Dr. Seuss
Born
April 2, 1904
in Springfield, MA
Died
Sept. 24, 1991
of cancer in Mt. Soledad, CA
Theodor (Ted) Geisel's whimsical, humorous books written under the pen name of Dr. Seuss confounded the literary establishment but entertained generations of children and parents. Geisel, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize citation in 1984 for his contribution to children's literature, was one of the best known, most imitated and prolific children's writers. His 47 books were translated into 20 languages and have sold more than 200 million copies. Geisel had a full career before he began writing Dr. Seuss books full time. He was a political cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM, and during World War II was attached to Frank Capra's documentary filmmaking unit. Geisel wrote and directed indoctrination movies for American troops, including work on "Hitler Lives" which won the Oscar in 1945 for best documentary short. Two other films he had a role in also won Academy Awards: "Design for Death," a documentary film about Japanese warlords, which won the 1947 Oscar for best documentary feature; and "Gerald McBoing-Boing," which won the 1950 Academy Award for best short subject cartoon. Many of the techniques that Geisel learned in Hollywood were useful when he began writing children's books. His finished his Hollywood work by writing the screenplay for the film "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," a fantasy about a crazed music teacher, a giant piano and 500 music students. Even though it became a cult hit, he distanced himself from it, angry over script changes after it left his typewriter.
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