Harold Hamgravy
{{short description|Fictional character from Popeye}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox comics character
| character_name = Harold Hamgravy
| image = Ham_and_Castor.gif
| caption = Ham Gravy (right) and Castor Oyl (Thimble Theatre, August 5, 1923)
| publisher = King Features Syndicate
| debut = Thimble Theatre (December 19, 1919)
| creators = E. C. Segar
}}
Harold Hamgravy, better known as Ham Gravy, is an American comics character from the Thimble Theatre (later Popeye) series, created in 1919 by E. C. Segar.{{cite web|url=http://www.popeyespoopdeck.com/ham.htm|title=Introduction on Popeye's Poop Deck.com|access-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612232559/http://www.popeyespoopdeck.com/ham.htm|archive-date=June 12, 2008|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/artoffunniesaest0000harv|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/artoffunniesaest0000harv/page/162 162]|quote=Harold Hamgravy.|title=The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History|first=Robert C.|last=Harvey|date=August 17, 1994|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|access-date=August 17, 2017|via=Internet Archive}}
Publication history
Ham Gravy was the original fiancé of the better-known character Olive Oyl, but was often attracted to other women who were considerably wealthy. Ham was depicted as a slacker who preferred getting rich quick rather than earning money honestly. He was likewise heavily defined in-universe by the considerable size of his nose, often a subject of mockery to other characters. While initially the main protagonist of the strip, Ham was increasingly supplanted by Olive's brother Castor Oyl during the mid-1920s as the latter's characterization evolved into more of an everyman, although Ham nonetheless retained a focal role in several storylines during this period.
In a later strip, Castor and Ham hired a sailor named Popeye to man his ship for a treasure hunt.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CecCHiI95dYC&q=Castor+Oyl+popeye&pg=PA281|title=The 1920s|first1=Kathleen Morgan|last1=Drowne|first2=Patrick|last2=Huber|date=August 17, 2017|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313320132|access-date=August 17, 2017|via=Google Books}} Intended as a minor supporting character, Popeye proved so popular with readers that he was made a permanent member of the main cast.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSP4lHULPwsC&q=Castor+Oyl+popeye&pg=PA52|title=ZaSu Pitts: The Life and Career|first=Charles|last=Stumpf|date=January 22, 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786460236|access-date=August 17, 2017|via=Google Books}} As Popeye's role expanded, Ham was increasingly phased out of the comic, with the sailor ultimately replacing him as the subject of Olive Oyl's affections following a series of Sunday strips in March 1930. Following two background appearances in May 1930, Ham vanished as a regular altogether; while he made occasional appearances in the later Popeye strips, he never regained comparable prominence.
Ham makes a supporting appearance in the 1980 film Popeye, where Olive has recently left him and has since begun dating Bluto at the film's opening. He was played by Bill Irwin.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.popeye.com Popeye - The Home of Popeye the Sailor Man]
{{Popeye}}
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1919
Category:Male characters in comics
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