He-Man Creator Roger Sweet Passes Away

0:00On April 29, Toy Designer Roger Sweet, the man who dreamed up He-Man, passed away at 91. He died peacefully on Tuesday at his care facility after months fighting dementia. His wife Marlene confirmed the news and Sweet's work at Mattel in the 1970s and 80s gave us one of the biggest action figure icons ever. Back then, Mattel missed out on making Star Wars toys in 1976 so they needed their own hit. Sweet took a big gym figure, glued it in a battle pose, added clay for muscle, and pitched the bulky warrior prototype. That became He-Man, launching in 1982, followed by the cartoon in 1983. Fans and family rallied around him lately as his health faded fast. After a bad fall revealed two brain bleeds in an ICU stay, he needed pricey memory care topping $10,000 a month. A GoFundMe pulled in nearly $94,000, beating the $50,000 goal with the Mattel Foundation chipping in $5,000.

1:00Now his passing hits right before a live-action Masters of the Universe movie drops June 5th. Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel star Nicholas Galadzean as He-Man in this big-screen revival. Marlene's reaching out to producers for a dedication, ensuring Sweet's muscle-bound legacy flexes on through the franchise he built. Pop culture, powered by AI, this is entertainment and celebrity news today. I'm Corey with The Story.