William Steig

William Steig /ˈstaɪɡ/[2] (November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, and, in his later life, an illustrator and writer of children's books. Best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.[3]

William Steig
Steig in New York City on April 12, 1944. Photograph taken by Arnold Newman.
Born	November 14, 1907 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	October 3, 2003 (aged 95) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Illustrator, writer
Years active	1930-2003
Notable work	Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Doctor De Soto Shrek!
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Mead Steig ​ ​ (m. 1936; div. 1949)​ Kari Homestead ​ ​ (m. 1950; div. 1963)​ Stephanie Healey ​ ​ (m. 1964⁠–⁠1966)​ Jeanne Doron ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	Jeremy Steig[1] Lucinda 'Lucy' Steig Franchechini Margit Laura Steig
Parent(s)	Joseph Steig, Laura Ebel Steig
Awards	Caldecott Medal 1970 National Book Award 1983 CINE Golden Eagle 1984

Early life

Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1907, and grew up in the Bronx. His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father, Joseph Steig,[4] was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, 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 Art before dropping out of each.[5]

Career

Hailed as the "King of Cartoons",[6] Steig began drawing illustrations and cartoons for The New Yorker in 1930, producing more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. One of his cartoon characters, Poor Pitiful Pearl, was made into a popular line of dolls starting in 1956.[7]

Later, when he was 61, Steig began writing children's books.[8] 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.[9] He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor De Soto 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 (2001). After the release of Shrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel.[10]

In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor De Soto, 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.[11] for the film adaptation of this book.

Personal life and death

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 Mead),[12] from whom he was later divorced. For a time, Steig lived at 75½ Bedford Street, purported to be the narrowest house in Manhattan.[13] Steig's first marriage also made him a brother-in-law of Leo Rosten[12] and an uncle of Mary Catherine Bateson.[14] Steig and Mead were the parents of jazz flutist Jeremy Steig (playing the Pied Piper in Shrek Forever After)[15] and a daughter, Lucinda. He married second wife Kari Homestead in 1950, and they had a daughter, Margit Laura (now professionally known as Maggie Steig).[16] 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.

His brother Irwin was a journalist and painter, for whom Wiliam illustrated two books on poker strategy. His brother Henry was a writer who played the saxophone and painted. And 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".

Steig died of old age in Boston, Massachusetts on October 3, 2003, aged 95.[17] Shrek 2, which was released seven months after his death, was dedicated to his memory.[4]

Works

• 1932, Man About Town (New York: R. Long & R.R. Smith)
• 1939, About People: A book of symbolical drawings by William Steig (Random House)
• 1941, How to Become Extinct (Farrar & Rinehart), written by Will Cuppy, illustrated by Steig
• 1942, The Lonely Ones (Duell, Sloan and Pearce)
• 1944, All Embarrassed (Duell S&P)
• 1944, Small Fry (Duell S&P)
• 1945, Persistent Faces (Duell S&P)
• 1946, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (Simon & Schuster) by Eric Hodgins
• 1947, Till Death Do Us Part: Some ballet notes on marriage (Duell S&P)
• 1948, Listen, Little Man! (Orgone Institute Press) by Wilhelm Reich – translated from the German-language essay "Rede an den kleinen Mann", 1945
• 1950, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy
• 1950, The Agony in the Kindergarten (Duell S&P)
• 1950, Giggle Box: Funny Stories for Boys and Girls (Alfred A. Knopf), compiled by Phyllis R. Fenner, newly illustrated by Steig
• 1951, The Rejected Lovers (Knopf)
• 1953, Dreams of Glory and other drawings (Knopf)
• 1959, Poker for Fun and Profit (McDowell, Obolensky, 1959), written by Irwin Steig, illustrated by William Steig
• 1963, Common Sense in Poker (Cornerstone, 1963), written by Irwin Steig, illustrated by William Steig
• 1963, Continuous Performance (Duell S&P)

From this time, Steig primarily created children's picture books.

