File:Ralph-Baer.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Ralph H. Baer
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ralph Hendrikson Baer, Ralph Henry Baer
German-born American inventor and engineer (1922–2014)
OverviewAI-generated
Ralph H. Baer was a male inventor, entrepreneur, engineer, and designer who worked in the field of technology. Born in Rodalben, Palatinate, Germany, in 1922, he held citizenship in both Germany and the United States. He served in World War II and began his work period in 1966. Baer was employed by Loral Corporation and was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He possessed a Bachelor of Science degree and spoke English.
Baer received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation and the Edison Medal. His works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and he is recognized in the National Inventors Hall Of Fame collection. His archives are located at the Computer History Museum. He died of natural causes in Manchester in 2014.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Rodalben, Palatinate, Germany
Known for
- Easy to Learn, Hard to Master: The Fate of Atari — Self2017
- Outerlands2017
- The King of Arcades — Himself2014
- Ralph Baer, the Father of Video Games — Self2011
- Video Games Live: Level 2 — Self2010
- Game On! The Unauthorized History of Video Games — Himself - Magnavox Odyssey Inventor2006
- Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession — Self2004
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- Rudolf Heinrich Baer , ( 1922-03-08 ) March 8, 1922, Rodalben , Palatinate , Germany
- Died
- December 6, 2014 (2014-12-06) (aged 92), Manchester, New Hampshire , U.S.
- Occupations
- Inventor, video game designer, engineer
- Spouse
- Dena Whinston ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1952 ; died 2006 )
- Website
- www .ralphbaer .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Ralph
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Rodalben
- Place of death
- Manchester
- Occupation
- designer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Academic degree
- Bachelor of Science
- Field of work
- technology
- Conflict
- World War II
- Official website
- www.ralphbaer.com
- Image
- Ralph-Baer.jpg
Show 11 more facts
- date of death
- 2014-12-06
- Commons category
- Ralph Baer
- date of birth
- 1922-03-08
- archives at
- Computer History Museum
- name in native language
- Ralph H. Baer
- has works in the collection
- Museum of Modern Art
- start of work period
- 1966-00-00
- manner of death
- natural causes
- P8168
- Belmonte in Sabina
- birth name
- Rudolf Heinrich Baer
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer; March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014) was a German-born American inventor, game developer, and engineer.
Baer's Jewish family fled Germany just before World War II and Baer served the American war effort, gaining an interest in electronics shortly thereafter. Through several jobs in the electronics industry, he was working as an engineer at Sanders Associates (now BAE Systems) in Nashua, New Hampshire, when he conceived the idea of playing games on a television screen around 1966. With support of his employers, he worked through several prototypes until he arrived at a "Brown Box" that would later become the blueprint for the first home video game console, licensed by Magnavox as the Magnavox Odyssey. Baer continued to design several other consoles and computer game units, including contributing to design of the Simon electronic game. Baer continued to work in electronics until his death in 2014, with over 150 patents to his name.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ralph H. Baer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.