Frances Helen "Fran" Allison (November 20, 1907 –
June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedian, personality and
singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet
show Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947 to 1957, occasionally returning
to the air until the mid-1980s. The trio also hosted The CBS Children's Film
Festival, introducing international children's films, from 1967 to 1977.
The open-faced blonde singer, actress and comedienne was
born on November 20, 1907, in La Porte City, Iowa and graduated in the late
1920s from Coe College in Cedar Rapids with a teaching degree. After spending a
couple of years as a rural school instructor, she left her position after her
brother, who was a musician, put together an orchestra and hired her on as a
singer.
By 1934 she had moved into radio singing work in Cedar
Rapids and later in 1937 became a staff singer for NBC in Chicago. Her talents
as a comedienne were also discovered and utilized. Most notably, she originated
a gossipy radio character called "Aunt Fanny" that was a hit with
audiences. Her Aunt Fanny character also appeared on the ABC-TV series, Ozark
Jubilee, during the late 1950s.
Fran met puppeteer Burr Tillstrom during WWII when they
toured together in hospitals and orphanages on the same bill. Tillstrom thought
Fran would be ideal as a genteel, prettified and sensible foil for his
Kuklapolitan puppets, and on October 13, 1947, she made her series debut with
Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947).
The shows were, for the most part, done live and Fran was a
charming and glamorous delight opposite Kukla, the bald, arch-browed,
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. In 1953 it won as
the "Best Children's Program".
Allison made records for the RCA Victor label. She had two
minor pop hits. In 1950 her recording of "Peter Cottontail" charted
at #26 around Easter of 1950. The next year her recording of "Too
Young" achieved position #20. In both recordings she is backed by Jack
Fascinato, who was the orchestra leader of Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
Her television career continued after the initial run of
Kukla, Fran and Ollie: in the late 1950s, she hosted The Fran Allison Show, a
panel discussion TV program in Chicago (1958-1960); and appeared in television musical
specials including Many Moons (1954), Pinocchio with Mickey Rooney (1957),Damn
Yankees (1967) and Miss Pickerell (1972).
The syndicated version of the puppet show went off the air
in 1976. The threesome also served as hosts for The CBS Children's Film
Festival, which introduced international children's films, from 1967-1977. In
addition, Fran also was the official pitchwoman for Whirlpool appliances in the
years to come. In the 1980s, she hosted Prime Time, a show for senior citizens,
on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.
Married to music publisher Archie Levington, the couple had
no children and eventually settled in Los Angeles. In her own mind, Fran felt
like she was the mother to the millions of children who tuned in religiously to
the show. Her husband died in 1978. In later life, Allison lived in Van Nuys,
California, and died in 1989 from myelodysplasia, a bone marrow disease, at the
age of 81 in Sherman Oaks. She was buried back in her home state of Iowa, at
Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids.
For contributions to the television industry, Allison was
honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6763 Hollywood Boulevard.Iowa. (Info mainly edited from IMDB & Wikipedia)
3 comments:
here's another artist whose songs are hard to find, but I managed to glean this much from various sources.
For “Fran Allison – Rare selected singles” go here:
http://www91.zippyshare.com/v/vytoWhc3/file.html
1. Punky Punkin
2. Sweet Angie) The Christmas Tree Angel
3. Christmas In My Heart
4. Stars at the Windows of Heaven
5. Peter Cottontail
6. The Doughnut Song
7. Little Buffalo Bill
8. All in the Golden Afternoon
9. Did You Write a Letter To Your Sweetheart
10. Too Young
11. Tooie Talk
12. Listen to Your Heart
13. Aunt Fanny (bonus TV show track)
Man oh man!!!! Does this bring back memories. Thanks Bob.
Thanks again!
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