Reuben Klamer

Reuben B. Klamer was a renowned toy designer and manufacturer who has designed and built the iconic original phaser rifle, that was featured in the Star Trek: The Original Series' second pilot episode. Klamer has never received an official credit for his contribution.

Born to Romanian immigrants in Canton Ohio in 1922 into a depression era middle class family, Klamer nevertheless excelled at studies, graduating in ancient and modern history at George Washington University with an additional B.S. marketing degree from Ohio State University, and which he followed up with postgraduate work in engineering at the University of Michigan. World War II interrupted his career as he went on to graduate from the U.S. Navy Midshipman School at Northwestern University in 1943, serving with distinction as a combat Navy officer in the the South Pacific theater afterwards.

Upon war's ending, he started his own advertising agency went to work for Ideal Toy Company and then became an executive in Eldon Industries where he pioneered in the use of unbreakable polyethylene plastic toys. In 1959, Klamer developed the product for which he is best known when he approached then president of game company Milton Bradley, James Shea, Sr., with a proposal for an art center concept. This proposal was turned down, but Kramer was asked instead to develop a game in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Milton Bradley Company. This resulted eventually in the celebrated 1960 board game, The Game of Life.

In 1960's Reuben operated his own company, "The Toy Development Center, Inc.", he founded in 1964. While Reuben's primary work concerned the development of toys and games, he occasionally provided prop services to the motion picture industry. It was his build of a prop gun, used in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that attracted the attention of Gene Roddenberry. Reuben was contacted by Roddenberry in 1965 for the design and the subsequent build of the original phaser rifle in June/July of that year. (Julien's Auctions presents: Star Trek) Used only once, the rifle prop was upon completion of the episode returned to Klamer. Almost eight months went by, before the series was green-lighted, and in a letter dated 16 March 1966, Klamer was approached by Roddenberry for possible further prop assignments, though that would never come to fruition.

During a brief hiatus in the 1970's Klamer developed and taught a course in Creative Technology for the University of Hawaii at his Creative Development Center in Kona. In a remarkable career spanning six decades he is credited with more than 200 game and toy products, including the classic Fisher-Price Preschool Trainer Skates introduced in 1984. Hasbro/Milton Bradley, Mattel/Fisher-Price, Tupperware, CocaCola, and Sears Roebuck & Co. were among Klamer's many current and former partners.

Despite having more than 200 products on his name, it was predominantly The Game of Life game for which he is most renowned, and which became part of the permanent "Archives of Family Life" at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The toy and game industry has showered Klamer with honors for this products, including the 2000 induction into the "Hasbro Inventor's Hall of Fame", the 2005 induction into the "Toy Industry Hall of Fame", and the 2009 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Toy and Game Inventor Expo as well as becoming a "Citizen of Honor" in his native state of Ohio.

Reuben Klamer was featured in the 2013 documentary short, Julien's Auctions presents: Star Trek, on the occasion of the auctioning off of his phaser rifle.