THE STORY OF A CARTOONIST

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 26 November 1938, Page 13

THE STORY OF A CARTOONIST

RISE OF “POPEYE’S” CREATOR LATE MR E. SEGAR INAUSPICIOUS START AS A HOUSE PAINTER Elzic Crisler Segnr. creator of Popeye the Sailorman, one of the most popular comic-strip and animated-car-toon characters, was born at Chester, 111., in 1895. After attending the public schools j he got work as a motion-picture projectionist in a local theatre. Soon feeling the lure of art he quit that confining work to take up the more creative profession of house paintbr (says the New York "Times.”) FIRST EFFORTS He was pretty successful at this and eventually advanced to sign painting and paper hanging. He also played the drums in an orchestra and worked for a photographer, all the tirrie thinking about how he would like to be a cartoonist. Mr Segar's first efforts in this direction were made without the benefit of j any training. He sent a cartoon to a j St. Louis newspaper with this note: j I “Please publish on acct. of my uncle j ; works in the press room." The car- | j loon came back. So did riiany others, ! most of which had been sent to Life. ! HOME STUDY ■ Having saved £4. Mr Scgar subj scribed to a course in cartooning with a Cleveland correspondence school, and after 18 months of home study received a certificate saying he was a cartoonist. He went at once to Chicago, and R. F. Dutcault, then doing Buster Brown for the “Chicago Herald.” got him a job doing a strip balled "Charley Chaplin's Comic Capers.” The “Herald" suspended publication two years later, and Mr Segar wbnt over to the “Evening American” tc I draw “Looping the Loop.” a purely local strip. He also did second-string dramatic criticism on the side. "THIMBLE THEATRE" In 1919 Mr Segar came to New York and, joined the staff of King Features Syndicate, for which he drew “the

Thimble Theatre.” Olive Oyl. the incredibly homely lass whose adventures with Popeyc later made readers of some 600 newspapers laugh, was in this strip. ‘•The Thlrhble Theatre” was immediately successful. Utiiike many comic artists, Mi*' Segar was always adding riciv characters and, when one had served its purpose, dropping it. Out* Blizzard, a fighting game cock, was fricaseed after a year and a half, which tragedy drew a storm of protest from readers who had grown fond rtf the bird. POPEYE BEGiNS Popeye hirrlself was an Unexpected hit. The main CHarrictel- Uf the stHp was Castor Oyl. oiivb’s brother. Hat - ink bought A Ship. CaStoi- decided he needed a crew and stepped to the pick. There he met a stranger. Hey, ale you a sailor?" he asked. "Ja think I was a cowboy?” catne the reply, and these were Popeyb’s first wokcls. He was immediately the most popular character produced by the nimble wit of Mr Segar. Fan letters by the thousands began coming in. Mr Segar took one of his most popuI lar characters; the four-flushing and cowardly J. Wellington Wimpy, more or less from life. His other characters were fictitious, the product of a whimsical imagination. Surviving tile his widow, d son. 12 and a daughter. i 5.