Bluto gets a statue

This just in from Popeye fan and historian Leonard Kohl:

“A few weeks ago, I was asked to help “unveil” a statue of “Bluto the Terrible” in E.C. Segar’s hometown of Chester, Illinois during the annual POPEYE picnic, parade and POPEYE FANCLUB convention, which is always the weekend after Labor Day. I was asked to do this as I’ve played “Bluto” for 11 years annually for a POPEYE radio play presented live on a Chester, Illinois radio station. Knowing the old rivalry between Disney and Fleischer, I find it kind of ironic that the “Bluto” statue seems to be guarding the front entrance of the “Buena Vista” Bank!”

Click on thumbnail photos below, taken by Chuck Anders from The Official Popeye Fanclub, to see (left) Steve Stanchfield, Lenny Kohl and his wife, Dana Kohl in front of the statue from another angle and (below right) a close-up of the side of the statue – the tribute to Jackson Beck.