Les Damon

Lester Joseph Damon (March 31, 1908 – July 21, 1962) was an American character actor best known for his nearly 30 years performing on radio. Out of all his appearances on radio, Damon was best remembered for his roles as Nick Charles on The Adventures of the Thin Man from 1941-1943 and again from 1946-1950 on NBC then CBS and as Michael Waring on The Falcon from 1950-1953 on Mutual.

Damon was born on March 31, 1908, in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended and graduated from Brown University.

Damon began acting in the early 1930s traveling with different stock companies in and out of the United States. Damon first started acting with the Albee Stock Company in Providence. In 1934, Damon became an apprentice with the Old Vic Company in Lambeth, England. He remained there for a year until he came back to the United States.

In 1943, Damon was drafted into the United States Military. He served in the Fourteenth Air Force of the Army Air Forces as a technical sergeant. Damon was stationed in the China Burma India Theater. He also served at the IBN outlet in Bhamo, Burma where he announced live spots between transcribed rebroadcasts of stateside programs, along with news broadcasts, interviews, and other assorted local features. Damon returned home in 1946. He was rewarded a Bronze Star for his service during World War II.

Damon returned to the States in 1938 after his stock company along his stage career folded. After struggling to establish himself as a stage actor in America, Damon went to Chicago where he a took several odd jobs in radio. He soon landed a job at Air Features, Inc., a radio production company headed by daytime radio monarchs Frank and Anne Hummert. Damon became a frequent voice in Hummert soaps of the late 1930s, usually playing either sympathetic go-getters or stern authority figures, in series such as The Romance of Helen Trent and Houseboat Hannah. Damon would remain a Hummert and daytime soap favorite through the early 1940s.

By the time the 1940s came about, Damon had been bouncing between Chicago and New York. On July 2, 1941, Damon became known as "The Thin Man" on NBC Radio's The Adventures of the Thin Man. Damon became the title role on the program, a former private detective named Nick Charles who, each week, is drawn, usually against his own will, into investigating a murder. Damon starred in this program opposite Claudia Morgan who played his wife Nora.

Damon would leave the series shortly after its move to CBS in 1943 to serve in the military (see above). Actors David Gothard and Les Tremayne substituted for Damon as Nick Charles during Damon's absence. Damon returned from the military in 1946 and resumed the role of Charles until December 1947. Tremayne was rehired as the role of Charles until 1948 when Joseph Curtin was hired as Charles until the program's cancellation in 1950.

In 1950, Damon replaced Tremayne once again on the radio program The Falcon on Mutual when Damon became free-lance investigator and troubleshooter Michael Waring, also known as the Falcon. He remained on The Falcon until 1953, being replaced by actor George Petrie.