<P> Additional sources suggest that Segar composed the character's name from the names of two other acquaintances . According to fellow cartoonist Bill Mauldin, the name was suggested by that of Wellington J. Reynolds, one of Segar's instructors at the Chicago Art Institute . In a brief 1935 interview in The Daily Oklahoman, H. Hillard Wimpee of Atlanta indicated that he was connected to the character, having worked with Segar at the Chicago Herald - Examiner in 1917 . It became a custom in the office that whoever accepted an invitation for a hamburger would pay the bill . According to Wimpee, after seeing the character in the newspaper, he wrote Segar in 1922 about Wimpy, "afraid of being connected with what (Segar) was doing with (the character)." He said Segar replied, "' You haven't seen anything yet ."' </P> <P> Wimpy is Popeye's friend . In the cartoons, he mainly plays the role of the "straight man" to Popeye's outbursts and wild antics . Wimpy is soft - spoken, very intelligent, and well educated, but also cowardly, very lazy, overly parsimonious and utterly gluttonous . He is also something of a scam artist and, especially in the newspaper strip, can be underhanded . </P> <P> Hamburgers are Wimpy's all - time favorite food, and he is usually seen carrying or eating one or more at a time--e.g., in Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor he is seen grinding meat or eating burgers almost the entire time--however, he is usually too cheap to pay for them himself . A recurring joke involves Wimpy's attempts to con other patrons of the diner into buying his meal for him . His best - known catchphrase started in 1931 as, "Cook me up a hamburger . I'll pay you Thursday ." In 1932, this then became the famous, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today ." The phrase was also slightly altered in the episode "Spree Lunch" to "I'll have a hamburger, for which I will gladly pay you Tuesday ." This phrase is now commonly used to illustrate financial irresponsibility and still appears in modern comedies such as The Drew Carey Show and The Office . The initial part of the phrase was even the title of Episode 6 of the fourth season of Cheers "I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday ." </P> <P> In Robert Altman's 1980 live - action musical film Popeye, where Wimpy was played by veteran character actor Paul Dooley, one of Harry Nilsson's original songs, "Everything Is Food," featured Dooley singing the catch - phrase, as he took a hamburger, as "I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today ." The response from the chorus, as they reclaimed the same hamburger from him, uneaten, was "He would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today ." Later in the film, a sign in a restaurant reads "Positively NO CREDIT . This means YOU, Wimpy ." </P>

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