Fran Allison

A lovely and gracious presence amid a couple of scene-stealing puppets, Fran Allison was a shining star of radio and early TV, and enjoyed immense popularity with children for decades as the sole human element of the Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947) show. 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. Fran met puppeteer Burr Tillstrom during WWII when they toured together in hosp