Den fantastiske Mr. Ripley
Manden Bag “BELIEVE IT OR NOT!”
Robert Leroy Ripley
Robert Ripley, tegneserie tegneren, udforskeren, rapporteren, opleveren, illustratoren, samleren og søgeren af mærklige og anderledes ting, er en mand, som levede et liv, som bedst kan opsummeres med det udtryk han selv skabte; “Believe It or Not!”
Hans livsarbejde, hans oplevelser, hans kunst, historierne han fortalte og de oplevelser han havde vil altid være fundamentet for alt hvad Ripley Entertainment står for.
Verdens Berømt
Ripley var en af de mest kendte mennesker i verden i gennem den første halvdel af det 20. århundrede.
Født/døbt LeRoy i 1890 i Santa Rosa, California, “Roy” var en ivrig kunstner og en dygtig sportsmand I en meget ung alder. Han toppede som semi-pro baseball-spiller som 13-årig og han illustrerede plakaterne, der reklamerede for spillene.
Ripley med hans første tegneserie
Som 14-årig, solgte han sin første tegneserie til LIFE Magazine for otte dollars. Som 15-årig, arbejdede Ripley ved San Francisco Bulletin og efterfølgende kom han videre til San Francisco Chronicle.
I 1913 flyttede han til New York og, som ‘Robert’ I stedet for ‘Leroy’, begyndte han at skitsere sportstegneserier for New York Globe. Efter at have gjort det I flere år. Tegneseriens titel var oprindeligt “Champs and Chumps”, men efter megen forhandling blev titlen ændret til Believe It or Not! Resten er fortid.
Straks efter tegeneserien blev udgivet blev den populær, Ripley blev en verdensomrejser, som søgte efter mærklige og utrolige historier til at bruge til sine internationalt kendte tegneserier. I en tid, hvor der ikke var særlig mange mennesker, som rejste ud af landet, ja slet ikke engang ud af deres hjemby, at rejse blev en afhængighed for ham og han tog afsted så snart han kunne!
Han vovede sig ind i ukonventionelle områder i Indien og i Orienten, han besøgte mennesker og kulturer som de fleste af amerikanerne ikke vidste eksisterede. Han yndlings destination var Kina, og i adskellige måneder efter han første gang var i Orienten, skrev Ripley sine ting under med Rip Li. Det var også gennem disse rejser, at han samlede en masse mærklige og utrolige souvenirer, der senere blev en omfattende samling af fantastiske mærkligheder og historier, som i dag stadig underholder offentligheden.
“Jeg har rejst i 201 lande og det mest mærkelige jeg har set, var mennesket”
— Robert Ripley
Ripley på en flyvemaskine
En Ualmindelig Mand
Ripley var kendt som værende ekstremt eksentrisk; hans venner kaldte ham ”hans egen største Believe It or Not!”. Selvom han var kendt som værende ekstremt genert, klædte han sig på i flamboyante farvekombinationer, han bar ofte bånd af flagermusevinger, hjelme af marv, kuli trøjer og eskimo parkaer. Han havde en ca 8,5 m lang boa slange som kæledyr og han lod egern og jordegern løbe rundt ved ham, mens han tegnede.
Han syntes, at både rygning og kortspil var onde foretagender, men han drak selv til sociale lejligheder og han var kendt for at være populær hos damerne, sommetider havde han op til 5 kærester boende på samme tid. Han elskede at sejle og anskaffede sig en Kinesisk Junker som han kaldte ”Mon Lei” eller ”Infinity”, selvom han ikke engang kunne svømme et hjerteslag. Det har også rygtedes at han ændrede sin fødselsdato fra d. 26. december til Juledag for at fremhæve hans eksentrisitet!
Givet hans utrolige liv, er det måske passende, at selv Robert Ripleys død efterlod verden undrende over omstændighederne af ”Believe It or Not!” Som 58-årig døde Robert Ripley imens han optog den 13.episode af sit tv program, en episode som handlede om død og døds ritualier. Han faldt om i showet og blev kørt på hospitalet og umiddelbart derefter blev han erklæret død af et hjertestop.
