{"id":35046,"date":"2023-07-21T15:53:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T13:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1861869"},"modified":"2023-07-21T18:08:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T16:08:53","slug":"who-is-ruth-handler-true-story-behind-barbie-inventor","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/who-is-ruth-handler-true-story-behind-barbie-inventor\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Ruth Handler? True story behind Barbie inventor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Handler plays a key role in Greta Gerwig’s new film. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

2023-07-21 13:53:11<\/p>

\n\n

With Greta Gerwig\u2019s film now available in UK cinemas, it\u2019s safe to say that Barbie<\/a> fever is well and truly in the air \u2013 as fans rush to see Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and co in the new film.<\/p>\n

While most of the star-studded cast<\/a> are playing various iterations of the iconic Mattel doll or other fictional characters, there is one actor who is starring as a real person \u2013 none other than the inventor of Barbie herself.<\/p>\n

Rhea Perlman takes on the role of Ruth Handler, who was Mattel\u2019s first president between 1945 and 1973 and is credited with creating the beloved toy in 1959.<\/p>\n

Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>

Who is Ruth Handler? True story behind Barbie inventor<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Handler co-founded Mattel with her husband Elliot in 1945 and went on to serve as its first president for most of the next 30 years.<\/p>\n

It was in 1959, roughly halfway through her tenure that she had her crowning achievement: the invention of the doll that would go on to become one of the most popular children\u2019s toys ever made.<\/p>\n

As is referenced in the film, Handler\u2019s daughter Barbara \u2013 who makes a cameo in the film \u2013 helped to inspire the creation of the doll after Ruth observed her playing with paper dolls and reckoned a 3-D version would make sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discovered something very important: They were using these dolls to project their dreams of their own futures as adult women,\u201d she recalled in her 1994 memoir Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story. \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if we could take that play pattern and three-dimensionalize it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Elliot and fellow Mattell executive Harold Matson were initially skeptical of the idea \u2013 which Ruth reckoned was due to the fact that the doll was the first to have breasts \u2013 it\u2019s no secret that it soon became a hit.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/strong><\/p>\n