Inventor of the Etch A Sketch dies aged 86

Ohio Art president Larry Killgallon said the company will always be grateful for an invention that brought joy to so many. (AP)

The inventor of the Etch A Sketch, the famous red toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France.

The Ohio Art Company based in Bryan in north-west Ohio, USA, said 86-year-old Andre Cassagnes died on January 16 in a Paris suburb. The cause wasn't disclosed.

Ohio Art president Larry Killgallon said the company will always be grateful for an invention that brought joy to so many.

The Toy Industry Association says Mr Cassagnes came upon the Etch A Sketch idea in the late 1950s. He peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face.

The toy, with its gray screen and red frame, has two knobs that are twisted to create drawings. A shake erases the image.

More than 100 million units have been sold.

AP