Nick and Nora Charles
| Nick and Nora Charles | |
|---|---|
|
|
| First appearance | The Thin Man |
| Created by | Dashiell Hammett |
| Portrayed by |
William Powell & Myrna Loy (film, 1934-1947) Les Damon/Les Tremayne/David Gothard/Joseph Curtin & Claudia Morgan (radio, 1941-1950) Peter Lawford & Phyllis Kirk (TV, 1957-1959) Craig Stevens & Jo Ann Pflug (TV film) Barry Bostwick & Joanna Gleason (Broadway musical) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male & Female |
| Occupation | Private detective |
| Nationality | American |
Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of movies between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 1957 through 1959; as a Broadway musical in 1991; and as a stage play in 2009.
As elaborated on in the highly successful film series, Nick and Nora are a married couple who solve murder mysteries while exchanging sharp and smart repartee. The tremendous popularity of the characters made them a media archetype, as the bantering, romantically involved detective duo has become a well-used trope in literature, stage, screen, and television ever since.
The characters first appear in Dashiell Hammett's best-selling last novel The Thin Man (1934). Nick is an alcoholic former private detective who retired when he married Nora, a wealthy Nob Hill heiress. Hammett reportedly modeled Nora on his longtime partner Lillian Hellman, and the characters' boozy, flippant repartee on their relationship. (The novel also mentions that Nick was once a Pinkerton detective, as was Hammett.) The novel is considered one of the seminal texts of the hard-boiled subgenre of mystery novels, but the chief innovation distinguishing it from previous Hammett works such as The Maltese Falcon or The Glass Key was its relative lightness and humor. It is nearly as much a comedy of manners as a mystery, and the story tumbles along to the sarcastic banter of Nick and Nora as a reluctant and jaded Nick is dragged into solving a sensational murder, cheered on by the fascinated thrill-enjoying Nora.
The film adaptation of The Thin Man was a resounding success. Although Hammett never wrote another novel with Nick and Nora Charles, five movie sequels were produced, two of which were adapted by Warner Brother's writers from two original Hammett works written after the success of the first film.
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