Fran Allison
{{Short description|American performer (1907–1989)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Fran Allison
| image = Fran Allison.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Allison in 1953
| birth_name = Frances Helen Allison
| birth_date = {{birth date|1907|11|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place = La Porte City, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1989|6|13|1907|11|20|mf=y}}
| death_place = Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
| years_active = 1937–1980s
| spouse = {{marriage|Archie Levington|1940|1978|end=his death}}
}}
Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907{{spnd}}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
=Early years=
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.{{cite news |last1=Remenih |first1=Anton |title=Here Is Story of Fran Allison in Wonderland |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1950/03/26/page/130/article/here-is-story-of-fran-allison-in-wonderland |access-date=February 20, 2016 |agency=Chicago Tribune |date=March 26, 1950 |location=Illinois, Chicago |page=12}}
A 1927 graduate of Coe College, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.{{cite web |url=http://www.alphagammadelta.org/AboutAGD/AccomplishedAlphaGams.html |title=Alpha Gamma Delta – Accomplished Alpha Gams |publisher=Alpha Gamma Delta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825002805/http://www.alphagammadelta.org/AboutAGD/AccomplishedAlphaGams.html |archive-date=August 25, 2010 |access-date=March 12, 2007}} She was a fourth-grade teacher for four years in Schleswig and Pocahontas (both in Iowa), before beginning her broadcasting career at WMT{{cite web |last1=Longden |first1=Tom |title=Fran Allison |url=http://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/fran-allison |website=The Des Moines Register |access-date=February 19, 2016}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Another source describes WMT as "Waterloo radio station WMT." It moved to Cedar Rapids in 1935.) In 1934, Allison was among "14 sectional winners in the Hollywood Hotel radio contest."{{cite news |title=Iowan Wins |newspaper=Globe-Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4359659/the_mason_city_globegazette/ |agency=The Mason City Globe-Gazette |date=August 11, 1934 |location=Iowa, Mason City |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 18, 2016}} {{Open access}}
=Radio=
File:Fran Allison Aunt Fanny.JPG
She moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937, where she was hired as a staff singer and personality on NBC Radio.{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=allisonfran |title=Fran Allison |publisher=The Museum of Broadcast Communications |author=Gibberman, Susan |access-date=January 16, 2010 |archive-date=May 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509141042/http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=allisonfran |url-status=dead}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Butterfield |first1=C.E |title=The Radio Forecast |newspaper=The Times Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4360031/the_wilkesbarre_record/ |agency=The Wilkes-Barre Record |date=July 26, 1937 |location=Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 18, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Beginning in 1937, she was a regular performer on The Breakfast Club, a popular Chicago originating national radio show, and was a fixture for 25 years as "Aunt Fanny", a gossipy small-town spinster.{{cite episode |title=Fran Allison |url=http://www.goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-26.html |series=The Golden Age of Radio |last1=Bertel |first1=Dick |last2=Corcoran |last3=Ed |network=Broadcast Plaza, Inc. |station=WTIC Hartford, Conn. |airdate=May 1972 |season=3 |number=2}} 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.
=''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''=
{{Main|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, whom he had met during a World War II war bond tour, to join the show.{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/stream/r00mac#page/n517/mode/2up |title=Kukla's Daddy |date=November 1949 |journal=Radio-TV Mirror |publisher=Macfadden Publications |pages=57, 77–80 |access-date=August 22, 2016}}
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.{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat|url-access=registration |access-date=March 22, 2020|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/253 253]–254}} 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|date=June 2024}}
=Other television work=
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),{{cite news |title=Fran Allison Is A Fairy On 'Pinocchio' |newspaper=Daily Independent Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4368314/daily_independent_journal |agency=Daily Independent Journal |date=October 12, 1957 |location=California, San Rafael |page=47 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 19, 2016}} {{Open access}} Damn Yankees (1967) with Phil Silvers and lastly Miss Pickerell (1972).{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
She had her own program, The Fran Allison Show on WGN-TV (1958–1960).{{cite news |last1=Ryan |first1=James |title=TV Personality Fran Allison Dead At 81 |newspaper=Tyrone Daily Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4368481/tyrone_daily_herald/ |agency=Tyrone Daily Herald |date=June 14, 1989 |location=Pennsylvania, Tyrone |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 19, 2016}} {{Open access}} In the 1980s, she hosted Prime Time, a show for senior citizens, on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.
