Roger Sweet was 91 years old when he died.
Roger Sweet was seriously injured in a fall earlier. KIMMO HAAPALA
Creator of the world famous He-Man figure Roger Sweet has died. He was 91 years old when he died. The toy designer’s wife Marlene Sweet told about it to TMZ.
According to Marlene, Roger died as a result of his dementia. He told the newspaper that Roger died peacefully at the nursing home on Tuesday.
Marlene previously started a fundraiser to get the money to pay the nursing home bill. Roger’s nursing home costs over $10,000 a month.
He said that Roger had accidentally fallen while walking alone outside. Roger himself did not remember what had happened. When Marlene brought her husband to the hospital, he was found to have two brain bleeds.
Roger had to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit, after which he was transferred to a nursing home for people with dementia.
The fundraiser moved the fans who grew up with He-Man, and in the end, nearly $94,000 was raised. The Mattel Foundation also donated $5,000 to help the man.
Image from the 1983 cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. PDO
The He-Man story
The He-Man character designed by Roger was launched in 1982. A year after that, the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was released.
Roger worked as a lead toy designer for the toy company Mattel in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976, Mattel rejected a collaboration that would have produced toys for Star Wars. Later, the company wanted to develop its own popular character.
He-Man was born when Roger glued a Mattel-developed Big Jim figure into a fighting stance and added clay to the figure’s body to make it appear to have more mass.
Roger presented the He-Man prototype to Mattel’s then CEO To Ray Wagnerand the figure became a success.
This year sees the release of the Masters of the Universe live action movie. The premiere of the action film will be in Finland on June 3. The legendary He-Man character is played by a 31-year-old Nicholas Galitzine.