The Real-Life Origins Of Popeye The Sailor – And The One Man He Was Actually Based On

You’d be forgiven for being taken in by the photo, though, as the fella in the snap looks just like how we’d imagine the real-life Popeye to look. Popeye is a scrappy sailor, and this dude clearly knows his way around a ship. He also looks a bit like he’s been hacked out of a block of wood – again, just like the cartoon character.

Yep, it’s no wonder people think this real-life sailor is the inspiration for Popeye. He’s got the outstanding chin, the signature expresssion and even the pipe. Plus, you can totally imagine him saying things like, “I yam what I yam an’ tha’s all I yam!” And what if we told you the lookalike had the nickname of “Popeye,” too? Yes, really!

This Popeye was, in fact, a seaman in the British Royal Navy. According to the Imperial War Museum, the famous picture of him is from 1940. It was taken when he was serving on H.M.S. Rodney – a battleship that a year later would help sink the Bismarck. And the tough look was no doubt down to being a stoker – a guy whose job was to shovel coal into a furnace all day. Pretty cool, right? Well, not literally, of course.

This version of Popeye had 21 years of service in the British military. He is, in a very real sense, an inspiration. But here’s where things start to get a little mixed up. The viral internet meme claims that the guy is called Frank “Rocky” Fiegel and that he inspired our favorite spinach-munching sailor. But the truth is more complicated than that, and Fiegel probably wasn’t someone we should admire.

Contrary to what the meme says, the Imperial War Museum makes it clear that this Popeye isn’t the man who inspired the cartoon. But if it’s not him, then who is it? The answer is easily solved by looking into the creation of Popeye. Because – arf! arf! – you can’t always believe everything you read in a meme...

Remember when we said the picture of the stoker Popeye was taken in 1940? Well, that is actually 11 years after comic-strip Popeye was first dreamed up! So by this point, the cartoon was already pretty well known. Who knows, he may have even been pulling that face to look like the fictional version. Though this doesn’t mean the meme is completely wrong. Frank “Rocky” Fiegel was a real guy – and he really did help create the character. So what is the truth here?

Well, fictional Popeye first saw the light of day in January 1929. He was the brainchild of Elzie Segar, a cartoonist from Chester, IL. As it turns out, the artist wasn’t even alive at the time the real-life sailor was photographed. He had passed away a couple of years before. Funnily enough, the British Popeye didn’t actually make it into the navy until after Segar’s death, either.

And the comic strip where Popeye first appeared had been around for ten years before he turned up. Yes, Segar had been drawing Thimble Theatre since 1919. You’d have found some familiar characters there, too. Chief among them was Olive Oyl and her brother, Caster. Before Popeye was on the scene, Olive also had a man named Ham Gravy.

But the strip would be revolutionized in 1929 when Popeye made his entrance into the lives of both Olive Oyl and us readers. And the seaman with a mangled face and difficulty talking quickly gained a following. Before long, it was Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye, and an American icon had been born.

However, the character – although a seaman – was not in the military at the start. Nope, he’d actually just begun life in the merchant marine. Then he joined the Coast Guard – as shown in a 1937 short film. And even at the time Segar sadly passed away, the character had still not enlisted in the navy.

But surely Popeye is a naval guy? Yes, like many young men, Popeye signed up in 1941. From then on, he was seen in a U.S. Navy uniform, and he became ever more popular for his patriotism. He became known, too, for having a famous penchant for spinach.

It may surprise you to learn that Popeye didn’t eat spinach at first. Nope, to begin with, he gained his strength by rubbing a chicken’s head! Within a few years, though, he was knocking back cans of spinach and gaining incredible strength. And it gave the veggie a lot of good press. Apparently, sales went up by a third in the Depression years!

Popeye also puffed on a clay pipe when he wasn’t chowing down on the green stuff. But the spinach gave him the power he needed to save his “goil” Olive from peril. Without it, he wasn’t so tough – regularly taking a beating from that very same lady.

So, “eat more spinach, and you’ll be tough” was the theme of many short films about the diminutive sailor. And from 1933 on, Fleischer Studios created animations for Paramount Pictures that showed Popeye defeating villainous Bluto and rescuing Olive.

Even though the cartoons were simpler than the comic strip, Popeye himself didn’t much change. He was the same small guy with ballooning triceps and a pliable face. And when given a voice in the shorts, he would announce to the world, “I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.”

But surely such a vivid character must have a basis in real life? Popeye is so distinctive that it seems only natural he would have a human inspiration. Well, although Segar never admitted it, many local people in Chester believe that several of the famous cartoon characters were born in their hometown.

