Steig was born inBrooklyn, New York, in 1907, and grew up inthe Bronx. His parents werePolish-Jewish immigrants fromLemberg,Austria-Hungary; bothsocialists. 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, Steig dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated byPinocchio. In addition to his artistic endeavors, Steig also did well atathletics, being a member of the collegiateAll-Americanwater polo team. He graduated fromTownsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though Steig attended three schools, spending two years atCity College of New York, three years at theNational Academy of Design, and a mere five days at theYale School of Art before dropping out of each one.[5]
Following the onset of theGreat Depression, which led to his father's unemployment, Steig began selling his illustrations and cartoons to magazines to help support his family.[6][7] His first published work appeared inThe New Yorker in 1930 as a series of cartoons. Hailed as the "King of Cartoons",[8] he went on to contribute more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers to the magazine. One of his cartoon characters, Poor Pitiful Pearl, was made into a popular line of dolls starting in 1956.[9]
For a 1934 auction organized byLangston Hughes to benefit the defence fund for theScottsboro 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.[10]
Steig began writing children's books when he was 61.[11] 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 theCaldecott Medal.[12] Steig went on to write more than 30 children's books, including theDoctor De Soto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among Steig's other well-known works, the picture bookShrek! (1990) formed the basis for theDreamWorks Animation film,Shrek (2001). After the release ofShrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion fromtheatrical andancillary markets after only one sequel.[13]
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."[14]
In 1984, Steig's film adaptation ofDoctor De Soto, directed byMichael Sporn, was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film. That same year, Steig received theCINE Golden Eagle Award in Education[15] for the film adaptation of this book.
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 anthropologistMargaret Mead),[16] from whom he was later divorced. For a time, Steig lived at75½ Bedford Street, purported to be the narrowest house in Manhattan.[17] Steig's first marriage also made him a brother-in-law ofLeo Rosten[16] and an uncle ofMary Catherine Bateson.[18] Steig and Mead were the parents of jazz flutistJeremy Steig (playing thePied Piper inShrek Forever After)[19] 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).[20] 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 onpoker 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, readThe Nation in the cradle, was telepathic and "drew as well asPicasso orMatisse".[21]
Steig died ofnatural causes inBoston, Massachusetts, on October 3, 2003, at the age of 95.[22]Shrek 2, which was released seven months after his death, was dedicated to his memory.[4]
^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).
