Person Biography:
Fran Allison was a renowned radio and early television personality, cherished by children for decades as the sole human element of the Kukla, Fran and Ollie show. Born on November 20, 1907, in La Porte City, Iowa, she graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids with a teaching degree in the late 1920s. After teaching for a couple of years, she left her position to pursue a career in music, eventually becoming a staff singer for NBC in Chicago.
Fran's talents as a comedienne were soon discovered, and she originated a popular radio character called "Aunt Fanny," which became a hit with audiences. During World War II, she met puppeteer Burr Tillstrom, and they toured hospitals and orphanages together. Tillstrom thought Fran would be an ideal foil for his Kuklapolitan puppets, and on October 13, 1947, she made her series debut with Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
The show, which was largely performed live, featured Fran as a charming and glamorous presence opposite Kukla, the bald, arch-browed, and bulb-nosed leader of the troupe, and Ollie, the droll, single-toothed dragon. Nominated for an Emmy in 1949 as "Most Outstanding Personality," the show received frequent Emmy nominations during its 1950s run and won as the "Best Children's Program" in 1953. The show was syndicated and went off the air in 1976.
Fran also served as a host for The CBS Children's Film Festival, introducing international children's films from 1967 to 1977. In addition, she was the official pitchwoman for Whirlpool appliances. Married to music publisher Archie Levington, the couple had no children and eventually settled in Los Angeles. Fran passed away in 1989 at the age of 81 due to myelodysplasia, a bone marrow disease, and was buried in her home state of Iowa at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids.