Take storekeeper Dora Paskel, who was apparently exactly like Olive Oyl. It’s said, in fact, that her long body was just like Olive’s and that she, too, liked to tie her hair in the distinctive tight bun. Paskel even wore similar clothes right down to her shoes – button-ups that were all the rage in the interwar years.

Interestingly, though, Paskel’s personality was apparently miles apart from Olive’s. The real woman was not a clownish figure at all. The town’s children actually found her a bit intimidating, and that meant they would rarely enter her store. In 2004 Ernie Schuchert – a child back when Segar was also a Chester kid – told The New York Times, “We were kind of scared of her.”

Meanwhile, Schuchert’s relative J. William was the clear inspiration for Wimpy. And it seems that he gave young Segar a job. Yes, the boy who would become a famed comic artist saved up for a drawing course by working at the Chester Opera House.

Just like Wimpy, Schuchert’s relative loved his hamburgers. He would send Segar to the nearby tavern Wiebusch’s to grab them for him when there weren’t any performances. J. William even looked similar to the cartoon character, with a figure that tended to the rotund. We don’t know whether he promised to pay for the burgers on Tuesday, though!

Yet Wimpy’s character wasn’t entirely drawn from the Opera House worker. Website Popeye Picnic notes that his crooked aspects may have been based on a boxing referee in Ocean Park, California. In any case, Schuchert was a much-loved guy in Chester. He was an easy-going character who loved embellishing a tale – and that’s somewhat reflected in Wimpy.

So, there’s little doubt that Segar did look to local people for inspiration. But what about Popeye? Who was he based on? And what was it that made him such an anti-hero? Well, many people in Chester are quite convinced that Segar used Frank “Rocky” Fiegel as the basis for his cartoon.

Fiegel was a Pole by birth and had come to the United States with his family when he was young. It’s said that the tough guy resided with his mom near the town’s cemetery. Unlike Popeye, he was a tall man, but just like the sailor, he didn’t shy away from a fight. And in Fred Grandinetti’s book Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, local Lee Huffstutler is quoted as saying that Fiegel was “always a winner” when he did get into a rumble.

But Fiegel was no sailor, so it’s definitely not him in the picture of the British naval stoker! No, it’s instead said that he mostly found work as a bartender. Yet Fiegel did have something of a yearning for the sea. The man could sometimes be heard saying that he’d love to explore the world in a sailing boat.

Fiegel apparently looked the part, too. Supposedly, he had a prominent chin, and his face was twisted so that one of his eyes looked larger than the other. He also loved his pipe – just like the comic character. In fact, he’d never be seen out and about without it! It gave him a distinctive look that probably went on to inform the drawing of Popeye.

But above all else, Fiegel was hard as nails. As a younger man, he’d achieved what a local newspaper described as “amazing feats of strength.” It was on account of his jacked body that he was nicknamed “Rocky.” And Fiegel wasn’t afraid to put himself on the line if someone wanted a fight.

No, Fiegel didn’t mind scrapping at the bar. The Polish-American didn’t often find himself on the wrong end of a beating, either. And he was tough enough not to need fueling with spinach. But there was a hidden side to the man. Schuchert told The New York Times that although Fiegel wasn’t a nice guy, he’s remembered as being sweet enough.

Word is that the local kids – perhaps including Segar himself – would also play pranks on Fiegel. They’d catch him snoozing in the afternoon after he’d been working the bar at a saloon. Then the youngsters would sneak up and yell at him. When Fiegel woke up fighting mad, however, they’d all be gone!

You should know, though, that the idea of Fiegel being the inspiration for Popeye wasn’t really established until Segar had passed. At that time, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch displayed Fiegel’s photo and claimed that he was the original Popeye. It’s not known, either, whether the Polish-American ever saw the newspaper. Still, as Chester is not too far from St. Louis, it’s possible that he did.

“I don’t know that he ever knew he was Popeye,” Schuchert told The New York Times in 2004. And his memories of Fiegel weren’t exactly flattering. “He’d sit on a stoop outside his house, which was really dilapidated,” Schuchert added.

But people in the town of Chester had no doubt that he was the real Popeye, and nowadays everyone agrees. Perhaps Segar sweetened up his tough character a little bit, but the liquor-loving Fiegel had the comic character’s boldness. And, of course, Segar turned him into a seaman, which the Polish-American never was.

In fact, it doesn’t seem like Fiegel did much at all. As we noted, the guy worked behind the bar sometimes and occasionally did laboring work. But he wasn’t always in a job. Fiegel would often be found lazing away the day in one of the bars in town – ready for a fight.

