Real People Behind Big Names

The little girl who inspired her parents to create the most popular doll of all time is now all grown up. Barbara Handler Segal says her childhood interest in paper dolls made her mother realize that little girls weren't just interested in playing mommy to baby dolls. "We projected our dreams, what we wanted to be," Barbara remembers, "and we could dress up paper dolls like anything we wanted to be."

Barbara says that Barbie's debut was a huge sensation. "I didn't know what hit me," she says. "Everybody was asking, 'Oh, you're the Barbie doll?' And I said, 'I am the name behind it, but I'm not the doll, you know.' ... It was never made to look like me."