Stanley Weston, the creator of the “G.I. Joe” action figure and subsequent animated kids’ series, died May 1 at the age of 84, TheWrap has learned.
Born in Brooklyn in 1933, Weston was drafted into the Army shortly after the end of the Korean War. After his service, he took a job at the New York ad agency McCann Erickson while taking night classes for a MBA at NYU, after which he entered into the licensing industry with his own company, Weston Merchandising.
In the early 1960s, Weston noticed that despite the popularity of Barbie dolls, there were no dolls being marketed to boys.