William Steig
Encyclopedia
William Steig was a prolific American
cartoonist
, sculptor and, later in life, an author of popular children's literature
. Most noted for the books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
, Abel's Island
and Doctor De Soto, he also created the character Shrek
, who inspired the popular movie series.
. His father was a house painter, and his mother was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio
. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he also did well at athletics, being a member of the collegiate All-American water polo
team. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School
at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York
, three years at the National Academy of Design
and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each.
His brother Irwin was a journalist and painter, and his brother Henry was a writer who played the saxophone and painted. His brother Arthur was a writer and poet, who, according to Steig, read The Nation in the cradle, was telepathic and "drew as well as Picasso or Matisse."
, he began drawing cartoons as a freelance artist and sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker
in 1930. Living in Gaylordsville, Connecticut
, he soon became successful. Over decades, he contributed more than 1600 cartoons to the magazine, including 117 covers, leading Newsweek
to dub him the "King of Cartoons." Steig was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
in the summer of 1949. Steig was a patient of the psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich
and illustrated Reich's polemic, Listen, Little Man.
In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
(1969) , won the Caldecott Medal
. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto
series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek!
(1990) formed the basis for the Dreamworks Animation
film Shrek
.
directed by Michael Sporn
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Also in 1984, Steig received the CINE
Golden Eagle Award in Education. for the film adaptation of this book.
noted: "In memory of William Steig, 1907-2003."
, from whom he was later divorced. They were the parents of jazz flutist Jeremy Steig
and a daughter, Lucinda. He married second wife Kari Homestead in 1950, and they had a daughter, Margit Laura. After their divorce, he was married to Stephanie Healey from 1964 to 1966. His final marriage, to Jeanne Doron, endured for the rest of his life.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, sculptor and, later in life, an author of popular children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
. Most noted for the books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a children's picture book written and illustrated by William Steig. It won him the Caldecott Medal , his first of many Caldecott and Newbery Medal honors. It tells the tale of a donkey from the fictional community of Oatsdale...
, Abel's Island
Abel's Island
Abel's Island is a children's novel written and illustrated by William Steig. It won a Newbery Honor. It was published by Collin Publishers, Toronto, Canada in 1976...
and Doctor De Soto, he also created the character Shrek
Shrek!
Shrek! is a picture book written and illustrated in 1990 by William Steig about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world...
, who inspired the popular movie series.
Early life and education
Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialistsSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. His father was a house painter, and his mother was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he also did well at athletics, being a member of the collegiate All-American water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
team. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School
Townsend Harris High School
Townsend Harris High School is a public magnet high school for the humanities in the borough of Queens in New York City. Students and alumni often refer to themselves as "Harrisites." Townsend Harris consistently ranks as among the top 100 High Schools in the United States. It currently operates as...
at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, three years at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each.
His brother Irwin was a journalist and painter, and his brother Henry was a writer who played the saxophone and painted. His brother Arthur was a writer and poet, who, according to Steig, read The Nation in the cradle, was telepathic and "drew as well as Picasso or Matisse."
Career
When his family had financial problems during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he began drawing cartoons as a freelance artist and sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
in 1930. Living in Gaylordsville, Connecticut
Gaylordsville, Connecticut
Gaylordsville is a village located in the northwest corner of the Town of New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut. It was founded in 1725 by William Gaylord.-History:...
, he soon became successful. Over decades, he contributed more than 1600 cartoons to the magazine, including 117 covers, leading Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
to dub him the "King of Cartoons." Steig was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International was an exhibition of sculpture that included works from 250 sculptors from around the world. It was "organized by the Fairmount Park Art Association under the terms of a bequest made to the Association by the late Ellen Phillips Samuel." It was held at the Philadelphia...
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
in the summer of 1949. Steig was a patient of the psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
and illustrated Reich's polemic, Listen, Little Man.
In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a children's picture book written and illustrated by William Steig. It won him the Caldecott Medal , his first of many Caldecott and Newbery Medal honors. It tells the tale of a donkey from the fictional community of Oatsdale...
(1969) , won the Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto
Doctor DeSoto
Doctor De Soto is a 1982 book by William Steig that won a Newbery Honor. At a mere 32 pages, it is one of the shortest books to receive the award. The plot deals with the kind Dr. De Soto, a mouse-dentist that has to help a fox with a toothache without being eaten.-Plot:The story is about Dr. De...
series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek!
Shrek!
Shrek! is a picture book written and illustrated in 1990 by William Steig about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world...
(1990) formed the basis for the Dreamworks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
film Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
.
