E.C. Segar and Popeye
By admin on December 8, 2009 / Arts & Entertainment
Elzie Crisler Segar was born December 8, 1894 and he died 13 Oktober 1938, was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of Popeye, a character who first appeared in 1929 in his newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre.
Segar was born and raised in Chester, Illinois, a small town near the Mississippi River. The son of a handyman, his earliest work experiences included assisting his father in house painting and paper hanging. Skilled at playing drums, he also provided musical accompaniment to films and vaudeville acts in the local theater, where he was eventually given the job of film projectionist. At age 18, he decided to become a cartoonist. He worked hard on a correspondence course in cartooning from W.L. Evans, of Cleveland, Ohio, in which he had invested $20. He said that after work he “lit up the oil lamps about midnight and worked on the course until 3am.”
Segar moved to Chicago where he met Richard Felton Outcault, creator of The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown. Outcault encouraged him and introduced him at the Chicago Herald. On March 12, 1916, the Herald published Segar’s first comic, Charlie Chaplin’s Comedy Capers, which ran for a little over a year. In 1918, he moved on to Hearst’s Chicago Evening American where he created Looping the Loop. Segar married Myrtle Johnson that year; they had two children. He died at age 43 after a long illness.
December 8, 2009 — Popeye pictured eating spinach is the celebrated on the Google.com main page for today, December 8. Honoring E.C. Segar’s birthday back in 1894, the celebrated cartoonist was the creator of Popeye the sailor man.
Popeye, who was deeply loved by his girlfriend, Olive Oil, enjoyed not only being a cartoon character but also as celebrity in newspapers and books as well. Always competing with rival Bruno, Popeye ate tons of spinach, gulping the green vegetable down by the can so he could power up to full strength.
Google.com periodically changes their webpage heading to honor events and dates of interest around the world. This unique day reflects the best of the past by celebrating the work of a very talented artist.
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