Bela Zaboly
| Bela Zaboly | |
|---|---|
Zaboly teaching students to draw Popeye in March 1950 | |
| Born | Bela P. Zaboly May 4, 1910 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 11, 1985 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | Hungarian-American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Bill Zaboly |
Notable works | Popeye, Thimble Theatre, Major Hoople, Wash Tubbs, Our Boarding House, Otto Honk, and Sappo |
| Spouse(s) | Irene Elizabeth Chandas |
| Children | Alwyn Zaboly, Irene Z. Church, and Marianne Z. Dodds |
| Signature | |
Bela P. Zaboly (4 May 1910 – 11 April 1985), a.k.a. Bill Zaboly, was a first-generation Hungarian-American cartoonist best known for his work as the sole illustrator for the daily and weekly strips of Thimble Theatre’s Popeye from 1939 to 1959. He worked with two writers over this two-decade run leading the strip (Tom Sims & Ralph Stein). Zaboly's well-known and distinctively illustrated signature used the initials BZ with the "B" formed by the wings of a bumblebee. In headings for Thimble Theatre, his typeset credit line often used his Americanized name, Bill, rather than his Hungarian given name, Bela.