Adaptations
In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor DeSotoDoctor DeSoto
Doctor De Soto is a 1982 book by William Steig that won a Newbery Honor. At a mere 32 pages, it is one of the shortest books to receive the award. The plot deals with the kind Dr. De Soto, a mouse-dentist that has to help a fox with a toothache without being eaten.-Plot:The story is about Dr. De...
directed by Michael Sporn
Michael Sporn
Michael Sporn is an American animator who founded his New York-based company, Michael Sporn Animation in 1980, and has produced and directed numerous animated TV specials and short spots.-Career:...
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Also in 1984, Steig received the CINE
CINE
CINE is a consortium formulated to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience. CINE recognizes and fosters the highest quality of non-theatrical film and video production through its semi-annual film competitions....
Golden Eagle Award in Education. for the film adaptation of this book.
Death
At the age of 95, Steig died from natural causes on October 3, 2003. The closing credits for Shrek 2Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek...
noted: "In memory of William Steig, 1907-2003."
Personal life
Steig married four times and had three children. From 1936 to 1949, Steig was married to educator and artist Elizabeth Mead Steig (1909–1983), sister of anthropologist Margaret MeadMargaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
, from whom he was later divorced. They were the parents of jazz flutist Jeremy Steig
Jeremy Steig
-Biography:Steig is the son of New Yorker cartoonist William Steig,At age 19 Steig was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him paralyzed on one side...
and a daughter, Lucinda. He married second wife Kari Homestead in 1950, and they had a daughter, Margit Laura. After their divorce, he was married to Stephanie Healey from 1964 to 1966. His final marriage, to Jeanne Doron, endured for the rest of his life.
Work
- 1939, About People
- 1941, How to Become Extinct [[Will Cuppy; illustrations by Steig]
- 1942, The Lonely Ones
- 1945, Persistent Faces
- 1946, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream HouseMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (novel)Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1946 comedy novel written by Eric Hodgins and illustrated by William Steig, describing the vicissitudes of buying a home in the country. It originally appeared as a short story in the April 1946 issue of Fortune magazine.It was adapted as a movie of the...
[illustrations by Steig] - 1948, Listen, Little Man! Wilhelm ReichWilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
[illustrations by Steig] - 1950, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody [Will Cuppy; illustrations by Steig]
- 1951, The Rejected Lovers
- 1953, Dreams of Glory
- 1968, CDB!CDB!CDB! is a children's book written and illustrated by William Steig, published in 1968 by Simon & Schuster . The book is a collection of pictures with captions written in code, with each letter in the caption standing for a word the letter's name sounds like...
- 1968, Roland the Minstrel Pig
- 1969, Sylvester and the Magic PebbleSylvester and the Magic PebbleSylvester and the Magic Pebble is a children's picture book written and illustrated by William Steig. It won him the Caldecott Medal , his first of many Caldecott and Newbery Medal honors. It tells the tale of a donkey from the fictional community of Oatsdale...
- 1969, Bad Island
- 1971, Amos and Boris
- 1972, Dominic
- 1973, The Real Thief
- 1974, Farmer Palmer's Wagon Ride
- 1976, Abel's IslandAbel's IslandAbel's Island is a children's novel written and illustrated by William Steig. It won a Newbery Honor. It was published by Collin Publishers, Toronto, Canada in 1976...
- 1976, The Amazing BoneThe Amazing BoneThe Amazing Bone is a 32-page picture book by William Steig from 1976. It was nominated for the Caldecott Medal in 1977; however, Leo & Diane Dillon's Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions won, so The Amazing Bone only received the Caldecott Honor Award...
- 1977, Caleb & Kate.
- 1978, Tiffky Doofky
- 1979, Drawings
- 1980, Gorky Rises
- 1982, Doctor De Soto
- 1984, CDC?CDC?CDC? is a children's puzzle book written and illustrated by author and cartoonist William Steig. Originally published in 1984, it is a sequel to CDB!, and is of the same concept: letters and numbers which suggest the sounds of words or phrases are printed as captions for interpretive cartoons...
- 1984, Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa
- 1984, Ruminations
- 1984, Yellow & Pink
- 1984, Rotten Island(his most popular book)
- 1985, Solomon: The Rusty Nail
- 1986, Brave Irene
- 1987, The Zabajaba Jungle
- 1988, Spinky Sulks
- 1990, Shrek!Shrek!Shrek! is a picture book written and illustrated in 1990 by William Steig about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world...
( the story behind the movie series) - 1992, Alpha Beta Chowder
- 1994, Zeke Pippin
- 1996, The Toy Brother
- 1998, A Handful of Beans: Six Fairy Tales / retold by Jeanne Steig [illustrations by William Steig]
- 1998, Pete’s a Pizza
- 2000, Made for Each Other
- 2000, Wizzil
- 2001, A Gift from Zeus
- 2002, Potch & Polly
- 2003, When Everybody Wore a Hat
- 2003, Yellow & Pink [new format]
- 2003, The incredibles
- 2003, puss in boots