Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. With various assistants and successors, the strip lasted for over half a century with spin-offs to radio, movies, television and merchandising.
In his home town of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Fisher devised the character in 1921 after he met a boxer, Pete Latzo, outside a poolroom. As Fisher explained in an article in Collier's:
| “ | Here, made to order, was the comic strip character I had been looking for -- a big, good-natured prize fighter who didn't like to fight; a defender of little guys; a gentle knight. I ran back to the office, drew a set of strips and rushed to the newspaper syndicates. | ” |
However, many rejections followed before Fisher's strip was finally syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate after Fisher, working as a salesman for McNaught, sold it to over 20 newspapers. It debuted April 19, 1930, and by 1948 it was ranked as one of the five most popular newspaper comic strips.
Fisher originally changed the appearance of Palooka to fit each reigning real-life champ — until the coming of African-American Joe Louis in the 1930s, at which time the image of the cowlicked blond Palooka remained unchanged. Though his adventures were mostly low-key, he was pumped up by a supporting cast led by girlfriend Ann Howe, boxing manager Knobby Walsh, his mute orphan sidekick Little Max, and lovable giant Humphrey Pennyworth, a smiling blacksmith who wielded a 100-pound (45 kg) maul. Like Ozark Ike McBatt in baseball, Joe Palooka was intended to exemplify the sports hero in an age when uprightness of character was supposed to matter most.
The strip garnered much publicity when Ann Howe and Joe were married on June 24, 1949. The engraved invitations for the event, sent to a select list of celebrities, read: "Mr. Ham Fisher requests the honour of your presence at the marriage of Ann Howe to Mr. Joe Palooka on the afternoon of June 24th in your favorite newspaper."[1]
After Fisher committed suicide in 1955, his assistant Mo Leff drew the strip for four years. Then Tony DiPreta took over the art with Morris Weiss scripting. DiPreta drew the strip for 25 years until it ended its run on November 24, 1984.
Found in print as early as 1923, the word "palooka" was widely used to mean a lout or an inept fighter. The word is heard in early Popeye cartoons, and in the film Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega sarcastically refers to Butch the boxer as "Palooka". Of uncertain origins, the word may originally have derived from the expletive "Polack". Fisher's use of "Palooka" for his gentle hero lifted the word from the muck, while accentuating its boxing connection. In the 1954 film classic On the Waterfront, during the famous taxicab scene, Terry Malloy, the boxer played by Marlon Brando, tells his brother Charlie (Rod Steiger) accusingly that because Steiger arranged for Brando to "take a dive" and lose the fight on purpose, the other boxer became a heavyweight champion, and Brando received " a one-way ticket to Palookaville" (i.e., ended up a failure).
Contents |
Comic books
Over decades, Joe Palooka appeared in comic books from several comic book publishers. Early comic books offered strip reprints, but eventually the character was seen in original comic book stories.
Radio
On radio Joe Palooka was broadcast on CBS from April 12 to August 18, 1932. With Teddy Bergman in the title role, the 15-minute series was heard on Tuesdays and Thursdays, sponsored by Heinz Rice Flakes. Elmira Roessler, Elsie Hitz and Mary Jane Higby played Ann Howe. Knobby Walsh was portrayed by Frank Readick and Hal Lansing. Others in the cast: Karl Swenson and Norman Gottschalk. The announcer was Harry von Zell.
Films and television
Joe Palooka made his movie debut in Palooka (1934) with Stuart Erwin in the title role, and Jimmy Durante as Knobby. Now in the public domain, the fil can be seen online.
Palooka was was followed by a series of nine two-reel Vitaphone shorts (1936-37) starring Robert Norton as Joe and Shemp Howard as Knobby. He returned to the screen in 1946, when Monogram Pictures launched a series of 11 low-budget films. The Monogram films starred Joe Kirkwood, Jr. as Joe, Leon Errol as Knobby and Elyse Knox as society girl Ann Howe.
The Joe Palooka Story, popularly known simply as Joe Palooka, was a 1954 syndicated television series starring Kirkwood and featuring former boxing champion Maxie Rosenbloom as Humphrey Pennyworth.
Legacy
South of Wilkes-Barre, on the way to the town of Mountain Top, is Joe Palooka Mountain, named in the early 1980s by the Mayor of Wilkes-Barre.
In Pulp Fiction John Travolta's character Vincent Vega has a small verbal altercation with Bruce Willis' character Butch (a boxer). The scene is as follows [Vincent goes up to Butch at the bar] Butch: Starin' at something, friend? Vincent: I ain't your friend, palooka. Butch: What did you say? Vincent: I think you heard me just fine, punchy.
Filmography
- Palooka (1934)
- Joe Palooka, Champ (1946)
- Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946)
- Joe Palooka in the Knockout (1947)
- Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948)
- Joe Palooka in Winner Take All (1948)
- Joe Palooka in the Big Fight (1949)
- Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch (1949)
- Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey (1950)
- Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance (1950)
- Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle (1950)
- Joe Palooka in Triple Cross (1951)
Vitaphone two-reelers
- For the Love of Pete (1936)
- Here's Howe (1936)
- Punch and Beauty (1936)
- The Choke's on You (1936)
- The Blonde Bomber (1936)
- Kick Me Again (1937)
- Taking the Count (1937)
- Thirst Aid (1937)
- Calling All Kids (1937)
Watch
Listen to
References
Sources
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
- Toonopedia: Joe Palooka
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
