Barbie fans know a lot about the iconic doll and her backstory, but much less is known about her longtime boyfriend, Ken. Some are shocked to learn that Ken actually has both a middle and last name and like Barbie, he’s named after a real person.
Ken’s full name is Kenneth Sean Carson, and it comes from Kenneth Handler, the real life son of Barbie creator Ruth Handler. She co-founded Mattel with her husband, Elliot, and Barbie was named after their daughter, Barbara Millicent Roberts. So while Barbie and Ken are a doll couple, their namesakes are actually brother and sister.
Some fun facts about Ken:
- The first Ken doll made his debut in March 1961, two years after the first Barbie doll was released.
- He was created after people complained to Mattel that Barbie was a single woman, so they made her a companion.
- The original Ken doll was ready for a day at the beach and wore red swim trunks and cork sandals.
- But it turns out, he was nothing like the real-life Kenneth Handler. In an 1989 interview with the “Los Angeles Times,” he highlighted their differences. “Ken doll is Malibu. He goes to the beach and surfs. He is all those perfect American things,”
- Handler said. “I played the piano and went to movies with subtitles. I was a nerd—a real nerd.”
Source: NY Post