Popeye first appeared 85 years ago, in a comic strip by the cartoonist Elzie Segar. Here are 10 unexpected facts about everyone's favourite one-eyed sailor
Three views of the famous cartoon character Popeye Photo: ALAMY/EVERETT COLLECTION/REX
1. Popeye and Olive Oyl were real people
Well, they were based on real people. When Elzie Segar introduced Popeye in a 1929 comic strip, he drew his inspiration for the sailor from a character from his hometown of Chester, Illinois – a one-eyed man named Frank 'Rocky' Fiegal. Fiegal, who shared Popeye's fondness for fighting and pipe-smoking, was apparently rather flattered by his link to the cartoon: when he died in 1947, his gravestone was inscribed with the words "inspiration for Popeye." Olive Oyl was based on another of Segar's neighbours – a very tall, slim woman named Dora Paskel, who usually wore her hair in a bun.
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