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Fran Allison

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Fran Allison
Allison in 1953
Born
Frances Helen Allison

(1907-11-20)November 20, 1907
La Porte City, Iowa, U.S.
DiedJune 13, 1989(1989-06-13) (aged 81)
Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Years active1937–1980s
SpouseArchie Levington (June 8, 1940 – April 25, 1978; his death)

Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907 – June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer.

She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947 to 1957, occasionally returning to the air until the mid-1980s. The trio also hosted The CBS Children's Film Festival, introducing international children's films, from 1967 to 1977.

Biography

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Early years

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Frances Helen Allison was born to Jesse Louis Allison and Anna M. "Nan" (née Halpin) Allison in La Porte City, Iowa, where her father worked as a clerk in a grocery store until his stroke in 1913. They then moved in with her paternal grandparents, David Allison, a Civil War veteran, and Susan (née Booth) Allison. Their house still stands on Sycamore Street in LaPorte City.[1]

A 1927 graduate of Coe College, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.[2] She was a fourth-grade teacher for four years in Schleswig and Pocahontas (both in Iowa),[1] before beginning her broadcasting career at WMT[3] in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Another source describes WMT as "Waterloo radio station WMT." It moved to Cedar Rapids in 1935.)[3] In 1934, Allison was among "14 sectional winners in the Hollywood Hotel radio contest."[4]

Radio

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Allison as Aunt Fanny

She moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937, where she was hired as a staff singer and personality on NBC Radio.[5] A July 26, 1937, newspaper item reported, "Fran Allison, singer of WMT, Waterloo, Ia., makes her network debut in the WJZ-NBC club matinee at 3."[6]

Beginning in 1937, she was a regular performer on The Breakfast Club,[3] a popular Chicago originating national radio show, and was a fixture for 25 years as "Aunt Fanny", a gossipy small-town spinster.[7] Her Aunt Fanny character also appeared on the ABC-TV series, Ozark Jubilee, during the late 1950s. While in Chicago, she was also heard on Those Websters.[1]

Kukla, Fran and Ollie

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Main article: Kukla, Fran and Ollie

In 1947, the director of WBKB-TV in Chicago asked Burr Tillstrom if he could put together a puppet show for children, and he asked Allison,[3] whom he had met during a World War II war bond tour, to join the show.[8]

The show was an early American television show using puppets. It was created for children, but was soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago between October 13, 1947, and August 30, 1957.[9] Comedienne Fran Allison starred, interacting with hand puppets Kukla and Ollie (and sometimes other puppets) whose puppeteer was the show's creator, Burr Tillstrom.[citation needed]

Other television work

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Her television career continued after the initial run of Kukla, Fran and Ollie: in the late 1950s, she hosted The Fran Allison Show, a panel discussion TV program in Chicago; and appeared in television musical specials displaying her singing abilities, including Many Moons (1954), Pinocchio with Mickey Rooney (1957),[10] Damn Yankees (1967) with Phil Silvers and lastly Miss Pickerell (1972).[citation needed]

She had her own program, The Fran Allison Show on WGN-TV (1958–1960).[11] In the 1980s, she hosted Prime Time, a show for senior citizens, on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.[5]

Recordings

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Allison made records for the RCA Victor label. She had two minor pop hits. In 1950 her recording of "Peter Cottontail" charted at #26 around Easter of 1950. The next year her recording of "Too Young" achieved position #20. In both recordings she is backed by Jack Fascinato, who was the orchestra leader of Kukla, Fran and Ollie.[12]

Recognition

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In 1950, Allison was nominated for an Emmy Award as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality. [13] In 1959, she won two Chicago Emmy awards.[14] In 2002, she was a Silver Circle honoree of the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.[15]

In 1967, Iowa Wesleyan University awarded her an honorary doctorate of letters.[16]

Personal life

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Fran Allison was married to music publisher Archie Levington from 1940 until his death in 1978.[3]

In her free time, she devoted her efforts to promoting mental health. From a profile in the Freeport Journal-Standard, "For mental health, she will travel anywhere, anytime."[17]

Allison was on the board of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.[18]

Death

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In later life, Allison lived in Van Nuys, California. She died on June 13, 1989, aged 81.[19] from myelodysplasia in Sherman Oaks, California,[20] She was buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was survived by her brother, James "Lynn" Allison, a saxophonist.[21]

Legacy

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For contributions to the television industry, Allison was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6763 Hollywood Boulevard.[22] She was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy's Silver Circle in 2002.[23]

She appeared with puppets Kukla and Ollie on a 44¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the "Early TV Memories" series, issued on August 11, 2009.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Remenih, Anton (March 26, 1950). "Here Is Story of Fran Allison in Wonderland". Illinois, Chicago. Chicago Tribune. p. 12. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  2. ^ "Alpha Gamma Delta – Accomplished Alpha Gams". Alpha Gamma Delta. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d e Longden, Tom. "Fran Allison". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved February 19, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Iowan Wins". Globe-Gazette. Iowa, Mason City. The Mason City Globe-Gazette. August 11, 1934. p. 16. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ a b Gibberman, Susan. "Fran Allison". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  6. ^ Butterfield, C.E (July 26, 1937). "The Radio Forecast". The Times Leader. Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. The Wilkes-Barre Record. p. 14. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Bertel, Dick; Corcoran; Ed (May 1972). "Fran Allison". The Golden Age of Radio. Season 3. Episode 2. Broadcast Plaza, Inc.. WTIC Hartford, Conn.
  8. ^ "Kukla's Daddy". Radio-TV Mirror. Macfadden Publications: 57, 77–80. November 1949. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  9. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 253–254. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Fran Allison Is A Fairy On 'Pinocchio'". Daily Independent Journal. California, San Rafael. Daily Independent Journal. October 12, 1957. p. 47. Retrieved February 19, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ^ Ryan, James (June 14, 1989). "TV Personality Fran Allison Dead At 81". Tyrone Daily Herald. Pennsylvania, Tyrone. Tyrone Daily Herald. p. 8. Retrieved February 19, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 22. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  13. ^ "Nominees / Winners 1950". Television Academy. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  14. ^ Anderson, Robert (May 7, 1959). "Fran Allison, Norman Ross Emmy Winners". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. Chicago Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved February 20, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ^ "2013 Silver Circle Honors". Chicago Emmy Online. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  16. ^ Flora, Doris P. (May 30, 1969). "Arms Reach Out To 'Aunt Fanny'". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 12. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  17. ^ Carlile, Olga Gize (May 17, 1968). "Fran Allison Without Kukla, Ollie". Freeport Journal-Standard. Illinois, Freeport. Freeport Journal-Standard. p. 6. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. ^ Ryan, James (June 14, 1989). "'Kukla, Fran & Ollie's' Fran dead at 81". UPI Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  19. ^ DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960, pg. 10, McFarland & Company, Inc.; ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2
  20. ^ "Fran Allison, 81, the Human Side Of 'Kukla, Fran and Ollie' Show". The New York Times. June 14, 1989. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  21. ^ Kogan, Rick (June 14, 1989). "Fran Allison, of 'Kukla, Fran & Ollie'". Chicago Tribune. p. 14. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  22. ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame database". HWOF.com. February 12, 2021.
  23. ^ "'Fran' To Be Honored By Home Town". Studio Briefing. January 16, 2002. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  24. ^ "Kukla, Fran and Ollie". U.S. Stamp Gallery. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
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