Background
Handler was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1916, and grew up in Denver, Colorado.
Handler was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1916, and grew up in Denver, Colorado.
He studied industrial design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
While a struggling art student and designer of light fixtures, Handler partnered with Harold Matson, to design a realistic-looking miniature piano that earned roughly 300,000 orders, however, they mispriced the product and lost a dime on each one produced. Elliot"s wife, Ruth, took over Matson"s role when the Handlers bought out his share in the late 1940s. The Barbie doll is still one of the top-selling dolls. introduced the talking Chatty Cathy doll in 1960.
The Handlers had made a tradition of naming their toys after family members and when Barbara Handler married Allan Segal, they came out with Allan, Ken"s buddy.
Elliot Handler is credited with developing the first talking doll, Chatty Baby, using a pull string talking mechanism which revolutionized the toy industry. thereafter went on to develop a number of talking toys including Charmin" Chatty, toys made for cartoon favorites such as Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. And toys made for television characters such as Herman Munster and Mr.
Education Elliot Handler was primarily responsible for two additional product lines.
In 1966, 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. Kiddles were a great success and continued to be produced in different versions until the early 1970s.
Another product line was Hot Wheels, introduced in 1968, which gave rise to 10,000 different models.
Originally called Creations, it has gone on to become the largest toy maker in the world. In April 2008, Handler was honored by with a 90th birthday party at its headquarters in El Segundo, California. Handler died of heart failure at home in Century City, a district of Los Angeles, California, at age 95 on July 21, 2011.
Ruth Handler died in 2002.
He was survived by his 70-year-old daughter Barbara.