William Rotsler
William Rotsler was a multifaceted artist known for his significant contributions to science fiction as an illustrator, writer, filmmaker, and sculptor. Born to rancher parents, he grew up in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a rancher during his teenage years. After a brief stint in the U.S. Army, he pursued formal art education at Ventura College and the Los Angeles County Art Institute. Rotsler's artistic career began in the 1950s, transitioning from sculpture to photography and filmmaking, before he fully embraced writing and illustrating science fiction in the 1970s.
His notable works include the story "Ship Me Tomorrow," published in *Galaxy*, and several novels like *The Far Frontier* and *Patron of the Arts*. Rotsler garnered considerable recognition, winning the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist four times and receiving the E. E. Evans Memorial Award. He was also actively involved in professional organizations such as the Comic Arts Professional Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. His legacy includes a diverse portfolio of creative works and a lasting impact on the science fiction community until his passing in 1997.
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Subject Terms
William Rotsler
Fiction Writer
- Born: July 3, 1926
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
- Died: 1997
Biography
William Rotsler was the son of rancher Charles Golden Rotsler and Sarah (Flynn) Rotsler. He was known as both a prolific and a popular science-fiction illustrator. After joining the U.S. Army at age eighteen, he served only for a short time from 1944 to 1945. Like his father, Rotsler worked as a rancher as a teenager in Camarillo, California, from 1942 to 1944 and again in 1946 when he returned from service. Rotsler studied at Ventura College in 1946 and at the Los Angeles County Art Institute from 1946 to 1950. He married Marian Abney on October 15, 1953, and then returned to ranching for another five years. In 1958, he left ranching and also divorced his wife, with whom he had one daughter, Lisa Araminta.
Rotsler began work as a sculptor in Los Angeles in 1950, and he later turned to photography in 1959. He became a filmmaker in 1961. His career as a writer and as an illustrator of science fiction began around 1970, when he published his first science- fiction story, “Ship Me Tomorrow” in Galaxy. His next work was titled Contemporary Erotic Cinema and it was published in 1973. His first novel, Patron of the Arts, followed one year later. In 1975, he published three books: Superstud, Supermouth, and Supertongue, and Other Turn Ons.
Rotsler published To the Land of the Electric Angel in 1976. His next work was titled Zandra, and it was published in 1978. In 1979, his next book, And Call My Killer. . . Modok!, was published. In 1980, the Playboy Press published his novel The Far Frontier. He also coauthored Shiva Descending with Gregory Benford in 1980. Rostler wrote or contributed to nineteen other books during his career.
As his work as an illustrator became famous, Rotsler won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist four times, twice in the 1970’s and twice in the 1990’s. He received his last Hugo in 1997, the same year he lost a long battle with throat cancer. He was the guest of honor at the Thirty-First World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto in 1973, and he was presented the E. E. Evans Memorial Award in 1978. Rostler was a member of the Comic Arts Professional Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. He served as the secretary of the latter organization from 1978 to 1981. Rotsler’s science- fiction works appeared in four different “best of the year” anthologies.