 Steig was known as the King of Cartoons |
The author and illustrator of Shrek, William Steig, has died at his Boston home at the age of 95. The prolific writer's 1990 children's book Shrek was turned into a highly popular film in 2002 which took the first Oscar for best animated feature.
Steig sold his first cartoon to the New Yorker in 1930, and produced 117 covers for the magazine in a career which spanned 70 years.
He contributed ideas to making his green monster into a 70-minute movie.
Steig, known as the King of Cartoons for his award-winning works, died of natural causes of Friday night.
He combined a child's innocent eye with idiosyncratic line to create a world of animal characters for his books and Edwardian-era dandies in his drawings.
He produced more than 1,600 drawings as well as 117 covers for the New Yorker.
He wrote more than 30 children's books, a feat he did not begin until he was 60. His third effort, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, was rewarded with the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1970.
Other notable books included Roland, the Minstrel Pig, Amos and Boris, Dominic, Abel's Island, The Amazing Bone, Caleb and Kate, Doctor De Soto and Wizzil.
Steig leaves a wife, Jeanne, two daughters and a son.
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