Fiegel’s life came to an end in 1947, and he was put to rest in a grave with no marking. But the liquor-lover wasn’t completely forgotten, and the Official Popeye Fan Club set a headstone at his plot in 1996. As an epitaph, it bore a replica of the 1929 Popeye.

As for Segar? He quit Chester in the 1920s. And the comic he created ultimately became a hit, going on to feature in 500 different newspapers. Then, on Popeye’s 90th birthday in 2019, the character turned up in brand new cartoons on YouTube. He was still the same old guy – minus the pipe, though, as he sets a better example for kids these days.

And there’s another place you may be able to catch a Popeye cartoon or two: the old Opera House in Chester. Once a movie theater, it’s now home to a museum dedicated to the character as well as a store with an enormous selection of collectibles. The Tennessean couple who run the establishment love Popeye so much that they just had to make Chester their home.

Of course, the pair are not the only ones who adore Popeye, as the character has close to ten million followers on Facebook. “He’s an American icon,” local Laurie Randall told The New York Times in 2004. “He stands for being who you are and standing up for the little guy.”

Schuchert will always remember, though, that the people who inspired Popeye’s characters were just everyday folks in Chester. “These were just our friends and family. We’re just happy the rest of the world knows them, too,” he explained to The New York Times. And Chester certainly hasn’t forgotten about them – far from it, in fact.

No, the town is still to this day honoring the characters from Popeye by making a “Popeye and Friends Character Trail.” This lengthy project is placing granite statues in meaningful places. There’s already one in bronze of Popeye himself, though the first of the statues is of Wimpy, and it went up in 2006 right next to the old Opera House.

Chester isn’t the only place to have memorialized Popeye in statue form. Crystal City, Texas, put up a figure of the seaman in the middle of town to commemorate his love of spinach. The city is the center of a spinach-raising area, you see. But, sadly, we’ll probably never know what Fiegel thought of the veggie – or whether he ever ate a can of the stuff before a fight.

There’s another iconic cartoon character who seems to have been based on a real-life person, and that’s Betty Boop. Yes, with her big baby face, button nose and huge eyes, she’s is instantly recognizable. Just wait until you see who people think she was made to resemble...

One of the best-loved cartoon characters ever, Betty’s appeal has endured since her first appearance in the 1930s. In fact, in the intervening decades, she’s been used to sell just about everything. Even someone who’s never seen her on screen may use a Betty lipstick or wear a T-shirt with her face on it.

Betty has made her mark culturally, too. Echoes of the adorable animation can be seen in the Doonesbury comic – in which “Boopsie” appears – and in other shows where her look and figure are borrowed by characters. Betty has also featured in an ad for a lash product and in a short promotional movie with fashion designer Zac Posen – and that’s not even taking into consideration her obvious influence on 1980s rapper Betty Boo.

But when did Betty first appear? Well, Max Fleischer created the character in collaboration with a number of fellow animators, including Myron “Grim” Natwick. Betty initially hit screens, then, in Fleischer’s Talkartoon series in 1930, although her popularity ensured that she would later have a series all of her own.

Fleischer himself had been born in Krakow in Poland and came to the U.S. with his parents as a toddler. He subsequently settled in New York City and acquired a new first name, as he had been Majer at birth. And, later, the animator became head of his own Fleischer Studios along with his little brother Dave.

Fleischer was actually something of a pioneer in the field of animation, as he created novelties that would later become commonplace in the industry. The studio head invented such things as the Rotoscope, which allowed for the creation of animation from live-action films. He also developed the “bouncing ball” – now a familiar feature when we’re singing along with animated songs or doing karaoke.

And arguably one of the most enduring of Fleischer’s ideas was of course Betty, who made her debut in the seventh of Fleischer’s Talkartoons – entitled Dizzy Dishes – in August 1930. Curiously, though, when the character first appeared, she was not quite the flapper that we are familiar with. Instead, she took the form of a French poodle with a baby voice, and she’d appear in that guise for a couple of years.

So, how did Betty transform into the ditsy sweetheart we know and love today? Well, all was seemingly revealed during an interview in the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. An unknown person revealed, “One day, Dave Fleischer handed Grim a photograph of singer Helen Kane and asked him to design a caricature. Fleischer had found a sound-alike and planned to use her in the upcoming Talkartoon Dizzy Dishes. Grim exaggerated Kane’s wide eyes and rosebud mouth, creating a slightly coarse but strikingly original design.”

