R. O. Blechman (born October 1, 1930)[1] is an American animator, illustrator, children's-book author, graphic novelist and editorial cartoonist whose work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions.
Blechman's best-known works include the book The Juggler of Our Lady (1953), television commercials for Alka-Seltzer (1967) and other products, the animated PBS special Great Performances: The Soldier's Tale; a minute-long CBS Christmas greeting (1966);[2] and numerous covers for The New Yorker magazine.
Five years later, it was adapted into a nine-minute Terrytoons animated short by Al Kouzel and Gene Deitch, narrated by Boris Karloff.
Blechman directed the 1984 PBS special The Soldier's Tale, an animated, one-hour adaptation of composer Igor Stravinsky's and playwright C. F. Ramuz's theater piece L'Histoire du Soldat.
[5] They have two sons: Nicholas, who at various points was the art editor of The New York Times Book Review and the creative director of The New Yorker,[12] and Max,[3] who edited the collection Revolutionary Romanticism: A Drunken Boat Anthology.