- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWinfield B. Mercer
- Height5′ 4¼″ (1.63 m)
- His parents were actors, but Jack decided to pursue his love of art. He got a job as an inbetweener (rookie animator) at the Fleischer studio. Dave Fleischer happened to hear him singing the Popeye theme song in a funny voice, and asked Jack to try voicing one cartoon. He later became a writer at the Fleischer studio.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Dan Wilson
- SpousesMargie Hines(1939 - 1950) (divorced)Virginia(? - December 4, 1984) (his death)
- The voice of Popeye the Sailor
- Mercer's natural voice was relatively high-pitched for a man, and he was able to do some of the female voices as well.
- Mercer's first wife Margie Hines provided the voice of Olive Oyl from 1939 to 1944.
- Although William Costello originated Popeye's key vocal qualities, he was a singer rather than an actor. Jack Mercer proved to be a superior comedian who brought engaging warmth and humor to the character. Many of Popeye's funniest under-the-breath mutterings - the puns, malapropisms and wisecracks - were freely ad-libbed by Mercer during the recording sessions, seizing on moments when he didn't have to match any onscreen lip movements. He sadly toned down this endearing trait and it faded away in the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons.
- He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) & Dumbo (1941).
- Mercer liked to imitate voices, he was so good, he suffered one close call where 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.
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