The interviewee continued, “Grim streamlined and refined his caricature of Kane for the part. But Dave Fleischer objected, insisting that since Bimbo was a dog, his girlfriend should also be a dog. Grim quickly sketched Betty’s head on a four-legged canine body. He held up the drawing next to the pretty girl design, and asked, ‘Which would you rather have as your girlfriend? A girl? Or a dog?’ Dave laughed and agreed that the pretty girl was the right choice.”

Fleischer’s Talkartoons had begun as one-offs in 1929, with the first, Noah’s Lark, being a romp based on the Biblical story. As the series progressed, though, dog Bimbo became a recurring character to the point that the cartoons became all about him. And as Natwick and his fellow animators got into their stride, the Talkartoons took flight into surreal and complex territory.

It was into this world, then, that Betty stepped. Based on the Jazz Age flapper, she was mostly aimed at adult viewers and was consequently something of a sex symbol. In 1932’s Minnie the Moocher, the character also emerged as a teenager with somewhat of a rebellious streak.

Betty made waves, in fact, for her sex appeal – something not previously seen in other female cartoon characters. Yes, while the likes of Minnie the Mouse would have elements of their underwear on show, they had little of Betty’s coquettishness. The flapper-esque cartoon also famously wears tiny dresses that show off her cleavage, high heels and a garter.

Betty never gives any encouragement to the male characters who try to court her, however. After all, she is not only virginal but, according to Fleischer, 16 years old. And, shockingly, Betty narrowly escapes sexual assault in more than one cartoon.

The harassment of Betty reaches a peak in the short film Boop-Oop-A-Doop. Performing on a high wire, Betty comes under the gaze of the ringmaster, who subsequently makes an unwelcome advance and threatens her position with the circus. But in the end, Koko the Clown comes to her rescue, and Betty sings that the bad guy “couldn’t take [her] boop-oop-a-doop away.”

What’s more, once Betty had shown up in the Talkartoon series, she became a central figure, appearing in the eight cartoons that came after Dizzy Dishes. Then, in 1932, she was granted her own series with Bimbo as her support. Another Fleischer invention, Koko the Clown, would also often appear – but the star was very much Betty.

The early years of the “Jazz Baby” toon passed, though, and the strain of distinctly adult sexuality was toned down. This came after the passing of the 1934 Production Code, which strongly limited the amount of smutty double meanings that a film was allowed to include.

After July 1934, then, Betty would no longer be a flapper living without a care; instead, she’d be a housewife or a career girl. Her look changed to something much more demure, too, and she even ditched her distinctive hoop earrings. The character became older, wiser and calmer, in fact, as Fleischer’s animators sought to please the censors.

But as the new wholesome Betty targeted a younger audience, the cartoons became less popular. As a consequence, then, the characters with whom Betty was portrayed increasingly took center stage in an attempt to keep her relevant. The animators also struggled to find ways to keep Betty up to date once jazz’s day began to decline.

Sadly, the Betty Boop series would finally finish in 1939 with Yip Yip Yippy. Somewhat unusually, though, the cartoon didn’t even feature Betty; instead, it was a one-off created largely to meet the requirements of the studio contract.

Perhaps a key part of Betty’s allure, though, was her voice, which for the most part was provided by Mae Questel. A native of the Bronx, Questel had had a youthful desire to get into the entertainment business – although her parents had attempted to dissuade her. Undeterred, the future voice actress later won a talent contest by copying Helen Kane, and after that she would go on to make a name as a skilled impersonator.

Then Fleischer came across Questel when searching for someone to voice Betty, and the aspiring star’s version of Helen Kane – in which she sang the famous “Boop-boop-a-doop” – captured his attention. At the same time, Questel had a tinge of Clara Bow – a film star with a saucy edge that had made her popular at the time. Fleischer hired her in 1931, then, and soon she became the voice of Betty.

Betty had Questel’s voice for over 150 cartoons – more than any other actress who took on the role. Questel had some success on the side, too, with a version of “On the Good Ship Lollipop” that shifted more than two million records. And on top of Betty, she was also the voice of Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oyl.

Perhaps down in part to Questel, then, Helen Kane was long thought to have been the basis for Betty Boop. Kane had had a long career in entertainment prior to her big break in 1928, when she landed a spot at New York City’s The Paramount Theater.

Then, during the show, Kane trotted out her version of a song that was already popular. Something about her rendition of “That’s My Weakness Now” caught the imagination of the audience, however – not least when she broke out into a jazz “scat.” “Boop boop a doop,” Kane sang, and that vocal refrain would go on to make her name in the city.

Furthermore, The New York Times suggested at the time that Kane was “the most menacing of the baby-talk ladies” – a term used for a particular type of woman in vaudeville. Nevertheless, Kane found herself a star on the back of the phrase “boop boop a doop,” which the song used as a sort of code for sex.