Ripley i egen person
Ripley’s eftermæle
Ripleys eftermæle og det han bragte til verden findes levendegjort i alle Ripleys believe it or not! museer og hans Believe it or not! Tegneserier fortsætter vanen tro! Idag bliver den daglige tegneserie vist i næsten 200 aviser på verdensplan, i 42 lande og på 17 sprog. Størstedelen af udstillingerne i Believe it or not! Museerne er baseret på samlingerne af diverse mærkeligheder, som Ripley fik samlet gennem hans verdens rejser. Hvert år besøger millioner af mennesker Ripleys museer for at tage del i eventyret, et eventyr hvor de oplever Robert Ripleys utrolige verden på egen hånd! Believe it or not!
THE MAN BEHIND “BELIEVE IT OR NOT!”
Robert L. RipleyRobert Ripley, the cartoonist, the
explorer, the reporter, adventurer, illustrator,
collector and seeker of the odd and unusual, is a man who
lived a life that can only be summed up by the statement
he himself created; “Believe It or Not!” His life’s work,
his discoveries, his artistry, the tales he told and
adventures he lived will forever be the foundation of all
that Ripley Entertainment encompasses.
World Famous
Ripley was one of the most famous people in the world
during the first half of the 20th century. Born LeRoy
Ripley in 1890 in Santa Rosa, California, “Roy” was an
avid artist and a great athlete at a very young age. He
pitched semi-pro baseball at age 13 and also illustrated
the posters advertising the games. At age 14, he sold his
first cartoon to LIFE Magazine for eight dollars. By age
15, Ripley was working at the San Francisco Bulletin and
soon moved on to the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1913, he
moved to New York and, as ‘Robert’, rather than ‘Leroy’,
he began working at the New York Globe sketching sports
cartoons. After having done this for several years,
Ripley came upon a slow sports day and decided to draw up
nine unusual sports event in small sketches. The cartoon
was originally titled, “Champs and Chumps”, but after
much deliberation, the title was changed to Believe It or
Not!. The rest is history!
Ripley with 1st cartoon
Once the cartoon took off and became immensely popular,
Ripley became a world traveler, seeking stories of
bizarre and unusual proportion to put in his
internationally known feature. In an era when not many
people traveled outside their own hometown, let alone out
of the country, he became a compulsive traveler and
journeyed whenever he could! He ventured into
unconventional areas in India and the Orient and visited
people and cultures that most Americans never knew
existed. His favorite destination was China, and for
several months after he first traveled to the Orient,
Ripley signed his cartoons Rip Li. It was also during
these travels that he picked up many strange and
unbelievable souvenirs that later became an extensive
collection of amazing oddities and stories that serve to
entertain the public even today.
“I have traveled in 201 countries and the strangest
thing I saw was man”
— Robert Ripley
Ripley with Fiji mermaid
An Uncommon Man
Ripley was commonly known as being extremely eccentric;
his friends called him “his own greatest Believe It or
Not!”. Although he was noted as being extremely shy, he
dressed in flamboyant color combinations, often wearing
bat-wing ties, pith helmets, coolie shirts, and Eskimo
parkas. He kept a 28-foot boa constrictor as a pet and
let squirrels and chipmunks run around him while he drew.
He thought both smoking and playing cards were evil, but
was a heavy social drinker and a notorious ladies man, at
times housing up to five or more live-in girlfriends at a
time. He loved sailing and purchased a Chinese Junk he
called “Mon Lei” or “Infinity”, yet he couldn’t swim a
stroke. It has also been rumored that he changed his own
birthday from December 26 to Christmas Day in order to
accentuate his eccentricity!
Given his unbelievable life, perhaps it is fitting that
even Robert Ripley’s death left the world wondering about
the “Believe It of Not!” circumstances. At age 58, Ripley
died while taping the 13th episode of his television
series, an episode that dealt with death and death
rituals. He passed out during the show, was taken to the
hospital and, soon after, was pronounced dead of a heart
attack.
Ripley’s Legacy
Ripley’s legacy and what he brought to the world is alive
in all of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums and his
traditions continue with the Believe It or Not! cartoon
series. Today the daily cartoon is seen in nearly 200
newspapers worldwide, in 42 countries, and 17 languages.
The majority of the exhibits in all of the Ripley’s
Believe It or Not! museums are based on the collections
of oddities obtained by Ripley throughout his world
travels. Every year millions of people visit the Ripley’s
museums to take part in the adventure, one in which they
experience first-hand the incredible world of Robert
Ripley!
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