Elliot Handler 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 B'nai B'rith dance for teenagers. They later married and had two children: a
Daniel Handler Student Poet Prize, which he claims was earned by ripping off Elizabeth Bishop. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. He is married to Lisa Brown, a graphic artist whom he met in college. They have a son, Otto Handler, born in 2003. They live in an old Edwardian house in San Francisco. Handler is politically active and helped form LitPAC. In the June 10, 2007 edition of "The New York Times Magazine", Handler revealed ambivalence toward his wealth and the expectations that it creates. He stated that he is often asked for money for charitable causes