Kane would follow her success up a few months later with her best-loved song “I Wanna Be Loved By You” – which would also become Betty Boop’s signature tune. But before the character and the composition came together, Kane had become a big name – her career revived by her flapper persona and unique singing style.

The influence that Kane seemingly had on Betty was noted, too, by the real-life actress. Yes, when Betty’s cartoons started to appear, Kane couldn’t help noticing how similar they were to her act. As a result, then, she took Fleischer and his studio Paramount to court, seeking nearly $4.7 million in today’s money for what she claimed was infringement of her copyright. But although of course Fleischer had borrowed some of Kane’s act, he claimed that she wasn’t the only inspiration for Betty; Clara Bow had apparently been thrown into the mix as well.

And Fleischer had a witness up his sleeve who blew away Kane’s case. Lou Walton was the manager of a singer called Esther Jones, who went by the name of Baby Esther, and he had damning evidence to give. Not only did Walton claim that he and Jones had invented the “boop boop a doop” refrain, but he also alleged that he’d seen Kane watching Jones’ act.

Jones often played in Harlem joints such as The Cotton Club, and she had earned her nickname precisely because she sang in the cutie-pie voice that Kane would allegedly lift. The killer element of Jones’ act, meanwhile, was the very same scat that Kane would use to make her name.

Jones had studied the other artists at The Cotton Club in an effort to get her own scatting spot on. And with legends such as Louis Armstrong to learn from, she was able to create a style all of her own. At least, it was just hers until Kane heard it and apparently made it her own, too.

Kane’s case was crushed, then, when Fleischer brought out a screen test from Jones that seemingly acted as proof that she had originated the “boop boop a doop” scat. And with this evidence suggesting that Kane could not claim her style had been infringed – since it wasn’t hers to begin with – the trial came to an end.

Sadly, after two years of fighting, Kane was left with nothing. Making his ruling, the judge said on the matter, “The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force.” He pointed out, too, that Betty’s look was common in those times; Clara Bow had elements of the character’s style, for one.

Naturally, Fleischer and the studio were delighted with the court ruling – although Jones herself was not there to celebrate alongside them. In fact, it’s not known whether Jones was even alive at the time of the trial. And the singer’s disappearance may have been a further tonic to Fleischer; that way, she would not be suing as well.

Kane, on the other hand, continued to thrive after the trial. Indeed, the exposure actually helped her rebranding as “the Original Boop-Boop-A-Doop Girl,” and she’d release records and a cartoon using this name. But no one ever gave a cent to Jones or her family. Instead, she was just used to defeat Kane’s suit and was then more or less forgotten.

In the final analysis, then, Betty was never just made from one person. You see, while her lips and her eyes came straight from Clara Bow, her singing was all Jones as interpreted by Kane. Then, with a pinch of pinup, a heap of sass and the imagination of Fleischer and Natwick all added to the mix, Betty was born.

And although Kane and Jones are long gone and largely forgotten, Betty remains a cultural icon. London clothier Lazy Oaf released a collection in 2018 that starred the character, for instance, with Moschino following suit in the same year. Betty even made an appearance on TV show Project Runway, which featured a challenge to create another clothing line featuring the famous flapper.

In 1994 the U.S. Library of Congress also selected the 1933 Betty cartoon Snow-White for preservation in the National Film Registry. And two years after that, Betty featured in Animaniacs in the form of “Goopi Goop” – parodying one of her cartoons. In that instance, Desirée Goyette, who had acted as Betty, provided Goopi’s voice.

Betty subsequently hit the screens again in 2012 in the film American Mary, which features a protagonist who has undergone cosmetic surgery so that she’ll look like the cartoon character. And Betty pops up from time to time in fashion and make-up commercials, too.

Given the amount of money made through these licenses and appearances, then, it’s perhaps no surprise that Betty has been the subject of further legal action. However, in a 2011 decision, a court decided that it couldn’t choose who owned the copyright to the character, as this hadn’t been been sold with the Betty Boop cartoons themselves. Even Fleischer Studios couldn’t win a 2008 case to defend its copyright claim.

Nevertheless, Betty endures today. And in 2017 Ray Pointer, a historian of animation, summed the iconic caricature up for the History channel’s website, saying, “[She] was never intended to be a continuing character. The cartoons helped to promote and expose the public to jazz and swing.” On top of that, she reflected the tradition of vaudeville, which in itself owed a great deal to performers of color – including Esther Jones, the original Betty Boop.