Ralph Steadman
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and caricaturist who is perhaps best known for his work with American author Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
.
Personal life
Steadman was born in WallaseyWallasey
Wallasey is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England, on the mouth of the River Mersey, at the northeastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, and brought up in Towyn
Towyn
Towyn , is a seaside resort in the County Borough of Conwy, Wales.It is located between Rhyl, in Denbighshire, and Abergele in Conwy. According to the 2001 Census, together with neighbouring Kinmel Bay , it had a population 7,864, of which 10.7% could speak Welsh...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. He attended Ysgol Emrys Ap Iwan (high school), Abergele
Abergele
Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship...
, East Ham Technical College and the London College of Printing during the 1960s, doing freelance work for Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
, Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
, the Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
during this time.
Steadman currently lives with his wife in Kent, England.
Work
Francis Williams
Francis Williams was a scholar and poet born in Kingston, Jamaica.Francis Williams was born around 1700 to John and Dorothy Williams, a free black couple in Jamaica. John Williams had been freed by the will of his former master and within ten years was able to acquire property...
Book Illustration Award for Alice in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, the American Society of Illustrators' Certificate of Merit, the W H Smith Illustration Award for I Leonardo, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Silver Paintbrush Award for Inspector Mouse, the Italian Critica in Erba Prize for That's My Dad, the BBC Design Award for postage stamps, the Black Humour Award in France, and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts
Aiga
‘Aiga is a word in the Samoan language which means 'family.' The aiga is the family unit of Samoan society and differs from the Western sense in that it consists more than just a mother, father and children. The Samoan family, also referred to as an 'extended family' is based on the culture's...
in 1979.
Steadman had a long partnership with the American journalist Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
, drawing pictures for several of his articles and books. He accompanied Thompson to the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
for an article
The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved
"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" is a seminal sports article by Hunter S. Thompson on the 1970 Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, first appearing in an issue of Scanlan's Monthly in June of that year...
for the magazine Scanlan's
Scanlan's Monthly
Scanlan's Monthly was a short-lived monthly publication, which ran from March 1970 to January 1971. Edited by Warren Hinckle III and Sidney Zion, it featured politically controversial muckraking and was ultimately subject to an investigation by the FBI during the Nixon administration. It was...
, to the Honolulu Marathon
Honolulu Marathon
The Honolulu Marathon is one of the world's largest marathons. It takes place annually in Honolulu, Hawaii on the second Sunday in December. - History :...
for the magazine Running
The Curse of Lono
The Curse of Lono is a book by Hunter S. Thompson describing his experiences in Hawaii in 1980. Originally published in 1983, the book was only in print for a short while. In 2005 it was re-released as a limited edition. Only 1000 copies were produced, each one being signed by the author and artist...
, and illustrated both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 is a collection of articles covering the 1972 presidential campaign written by the gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson and illustrated by Ralph Steadman...
. Much of Steadman's artwork revolves around Raoul Duke
Raoul Duke
Raoul Duke is the fictional character and antihero based on Hunter S. Thompson in his autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book was originally written under the name Raoul Duke....
-style caricatures of Thompson: bucket hat
Bucket hat
A bucket hat, or fishing hat, is a soft cotton hat with a wide and downwards sloping brim which is worn by both men and women. The brim offers shade from the sun for the eyes and face. The hat is usually made from heavy-duty cotton fabric such as denim or canvas...
s, cigarette holder
Cigarette holder
A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...
and aviator sunglasses.
Steadman appears on the second disc of the Criterion Collection Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....
DVD set, in a documentary called "Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision", which was made by the BBC in 1978, of Thompson planning the tower and cannon that his ashes were later blasted out of. The cannon was atop a 153-ft. tower of Thompson's fist gripping a peyote button; Thompson demands that Steadman gives the fist two thumbs, "Right now."
As well as writing and illustrating his own books and Thompson's, Steadman has worked with writers including Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
, Adrian Mitchell and Brian Patten
Brian Patten
-Background:Born near Liverpool's docks, he attended Sefton Park School in the Smithdown Road area of Liverpool, where he was noted for his essays and greatly encouraged in his work by Harry Sutcliffe his form teacher. He left school at fifteen and began work for The Bootle Times writing a column...
, and also illustrated editions of Alice In Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
, Animal Farm
Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
, the English translation of Flann O'Brien's gaelic language classic The Poor Mouth, and most recently, Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books...
.
Among the British public, Steadman is well known for his illustrations for the catalogues of the off-licence chain Oddbins
Oddbins
Oddbins is a United Kingdom-based wine and alcohol retail chain, established in 1963 by Ahmed Pochee.-History:In 1963, entrepreneur Ahmed Pochee starts up a small business delivering bin-ends and oddments of wine to the restaurants and clubs of London's West End...
and he designed a set of four British postage stamps to commemorate the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1985. He also designed the labels for Flying Dog
Flying Dog Brewery
Flying Dog Brewery is a beer brewery now located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. Originally opening in Aspen, Colorado in 1990 as a brewpub, it became the first brewery to open in Aspen in over 100 years, and one of the first brewpubs in the Rocky Mountain region...
beer and Cardinal "Spiced" Zin' wine, which was banned in Ohio for Steadman's "disturbing" interpretation of a Catholic cardinal on its label.
