NICK AND NORA CHARLES

'Nick and Nora Charles', or Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Charles (which is short for his Greek moniker "Charalambides"), are the characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel ''The Thin Man''. Nick is a retired private detective and Nora a wealthy society woman whose snobbish family thinks she has married beneath herself; Hammett modeled her on his lover Lillian Hellman. Their banter provides comic relief of the type that would later be seen between John Steed and Emma Peel in ''The Avengers''. The couple have a pet dog, Asta, who is a female schnauzer (but became a male wire fox terrier when the book was made into a film).
The film adaptation of ''The Thin Man'' was a resounding success, and although Hammett never wrote another novel with Nick and Nora Charles, five movie sequels were produced. In the novel, Nick Charles is overweight and out of shape; the "thin man" is in fact a murder victim. However, Nick Charles was portrayed by the slim actor William Powell, naturally confusing the audience into thinking Nick was the title character. The movie producers capitalized on this confusion, and inserted "Thin Man" in the titles of the sequels to indicate Nick and Nora stories. Nora is portrayed by Myrna Loy in the films.
A radio show based on the characters ran from 1941-1950. In 1957, a TV show based on the characters ran two seasons in 1957-1959, starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk as Nick and Nora.
In 1991, the "Thin Man" motion pictures were adapted into an unsuccessful Broadway musical, ''Nick & Nora''. It opened on December 8, 1991 and ran for just nine performances before closing on December 15.
Nick and Nora were the inspirations for two comic book couples: the adoptive parents of Mary Marvel, Nick and Nora Bromfield, as well as the relationship between Ralph and Sue Dibny. They also lend their names to the main characters of a 2006 young adult novel by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, ''Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist''.

Contents

Trivia

Trivia

★ There is a reference to Nick and Nora in an episode of the ''Gilmore Girls'', "Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy".

★ In the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' episode As You Were, Xander makes a reference to Riley Finn and his wife as "Nick and Nora Fury", invoking both the Charlses, and Marvel Comics superspy Nick Fury.

★ In an issue of ''Plastic Man'' the title character turns into Nick Charles and says "I adore witty banter, Nora. You should attempt some," to his companion, Agent Morgan. Morgan has no idea who he is imitating, possibly because Nick and Nora are two real but ordinary people (see above) in DC Comics continuity.

★ Neil Simon's 1976 movie ''Murder by Death'' parodied Nick and Nora as Dick and Dora Charleston.

★ The title characters of the 2006 young-adult novel ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' allude to Nick and Nora.

★ In the March 6, 2007 episode of ''General Hospital'', Tracey Quartermaine referred to Lulu & Dillon as "Nick & Nora" regarding their continuing investigation into Rick Weber's murder.

★ In an episode of ''Bionic Six'', "The Case of the Baker Street Bionics," I.Q. and Karate-1 are invited to participate in a game of mystery based on a number of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, along with pastiches of famous fictional detectives, including Nick and Nora.