[2][3] Schoenherr was born July 5, 1935,[1] in New York City (Manhattan) and raised in Queens, "in a German-speaking household in a polyglot community", where he used drawings to communicate with speakers of other languages.

[1] Schoenherr may be known best as the original illustrator of the dust jacket art of Dune,[6] a 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert that inaugurated a book series and media franchise.

[7] He had previously illustrated the serializations of the novel in Analog, an endeavor which secured him a 1965 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist.

[6][7] Herbert wrote in 1980 that though he had not spoken to Schoenherr prior to the artist creating the paintings, the author was surprised to find that the artwork appeared exactly as he had imagined its fictional subjects, including sandworms, Baron Harkonnen and the Sardaukar.

[14] Schoenherr's July 1975 cover for Analog has been cited as influential in the designs for the Star Wars character Chewbacca.