Ruth Handler was creator of Barbie doll

LOS ANGELES — Ruth Handler, the entrepreneur and marketing genius who co-founded Mattel and created the Barbie doll, one of the world's most enduring and popular toys, died yesterday.

Mrs. Handler, 85, died at a Los Angeles hospital of complications from colon surgery, said her husband, Elliot.

Mrs. Handler defied trends in the toy industry of the late 1950s when she proposed an alternative to the flat-chested baby dolls then marketed to girls.

Barbie, a teenage doll with a tiny waist, slender hips and impressive bust, became not only a best-selling toy, with more than 1 billion sold in 150 countries, but a cultural icon analyzed by scholars, attacked by feminists and showcased in the Smithsonian Institution.

Mrs. Handler devoted her later years to a second, trailblazing career: manufacturing and marketing artificial breasts for women who had undergone mastectomy.

A breast-cancer survivor herself, she personally sold and fitted the prosthesis and crisscrossed the country as a spokeswoman for early detection of the disease in the 1970s, when it was still a taboo subject.

Born Ruth Mosko, she was the youngest of 10 children of Polish immigrants who settled in Denver. Her father was a blacksmith who deserted the Russian army. Her mother was illiterate when she arrived in the United States in the steerage section of a steamship. Her mother's health was so frail that Mrs. Handler was reared by an older sister.

When she was 19, she left Denver for a vacation in Hollywood and wound up staying. Her high-school boyfriend, Elliot Handler, followed her west and married her in 1938.

When he made some simple housewares to furnish their apartment, Ruth Handler persuaded him to produce more for sale. They bought workshop equipment and launched a giftware business in their garage, making items such as bowls, mirrors and clocks out of plastic. Sales reached $2 million within a few years.

In 1942 they teamed up with another industrial designer, Harold "Matt" Mattson, to launch a business manufacturing picture frames. They later launched a sideline making dollhouse furniture. Within a few years, the company turned profitable and began to specialize in toys. It was called Mattel, fashioned from the "Matt" in Mattson and the "El" in Elliot.

In the late 1950s, Elliot was so preoccupied with the development of a talking doll — eventually marketed as Chatty Cathy — that he was of little help to his wife when she came up with an idea of her own.

Noting their daughter Barbara's fascination with paper dolls of teenagers or career women, she began to wonder if a three-dimensional version of the adult paper figures would have appeal. The doll, she decided, would have to be lifelike; in other words, it would have to have breasts.

Mrs. Handler's dream made its debut at the 1959 American Toy Fair in New York. Named for her daughter, "Barbie Teen-Age Fashion Model" had a girl-next-door ponytail, black-and-white striped bathing suit and teeny feet that fit into open-toed heels. Mattel sold more than 350,000 the first year, and orders soon backed up for the doll, which retailed for $3.

By the early 1960s, Mattel had annual sales of $100 million, due largely to Barbie. The company annually turned out new versions of Barbie, offering as well an ever-expanding wardrobe of outfits and accessories. Barbie soon sprouted a coterie of friends and family. Ken, named for the Handlers' son, appeared in 1961, Midge in 1963, Skipper in 1965, and Christie, Barbie's first ethnic friend, in 1969. The first black Barbie came much later, in 1981.

Other dolls were named for Mrs. Handler's grandchildren, including Stacie, Todd and Cheryl.

Under pressure from feminists, Barbie evolved from fashion model to career woman. Over the years, the toy inspired Barbie clubs, conventions, magazines and Web sites.

"My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be," Mrs. Handler wrote in her 1994 autobiography. "Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices."

By 1970, however, Mrs. Handler's world began to unravel. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. New corporate managers began to diversify Mattel away from toys, and their machinations resulted in the Handlers' ouster in 1975 from the company they founded.

To make matters worse, Mrs. Handler was indicted by a grand jury in 1978 on charges of fraud and false reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission. She pleaded no contest, was fined $57,000 and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service.

After being forced out of Mattel, she founded a new company, Ruthton. It was the result of the humiliation Mrs. Handler experienced when she sought to restore her appearance to its premastectomy state.

The Nearly Me prosthetic breast was made of liquid silicone enclosed in polyurethane and had a rigid foam backing. Her goal was to make an artificial breast so real "that a woman could wear a regular brassiere and blouse, stick her chest out and be proud."

She fit former first lady Betty Ford after her mastectomy. Her tactics included talk-show appearances and handwritten invitations to breast-cancer patients.

By 1980, sales of the Nearly Me artificial breast had surpassed $1 million. In 1991, Mrs. Handler sold the company.

Her son, Ken, died of a brain tumor in 1994. She is survived by her husband of 63 years; her daughter, Barbara Segal; a brother, Aaron Mosko; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.