A radio announcer for most of his career, Sam Parker won the part of
Lemuel Gulliver in the Fleischer brother's 1939 feature "Gulliver's
Travels" after they abandoned their original idea of having Popeye in
the lead role. They instead opted to "rotoscope" an actor (trace over
their movements and features - a style invented by Max Fleischer) in
order to give a more realistic effect for Gulliver in contrast with
their traditional style that was being used to animate the
Lilliputians. A radio contest was held to find the lucky actor whose
voice and features would be used as Gulliver, so it is ironic that
Parker, a radio announcer, won the part.
