LOS ANGELES -- Fran Allison, the charming foil to a one-toothed dragon and a big-nosed clown on the beloved 1950s kids' television show 'Kukla, Fran & Ollie,' was remembered as purveyor of a whimsy that today's children never knew.
Allison died Tuesday morning at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital after a long battle against marrow failure, a hospital spokeswoman said. She was 81 and had been hospitalized since May 23.
Patient, wise and winsome, Allison was the only visible human member of show co-founder Burr Tillstrom's cast of hand puppets that enthralled a generation of children in the earliest, black and white days of TV.
'Fran was the most charming of children's program hosts that we've known in television, and she was a very good friend to a generation of children and a generation of dragons,' said Bob Keeshan, better known as TV's venerable Captain Kangaroo. 'She and Burr had a kind of whimsy that I'm afraid today's children don't experience, and that's a sad comment on society.'
Nan Calvin, Allison's niece, said she remained active on the board of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters until she became ill about six months ago. Calvin said arrangements for a memorial service in Los Angeles are pending. Allison will be buried next to her mother in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she said.
The comedian, actress and singer made her debut as the sweet, garrulous co-host of 'Kukla, Fran & Ollie' on a Chicago broadcast over WBKB-TV on Oct. 13, 1947. By 1951, the show was carried nationally by NBC.
'Kukla, Fran & Ollie' became a Sunday afternoon TV program in 1952, airing for two years, and returned as a daily five-minute spot at NBC in 1961-62. The show moved to Public Broadcasting from 1969-71 and later was rebroadcast in syndication.
Tillstrom provided the voices for Kukla the clown and Oliver J. Dragon and other members of the 'Kuklapolitan Players' puppet cast, but never was seen on the show. Tillstrom died Dec. 6, 1985, in Palm Springs, Calif.
Allison meshed so naturally as the friend and foil of Kukla and Ollie that the trio seemed like a human family.
Allison also appeared with Tillstrom and the puppets as hosts of the CBS Saturday afternoon series 'Children's Film Festival' from 1967 to 1977.
In the 1980s, she hosted a program for Los Angeles senior citizens, 'Prime Time,' on KHJ-TV.
Allison was born in La Porte City, Iowa, Nov. 20, 1907. After studying at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, she worked as a public school teacher. She began her entertainment career singing on radio in 1934 and later moved to Chicago.
As the loquacious 'Aunt Fanny,' she was a regular on the nationally broadcast weekday morning variety show hosted by Don McNeill, 'Breakfast Club,' that originated in Chicago in 1933.
She also starred in 'The Fran Allison Show' on Chicago's WGN-TV in 1958-60 and was frequently seen as the spokewoman for Whirlpool appliances.
Allison was married to producer Archie Levington, who died in 1978. They had no children.
