1. Garfield
A cat that eats lasagna? That would be Garfield, the star of the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world. Created by Jim Davis in 1978, Garfield now appears in more than 2,500 newspapers, as well as movies, TV specials, and video games. The pudgy orange-and-black feline is best known for his love of Italian food, his disdain for Mondays, and his constant tormenting of his canine pal, Odie.
 Puss in Boots was one of Mother Goose's fairy tales. |
Rescued from a Hinsdale, Illinois, shelter in 1968, Morris, the 15-pound, orange-striped tabby went on to earn fame and fortune as the "spokescat" for 9Lives cat food. He also starred opposite Burt Reynolds in 1973's Shamus and even ran for president in 1988 and 1992 on the Finicky Party platform.
3. The Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire cat first appeared -- and disappeared -- in Lewis Carroll's children's story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The cat pops in and out of Alice's adventure, often turning her innocent queries into philosophical discussions. But the scene
that forever seals the Cheshire cat's place in history is when he makes the rest of his body gradually disappear, leaving only his smile behind, hence the phrase "grinning like a Cheshire cat" to describe someone with a mischievous grin.
4. Socks: The First Cat
Socks knew a good thing when he saw it. The eventual First Cat joined the Clinton family in 1991 when he jumped into Chelsea's arms at her piano teacher's house in Little Rock, Arkansas. Socks, a black-and-white kitty, spent eight years in the White House and became a star in his own right, appearing on an episode of Murphy Brown and inspiring two books: Socks Goes to Washington: The Diary of America's First Cat and Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets. When the Clintons left the White House in 2001, Socks was given to Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie. Socks still lives with the Curries in Maryland.
The famous cats on the next page include movie stars and one chapeau-wearing cat that could never been forgotten.
