‘Peanuts’ Turns 75! Inside the Life of Comic Strip Creator Charles M. Schulz

On Oct. 2, 1950, a comic strip called “Peanuts” appeared for the first time in nine American newspapers, starring a “lovable loser” named Charlie Brown.

Within its first 25 years, it became one of the most successful comic strips in history, syndicated daily in 1,655 newspapers around the globe. It launched a multi-million dollar empire that included books, greeting cards, movies, television specials, and the long-running stage musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Since then, the franchise has continued to roll out new films, despite its creator Charles M Schulz’s death from colon cancer in 2000 at age 77. Peanuts Worldwide is co-owned by Schulz’s family and the Canadian entertainment company WildBrain, with Apple TV+ owning the streaming rights and rights to create new “Peanuts” content. Schulz, who died the same week he retired, once said that his main character was his alter-ego — and like Charlie Brown, he was prone to bouts of depression, panic, and feeling unlovable. For more facts about Schulz, read on.

Charlie Brown Was Named After Charles M. Schulz’s Colleague

In 1975, PEOPLE interviewed the “Peanuts” creator, who said he got the name for his main character from a colleague named Charlie Brown, after he drew a picture of a boy and gurl sitting on a curb talking about love. Schulz asked a fellow worker if he could use his name, Charlie Brown. Schulz liked the name so much that he wanted to call his strip “Good 0l’ Charlie Brown” when United Features finally bought it. Instead, the syndicate came up with “Peanuts”. “I think “Peanuts” is a terrible name,” Schulz said at the time. “I’ve been needling the syndicate about that for years.”

The Films Were a Huge Success — But No One Wanted Them At First

A network finally bought the first Charlie Brown TV special in 1965, and a decade later they’d produced 16 of them. A Boy Named Charlie Brown went on to become a top-grossing movie, andYou’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown became one of the longest-running stage musicals in history, but started out a critical flop. Schulz told PEOPLE that “Peanuts” was a slow burn to start: Only one guy at Hallmark liked our greeting cards. Now they’re the No. 1 seller.”

The Comic Strip Ended After Schulz Got Cancer

In January 2000, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, 77 and suffering from colon cancer, announced he was retiring. A final Sunday feature on Feb. 13, put Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the rest of the lovable “Peanuts” gang to bed.

Growing up in St. Paul, Schulz read the comics with his father and learned to draw from a correspondence course. He once told PEOPLE that Charlie was his alter ago: “I never realized how many Charlie Browns there were in the world. I thought I was the only one,” he said at considering himself a “lovable loser.”

Schulz Died the Day Before His Final Comic Ran in the Sunday Papers

On Feb. 12, 2000, the day before his final “Peanuts” strip was to run, Schulz died peacefully in his sleep. The timing was “prophetic and magical,” says close friend and fellow cartoonist Lynn Johnston ,52, the creator of “For Better or for Worse.”

“He made one last deadline. There’s romance in that.”

He Created the Term “Security Blanket”

As creator of the most widely syndicated comic strip in history, Schulz added “security blanket” to the popular lexicon, tied to Linus always dragging his blanky around while sucking on his thumb. HIs contribution to pop culture didn’t end there: He coined the phrase “Happiness is a warm puppy,” And Snoopy was stenciled on the helmets of American soldiers in Vietnam.

The Little Red-Haired Girl Was Modeled After Schulz’s First Love

Working as an art instructor at the Minneapolis correspondence school, Schulz he fell hard for Donna Johnson, an auburn beauty in accounting. He proposed after a long courtship, and when Johnson said no, the rejection sent him reeling. “It is a blow to everything that you are. Your appearance. Your personality,” Schulz once told his editor. He would immortalize Johnson as Charlie’s unrequited love, the Little Red-Haired Girl in “Peanuts.”

Schulz had Five Children, and Owned an Ice Skating Rink

Although he was an admitted workaholic, Schulz was also a doting father to the five kids he had with his first wife, Joyce Halverson. “In Minnesota, he used to go out in the backyard and make an ice rink by spraying a hose on the snow,” his son Craig told PEOPLE after his death. In 1958, when he moved the family to the Coffee Grounds ranch near Sebastopol, Calif., the kids had horses and dogs, a miniature golf course and their own private baseball diamond. “We’d drop into his office and ask him to play baseball, and he’d put down everything and play with us,” Craig said. Schulz also owned a $2 million ice skating rink down the road where he’d play ice hockey several times a week, and his wife took skating lessons.

Schulz Was a Strict Christian Who Never Drank

Schulz was a strict Christian who never drank and was prone to melancholy and to panic attacks. Friends said he could also brutally candid. Cartoonist Mort Walker (“Beetle Bailey”) will never forget the time Schulz responded to a suggestion Walker made at a cartoonists’ convention by saying, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Later, says Walker, Schulz came over to him. “‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘That was Lucy speaking.’

Saying “Good Grief” Was As Close to Swearing as Schulz Got

“He was the only person I ever met who never said a swear word to anybody—for him, cursing was ‘Goodgrief!’ and ‘Aaugh!'” his son Craig told PEOPLE after his death. “If I had to sum up my feelings about Dad it would be this: He was the finest example of a human being I ever met.”