There is some confusion about his birthplace, Fulton and Manhattan all in N.Y. are mentioned but Carleton Garrettson Young was born in Westfield, N.Y. as the son of William T. Young and Carrie S. Young (Floss Carri).

He had little intention of becoming an actor, but when the principal of his high school - who was also a minister with great love for the theatre- saw him act in the senior class play, he urged him to take up acting.

He received his preliminary training as an actor in Pittsburg. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he became "one of the most promising of its group of youthful Thespians".

He played leading roles in stock productions in Buffalo, Atlanta, and New York, and appeared in principal roles in productions on Broadway before coming West.

He made his radio debut in Rin Tin Tin (1930)  and became one of radio's most successful and prolific actors with 8,000 to 10,000 appearances on Radio.

He made his radio debut in one of the  and went on to become one of radio's most successful and prolific actors with some 8,000 to 10,000 appearances in Radio.
He carried running roles in Carol Kennedy's Romance (as Dr.Craig), Stella Dallas (as Dick Grosvenor), Society Girl (1938-40), The O'Neills, The Story of Mary Marlin, Second Husband (played Bill Cumming), Hilltop House (as Dr. Robbie), Life Begins (as Winfield Craig), Portia Faces Life and Our Gal Sunday. He had leads in Front Page Farrell (as David Farell), Trouble House (1936-37, as Bill Mears) and Hollywood Mystery Time.

 
Above left: Marion Shockley (Nikki) opposite Carleton Young as Ellery Queen in a photo for episode 92 "The Midnight Visitor" (1942).
Above right: Frances Gifford, Carleton G. Young and Thurston Hall in the 1945 film Thrill Of A Romance.

In Front Page Farrell, Carleton Young , became the second actor, after Richard Widmark to play (1942-54) David Farrell. He took over from Hugh Marlowe as Ellery Queen in 1942-43,  according to an article in Variety he left the series around August to take up his contract with 20th-Fox.
From 1943 to 1952 he played Edmond Dantes in the radio serial The Count of Monte Cristo.
He also played the lead role of Producer-Director Ted Lawton in some thirty-nine episodes of Hollywood Mystery Time (1945). 

Carleton appeared in the motion pictures Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), Kissing Bandit (1948) opposite Frank Sinatra, His Kind of Woman (1951), Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) and Close-Up (1951).

 
Above left: Queen of the Burlesque (1946) Carleton G. Young with Evelyn Ankers.
Above right: Claire Trevor and Carleton Young in RKO's Close-Up (1951).

 
Above left: Hard Fast and Beautiful (1951), Ida Lupino with Carleton Young and Claire Trevor.
Above right: Carleton in His Kind of Woman (1951).


He portrayed Philip Gault (The Whisperer) on NBC Radio's The Whisperer (1951) Lawyer Philip Galt, due to a college football injury, lost his voice and can only speak in an eerie whisper. Galt infiltrates "the syndicate" in his native Central City to bring down organized crime from within; to the underworld, he becomes known as the Whisperer. Later, his voice is restored through surgery, but he continues to lead a double life as the Whisperer, relaying instructions by telephone from the syndicate bosses in New York (who don't know he's a mole) to their lackeys in Central City, whom Galt is actually setting up...  

Blessed with both the good looks and an 'air' of a gentlemen, which only increased through the years, Carleton made a smooth transition to TV. Starting with The Unexpected (1952) and the earliest TV adaptation of Superman he made his first steps for the new medium.

In March 1955 Barbara Britton,  Jan Merlin and Carleton were in a three-character drama called The Woman with Red Hair, at the Circle Theater in Hollywood. Carleton’s teenaged son, Tony, attended rehearsals before the play was launched, and it was easy to see he’d follow in his father’s footsteps when he grew older, choosing to perform as “Tony Young” for his film and tv appearances.

In 1959, in the season-two episode of ABC's Leave It to Beaver, Young played John Bates, the father of series character Gilbert Bates (Stephen Talbot). That same year, he was cast, along with Mary Castle, in the episodes "The Big Gamblers" and "The Confidence Gang" of Rex Allen's syndicated western series, Frontier Doctor. (2)

Other television roles were on The Loretta Young Show, Annie Oakley, Sheriff of Cochise, How to Marry a Millionaire, Perry Mason, M Squad, The Rebel, and Bourbon Street Beat. In 1960, he portrayed the character George McKean in "A Murderer's Return" of the ABC western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian. (Pictured left) (2)

On May 1. 1961 Young was arrested after a crash in which his wife Barbara and another woman were injured. He was later convicted for felony drunk driving. This coincided with Young's last television roles on the ABC/Warner Brothers drama series, The Roaring 20s and on NBC's Tales of Wells Fargo. That same year, his son, Tony Young, starred in the short-lived CBS western, Gunslinger. (2)

Carleton G. Young died of emphysema/cancer in Santa Monica, CA on July 11, 1971 and is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California. He and his son both died at the age of sixty-four.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the North side of the 6700 block of Hollywood Boulevard
He is often confused with actor Carleton Scott Young (No relation) who also appeared in movies and television shows.