‘He-Man’ artist and toy designer T. Mark Taylor dies at 80

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and STEFANIE DAZIO

LOS ANGELES (AP) — T. Mark Taylor, creator and artifact decorator for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise arsenic good arsenic the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, died Thursday astatine his Southern California home. He was 80.

The origin was congestive bosom failure, Taylor’s household said successful an email to The Associated Press connected Saturday.

He-man was the muscled frontman for artifact shaper Mattel’s Masters of the Universe franchise, which would aboriginal spawn an animated bid that became a staple for children. Kids squeezed successful homework betwixt scenes featuring the strapping cartoon leader arsenic helium battled sorcerers and different villains.

He-Man was the epitome of hulking superhero warrior but besides became an icon wrong the LGBTQ community, who saw parallels successful the concealed beingness of Prince Adam, He-Man’s change ego.

As successful the lawsuit of galore originative endeavors, galore hands shaped the franchise. Taylor has said the prototypes day backmost to his ain puerility arsenic helium fantasized astir being “the adjacent hero.” He said helium based the conception of He-Man connected his imaginativeness of Cro-Magnon men, arsenic good arsenic Vikings.

Mattel sold much than 70 cardinal enactment figures from its Masters of the Universe postulation — which deed shelves successful 1982 — during the archetypal 2.5 years of the brand, according to The New York Times.

Taylor began his vocation with El Segundo-based Mattel successful 1976 arsenic a packaging designer, his household said.

Mattel did not respond to a petition for remark Saturday.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise — featuring pizza-loving Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo —spawned a long-running animates series, live-action movies and a catchphrase: cowabunga.

While Taylor did not make immoderate of the characters, his enactment arsenic a decorator helped propel them into iconic puerility images for galore astir the world, including enactment figures and costumes that flew disconnected stores shelves.

Terrell Mark Taylor — who went by his mediate name, Mark — was calved connected June 5, 1941, according to California elector registration records. He is survived by his woman of 50 years, decorator Rebecca Salari-Taylor of Ranchos Palos Verdes.

“I felt him accidental goodbye to this satellite arsenic I held him successful my arms for 1 last loving kiss,” Salari-Taylor wrote successful a Facebook post.

Taylor’s household said his father-in-law, Tony Salari, told the artist, “If you tin gully well, everything volition beryllium okay.”

Taylor took pinstriping commissions for “hot rod” cars arsenic a teen successful Redondo Beach successful the aboriginal 1950s, his household said. He aboriginal attended the ArtCenter College of Design successful Pasadena.

Taylor went connected to enactment for the U.S. Department of Defense successful Pasadena and contributed to projects for submarines, biologic and method sonar exertion and seafloor mapping, his household said.

Taylor’s artifact enactment was featured successful documentaries, including “Power of Grayskull” and “The Toys That Made Us.”

“If I was going to bash a leader for today, it would beryllium a pistillate leader – due to the fact that it’s the time, due to the fact that the heroes of our clip are women. … Us men had our day,” Taylor told fans during an quality astatine a He-Man festival successful 2015.

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Calvan reported from New York.