Fran Goes Solo

I recently posted a piece from the wonderful Kukla, Fran and Ollie show, and had an Emmy-winning video of the show's creator Burr Tillstrom alone.

But what about Fran Allison?  Most people have only ever seen her standing in front of a puppet stage, brilliantly conversing with puppets as if they were the most real beings in the world.  She did do a few other things -- I posted clips from one here a couple of years ago, when she co-starred in a TV adaptation of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees -- but they were rare.

And more rare still is video of Fran Allison interviewed alone.  Without a puppet in sight.  But here she is in 1980 being interviewed by Gary Collins.

Fran Allison was an absolute gem on Kukla, Fran and Ollie.  And for all the absolutely fully-deserved legendary praise that Burr Tillstrom received for this artistry, so much of the heart of the show, and its long success was, if not "due to," then at least deeply and inextricably supported by Fran Allison.  Burr Tillstrom created the remarkable universe of the Kuklapolitans.  And Fran Allison made us believe that they were real.

Also nice here is that there's a surprise guest.  Not a big name -- or a name at all, someone no one will likely have ever heard of.  But the bit of coincidental kismet (you'll see...) is a nice moment for TV history, and lovely to have it included