Robert Ripley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert LeRoy Ripley (December 25,1890–May 27, 1949) was an entrepreneur, anthropologist and cartoonist who created the world famous Ripley's Believe It or Not! series.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Santa Rosa, California, he was an aspiring professional baseball player until he was injured in 1913, the same year his first cartoon appeared in a newspaper. Ripley visited 198 countries throughout his lifetime, all the while collecting information about strange oddities to appear in his columns and cartoons. Because of his journeys, many dubbed him the modern Marco Polo.
In 1949, Ripley began televising a special. He only completed a mere thirteen episodes, however, as he became incapacitated by severe health problems, and even before these he had passed out during the filming of his final show. His health became worse, and on 27 May, at age 58, he succumbed to a heart attack.
Ripley's ideas and legacy live on in a company which bears his namesake, Ripley's Entertainment, which airs national television shows and features publications of Ripley's so-called "oddities". He is buried in his hometown of Santa Rosa. The Church of the One Tree, a church built entirely from the wood of a single 300 ft (91.4 m) tall redwood tree, and made popular by Ripley, stands on the north side of Juilliard Park in downtown Santa Rosa.
Some called Ripley a liar and accused him of exaggerating, but Ripley, throughout the years and in his claims, gave appropriate sources. He also claimed to be able to "prove every statement he made."
[edit] Trivia
Ripley is to be the focus of Believe It or Not, a film scheduled for release in 2009. Jim Carrey is signed on to play him.
Robert supposedly died while "Taps" was being played over radio broadcast.
He once attempted to join The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves but was rejected because he did not live in the Dedham, Massachusetts area.
[edit] Chronology
- 1890 Born in Santa Rosa, California on Christmas Day
- 1901 Receives his formal education
- 1906 Becomes a semi-pro in baseball and sells first artwork
- 1908 Quits baseball briefly to support mother and sells first cartoon to Life
- 1909 Moves from the San Francisco Bulletin to the San Francisco Chronicle
- 1912 Creates his last drawing for the San Francisco Chronicle and moves to New York that winter
- 1913 On January 2, writes his first comic for the New York Globe and tries out for the New York Giants, but an injury ends his baseball hopes
- 1914 Takes his first trip to Europe
- 1918 On December 19, publishes Champs and Chumps in the New York Globe
- 1919 Marries Beatrice Roberts
- 1920 Takes his first solo trip to Europe to cover the Olympics, held in Antwerp, Belgium
- 1922 On December 3, takes first trip around the world; writes in installments in his travel journal
- 1923 On April 7, returns to the U.S. and hires researcher and linguist Norbert Pearlroth; the Globe is replaced by the New York Post
- 1925 Writes travel journal, handball guide
- 1926 Becomes New York handball champion and writes book on boxing score
- 1929 On July 9, William Randolph Hearst's King Features Syndicate features Believe It or Not! in seventeen papers worldwide
- 1930 Begins an eighteen-year run on radio and a nineteen-year association with show producer Doug Storer; Hearst funds Ripley's travels around the world, where Ripley records live radio shows from underwater, the sky, caves, snake pits and foreign countries
- 1931 Releases movie shorts for Vitaphone, second book of Believe it or Not!
- 1932 Takes trip to the Far East
- 1933 First Odditorium opens in Chicago
- 1934 Does the first radio show broadcast simultaneously around the world and purchases 28-room home in Mamaroneck, New York
- 1935 Odditorium opens in San Diego
- 1936 Odditorium opens in Dallas; Ripley voted most popular man in America[citation needed]
- 1937 Odditorium opens in Cleveland; Peanuts creator Charles Schulz's first published drawing appears in Believe it or Not!
- 1939 Odditoriums open in San Francisco and New York City; Ripley receives honorary degree from Dartmouth College
- 1940 Purchases a 13-room Manhattan apartment; receives two more honorary degrees; number of foreign countries visited through funding by Hearst reaches 201
- 1945 Stops foreign travel to do World War II charity work
- 1946 Purchases a Chinese junk, the Mon Lei
- 1947 Purchases third home, at Hi Mount, Florida
- 1948 Radio program ends; the 30th anniversary of Believe it or Not! is celebrated at a New York costume party
- 1949 Ripley dies on May 27, shortly after thirteenth telecast of first television show and is buried in Santa Rosa; auction of his estate is held; estate is purchased by John Arthur
