Helen C. Bolstad papers on Burr Tillstrom

1948-1962

Helen Cambria Bolstad (1908-1983) was born in Minnesota. Bolstad was an American journalist, active primarily from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Bolstad mostly chronicled figures in entertainment. She was a copyeditor for Radio and TV Mirror magazine. She covered the press surrounding the popular television program Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947-1957 on NBC and ABC, although her precise affiliation with the NBC and ABC TV and radio networks is not clear. In 1958, she wrote a book titled Golden Skates: The Story of Carol Heiss - Teen-age Champion.

Burr Tillstrom (né Franklin Burr Tillstrom) (1917-1985) was born in Chicago, Illinois. Tillstrom was an American puppeteer and entertainer who pioneered the first hour-long, 5 days a week television program for children that combined puppets with people. While attending the University of Chicago, Tillstrom got his start in puppetry through a Works Progress Administration-sponsored program to create a show using marionettes. He created the popular Kukla, Fran and Ollie show that aired on the RCA Victor, NBC and ABC networks. The show ran from 1947-1957. Tillstrom was inducted posthumously into the Television Hall of Fame in 1986 and into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2013.

Kukla, Fran and Ollie was an American television series airing primarily from 1947-1957. Puppeteer Burr Tillstrom created an hour-long television show called Junior Jamboree, which aired on local network WBKB Chicago in 1947. In 1948, the show moved to WNBQ Chicago (later known as WMAQ-TV) and the name changed to Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The show won a Peabody Award in 1949. It centered mainly around Kukla, which means "doll" in Russian, the head of the tight-knit group known as the 'Kuklapolitans'; Ollie, a precocious dragon; and Fran, the gentle big sister-type and human character of the troupe. There were other characters in the group: Beulah Witch, Fletcher Rabbit, Madame Ooglepus, Cecil Bill, Colonel Crackie, Dolores Dragon, Mercedes and a few others. The show was just as popular with adults as it was with children. It had a brief re-airing in the late 1960s and again in the late 1970s - each time for a season or so but was eventually canceled indefinitely. Tillstrom took his show's characters to Broadway in the late 1970s and did some touring before his death in 1985. The concept of having puppets playing against a human was novel and the improvisational style of the show was a unique format at the time. It became a national phenomenon beyond children's television programming, garnering popularity from Hollywood celebrities to politicians.