View source for William Steig

{{Short description|American illustrator and writer (1907–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox author
| name             = William Steig
| image            = William Steig.jpg
| caption          = Steig in 1944
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1907|11|14}}
| birth_place      = New York City, U.S
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2003|10|3|1907|11|14}}
| death_place      = [[Boston]], Massachusetts, U.S
| occupation       = Illustrator, writer
| period           = 1930–2003
| notable_works    = {{plainlist|
* ''[[Sylvester and the Magic Pebble]]''
* ''[[Doctor De Soto]]''
* ''[[Shrek!]]''}}
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elizabeth Mead Steig|1936|1949|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|Kari Homestead|1950|1963|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|Stephanie Healey|1964|1966}}
* {{marriage|Jeanne Doron|1968}}}}
| children         = 3, including [[Jeremy Steig]]<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wolff|first=Carlo|title=Jeremy Steig: Flute Fever (2013)|date=February 7, 2014|magazine=[[All About Jazz]]|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/flute-fever-jeremy-steig-ipo-recordings-review-by-carlo-wolff.php#.VDXnObDF8uc}}</ref>
| awards           = {{awd |[[Caldecott Medal]] |1970}} {{awd |[[National Book Award]] |1983}} {{awd |[[CINE]] Golden Eagle |1984}}
}}
'''William Steig''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|aɪ|ɡ}};<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Karen |date=2007 |title=Ogres for All Ages |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/arts/design/14stei.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2017 |quote=… Steig (pronounced with a long i and a hard g).}}

</ref> November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American [[cartoonist]], illustrator and writer of children's books, best known for the picture book ''[[Shrek!]]'', which inspired the [[Shrek (franchise)|film series of the same name]], as well as others that included ''[[Sylvester and the Magic Pebble]]'', ''[[Abel's Island]]'', and ''[[Doctor De Soto]]''. He was the U.S. nominee for the biennial and international [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]]s, as both a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.<ref name="ibby-nominee"/>

==Early life==
Steig was born in [[Brooklyn]], New York, in 1907, and grew up in [[the Bronx]]. His parents were [[Polish-Jewish]] immigrants from [[Lviv|Lemberg]], [[Austria-Hungary]]; both [[socialists]]. His father, Joseph Steig,<ref name=nyt2003/> was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, Steig 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, Steig also did well at [[Sport of athletics|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 Steig attended three schools, 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 one.<ref name=nyt1997/>

==Career==
Hailed as the "King of Cartoons",<ref>{{cite book |first1=Claudia J. |last1=Nahson |first2=Maurice |last2=Sendak |first3=Robert |last3=Cottingham |first4=Edward |last4=Sorel |first5=Jeanne |last5=Steig |first6=Maggie |last6=Steig |date=November 1, 2007 |title=The Art of William Steig |url=https://archive.org/details/artofwilliamstei0000nahs |location=New York |publisher=[[Yale University Press]], in associate with the Jewish Museum |isbn=978-0-300-12478-1 |url-access=registration }}</ref> 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.<ref name="dolls">{{cite web|url= http://vintagedollcollector.com/poor-pitiful-pearl-article-william-steig/|title=Poor Pitiful Pearl & Her Creator, William Steig}}</ref>

For a 1934 auction organized by [[Langston Hughes]] to benefit the defence fund for the [[Scottsboro Boys]] — nine African-Americans who had been falsely accused of rape and denied fair trials — he contributed an untitled original drawing and a reprint of another.<ref>Hughes, Langston. "PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC." Auction items, 5 pp. typed. Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, James Weldon Johnson Collection, Langston Hughes Papers; JWJ MSS 26, Box 512, folder 12721: Series XIV. Personal Papers, Project Files; National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (Scottsboro exhibition and sale).</ref>

Steig began writing children's books when he was 61.<ref name=puig/> In 1968, Steig published his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, ''[[Sylvester and the Magic Pebble]]'' (1969), won the [[Caldecott Medal]].<ref name=caldecott/> Steig 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 Steig's 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 [[Box office territory|theatrical]] and [[ancillary market]]s after only one sequel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/|title=The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet|work=The Numbers|access-date=May 26, 2017}}</ref>

When asked his opinion about the movie based on his picture book, ''Shrek'', William Steig responded: "It's vulgar, it's disgusting — and I loved it."<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 10, 2008|title=The man behind Shrek|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/the-man-behind-shrek/|access-date= February 24, 2022 |website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

