A 1938 magazine article reported that “When Edgar Bergen was a high school student in Chicago in the post-war [WWI] period, he got the notion that he wanted a dummy so that he could become a ventriloquist.

However, it was not until 1933 that Charlie and Bergen breezed into Broadway and were an instantaneous hit which was climaxed by their appearance on the radio.”[2] Charlie and Bergen made their radio debut on NBC's The Royal Gelatin Hour in 1936, where they proved such a hit that the following year the network gave them a starring role on The Chase and Sanborn Hour, where they were initially supported by emcee Don Ameche, singer Nelson Eddy,[3] actress Dorothy Lamour and comedian W. C. Fields.

Though shortened to thirty minutes as The Chase and Sanborn Program, it wasn't until 1947, in a rare case of star taking precedent over sponsor in the title, that the series was officially renamed The Charlie McCarthy Show.

Bergen and McCarthy made their final film appearance in The Muppet Movie, as guest judges of the Bogen County Fair beauty contest.

On October 30, 1938, many listeners fiddled with the dial during Nelson Eddy's musical interlude, intending to switch back for Charlie's next comedy spot, and stumbled on Welles' production of The War of the Worlds, allegedly engendering a panic.