Jack Mercer

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Jack Mercer (January 13, 1909 – December 4, 1984), was an American cartoonist, animator and voice actor. He is perhaps best known as the voice of Popeye.

Mercer began his work in cartoons as an "inbetweener", an apprentice animator at Fleischer Studios. When William Costello, the original cartoon voice of Popeye (1933-35), became difficult to work with, he was dismissed. Several individuals filled the role of Popeye until Lou Fleischer heard Mercer singing the Popeye song. Mercer's first cartoon was King of the Mardi Gras. Mercer continued to voice the one-eyed sailor for the Fleischers, for Paramount's Famous Studios cartoons (1942-57), for a series of television cartoons for King Features Syndicate, and for a Saturday morning cartoon show (1978), produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Mercer also did other cartoon voices, including all the voices for a series of Felix the Cat cartoons produced in 1959-60. Mercer also did the voices of Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye's nephews, King Little in Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels, and a number of voices for Fleischer's Mr. Bug Goes To Town.

Mercer also wrote hundreds of scripts for various cartoon series, including a number of "Popeye" episodes, animated cartoons produced for Paramount Pictures, "Deputy Dawg" and "Milton the Monster".

Originally a resident of New York City, Mercer relocated to Miami, Florida when Flesicher Studios relocated there. When Famous Studios took over the Popeye cartoons, Mercer moved back to New York. In the late 1970s he relocated to Los Angeles, where he died.