[3] In the summer of 1916, Flora temporarily moved her children to her husband's parents' home in Hatfield Point, New Brunswick, but due to the machinations of his father, Nolan never saw his mother again.

[4] There he attended The Belmont School until 1921, when, at the age of thirteen, he moved to Tucson, Arizona, to live with his father Harry, a United States Army officer.

In high school he was an average student, was a member of the Arion Club choral group, and excelled in athletics.

[3] In September 1931, Nolan answered a classified ad in The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner that read "Yodeler for old-time act, to travel.

The Sons of the Pioneers began performing Nolan's original songs on a nationally syndicated radio show.

[1][5] The deal was far from lucrative (they were paid $33 apiece to appear in each film, and Nolan and Spencer each received $10 for every original song), but the worldwide exposure was beneficial to the group.

Nolan appeared in at least 88 Western films, first for Columbia Pictures and later with cowboy stars Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

With the Sons of the Pioneers, he made guest appearances in high-budget films like Hollywood Canteen and Rhythm on the Range with Bing Crosby.

In 1941, Columbia disbanded the close-knit Starrett unit temporarily, freeing the Sons of the Pioneers to join Roy Rogers at Republic Pictures.

He returned to record with the Sons of the Pioneers in 1956, at the insistence of RCA Victor executives who wanted to capitalize on Nolan's TV exposure in the old Rogers westerns.

[8] On July 27, 1980, many of his friends and former colleagues gathered at Rex Allen's Diamond X ranch in Calabasas, California, to honor him musically.