Photo redesign “Fran Allison with Kukla and Ollie, puppets by Burr Tillstrom, at puppet theater”

Kukla, Fran and Ollie is an early American television show using puppets. It was created for children, but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago between 1947 to 1957. Comedienne Fran Allison starred, interacting with puppets, Kukla and Ollie (and sometimes other puppets) whose puppeteer was the show’s creator, Burr Tillstrom. After the original run, the team appeared in other productions over several decades.

© Stanley Kubrick, 1949
© LOOK Magazine Collection / Library of Congress / Prints & Photographs Division / Museum of the City of New York
© Braty Art Studio, 2021