Willard Bowsky

Motion picture animator best known for his contributions to the Popeye the Sailor cartoons of the 1930s. Born in New York City, Bowsky joined the Fleischer Studios in the late 1920s and quickly became one of its star artists, winning promotion to animator at age 23. His drawing skills and instinctive feel for jazz rhythms made him an asset on such early Betty Boop cartoons as the classic "Minnie the Moocher" (1932). He became a supervising animator in 1933. Although Dave Fleischer was the credited director of all the studio's output, he left the "staging" of the films to men like Bowsky, who headed their own creative teams. Bowsky's work was quite stylish in its fluid movement and well-chosen compositions. From 1933 to 1941 he was animation director for over 30 Popeye cartoons, including the Technicolor two-reelers "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" (Academy Award nomination, 1936) and "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" (1937), and collaborated in that capacity on the Fleischers' feature-length films "Gulliver's Travels" (1939) and "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (aka "Hoppity Goes to Town", 1941). His last work was on the "Superman" series (1941 to 1942), the first time that comic strip superhero was brought to the screen. When Paramount Pictures reorganized the Fleischer company as Famous Studios in 1942, Bowsky left for World War II service in the US Army. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in the 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Armored Division, and saw action in the Normandy Invasion. On November 27, 1944, Bowsky and four men in his platoon were killed in a nighttime firefight with German forces east of Paris, France. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. Bowsky is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-Avold, France.