Egon
Egon, according to his job description, is the Fort’s cook.
Describing him as unhygienic and incompetent would be an understatement. He is filthy. He keeps rats and cockroaches as pets in his kitchen, and has been seen to keep his feet warm in his fish pie or soup -- which are then served up for lunch. The only other person regularly seen in his kitchen is the Hygiene Inspector.
Egon never wanted to be a chef. “If it’s any consolation,” says Beau, “you never became one.”
He has an eye-patch covering his right eye, as does his sister (they are very probably identical twins), and his hobbies include lager, vodka and cooking-sherry. He learned his culinary skills under the great
Monsieur Dungheap.
The majority of his ‘recipes’ are mince-based, including the so-called vegetarian ones. He is obsessed by mince.
From Dec 1991
From May 2002
Despite his appalling hygiene and dreadful cooking, Egon is constantly followed around by a horde of admirers. Trouble is, it's just flies.
Roger was quizzed about Egon's appearance:
On a similar note, it's only a few years since I discovered that Popeye has only one eye -- although, granted, there's a bit of a clue in the name."
From June 1985
A Sunday People strip from March 1999
From Jan 1996
Despite the Christian name, Egon is British.
From Apr 2002
Egon's first appearance in 1979
Roger says that the character’s name was inspired by world-famous Hungarian chef and food critic, Egon Ronay. When he died, aged 94, in 2010, Roger commented:
I learned through them that the 'original' Egon was hugely amused by his namesake and, if I remember correctly, I sent an original, signed strip to him.
Presumably, he's upstairs at the moment working on a new recipe for ambrosia.
Cheers, Egon.”
Egon Ronay 1915-2010
Egon's Family
His (unnamed) sister ran the fort canteen for week in September 1985:
He has an eye (well, the eye) for the ladies'..
Charlene
From March 2002
Blonwyn
From Aug 2000
Betty
From Aug 1989
Egon also has an Uncle Morris who cleans out the fish tanks in an aquarium. An unfortunate incident occurred to him when someone apparently switched the 'haddock' and 'piranha' signs.....
