Elliot Handler He was survived by his 70-year-old daughter Barbara. Ruth Handler died in 2002. Elliot Handler Elliot Handler (April 9, 1916 – July 21, 2011) was an American inventor, businessman, and co-founder of Mattel. With his wife, he developed some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers, and Hot Wheels. 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. In 1929, he met his future wife Ruth Mosko at a
Chelsea Handler publishing imprint, Borderline Amazing/A Chelsea Handler Book. She also signed a three-book deal with the imprint, the first of which is called "Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me", where her coworkers and family members discuss their experiences with Handler, which was released in May 2011 and also hit the top of the bestseller list. Handler has her own columns in "Cosmopolitan" and "NOW", a UK celebrity magazine. In May 2009, she was the host of the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco. In June 2009, she was named as Grand Marshal of the 2009 Los Angeles Pride celebration