Steadman also illustrates Will Self
Will Self
William Woodard "Will" Self is an English novelist and short story writer. His fictional style is known for being satirical, grotesque, and fantastical. He is a prolific commentator on contemporary British life, with regular appearances on Newsnight and Question Time...
's column in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper. Hal Willner
Hal Willner
Hal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles...
and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
's anthology of songs, Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys is a compilation album of sea shanties performed by a wide array of artists, ranging from Sting to Bryan Ferry, representing a variety of genres. The artists cover a large number of diverse songs of the sea, at times adding elements...
(2006) contains two contributions from Steadman; he sings lead on "Little Boy Billee", and sings backing vocals on Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...
's song "Rolling Sea".
In 2011, Steadman began running prose and poetry in Kotori Magazine.
Partial bibliography
- The Little Red Computer (1968)
- The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and DepravedThe Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" is a seminal sports article by Hunter S. Thompson on the 1970 Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, first appearing in an issue of Scanlan's Monthly in June of that year...
(1970) (written by Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. ThompsonHunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
) - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) (written by Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. ThompsonHunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
) - Two Donkeys and a Bridge (1972)
- Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 is a collection of articles covering the 1972 presidential campaign written by the gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson and illustrated by Ralph Steadman...
(1973) (written by Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. ThompsonHunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
) - America (1974)
- Cherrywood Cannon, based on a story told by Dmitri Sidjanski (A.K.A. Mischa Damjan), Paddington Press (1978)
- Emergency Mouse (1978) (written by Bernard StoneBernard StoneBernard "Berny" L. Stone was alderman of the 50th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois. The 50th ward encompasses part of Chicago's far North Side and includes the West Ridge, West Rogers Park and Peterson Park neighborhoods....
) - The Curse of LonoThe Curse of LonoThe Curse of Lono is a book by Hunter S. Thompson describing his experiences in Hawaii in 1980. Originally published in 1983, the book was only in print for a short while. In 2005 it was re-released as a limited edition. Only 1000 copies were produced, each one being signed by the author and artist...
(1983) (written by Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. ThompsonHunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
) - Inspector Mouse (1980) (written by Bernard Stone)
- I Leonardo (1983)
- No Good Dogs (1983)
- Quasimodo Mouse (1984) (written by Bernard Stone)
- Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
(1985) (written by Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
) - That's My Dad (1986)
- The Complete Alice (1986) (Through the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
and The Hunting of the SnarkThe Hunting of the SnarkThe Hunting of the Snark is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874, when he was 42 years old...
, written by Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
) - Withnail and IWithnail and IWithnail and I is a British black comedy made in 1986 by HandMade Films. It was written and directed by Bruce Robinson and is based on his life in London in the late 1960s. The main plot follows two unemployed young actors, Withnail and “I” who live in a squalid flat in Camden in 1969 while...
(1987) - tHE cRAZY nEVER dIE! by Mitchell Brothers Film Group (1988)
- The Big I Am (1988)
- No Room to Swing a Cat (1989)
- Near the Bone (1990)
- Tales of the Weirrd [sic] (1990)
- The Grapes of Ralph: Wine according to Ralph Steadman (1992)
- Still Life with Bottle: Whisky according to Ralph Steadman (1994)
- Teddy! Where Are You? (1995)
- Animal FarmAnimal FarmAnimal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
(1995) (written by George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
) - The Poor Mouth illustrations for the novel by Flann O'Brien (Dalkey Archive Press), 1996, repinted (oops "reprinted") 1998.
- Heart on the Left (1997)
- Have I Offended Someone?Have I Offended Someone?Have I Offended Someone? is a compilation album featuring music by Frank Zappa, and was posthumously released in 1997. As indicated by the title, it compiles a number of Zappa's songs that have gained notoriety as being particularly offensive, and often satirical or parodic...
(1997) (Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
compilation) - Gonzo: The Art of Ralph Steadman (1998)
- The Devil's DictionaryThe Devil's DictionaryThe Devil's Dictionary is a satirical "reference" book written by Ambrose Bierce. The book offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language, lampooning cant and political doublespeak, as well as other aspects of human foolishness and frailty. It was originally published in 1906 as The...
(2004) (written by Ambrose BierceAmbrose BierceAmbrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
) - The Joke's Over (2006)
- Psychogeography (2007) (written by Will SelfWill SelfWilliam Woodard "Will" Self is an English novelist and short story writer. His fictional style is known for being satirical, grotesque, and fantastical. He is a prolific commentator on contemporary British life, with regular appearances on Newsnight and Question Time...
) - Garibaldi's Biscuits (2008)
External links
- British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent has a database with over 100 cartoons by Ralph Steadman
- Article on Steadman's Oddbins catalogues
- Oddbins Steadman cover
- Another Oddbins Steadman cover from an unofficial Hunter S. Thompson website
- Steadman t-shirts
- Spike magazine interview
- Internet Movie Database entry
- Flying Dog Connection and Bio
- Interview with Ralph Steadman by Laurie Taylor in New Humanist magazine
- Interview with Ralph Steadman by Jake McGee in Kotori Magazine