Steve Tesich was born as Stojan Tešić (pronounced TESH-ich) in Užice, in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia (now Serbia) on September 29, 1942.

[3] He began his career as a playwright with the 1969 play The Predators, which was staged as a workshop production at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

[6] The play The Carpenters starring Vincent Gardenia, Jon Korkes, and Kitty Winn, presented on the Hollywood Television Theatre's Conflicts series, was shown on PBS on December 19, 1973 in a telecast from 8:30-9:30 PM EST.

The play, also directed by Norman Lloyd, is about a dysfunctional family headed by the eccentric Baba Goya who confronts crises with her husband, son, and daughter.

[10] Tesich reunited with Peter Yates, the director of Breaking Away, on the 1981 thriller Eyewitness starring Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Morgan Freeman, and Christopher Plummer.

Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote in his review: "For Mr. Tesich, it is another original work by one of our best young screenwriters."

He adapted John Irving's novel The World According to Garp for the screen in 1982 directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams and Glenn Close in her film debut.

The main characters were two brothers, played by Kevin Costner and David Marshall Grant, who enter a long-distance bicycle race in the Colorado Rockies.

[13] His final screenplay was for the 1985 film Eleni, starring John Malkovich, Kate Nelligan, and Linda Hunt, based on the Nicholas Gage book, also directed by Peter Yates.

[17] In 1973, Tesich won the Vernon Rice or Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright for the play Baba Goya, which is also known under the title Nourish the Beast.