was it based on a real person? This is his story.
His real name was Frank “Rocky” Fiegel.
He was born in 1868 in Poland and, when he was a child, immigrated to the United States with his family, who settled in a small town in Illinois.
As a young man, Rocky turned to the sea. After a 20-year career as a sailor in the Merchant Marines, Fiegel retired. He was later hired by Wiebusch’s Tavern in Chester, Illinois as a “doorman” to keep order in the rowdy bar.
Rocky quickly gained a reputation for always getting into fights (and usually winning). As a result, he had a deformed eye (“Pop-eye”).
He also “always” smoked his pipe, so he always talked out of one side of his mouth. In his spare time, Rocky entertained bar patrons with thrilling tales of adventures he claimed to have had during his career as a sailor crossing the ‘Seven Seas’.
The creator met the real Popeye
The creator of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, grew up in Chester and, as a youngster, met Rocky in the tavern and would sit for hours listening to the old sailor’s amazing “sea” stories.
Years later, Segar became a cartoonist and created a comic called “Thimble Theater”. He honored Fiegel by asking him if he could name the character in his new comic “Popeye the Sailor Man” after him. Naturally, Fiegel was flattered and agreed.
Segar claimed that ‘Olive Oyl’, along with other characters, was also based on a real person. She was Dora Paskel, owner of a small grocery store in Chester. He claimed that the woman looked a lot like the character he created – she even dressed the same way!
Over the years, Segar kept in touch with Rocky and always helped him by giving him money, as he gave him a small percentage of what he earned from the “Popeye” illustrations.