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]]. That same year, Steig received the [[CINE]] Golden Eagle Award in Education<ref>{{cite web |title=cine.org |url=http://www.cine.org/archives/winner-archives/pdfs/1984-CINE-Winner-Directory.pdf |access-date=October 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928031347/http://www.cine.org/archives/winner-archives/pdfs/1984-CINE-Winner-Directory.pdf |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 (1909–83, sister of anthropologist [[Margaret Mead]]),<ref name=Mead>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QegaBoxPOrsC&pg=PA88 |isbn=9780307773401 |title=Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle|last=Banner|first=Lois W.|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2010}}</ref> from whom he was later divorced. For a time, Steig lived at [[75½ Bedford Street]], purported to be the narrowest house in Manhattan.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last1=Gray|first1=Christopher|title=For Rent: 3-Floor House, 9 1/2 Ft. Wide, $6,000 a Month|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/realestate/for-rent-3-floor-house-9-1-2-ft-wide-6000-a-month.html |access-date=December 14, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 10, 1996}}</ref> Steig's first marriage also made him a brother-in-law of [[Leo Rosten]]<ref name=Mead/> and an uncle of [[Mary Catherine Bateson]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6d4N9PLu2JIC&pg=PA131 |isbn=9780791453346|title=Understanding Early Adolescent Self and Identity: Applications and Interventions|last1=Brinthaupt|first1=Thomas M.|last2=Lipka|first2=Richard P.|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2002}}</ref> Steig and Mead were the parents of jazz flutist [[Jeremy Steig]] (playing the [[Pied Piper]] in ''[[Shrek Forever After]]'')<ref>{{cite web |last1=Keepnews |first1=Peter |title=Jeremy Steig, Flutist Who Bridged Jazz and Rock, Dies at 73 (Published 2016) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/arts/music/jeremy-steig-jazz-flutist-dies-at-73.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180726201937/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/arts/music/jeremy-steig-jazz-flutist-dies-at-73.html |archive-date=July 26, 2018 |date=June 3, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and a daughter, Lucinda. He married his second wife, Kari Homestead, in 1950, and they had a daughter, Margit Laura (now professionally known as Maggie Steig).<ref>{{cite web|last=Lodge|first=Sally |title=FSG Issues William Steig E-books|date=August 22, 2013|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]|url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/58807-fsg-issues-william-steig-e-books.html}}</ref> After their divorce, he was married to Stephanie Healey from 1964 to 1966. His final marriage, to Jeanne Doron in 1968, endured for the rest of his life.

Steig's brother, Irwin, was a journalist and painter, for whom William illustrated two books on [[poker strategy]]. His brother, Henry, was a jeweler and 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 [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]] or [[Henri Matisse|Matisse]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/29/arts/wry-child-unconscious-william-steig-90-art-life-mysterious-orgone.html|title=Wry Child of the Unconscious; William Steig, 90, on Art, Life and the Mysterious Orgone|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 29, 1997|last1=Boxer|first1=Sarah}}</ref>

Steig died of [[natural causes]] in [[Boston]], Massachusetts, on October 3, 2003, at the age of 95.<ref>{{cite news | title=Cartoonist Steig Dead at 95 | work=[[Studio Briefing]] | date=October 7, 2003 }}</ref> ''[[Shrek 2]]'', which was released seven months after his death, was dedicated to his memory.<ref name=nyt2003/>