=Recordings=
Allison made records for the RCA Victor label. She had two minor pop hits. 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.{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=Pop Memories 1890-1954 |year=1986 |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/22 22] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/22}}
=Recognition=
In 1950, Allison was nominated for an Emmy Award as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality.{{Cite web |title=Nominees / Winners 1950 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1950 |access-date=August 16, 2020 |website=Television Academy |language=en}} In 1959, she won two Chicago Emmy awards.{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Robert |title=Fran Allison, Norman Ross Emmy Winners |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14495801/1959_chicago_emmy_winners/ |access-date=February 20, 2016 |agency=Chicago Tribune |date=May 7, 1959 |location=Illinois, Chicago |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} In 2002, she was a Silver Circle honoree of the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.{{cite web |title=2013 Silver Circle Honors |url=https://chicagoemmyonline.org/awards/past-chicago-silver-circle-inductees-2/ |website=Chicago Emmy Online |access-date=February 20, 2016}}
In 1967, Iowa Wesleyan University awarded her an honorary doctorate of letters.{{cite news |last1=Flora |first1=Doris P. |title=Arms Reach Out To 'Aunt Fanny' |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19690530&id=RA0dAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BpwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7326,6924866&hl=en |access-date=February 20, 2016 |agency=The Tuscaloosa News |date=May 30, 1969 |page=12}}
=Personal life=
Fran Allison was married to music publisher Archie Levington from 1940 until his death in 1978.
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."{{cite news |last1=Carlile |first1=Olga Gize |title=Fran Allison Without Kukla, Ollie |newspaper=Freeport Journal-Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4368060/freeport_journalstandard |agency=Freeport Journal-Standard |date=May 17, 1968 |location=Illinois, Freeport |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 18, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Allison was on the board of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=James |date=June 14, 1989 |title='Kukla, Fran & Ollie's' Fran dead at 81 |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/14/Kukla-Fran-Ollies-Fran-dead-at-81/8647613800000/ |access-date=December 23, 2023 |website=UPI Archives |language=en}}
=Death=
In later life, Allison lived in Van Nuys, California. She died on June 13, 1989, aged 81.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}} from myelodysplasia in Sherman Oaks, California,{{cite news |title=Fran Allison, 81, the Human Side Of 'Kukla, Fran and Ollie' Show. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D71430F937A25755C0A96F948260 |work=The New York Times |date=June 14, 1989 |access-date=April 26, 2008}} She was buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was survived by her brother, James "Lynn" Allison, a saxophonist.{{cite news |last1=Kogan |first1=Rick |title=Fran Allison, of 'Kukla, Fran & Ollie' |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1989/06/14/page/34/article/fran-allison-of-kukla-fran-ollie |access-date=February 21, 2016 |agency=Chicago Tribune |date=June 14, 1989 |page=14}}
Legacy
For contributions to the television industry, Allison was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6763 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web |url=http://www.hwof.com/stars?recipient=Fran_Allison |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame database |date=February 12, 2021 |publisher=HWOF.com}} She was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy's Silver Circle in 2002.{{cite web |url=http://studiobriefing.com |title='Fran' To Be Honored By Home Town |publisher=Studio Briefing |date=January 16, 2002 |access-date=January 16, 2010}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=b239add4e81c7cb7c2ed4ee7312e3c74048bc6af&Kukla__Fran_and_Ollie |title=Kukla, Fran and Ollie |publisher=U.S. Stamp Gallery |access-date=February 3, 2018}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0021437}}
- {{TV Guide person|215954}}
- [http://www.tv.com/people/fran-allison/ Fran Allison] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421044525/http://www.tv.com/people/fran-allison/ |date=April 21, 2019 }} at [http://www.tv.com/people/ TV.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412054625/http://www.tv.com/people/ |date=April 12, 2019 }}
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/allisonfran/allisonfran.htm Allison at the Museum of TV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125053516/http://museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/allisonfran/allisonfran.htm |date=January 25, 2009 }}
- [http://kukla.tv/coronet.html Tribute website], kukla.tv. Accessed May 20, 2024.
{{Chicago Children's Television}}
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Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:20th-century American comedians
Category:American radio personalities
Category:American television personalities
Category:American women television personalities
Category:People from La Porte City, Iowa