Who is Ruth Handler? True story behind Barbie inventor
Handler plays a key role in Greta Gerwig's new film.
With Greta Gerwig's film now available in UK cinemas, it's safe to say that Barbie fever is well and truly in the air – as fans rush to see Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and co in the new film.
While most of the star-studded cast are playing various iterations of the iconic Mattel doll or other fictional characters, there is one actor who is starring as a real person – none other than the inventor of Barbie herself.
Rhea Perlman takes on the role of Ruth Handler, who was Mattel's first president between 1945 and 1973 and is credited with creating the beloved toy in 1959.
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Who is Ruth Handler? True story behind Barbie inventor
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.
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's toys ever made.
As is referenced in the film, Handler's daughter Barbara – who makes a cameo in the film – 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.
"I discovered something very important: They were using these dolls to project their dreams of their own futures as adult women," she recalled in her 1994 memoir Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story. "Wouldn’t it be great if we could take that play pattern and three-dimensionalize it?”
Although Elliot and fellow Mattell executive Harold Matson were initially skeptical of the idea – which Ruth reckoned was due to the fact that the doll was the first to have breasts – it's no secret that it soon became a hit.
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After launching at the American Toy Fair in New York City in March 1959, 351,000 dolls were sold in the first year and Mattel never looked back – with Ken (named after the Handler's son) arriving soon after and all sorts of other Barbies following in subsequent years.
While Barbie itself has been an unqualified success story, Ruth and Elliot's own story hit a shaky patch in the '70s due to tax issues, something else which is referenced in Gerwig's film.
Claims of fraudulent financial reports forced Ruth to resign as President in 1973, and she was eventually indicted on charges of fraud and false reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
After pleading no contest, she was sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service and ordered to pay a fine of $57,000.
Barbie was far from Ruth's only invention: after recovering from breast cancer, with which she had been diagnosed in 1970, she founded a new company, Ruthton Corp, which manufactured breast prostheses for women who had had mastectomies.
She passed away at the age of 85 from complications of surgery for colon cancer, and her husband Elliot died nine years later aged 95.
Barbie is now showing in UK cinemas. Visit our Film hub for more news and features or find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