==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]]) <!-- foreword by Arthur Steig, perhaps then famous -->
* 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)<!--fwd A Steig-->
* 1944, ''Small Fry'' (Duell S&P)
* 1945, ''Persistent Faces'' (Duell S&P)
* 1946, ''[[Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (novel)|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 (April),<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Miami News 24 Apr 1968, p. 22 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/300516038/ |access-date=April 12, 2023 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> ''Roland the Minstrel Pig'' (Windmill)
* 1968 (September),<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Courier-News 26 Sep 1968, p. Page 3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/222308504/ |access-date=April 12, 2023 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> ''[[CDB!]]'' ([[Robert Kraus#Publishing Company|Windmill Books]]) – picture book
* 1969, ''[[Sylvester and the Magic Pebble]]'' (Windmill) – NBA finalist<ref name=nba1970s/>
* 1969, ''The Bad Island'' (Windmill); reissued as ''Rotten Island'' ([[David R. Godine, Publisher|D. R. Godine]], 1984)<ref>[http://lccn.loc.gov/84004075 "Rotten Island"]. Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved April 19, 2014.</ref>
<!-- 2014-04-18/19 above this line includes all book(let)s by Steig with dates before 1970 --whose records in LCCatalog are hits for his name; see the External link -- plus 2 not thus found in that catalog, Mr. Blandings and The Decline and Fall
 -->{{colbegin}}
* 1971, ''Amos and Boris''
* 1972, ''Dominic'' – NBA finalist<ref name=nba1970s/>
* 1973, ''The Real Thief''
* 1974, ''Farmer Palmer's Wagon Ride''
* 1976, ''[[Abel's Island]]'' – adapted as a [[Abel's Island (film)|1988 film]]
* 1976, ''[[The Amazing Bone]]''
* 1977, ''Caleb + Kate'' – NBA finalist<ref name=nba1970s/>
* 1978, ''Tiffky Doofky''
* 1979, ''Drawings''
* 1980, ''Gorky Rises''
* 1982, ''[[Doctor De Soto]]'' – [[National Book Award]], Picture Books<ref name=nba1983/>
* 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 [[Shrek (franchise)|movie series]]
* 1992, "Strutters & Fretters"
* 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''
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist |25em|refs=
<ref name=nyt1997>
{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E4DD103AF93AA15752C1A961958260 |title=Wry Child of the Unconscious; William Steig, 90, on Art, Life and the Mysterious Orgone |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1997 |author=Boxer, Sarah |access-date=June 15, 2008 }}</ref>
<ref name=nyt2003>
{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/05/nyregion/william-steig-95-dies-tough-youths-and-jealous-satyrs-scowled-in-his-cartoons.html |title=William Steig, 95, Dies; Tough Youths and Jealous Satyrs Scowled in His Cartoons |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 5, 2003 |author=Boxer, Sarah |access-date=November 15, 2010 }} Corrected October 7 and 27.</ref>
<ref name=puig>
{{cite web | url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2001-05-30-shrek.htm | title='Shrek!' author exclaims his approval of film | work=[[USA Today]] | date=May 30, 2001 | access-date=February 3, 2012 | author=Puig, Claudia}}</ref>
<!-- awards refs -->
<ref name=caldecott>
[http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938–Present"]. [[Association for Library Service to Children]] (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA).<br>
&nbsp; [http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/aboutcaldecott/aboutcaldecott "The Randolph Caldecott Medal"]. ALSC. ALA. Retrieved July 15, 2013.</ref>
<ref name=ibby-nominee>[http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14769&viewmode=fullscreen&scale=3.33&rotate=&page=105 "Candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 1956–2002"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927122845/http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14769&viewmode=fullscreen&scale=3.33&rotate=&page=105 |date=September 27, 2016 }}. ''The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002''. [[IBBY]]. [[Gyldendal]]. 2002. Pages 110–18. Hosted by [[Austrian Literature Online]] (literature.at). Retrieved July 14, 2013.</ref>
<ref name=nba1970s>
''Sylvester and the Magic Pebble'', ''Dominic'', and ''Caleb + Kate'' were finalists for the [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature|National Book Award, Children's Literature]].<br>
[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1970 "National Book Awards – 1970"]. [[National Book Foundation]] (NBF). Retrieved February 8, 2012.
(Select 1970, 1973, and 1978 from the top left menu.)</ref>
<ref name=nba1983>
''Doctor Dr. Soto'' shared a [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature#Children's Books, 1980 to 1983|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.<br>
[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1983 "National Book Awards – 1983"]. NBF. Retrieved February 22, 2012.</ref>}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Cartoons |Children's literature |Visual arts }}
* [http://us.macmillan.com/author/williamsteig William Steig] at publisher [[Macmillan US]]
* [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/longbox/60/ Obituary: William Steig 1907–2003] at The Comics Reporter
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100514183850/http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/Steig From The New Yorker to 'Shrek: The Art of William Steig], 2007–2008 exhibition at [[The Jewish Museum of New York]]
* [http://lccn.loc.gov/n79151229 William Steig] at [[Library of Congress]] Authorities, with 107 catalog records
* {{isfdb name|24857}}

{{Shrek}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steig, William}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:Jewish American editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:American children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Artists from New York City]]
[[Category:Caldecott Medal winners]]
[[Category:City College of New York alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American illustrators]]
[[Category:Jewish American children's writers]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:National Academy of Design alumni]]
[[Category:National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners]]
[[Category:Newbery Honor winners]]
[[Category:The New Yorker cartoonists]]
[[Category:Townsend Harris High School alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Writers from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Writers who illustrated their own writing]]
[[Category:Yale School of Art alumni]]