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
Biff Elliot Maine. Elliot had a childhood nickname "Bith" but later adapted it to "Biff" when he went into boxing, which he did when he was 16 and his family had moved to Presque Isle. He then became known as Biff Harris. Eventually Elliot went on to become the North Maine champion and even reached the New England regional championship, but once his mother found out about his boxing, she refused to allow him to continue. In 1943 Elliot signed up for the United States Army, was placed in the 34th Infantry Division and later stationed to North Africa. Once the war