Does Dr. Seuss have parents?
Ted's father, Theodor Robert Geisel, was born in 1879 in the home the family kept adjacent to the Kalmbach and Geisel breweries. He married Henrietta Seuss, Ted's mother, in 1901. Theodor Robert Geisel was a tall, straight-backed man with black hair and a mustache.
Was Dr. Seuss a father?
Seuss never had any biological children. Helen Geisel was unable to bear children, and Geisel did not father any children with second wife Audrey, though he was a stepfather to her two daughters.
What was Doctor Seuss's childhood like?
A PROSPEROUS & PATRIOTIC CHILDHOOD Seuss grew up in the midst of a bustling, prosperous extended family. A child during World War I, Ted acquired a sense of patriotism that would remain with him his entire life. As a Scout, he worked to sell U.S. War Bonds.
How many sisters did Dr. Seuss have?
Family. He was the only son of Henrietta Seuss Geisel and Theodor Robert Geisel. He had two sisters, Marnie, two years older, and Henrietta 3 ½ years younger.
Did Dr. Seuss wife?
Audrey Geiselm. 1968–1991Helen Palmerm. 1927–1967Dr. Seuss/Wife
Was Dr. Seuss an orphan?
Early years. Geisel was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Henrietta (née Seuss) and Theodor Robert Geisel. His father managed the family brewery and was later appointed to supervise Springfield's public park system by Mayor John A. Denison after the brewery closed because of Prohibition.
What is Doctor Seuss's real name?
Theodor Seuss GeiselDr. Seuss / Full name
Does Dr. Seuss have siblings?
Marnie Seuss GeiselHenrietta GeiselDr. Seuss/Siblings
Who inherited Dr. Seuss money?
There's no heir to Dr. Seuss's fortune. Audrey Geisel died in 2018 at age 97. All of the profits go back into Seuss Enterprises.
What nationality is Dr. Seuss?
AmericanDr. Seuss / NationalitySeuss, pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel, (born March 2, 1904, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.—died September 24, 1991, La Jolla, California), American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children's books, which were noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures.
How old was Dr. Seuss when he died?
87 years (1904–1991)Dr. Seuss / Age at death
Who Was Dr. Seuss?
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, was a writer and cartoonist who published over 60 books. He published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, under the name of Dr. Seuss in 1937.
When did Seuss first publish his cartoon?
His articles and illustrations were published in numerous magazines, including LIFE and Vanity Fair. A cartoon that he published in the July 1927 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, his first using the pen name "Seuss," landed him a staff position at the New York weekly Judge.
What was the name of the book that Geisel illustrated?
Around this time, Viking Press offered Geisel a contract to illustrate a children's collection called Boners. The book sold poorly, but it gave him a break into children's literature. At the start of World War II, Geisel began contributing weekly political cartoons to the liberal publication PM Magazine.
Why was Geisel kicked off the staff of the magazine?
When Geisel and his friends were caught drinking in his dorm room one night, in violation of Prohibition law , he was kicked off the magazine staff, but continued to contribute to it using the pseudonym "Seuss.".
How many words did Geisel use in his children's primer?
A major turning point in Geisel's career came when, in response to a 1954 LIFE magazine article that criticized children's reading levels, Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked him to write a children's primer using 220 vocabulary words.
When did Geisel die?
Geisel died on September 24, 1991, at the age of 87, in La Jolla, California.
Who was Geisel's wife?
While studying at Oxford, Geisel met his future wife, Helen Palmer. The couple married in 1927 and moved back to the United States the same year.
Overview
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss (/suːs, zuːs/, ). His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.
Life and career
Geisel was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Henrietta (née Seuss) and Theodor Robert Geisel. His father managed the family brewery and was later appointed to supervise Springfield's public park system by Mayor John A. Denison after the brewery closed because of Prohibition. Mulberry Street in Springfield, made famous in his first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, is near his boyhood home on Fairfield Street. The family was of German descent, and Geisel and his sister Marnie experienced anti-Germa…
Illness, death, and posthumous honors
Geisel died of cancer on September 24, 1991, at his home in the La Jolla community of San Diego at the age of 87. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. On December 1, 1995, four years after his death, University of California, San Diego's University Library Building was renamed Geisel Library in honor of Geisel and Audrey for the generous contributions that they made to the library and their devotion to improving literacy.
