Who is E.C. Segar? Here's a bit of Popeye trivia from Frugal Cafe.
E.C. Segar was born on December 8, 1894 and he created his nautical, spinach-eating hero in January 1929. Popeye first appeared as a supporting character in Segar’s “Thimble Theatre” comic strip. He became so popular that he eventually warranted his own comic strip. In 1980, Robin Williams portrayed Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl in Robert Altman’s film Popeye. It was Williams’ first big-budget feature film. Interestingly, the film will celebrate its United States’ 29th anniversary in four days; it was released to US theaters on December 12, 1980.