I Thought I Saw a Puddy Tat

Sylvester the cat was created by Fritz Freleng for the 1945 cartoon "Life With Feathers" in which a henpecked lovebird tries to commit suicide by having Sylvester eat him. The cat's very first words were "Thufferin' Thuccotash", uttered again and  again throughout the cat's career. Sylvester was designed to look like a clown, that's why he has a big red nose and jowels. He was voiced by Mel Blanc.

 
In 1947, Sylvester was paired with an infamous character created by Bob Clampett, named Tweety Bird. In a short called "Tweetie Pie" once again directed by Freleng, Sylvester plays the jealous housecat, trying to eat Tweety. This concept would continue for countless cartoons. The short won Warner Brothers Animation its first Academy Award, and the characters were an instant success.

Later the series would introduce audiences to Granny, Tweety's owner, and Hector, Tweety's bulldog bodyguard. Producer of the studio at the time, Edward Selzer, had suggested that Fritz Freleng not use Tweety but instead start using the little woodpecker from the earlier Sylvester solo cartoon "Peck Up You Troubles" (1945) as Sylvester's chief nemesis. Selzer was notorious for having no sense of humor or funny ideas, so Freleng decided that Tweety had to be the right character. However, aside from the tweety series, Sylvester was one of the most versatile characters in Warner Bros. cartoons, starring in many other cartoons without Tweety.