Sylvester The Cat

Sylvester is a cat who appears in several Looney Tunes cartoons, often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper.

Date of Birth

 * March 24, 1945

Date of Death

 * October 27, 2011

Voice
Sylvester's trademark was his sloppy, stridulating lisp (which, like Daffy Duck's, was based on producer Leon Schlesinger's). His sloppy voice was provided by voice acting legend Mel Blanc. Blanc reveals in his autobiography that Sylvester's voice and Daffy's were identical, but Daffy's was sped up in post-production.

In Space Jam, Sylvester was voiced by Bill Farmer who is famous for doing Disney's Goofy & Pluto.

Personality and Pride
Sylvester shows much pride in himself, and he never gives up. Despite (or perhaps because of) his pride and persistence, Sylvester was definitely on the "loser" side of the Looney Tunes winner/loser hierarchy. His character is that of Wile E Coyote, except that ironically both Roadrunner and Coyote as well as Sylvester/Tweety are parodies of Tom and Jerry. He shows a different character when paired with Porky Pig in explorations of spooky places, in which he doesn't speak, as a scaredy cat. (In these cartoons, he basically plays the terrified Costello to Porky's oblivious Abbott.) Sylvester's most developed role is as hapless mouse-catching instructor to his dubious son, Sylvester Junior, in which the "mouse" is a powerful baby kangaroo. His alternately confident and bewildered episodes bring his son to shame, while Sylvester himself is reduced to nervous breakdowns. He is often referred to as a putty tat by Tweety and Senor Gringo Pussy gato by Speedy Gonzales. His famous catchphrase is "Sufferin' Succotash" which is said to be a minced oath for "Sufferin' Saviour". (Daffy also says it from time to time)

Freleng Shorts
Sylvester's first appearance with Tweety was in the 1947 short Tweety Pie where he tries to eat Tweety but gets punished. In the cartoons he usually gets clobbered by Granny or Hector the Bulldog whenever he tries to eat Tweety. Other than Tweety, he also chases Speedy Gonzales, but Speedy would cause a pain for him. He also appears with Elmer Fudd in some cartoons. The pair's cartoons lasted from 1947 to 1964, shortly before the closure of the Warner Bros. studio. Sylvester and Tweety became one of the most well known pairings in Looney Tunes, next to Bugs and Daffy. Some of their cartoons have won an Academy or were nominated.

Trivia

 * Sylvester's name is a pun on silvestris, a name for domestic cats, as well as a rare name for boys (including actor Sylvester Stallone)
 * In his early appearances he was unnamed but until then his original name was Thomas in Tweetie Pie, most likely as a reference to Tom and Jerry, with Tom's full name being Thomas.
 * Sylvester has "died" the most of any Looney Tunes characters, having "died" in "I Taw a Putty Tat", "Back Alley Oproar", "Peck Up Your Troubles", "Satan's Waitin'", "Mouse Mazurka", Tweety's Circus, "Trick or Tweet", and "Tweet and Lovely".
 * Prior to Sylvester's appearance in the cartoons, Blanc voiced a character named Sylvester on The Judy Canova Show using the voice that would eventually become associated with the cat.
 * Sylvester once had a black nose, but his nose has since always been red like a clown's.
 * Sylvester could be heard in an episode of the game show Press Your Luck. Host Peter Tomarken had earlier incorrectly credited his catchphrase "Suffering Succotash!" to Daffy Duck. Even though all three contestants had correctly answered "Sylvester," they were ruled incorrect. In a segment produced later and edited into the broadcast, Sylvester phoned Tomarken and told him, "Daffy Duck steals from me all the time." This was a joke because Daffy usually says it.