Cartoonist
Staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. His one-panel cartoons, drawn in a special graphic style, depict modern life with the help of observant humor. Hafely is known for his innovative approach to regularly including gay people in The New Yorker cartoons.
His father was an advertising copywriter, and his mother was a housewife. As a child, Hafely viewed The New Yorker cartoons related to their themes of the time, such as people commuting to work by train, going to Ivy League football games and attending cocktail parties.
He graduated from Duke University in 1975 with a degree in psychology and studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts (1975-1977).
Hafely began his cartooning career in Chicago. His first cartoon was bought by the Saturday Review of Literature in 1978. This was followed by publications in many other publications.
Hefeli was a regular contributor to the British humor magazine Punch (The London Charivari) for five years before it ceased publication in 1992. William Hefely, one of the few great American cartoonists working for Punch, in what could be called his cartoons “The New Man” and “The New Woman” of the 80s and 90s,” wrote Andre Gaylani, manager of Punch, Ltd., in 2014.
Hafely’s first cartoon for The New Yorker appeared in 1998, and since then his cartoons have continued to appear regularly in the magazine. Bob Mankoff, caricature editor of The New Yorker from 1997 to 2017, said of Hefeli: “Bill’s caricature skill is unsurpassed, as is the comedy of manners, morals and morals that his cartoons depict for gays, straight people and everyone in between.”
Reference: Wikipedia, 2015
