Billy Costello
FIRST POPEYE THE SAILOR CARTOON
William "Billy" Costello was the first person to provide the voice for Popeye in its 1933 debut. Before voicing Popeye, Costello was voicing for Fleischer Studios, providing the voice for Freddie Frog and Gus the Gorilla in Betty Boop  in cartoons and on the radio shows. He made his first appearance as Gus in 1930, in Betty Boop's first cartoon Dizzy Dishes. While doing voices for Fleischer Studios, Costello also recorded novelty music and performed under the name Red "Pepper" Sam. Before that he had played drums in the band Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. In the 1927 clip displayed below you can hear Costello's unique vocals that helped to inspire the original Popeye voice which he introduced a few years later. The 1932 cartoon Betty Boop's M.D. features Costello's 1931 recording of Nobody's Sweetheart Now. Meanwhile, all the fame went to his head and he apparently became big nuisance. Costello's "bad behavior" eventually got him fired by the Fleischer's, and he was replaced by Jack Mercer. Costello made his final appearance as Popeye in You Got To Be A Football Hero - the 24th Popeye cartoon.
I'M POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN
BLOW THE MAN DOWN
more on NOBODY'S SWEETHEART NOW  -  click HERE
WHERE DO YOU WORK-A, JOHN?    -    1927
FRED WARING AND HIS PENNSYLVANIANS  (Billy Costello on drums)
BILLY COSTELLO as GUS GORILLA
BETTY BOOP  -  DIZZY DISHES  -  1930
First appearance of (a undeveloped) Betty Betty
RED PEPPER SAM  -  aka BILLY COSTELLO
RED PEPPER SAM - TIGER RAG & NOBODY'S BUSINESS
RED PEPPER SAM  -  I'M NOBODY'S SWEETHEART
RED PEPPER SAM  -  DINAH  -  1931
THE TEDDY BEARS PICNIC
BEBE DANIEL'S, BEN LYON & BILLY COSTELLO
3 LITTLE FISHES
POPEYE:
BLOW ME
DOWN

1933
POPEYE: YOU GOTTA BE A
FOOTBALL
HERO

1935

BILLY COSTELLO'S
LAST POPEYE CARTOON
DISCLAIMER:  This site is for entertainment purposes only. All recordings and videos are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarships and research. "Fair Use" is a use permitted by copyright statue that might otherwise be infringing.