Reg'lar Fellers
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Reg'lar Fellers was a long-run newspaper comic strip adapted into a feature film, a radio series on NBC and an animated cartoon. Created by Gene Byrnes (1889-1974), the comic strip offered a humorous look at a gang of suburban children (who nevertheless spoke like New York street kids). Syndicated from 1917 to 1949, Byrnes' strip was collected into several books.
While working as a sports cartoonist with the New York Telegram, Byrnes created his cartoon panel It's a Great Life If You Don't Weaken which introduced the Reg'lar Fellers characters in 1917. He began Wide Awake Willie as a New York Herald Sunday page in 1919, and this too featured Reg'lar Fellers characters. With Reg'lar Fellers running as a daily strip in 1920, he changed the name of the Sunday strip to Reg'lar Fellers. At its peak, the strip was syndicated in 800 newspapers.
The characters includes leader Jimmy Dugan, sidekick Puddinhead Duffy, Puddinhead's little brother Pinhead, Bullseye the dog and the gang's girl member, Angie Riley. In addition to book reprints and comic books, the strip was adapted to both animation and live-action films. Arthur Dreifuss' feature Reg'lar Fellers (1941) stars Billy Lee and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Ub Iwerks produced the animated adaptation, Happy Days (1936). One curious book published during World War II brought together colorful Reg'lar Fellers episodes of kids playing soldiers in backyards with black-and-white WWII combat photographs.
[edit] Radio
The Reg'lar Fellers comedy radio series, sponsored by Jello, aired Sunday nights on NBC from June 8, 1941 to August 31, 1941, as a summer replacement for The Jack Benny Program. Dickie Van Patten and Dickie Monahan starred as Jimmy and Dinky Dugan. Others in the cast included Joyce Van Patten, Patsy O'Shea and Skippy Homeier.
[edit] References
Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