• 1968, CDB! (Windmill Books) – picture book
• 1968, Roland the Minstrel Pig (Windmill)
• 1969, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Windmill) — NBA finalist[18]
• 1969, The Bad Island (Windmill); reissued as Rotten Island (D. R. Godine, 1984)[19]

• 1971, Amos and Boris
• 1972, Dominic — NBA finalist[18]
• 1973, The Real Thief
• 1974, Farmer Palmer's Wagon Ride
• 1976, Abel's Island — adapted as a 1988 film
• 1976, The Amazing Bone
• 1977, Caleb + Kate — NBA finalist[18]
• 1978, Tiffky Doofky
• 1979, Drawings
• 1980, Gorky Rises
• 1982, Doctor De Soto — National Book Award, Picture Books[20]
• 1984, CDC? (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• 1984, Ruminations
• 1984, Yellow & Pink
• 1984, Rotten Island (formerly The Bad Island, 1969)
• 1985, Solomon, The Rusty Nail
• 1986, Brave Irene
• 1987, The Zabajaba Jungle
• 1988, Spinky Sulks
• 1990, Shrek! — the basis for the movie series
• 1992, Alpha Beta Chowder, written by Jeanne Steig, illustrated by William Steig
• 1992, Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa
• 1994, Zeke Pippin
• 1996, The Toy Brother
• 1998, A Handful of Beans: Six Fairy Tales, retold by Jeanne Steig, illustrated 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

References

1. Wolff, Carlo (7 February 2014). "Jeremy Steig: Flute Fever (2013)". All About Jazz.
2. Rosenberg, Karen (2007). "Ogres for All Ages". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017. … Steig (pronounced with a long i and a hard g).
3. "Candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 1956–2002" Archived 2016-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002. IBBY. Gyldendal. 2002. Pages 110–18. Hosted by Austrian Literature Online (literature.at). Retrieved 2013-07-14.
4. Boxer, Sarah (October 5, 2003). "William Steig, 95, Dies; Tough Youths and Jealous Satyrs Scowled in His Cartoons". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-11-15. Corrected October 7 and October 27.
5. Boxer, Sarah (November 29, 1997). "Wry Child of the Unconscious; William Steig, 90, on Art, Life and the Mysterious Orgone". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
6. Nahson, Claudia J.; Sendak, Maurice; Cottingham, Robert; Sorel, Edward; Steig, Jeanne; Steig, Maggie (1 November 2007). The Art of William Steig. New York: Yale University Press, in associate with the Jewish Museum. ISBN 978-0-300-12478-1.
7. "Poor Pitiful Pearl & Her Creator, William Steig".
8. Puig, Claudia (May 30, 2001). "'Shrek!' author exclaims his approval of film". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
9. "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938–Present". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA).
     "The Randolph Caldecott Medal". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
10. "The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet". The Numbers. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
11. "cine.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
12. Banner, Lois W. (2010). Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307773401.
13. Gray, Christopher (November 10, 1996). "For Rent: 3-Floor House, 9 1/2 Ft. Wide, $6,000 a Month". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
14. Brinthaupt, Thomas M.; Lipka, Richard P. (2002). Understanding Early Adolescent Self and Identity: Applications and Interventions. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791453346.
15. Keepnews, Peter (3 June 2016). "Jeremy Steig, Flutist Who Bridged Jazz and Rock, Dies at 73 (Published 2016)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018.
16. Lodge, Sally (22 August 2013). "FSG Issues William Steig E-books". Publishers Weekly.
17. "Cartoonist Steig Dead at 95". Studio Briefing. October 7, 2003.
18. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Dominic, and Caleb + Kate were finalists for the National Book Award, Children's Literature.
    "National Book Awards – 1970". National Book Foundation (NBF). Retrieved 2012-02-08. (Select 1970, 1973, and 1978 from the top left menu.)
19. "Rotten Island". Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
20. Doctor Dr. Soto shared a National Book Award in category Picture Books during the brief time (1980–83) there were multiple children's awards, including Picture Books in 1982 and 1983.
    "National Book Awards – 1983". NBF. Retrieved 2012-02-22.

External links

• William Steig at publisher Macmillan US
• Obituary: William Steig 1907–2003 at The Comics Reporter
• From The New Yorker to 'Shrek: The Art of William Steig, 2007–2008 exhibition at The Jewish Museum of New York
• William Steig at Library of Congress Authorities, with 107 catalog records