He-Man Creator Roger Sweet Dies at 91

Roger Sweet, the toy designer best known for creating the iconic character He-Man, has died at 91.

Sweet's wife, Marlene, said her husband had died at a nursing facility on Tuesday morning after a battle with dementia, according to TMZ.

Sweet was a longtime lead toy designer at Mattel in the 1970s and '80s, and during that time he created the muscle-bound He-Man character in 1981, as well as a wider fantasy and science-fiction universe revolving around him with of the Universe line of toys, which debuted the following year. 

Earlier this year, Sweet and his wife were  to combat the mounting costs of his healthcare needs following his dementia diagnosis. 

She revealed in February that he had a serious fall while out on a walk, and his subsequent stay in the intensive care unit revealed that he had suffered two brain bleeds.

Marlene shared with Roger's fans that doctors had recommended he move in to a memory care facility to manage his dementia symptoms and allow him to be 'monitored and safe.'

'Roger is now nearly 91 years old and sadly has dementia,' she wrote at the time. 'His illness has continued to progress, and I have done all I can to take care of his needs at home.' 

He-Man emerged in a roundabout way as a response to Mattel's lack of foresight when it opted not to create a line of toys inspired by Star Wars a year before the iconic blockbuster's 1977 release.

Following Star Wars' runaway success, and in the face of the enduring popularity of toys inspired by the film series, Mattel tried to correct the error by developing its own line of genre-inspired action figures.