Who was Jack Ryan? Barbie creator's ex-wife Zsa Zsa Gabor accused him of living in doll-obsessed 'fantasy world'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Barbie creator Jack Ryan was apparently so much into his revolutionary product that he began having relationships with hundreds of women, who looked like the dolls. His obsession even cost him his 1975 marriage to his second wife, the late actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, whom he called “my big Barbie”.
The marriage broke down after she allegedly grew tired of him trying to make her reshape her legs to look like Barbie’s.
Gabor had accused him of living “in a fantasy world”. She also added, “My new husband was a full-blown seventies-style swinger, into wife-swapping and sundry pursuits as a way of life.” The startling details about Ryan have been revealed as a new Barbie film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is set to hit theaters in July.
Who was Jack Ryan?
Ryan was first a missile engineer before entering the world of dolls. He was reportedly assigned the job to design dolls for little girls by Mattel’s owners, Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot, soon after the mid-1950s. He immediately began the work by making her legs longer.
A friend of Ryan, Stephen Gnass, said, “I often think about the expression on his face when he described the doll’s voluptuousness. When he talked about Barbie it was like listening to a pervert.”
The first Barbie was released in the market in 1959 and it instantly became a hit. Its designer struck a deal with Mattel and instead of getting money for its iconic creation, he would get 1.5 percent of the revenue, which the company made by selling dolls. The huge amount of money helped Ryan buy a mansion, where he “hosted hundreds of parties with jugglers, fortune tellers, calypso musicians, go-go dancers, rhyming minstrels, and drunken guests,” The Sun stated.
Jack Ryan divorced third wife because she put on weight
It has been said that his weekly parties often used to conclude with him getting intimate with a new Barbie clone. Not just that, Ryan would also hook-up with his women workers. Budding actress Gwen Florea, who was the voice behind the first talking Barbie, was Ryan's idea of perfection for her brown eyes and body.
Florea also mentioned, “Jack was very good in bed. He was very, very considerate. But it was the whole aura of his personality that was so attractive.” Brit Derek Gable, Mattel's senior designer, added, “People hooked up. It was considered the thing to do. If you weren’t doing it, you weren’t in the in-crowd.”
Ryan’s third wife, former secretary Linda Henson, was described as an ‘extraordinary beauty’. But his strict criteria for women in his life was that they have ‘long, shapely legs like Barbie’, said close friend Nancy Hudson.
So he allegedly sent Linda to a Hollywood trainer three times a week to develop her calf muscles. But Linda is said to have turned to alcohol as she was devastated by his infidelities — as a result she put on weight. A 'disgusted' Ryan divorced her. Tragically, she developed anorexia and died from a heart attack in her 30s trying to win him back.
As per reports, Ryan also forced other women in his life to go under the knife to look like Barbies. He also made them take diet pills, containing the drug amphetamine.
However, his obsession and bizarre way of living left Mattel bosses horrified. They eventually took away his royalty payments from him, and denied his part in the creation of Barbie. This kickstarted a lengthy legal battle. Mattel eventually settled out of court agreeing to pay him $7.6 million in 1980.
In 1989, Ryan suffered a stroke which left him semi-paralysed and unable to speak. In August 1991, Ryan, aged 65, shot himself after watching a Barbie documentary in which Ruth Handler again failed to give him credit for creating the iconic doll.
Now, Ryan’s daughter Ann, 68, has claimed, “My father put his heart and soul into everything he did for Mattel, which continues to benefit from his contributions. He never received the credit he deserved. They broke my father’s heart.”