| Burr Tillstrom |
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| 1917 births | |
| 1985 deaths | |
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Tillstrom was born in Chicago to Bert and Alice Burr Tillstrom and attended the University Of Chicago . He turned his attention to puppetry in the early 1930s and created Kukla in 1936 . Kukla remained nameless until the Russian ballerina Tamara Toumanova referred to him as ''kukla'', the Russian term for doll. Other famous puppets from the group included Oliver J. Dragon , Beulah Witch, and Fletcher Rabbit. In 1939 , he was invited to present his "Kuklapolitan Players" at the New York World's Fair . The following year, RCA sent him to Bermuda to perform on the first ship-to-shore broadcast. From 1947 through 1957, Tillstrom was involved with the "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" show which starred his puppets and Fran Allison . It is widely regarded as being the first children's show to appeal to both children and adults. With only a few exceptions, all of the shows were improvised. Tillstrom continued to perform with his "Kuklapolitan Players" both live and on television until his death in 1985. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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