Bill Charmatz, 80; Illustrator for Magazines, Newspapers

Bill Charmatz, 80, a witty illustrator for Sports Illustrated and other publications, died Sunday at his New York City home of unspecified causes.

Born Adolph Charmatz in Brooklyn to Russian immigrant parents, Charmatz attended the High School of Industrial Arts in New York. Hating his given name, he added William and became known as Bill. He served in the Navy during World War II, working in a graphics unit making charts. Later he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and at the Grande Chaumiere, both in Paris.

His impressionistic illustrations bore the imprint of European cartoon artists and his own lighthearted perspective. He drew a regular feature for Sports Illustrated, showing baseball and football teams in training and European skiing.

Early in his career, he produced drawings and watercolors of everyday life in France, which earned him commissions from Esquire, TV Guide, Time, Life and the New York Times. From 1996 to 2004 he illustrated the Crime column for the newspaper’s Book Review section.