His real name was Frank “Rocky” Fiegel. He was born in 1868 in Poland and, as a child, emigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in a small town in Illinois.

As a young man, Rocky went to sea. After a 20-year career as a sailor in the Merchant Marine, he retired.

Later, he was hired by Wiebusch’s Tavern in the town of Chester, Illinois, as a bouncer to keep order in the noisy bar.

Rocky quickly gained a reputation for always being involved in fights—and usually winning them. As a result, he had a deformed eye (“Pop-eye”).

He also constantly smoked a pipe, so he always spoke from one side of his mouth.

In his free time as a bouncer, Rocky entertained customers by telling thrilling stories of adventures he claimed to have had while sailing across the “Seven Seas.”

The creator of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, grew up in Chester and, as a boy, met Rocky at the tavern. He would sit for hours listening to the old sailor’s amazing “sea tales.”

Years later, Segar became a cartoonist and developed a comic strip called Thimble Theatre.

He honored Fiegel by asking if he could model a new comic strip character, Popeye the Sailor Man, after him. Naturally, Fiegel was flattered and agreed.

Segar also claimed that Olive Oyl, along with other characters, was loosely based on real people. Olive was inspired by Dora Paskel, the owner of a small grocery store in Chester.

Apparently, she closely resembled the Olive Oyl character from the comics—even dressing the same way.

Over the years, Segar kept in touch with Rocky and always helped him financially, giving him a small percentage of what he earned from the Popeye illustrations.