Question: who said i'll gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today

title: J. Wellington Wimpy
text: Hamburgers are Wimpy 's all - time favorite food , and he is usually seen carrying or eating one or more at a time -- e.g. , in Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor he is seen grinding meat or eating burgers almost the entire time -- however , he is usually too cheap to pay for them himself . A recurring joke involves Wimpy 's attempts to con other patrons of the diner into buying his meal for him . His best - known catchphrase started in 1931 as , `` Cook me up a hamburger . I 'll pay you Thursday . '' In 1932 , this then became the famous , `` I 'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today . '' The phrase was also slightly altered in the episode `` Spree Lunch '' to `` I 'll have a hamburger , for which I will gladly pay you Tuesday . '' This phrase is now commonly used to illustrate financial irresponsibility and still appears in modern comedies such as The Drew Carey Show and The Office . The initial part of the phrase was even the title of Episode 6 of the fourth season of Cheers `` I 'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday . '' 

Answer: answer: J. Wellington Wimpy's best - known catchphrase started in 1931 as, `` Cook me up a hamburger, I 'll pay you Thursday.''   In 1932, this then became the famous, ``I 'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.''