J.B. Handelsman (February 5, 1922 – June 20, 2007) was a New York-born cartoonist and illustrator whose work appeared for decades in The New Yorker, Punch, Playboy, and other United States and British publications. His sister was American writer Edith Anderson.
Bernard Handelsman was born in the Bronx on February 5, 1922. In adulthood, he adopted John as his first name. He was known professionally as J. B. Handelsman and informally as Bud.[1] Handelsman studied at the Art Students League and New York University. In 1963, Handelsman moved to England, where he began drawing for Punch. For eleven years, he wrote and illustrated a weekly feature called "Freaky Fables" for the magazine. He returned to the United States in 1982.
From 1961 to 2006, Handelsman had nearly a thousand cartoons and five covers published in The New Yorker. His work also appeared regularly in Playboy and the British humorous magazine Punch.
Handelsman was married to Gertrude Peck, a harpist from Michigan, in 1950. They had three children, Jonathan Handelsman, Peter Handelsman, and Constance Handelsman Bennett.
J.B Handelsman devised a 10-minute animated film for the BBC called In the Beginning, based on the Biblical story of the Creation.
The New York Times obituary, June 26, 2007, p. B7.