My Favorite Christmas Character

Tweet

He's so funny. He appears in a 33-line poem called "The Hoobub and the Grinch" as early as 1955 but the character comes to true life in the Dr. Suess children's book in 1957. And he kept stealing my heart every year since then. The word 'Grinch' was first used in Scrambled Eggs Super! in 1953. Here's a list of the actors who have both portrayed and voiced him down through the years: Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson. What a bunch of guys, huh? Since Jim Carry portrayed the pear-shaped old creature in the 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas I have loved no other. I think that the 1966 version with Boris Karloff narrating holds a close second. Geisel(Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodor Geisel) said that his Grinch story was the easiest for him to write and was finished in a couple of weeks. The only place where he got hung up was getting him out of the mess. He decided to just show the Grinch and the Who's at the "roast beast" meal. The Grinch is the first adult and the first villain to be a main character in a Dr. Seuss book. And, the best Christmas cad since Scrooge. Do you wonder, as I do, who the character of the Grinch might actually be? I did too. In the story the Grinch says that he has put up with the Who's for 53 years. Geisel was 53 when the book was written and published. Nuff said. The image is from my collection.