Le Chat turns 30 this year. Philippe was 30 when gave birth to his now famous cat.
Even though Philippe Geluck's destiny seemed all traced for him, being born into an artistic family with an illustrator father, an employee of the house so taken by his drawings that he sends young Philippe's drawings to a local publication which immediately accepts to publish it, .... Philippe starts his career as an actor.
After graduating from the National Institute of Performing Arts (INSAS), Philippe appears on the various stages of Belgium's leading theatres for the next ten years. But always with pen and pencils at hand ... He never stops drawing and has shows in Europe and the US at the same time.
The big breakthrough in Philippe's career comes in 1983 when the leading French Belgian newspaper Le Soir asks him to come up with a cartoon character for the paper.
Overnight, Le Chat is born and Philippe's acting career comes to an end. The cat is a "deceptively simple and deadpan commentator" who, in true Belgian style "reveals life's underlying surrealism and absurdity" which is the main reason he is so easy to like and appeals to such large audiences.
The cat quickly becomes the papers's mascot and since 1983, more than 8000 cat cartoons have appeared in the paper. Many more have been syndicated in French dailies and magazines and have appeared in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, ... and Iran.
To date, the Cat has sold 12 million copies of his 20 albums.
Where the Cat is headed next is still being debated
Now 30, The Cat is leaving callow youth behind him and waddling forward into mature adulthood, followed closely by his creator. Neither he nor we know where he will go
next.