Popeye turns 75



In honor of Popeye's 75th birthday New York's Empire State Building will shine its lights spinach-green this weekend. A 3-D animated movie will air before Christmas on Fox. And Chester, population 5,200, will hold its annual picnic for Popeye fans after Labor Day.




From CNN

CHESTER, Illinois (AP) -- Before Popeye the Sailor, Olive Oyl and Wimpy were the stars of a beloved comic strip, they walked the streets of this little town where their creator grew up

Popeye's real-life alter ego, according to locals, was Frank Fiegel, a one-eyed, pipe-smoking man with a penchant for fistfights. Dora Paskel was unusually tall and thin and wore a bun at the nape of her neck. And theater owner J. William Schuchert so loved hamburgers that he would send his employees out between performances to buy them.

Popeye made his debut in the funny pages 75 years ago, walking onto Elzie Segar's "Thimble Theatre" comic strip on January 17, 1929. The colorful locals from Segar's hometown had evolved into a pipe-tooting, spinach-chomping hero, the "goil" he was always rushing to save from danger, and a man with a paunch to prove his passion for burgers.

Posted: Sat - January 17, 2004 at 05:16 AM        

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