Stang once claimed he gained his break in radio by sending a postcard to a New York station requesting an audition, was accepted, and then bought his own ticket to New York from Chelsea, Massachusetts, with the money set aside for his mother's anniversary gift. True or not, Stang worked on New York–based network radio shows as a boy, appearing on children's programs such as "The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour" and "Let's Pretend". By 1940, he had graduated to teenaged roles, appearing as Seymour on "The Goldbergs". Director Don Bernard hired him in October 1941 to do the commercials on the CBS program "Meet Mr. Meek" but decided his constantly cracking voice would hurt the commercial so he ordered scriptwriters to come up with a role for him. He next appeared on the summer replacement show "The Remarkable Miss Tuttle" with Edna May Oliver in 1942 and replaced Eddie Firestone Jr. in the title role of "That Brewster Boy" when Firestone joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943.