While Geisel was living in La Jolla, the United States Postal Service and others frequently confused him with fello…
Pen names and pronunciations
Geisel's most famous pen name is regularly pronounced /suːs/, an anglicized pronunciation inconsistent with his German surname (the standard German pronunciation is German pronunciation: [ˈzɔʏ̯s]). He himself noted that it rhymed with "voice" (his own pronunciation being /sɔɪs/). Alexander Laing, one of his collaborators on the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, wrote of it:
You're wrong as the deuce And you shouldn't rejoice If you're calling him Seuss. He pronounces it Soice (or Zoice)
Geisel's most famous pen name is regularly pronounced /suːs/, an anglicized pronunciation inconsistent with his German surname (the standard German pronunciation is German pronunciation: [ˈzɔʏ̯s]). He himself noted that it rhymed with "voice" (his own pronunciation being /sɔɪs/). Alexander Laing, one of his collaborators on the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, wrote of it:
You're wrong as the deuce And you shouldn't rejoice If you're calling him Seuss. He pronounces it Soice (or Zoice)
Political views
Geisel was a liberal Democrat and a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. His early political cartoons show a passionate opposition to fascism, and he urged action against it both before and after the United States entered World War II. His cartoons portrayed the fear of communism as overstated, finding greater threats in the House Committee on Unamerican Activities and those who threatened to cut the United States' "life line" to Stalin an…
Poetic meters
Geisel wrote most of his books in anapestic tetrameter, a poetic meter employed by many poets of the English literary canon. This is often suggested as one of the reasons that Geisel's writing was so well received.
Anapestic tetrameter consists of four rhythmic units called anapests, each composed of two weak syllables followed by one strong syllable (the beat); often, the first weak syllable is omitted, or an additional weak syllable is added at the end. An example of this meter can be found in Geisel's "Yertle the Turtle", from Yertle the Turtle and …
Artwork
Geisel's early artwork often employed the shaded texture of pencil drawings or watercolors, but in his children's books of the postwar period, he generally made use of a starker medium—pen and ink—normally using just black, white, and one or two colors. His later books, such as The Lorax, used more colors.
Geisel's style was unique—his figures are often "rounded" and somewhat droopy. This is true, f…
Bibliography
Geisel wrote more than 60 books over the course of his long career. Most were published under his well-known pseudonym Dr. Seuss, though he also authored more than a dozen books as Theo LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone. His books have topped many bestseller lists, sold over 600 million copies, and been translated into more than 20 languages. In 2000, Publishers Weekly compiled a list of the best-selling children's books of all time; of the top 100 hardcover books, 16 were written by Geisel, including Green Eggs and Ham, at number 4, The Cat in the Hat, …
Who Was Dr. Seuss?
Early Life
- Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Theodor Robert Geisel, was a successful brewmaster; his mother was Henrietta Seuss Geisel. At age 18, Geisel left home to attend Dartmouth College, where he became the editor in chief of its humor magazine,Jack-O-Lantern. When Geisel and his friends were caught drinking in...
Early Career as A Cartoonist
- Upon returning to America, Geisel decided to pursue cartooning full-time. His articles and illustrations were published in numerous magazines, including LIFE and Vanity Fair. A cartoon that he published in the July 1927 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, his first using the pen name "Seuss," landed him a staff position at the New York weekly Judge. Geisel next worked for Standard Oil in the advertising department, where he spent the next 1…
Books
- Following the war, Geisel and Helen purchased an old observation tower in La Jolla, California, where he would write for at least eight hours a day, taking breaks to tend his garden. Over the following five decades, Geisel would write many books, both in a new, simplified vocabulary style and using his older, more elaborate technique. Over the course of his career, Geisel published more than 60 books. Some of his more well-known works include:
Movies
- Several of Geisel's books have been transformed into full-length feature animated films, both during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1966, with the help of eminent cartoonist Chuck Jones, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas was adapted into an animated film made for TV. The book was adapted again in 2000 as a full-length animated feature by director Ron Howard, with Jim Carreyvoicing the Grinch, Jeffrey Tambour as Mayor Augustus Maywh…
Awards
- Geisel won numerous awards for his work, including the 1984 Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, three Emmys and three Grammys.
Personal Life
- While studying at Oxford, Geisel met his future wife, Helen Palmer. The couple married in 1927 and moved back to the United States the same year. In October 1967, Palmer, who was suffering from both cancer and the emotional pain caused by an affair Geisel had with their longtime friend Audrey Stone Dimond, committed suicide. Geisel married Dimond, a film producer, the following year. Dimond is known for her work on the films The Lorax (2012)…
Death and Legacy
- Geisel died on September 24, 1991, at the age of 87, in La Jolla, California. In 1997, the Art of Dr. Seuss collection was launched. Today, limited-edition prints and sculptures of Geisel's artworks can be found at galleries alongside the works of Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. Sixteen of his books are on Publishers Weekly's list of the "100 Top-Selling Hardcover Children's Books of All-Time." In 2015, Random House Children’s Books posthumousl…