For the English cricketer, see Jack Mercer (cricketer). For the American baseball player, see Jack Mercer (baseball).

Jack Mercer (January 13, 1910 – December 4, 1984) was an American animator, storyman and voice actor. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor and Felix the Cat. The son of vaudeville and Broadway performers, he also performed on the vaudeville and legitimate stage.

Biography

Mercer's first wife was Margie Hines, who provided the voice of Olive Oyl from 1939 to 1944.

Originally a resident of New York City, Mercer moved to Miami, Florida, when Fleischer Studios relocated there in 1938. After Famous Studios took over the Popeye cartoons, Mercer moved back to New York by early 1944. In the late 1970s he lived briefly in Los Angeles but moved back to New York City to live in Woodside, Queens. He died at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan on December 4, 1984 after stomach cancer-related problems. After his death, Maurice LaMarche, Jim Cummings and Billy West performed the voice of Popeye.