Bud Sagendorf

Who was Bud Sagendorf?

Forrest Cowles Sagendorf, better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye comic strip.

Born in Wenatchee, Washington, Sagendorf was three years old when his father died. He arrived at age three in Santa Monica, California with his sister Helen and his mother, who opened a beauty parlor. It was Helen who gave him the nickname Bud. His first job was as a newsboy, selling the Los Angeles Herald-Express on the street. He began his cartoon career while a teenager, working for $50 a week as the assistant of cartoonist E. C. Segar on his Thimble Theatre and Sappo comic strips. Following Segar's death in 1938, Sagendorf moved to New York and began illustrating marketing materials for King Features, while also developing Popeye toys and games. In 1940, he married his high school sweetheart, Nadia Crandall, and they eventually moved to rural Connecticut.