Blondie (comic strip) over all he surveys, with one notable exception—his formidable and domineering wife, Cora. Blondie and Dagwood's best friends are their next-door neighbors Herb and Tootsie Woodley, although Dagwood and Herb's friendship is frequently volatile. Lou is the burly, tattooed owner of Lou's Diner, the less-than-five-star establishment where Dagwood often eats during his lunch hour. Other regular supporting characters include the long-suffering mailman, Mr. Beasley; Elmo Tuttle, a pesky neighborhood kid who often asks Dagwood to play; and a never-ending parade of overbearing door-to-door salesmen. There are several running gags in "Blondie", reflecting the trend after Chic Young's death for the
Blondie (comic strip) wiseguy neighbor Alvin Fuddle. Rounding out the regular supporting cast, character actor Jonathan Hale played Dagwood's irascible boss, J.C. Dithers. Hale left the series in 1945 and was succeeded by Jerome Cowan as George M. Radcliffe in "Blondie's Big Moment". In the last film, "Beware of Blondie", the Dithers character returned, played by Edward Earle and shown from the back. The Bumsteads' neighbors, the Woodleys, did not appear in the series until "Beware of Blondie". They were played by Emory Parnell and Isabel Withers. In 1943 Columbia felt the series was slipping, and ended the string with "It's a Great