Detmar Poppen

Biography

Although forgotten today, Detmar Poppen was a very active stage actor (see "other works"), appearing on Broadway since 1906. His final stage role was in the hit, "Revenge with Music" starring the fascinating (and scandalous) torch singer Libby Holman. He was signed on a per film contract basis to First National (Warner Brothers) in mid-1933, first appearing in Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle's final effort, the short, Tomalio (1933), which wasn't released until 5 months after the comedian's death. His career took an interesting, if somewhat miscast turn on radio in 1935 when he signed with NBC as Popeye which was broadcast over three different networks by two sponsors from 1935 to 1938. Wheatena hot cereal first sponsored the show from September 10, 1935 to March 28, 1936 (87 episodes aired on the NBC Red Network on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:15pm). Poppen's vocal characterization of the famous King Features sailor was only vaguely reminiscent of the better known cartoon incarnation as performed by Billy Costello or Jack Mercer and he was replaced by Floyd Buckley, a silent screen actor, for the final 78 episodes that ran through February, 1937 on CBS. On film, Poppen only appeared in 5 short subjects over a span of a little more than 4 years before retiring from the acting profession.