Elliot Handler

Businessman

Birthday April 9, 1916

Birth Sign Aries

Birthplace Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

DEATH DATE 2011-7-21, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (95 years old)

Nationality United States

#31983 Most Popular

1916

Elliot Handler (April 9, 1916 – July 21, 2011) was an American inventor, businessman, and the co-founder of Mattel.

With his wife, Ruth Handler, he developed some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers, and Hot Wheels.

Isadore "Izzy" Elliot Handler was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1916.

Handler's parents were Ukrainian Jews who largely spoke Yiddish within their household.

The family moved out of Chicago, and Handler grew up on the west side of Denver, Colorado.

He studied industrial design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

1929

In 1929, he met his future wife Ruth Mosko at a B'nai B'rith dance for teenagers.

1938

They dated on and off for years, and were married in June 1938.

Shortly after their marriage, his new wife Ruth requested he change his name: partially due to her preferring his middle name "Elliot" over "Izzy", and partially from her fears of American antisemitism toward an obviously Jewish name like Isadore.

He complied.

The couple had two children: Barbara, who was the namesake of Barbie dolls; and Kenneth, the namesake of Ken dolls.

While a struggling art student and designer of light fixtures, Handler partnered with Harold Matson to design a realistic-looking miniature piano that received roughly 300,000 orders; however, they mispriced the product and lost a dime on each one produced.

1940

Elliot's wife, Ruth, took Matson's role when the Handlers bought his share in the late 1940s.

Handler holds credit for developing the first talking doll Chatty Cathy, using a pull string talking mechanism, revolutionizing the toy industry.

Mattel continued to develop a number of talking toys, including Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Baby, and Charmin' Chatty.

Toys were made for cartoon favorites such as Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, and for television characters such as Herman Munster and Mr. Ed.

When Handler's daughter Barbara married Allan Segal, they created Allan, Ken's friend.

1945

Mattel received its name from business partners Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler in 1945.

1965

The 1965 talking doll Baby Cheryl was named after the Handlers' first grandchild, and the Todd doll in the Barbie line was named after their grandson.

Handler was primarily responsible for two additional Mattel product lines.

1966

In 1966, Mattel introduced smaller dolls called Liddle Kiddles.

Handler claimed he wanted them to resemble little children in neighborhoods across America.

They were sculpted by doll artist Martha Armstrong-Hand.

1968

Another product line was Hot Wheels, introduced in 1968, which gave rise to 10,000 different models.

First called Mattel Creations, the company has become the largest toy maker in the world in terms of revenue.

1970

Kiddles were a great success and continued to be produced in different versions until the early 1970s.

2002

Ruth Handler, Elliot's wife, died in 2002; their son Ken died in 1994.

2006

In April 2006, Mattel honored Handler with a 90th birthday party at its headquarters in El Segundo, California.

Guests included his daughter Barbara Segal, the namesake of the Barbie Doll.

2011

Handler died of heart failure at home in Century City, a district of Los Angeles, California, at age 95 on July 21, 2011.