The co-founder of Twister, the iconic party game, has died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 82 July 1. Charles “Chuck” Foley, a father of nine, passed away at a care facility in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
USA Today reports that Foley and the other inventor, Neil Rabens, were hired in the 1960s by a Minnesota manufacturing company that was interested in broadening their horizons to includes toys and games, and were looking for inventive and bright minds to do so. Rabens and Foley were just what they needed.
After the two came up with the game, it was bought by the popular board-game company Milton Bradley, who then changed the name from Pretzel to Twister.
When Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played the game on The Tonight Show in 1966, it instantly became a huge hit. Twister’s current manufacturer, Hasbro Inc., says the game continues to be extremely popular.
Foley, who was born in Lafayette, Indiana, always had a knack for inventions and a creative mind, even as a young boy. One of his sons, Mark Foley, says his father did not make a lot of money off the game but still held 97 patents.
According to Sky News, Mark Foley says his dad was a free spirit.
"He never stopped having fun," Mark Foley said to an AP news agency. "He tried to think like young people though. He never wanted to grow up, and he always maintained his enthusiasm for seeing things through the eyes of a child."