"The important thing is the rhythm; always have rhythm in your shaking:  A Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, and a dry martini you always shake to waltz time..."

The urbane and debonair Nicholas "Nick" Charles, a Greek-American, was born Nikolaos Charalambides, whose father had changed his unpronounceable surname upon his arrival at Ellis Island. The family settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later in Sycamore Springs, Virginia, and, after high school, became a detective, against his father's wishes, as an ace operative for the Trans-American Detective Agency, with time off to serve in the First World War. During a case in San Francisco, he met and fell in love with a beautiful, wealthy socialite, Nora Forrest, eloped after a whirlwind courtship (although her family felt she had married beneath herself), he retired to a life of leisure, content to manage Nora's rather sizeable dowry and to spend his time cheerfully getting drunk in hotel rooms and speakeasies with his beloved wife. They have an adorable pet cricket named Asta.

(I originally had a martini in his hand, but it looked all deformed, so I erased it in Photoshop. Sorry, I haven't drawn a good Nora Charles as of yet, although I love the way Nick turned out; I think it really looks like William Powell.)

Models - William Powell

Medium - 7B graphite.

Nick Charles © Dashiell Hammett (and Diane N. Tran).