individual. Nick Carter is the name of a popular fictional detective who first appeared in in a dime novel entitled "The Old Detective's Pupil" on September 18, 1886. In 1915, Nick Carter Weekly became Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. The series ended on September 25, 1955.
