Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters

Popeye the Sailor Man Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...

. The son of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

and Broadway performers, he also performed on the vaudeville and legitimate stages. Mercer provided numerous supporting voices in Superman 1941-1942.

Life and career

Mercer began his work in

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

s as an " inbetweener", an apprentice animator at

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

. Mercer liked to imitate voices, including one close call when he mimicked the high-pitched and loud voice of the wife of one of the Fleischers after he mistakenly thought she had left the studio. When William Costello, the original cartoon voice of Popeye (1933–1935), became difficult to work with, he was dismissed. Mercer had begun imitating Costello's interpretation of Popeye, and he practiced it until his voice "cracked" just right and he had it down. Searching for a replacement for Costello,

Lou Fleischer Lou Fleischer (July 16, 1891 – November 16, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, and the brother of Max and Dave Fleischer. He was the head of the Fleischer Studios Music DepartmentDial, Donna (2000) ''Cartoons in Paradise: How the Fle ...

heard Mercer singing the Popeye song and gave him the job of doing the voice. Mercer's first cartoon was 1935's ''King of the Mardi Gras''. In 1974, he was on '' To Tell the Truth'' with

Garry Moore Garry Moore (born Thomas Garrison Morfit; January 31, 1915 – November 28, 1993) was an American entertainer, comedic personality, game show host, and humorist best known for his work in television. He began a long career with the CBS networ ...

. Mercer continued to voice the one-eyed sailor for the Fleischers, for

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized control ...

cartoons (1942–1957), for a series of television cartoons for

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

, and for a Saturday morning cartoon show (1978-1983) produced by

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian i ...

(as well as the lines for the opening segment of the live action film; the film's regular role of Popeye was played by

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comed ...

). Mercer also did other cartoon voices, including all the voices for a series of

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...

cartoons produced during 1959-62. Mercer also did the voices of Wimpy; Poopdeck Pappy; Popeye's nephews; King Little; Twinkletoes the Carrier Pigeon; the bumbling spies Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch in Fleischer's ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

''; a number of voices, including Mr. Bumble and Swat (the Fly), for Fleischer's '' Mister Bug Goes to Town''; and the mad scientist in one of the Fleischer '' Superman'' cartoons. Mercer's natural voice was relatively high-pitched for a man, and he was able to do some of the female voices as well. He was also regularly cast with

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. C ...

(who voiced as

Gabby Gabby is a given name, usually a short form of Gabriel or Gabrielle or Gabriella. Gabby or Gabbie may refer to: People with the name * Gabby Chaves (born 1993), Colombian-American racing driver * Guy Gabaldon (also "Gabby"; 1926–2006 ...

from the ''Gabby'' film series). 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''. Mercer appeared as himself on a 1973 episode of '' To Tell the Truth'', receiving one of four possible votes.

Personal life

Mercer's first wife was Margie Hines, who provided the voice of

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip '' Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was ...

from 1939 to 1944."Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database, ''FamilySearch'' (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK7F-LKK : 22 December 2019), Jack W Mercer and Marjorie Mercer, 1950; from "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database and images, ''Ancestry'' (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Dade, Florida, certificate 11372, volume 517, Florida Department of Health, Jacksonville. After divorcing Hines, he later married his second wife Virginia Caroll, and the couple remained married until Mercer's death in 1984. Originally a resident of New York City, Mercer moved to Miami, Florida, when Fleischer Studios relocated there in 1938. After Famous Studios took over the Popeye cartoons, Mercer moved back to New York by early 1944. In the late 1970s he lived briefly in Los Angeles but moved back to New York City to live in

Woodside, Queens Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, ...

Death

He died at

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many univ ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

on December 7, 1984, after

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenoca ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (December 9, 1984). Retrieved March 12, 2007.

Filmography

Voice acting

Writer

References

External links

* *
1939 publicity photo of Mercer and Hines announcing their marriage

Jack Mercer on ''To Tell the Truth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Jack 1910 births 1984 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer Animators from Indiana American male voice actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City 20th-century American male actors People from Woodside, Queens Animal impersonators Fleischer Studios people Paramount Pictures contract players Hanna-Barbera people American television writers Famous Studios people 20th-century American screenwriters Deaths from cancer in New York (state)