Biography's Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler was born on November 4, 1916, in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest of ten children of Polish immigrants and was a tomboy who shunned dolls. Ruth’s Jewish father, Jacob Moskowicz, arrived in America via Ellis Island in 1907 where his name was shortened to Mosko. Because he was a blacksmith, he was shipped to Denver, center of the railroad industry, where blacksmiths were used for making and repairing tracks. Ruth’s mother, Ida Mosko, was 40 and in ill health when Ruth was born. From the age of six months, Ruth was raised by her eldest sister Sarah and her husband Louis Greenwald.

At 16, Handler met her future husband, Isadora Elliot Handler, at a B'nai B'rith dance in Denver. Her high school sweetheart. She moved to Los Angeles, where she had landed a job as a secretary for Paramount Pictures while visiting a friend. And he soon joined her there to attend the Art Center School of Design. In 1938, when Ruth 19 years old. The couple briefly returned to Denver to be married at the former Park Lane Hotel in 1938, but Southern California was home to them for the rest of their lives together. After they married, Ruth and Elliot had 2 kids, their daughter Barbara was born in 1941, Their son Ken was born in 1944.

In 1967, Ruth became the president of Mattel. In 1997 she was inducted into the Junior Achievement United States Business Hall of Fame for her contributions of Barbie, the marketing of Barbie, and her overall achievements in the business world.

In 1970, when Ruth was in her early 50? s, she discovered that she had breast cancer. Ruth Handler retired from Mattel. She went on to use her experience and expertise to start Ruthton Corp.¬, which is dedicated to the development and manufacturing of breast prostheses called “Nearly Me.” By meeting with department store buyers, promoting the products herself across the country, and talking candidly with other breast cancer survivors, Handler built her second company into a success. In 1991, she sold Ruthton Corp. to a division of health and beauty aids giant Kimberly-Clark. She died in California from complications of colon cancer surgery on April 27, 2002, aged 85.