12 Facts About Fran Allison

Frances Helen Allison was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer.

Fran Allison 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.

Frances Helen Allison was born to Jesse Louis Allison and Anna M "Nan" Allison in La Porte City, Iowa, where her father worked as a clerk in a grocery store until his stroke in 1913.

Fran Allison was a fourth-grade teacher for four years in Schleswig and Pocahontas, before beginning her broadcasting career at WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Fran Allison moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937, where she was hired as a staff singer and personality on NBC Radio.

Comedienne Fran Allison starred, interacting with hand puppets Kukla and Ollie whose puppeteer was the show's creator, Burr Tillstrom.

Fran Allison had her own program, The Fran Allison Show on WGN-TV.

In 1950, Fran Allison was nominated for an Emmy Award as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality.

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

Fran Allison was survived by her brother, James "Lynn" Allison, a saxophonist.

For contributions to the television industry, Fran Allison was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6763 Hollywood Boulevard.

Fran Allison was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy's Silver Circle in 2002.