Childhood: Who is Gargamel?

Well, in a recent TV show I watched, an athiest was questioning his friend, and suggested that he might as well worship Gargamel.

And I thought to myself: who is Gargamel?
I knew he was a cartoon arch-villan of unspeakable evil, but I couldn't immediately place him. Was he a Disney villan from a movie I saw as a kid? Then today I Googled him, and I wonder how I ever forgot.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1012&bih=573&q=gargamel&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=