Kukla, Fran and Ollie Fan Page

Who Were the Kuklapolitans?

One of the reasons people loved the work of Burr Tillstrom so much was that he provided each of his creations (aka “The Kuklapolitans,” he never referred to them as “puppets”) with his or her own distinct personality. No one ever mistook Kukla for Ollie, or Buelah Witch for Madame Ooglepuss, etc., because they were all so different from one another. Fran Allison often helped him create “histories” for each of his troupe. She gave him the idea of adding a large extended family for Ollie (we actually saw his mother and cousin Delores), and also was the first to mention Ollie’s old school Dragon Prep. Since each of the Kuklapolitans has something of a “history”, I thought it would be fun to relay what I know about them. Some of it is actual, the rest is make believe, but it’s all in fun. Below is a short “biography” on each of the Kuklapolitan regulars.

Kukla (with "Boss" Burr Tillstrom)

Burr created Kukla while working in the WPA. The story goes that Burr made the little hand puppet for a friend who was leaving town, but couldn’t part with the cute little face staring up at him from the box. Kukla was nameless until the ballerina Tamara Toumanova christened him one day when Burr brought the little fellow to her dressing room. She saw the tiny face peering over her shoulder and said, “Ah, Kukla!” Burr obviously liked the name, because his friend was Kukla for the next 45 years. There are several stories from the ‘50s that claim Kukla’s personality is the closest to Burr Tillstrom’s. Kukla does have the most well rounded personality, kind of the sane person in the midst of chaos. He is also the only one that does not have a made up history. This caused something of an identity crisis, as Kukla wondered on one show, “Ollie’s a dragon, Buelah’s a witch, but what am I?” A young fan wrote him with an answer, “My mother says you’re a blessing!” Apparently Fran thought so too, because Kukla was her favorite.

Ollie (with Fran Allison)

Oliver J. Dragon was actually third in the line of Kuklapolitans, but we always put him second, since his name is in the title of the show, after all. Ollie was “born” so that Burr’s troupe would include an alligator type puppet, which is a puppetry tradition. But from the beginning Ollie insisted he was a DRAGON, and anyone who insisted otherwise would find himself without a job (true story). Since Burr didn’t want any of his creations to be scary to children, he gave his dragon big, flirty eyes and a one toothed grin. Ollie also made sure to alert the press to the fact that one of his ancestors took in too much water while crossing the Hellespont. As a result, his family could no longer breathe fire. If Kukla was the responsible one, Ollie was the troupe’s “bad boy.” He was known to spend all the money allotted for Christmas cards on chocolate sodas. He was also the one who dreamed up elaborate schemes, which got him and his friends into all kinds of trouble. But Ollie was extremely popular with women. Burr stated more than a few times that Ollie had a huge female following who would write him love letters (Not me. Like my fellow Scorpio Fran Allison, I prefer Kukla!)

Madame Ophelia Ooglepuss

Mme. Ooglepuss actually joined the Kuklapolitans before Ollie. In one early interview, Burr said he created her because he loved “big bosomed babes who sing opera.” Madame was often pompous and bossy. She was also an aging diva who fancied herself irresistible to men. Apparently the management at Marshall Fields would often tell Burr to keep Madame out of his shows. It seems the store was afraid her presence would offend some of their elderly, well heeled patrons, whom she resembled more than a little. Madame Ooglepuss was the only one of the Kuklapolitans to come close to “marriage.” She and Col. Richard Crackie (see below) almost tied the knot in the early ‘50s, but backed out at the last minute. The diva also had a beautiful array of costumes, designed y Burr’s assistant Joseph Lockwood. Madame’s personality could be exceptionally catty, and Fran Allison would sometimes be uncomfortable in her presence. That’s when Buelah Witch would come on the scene and knock the Grande Dame’s ego down to size.

Cecil Bill (with Ollie)

Cecil Bill was originally brought into the troupe as the love interest of Madame Ooglepuss. Since he couldn’t get a word in edgewise with her, he made up his own language (aka “Tooie Talk”). Rumor has it that Burr named the Tooie man after a technician named Bill Ryan, who was also difficult to understand. Cecil Bill’s role changed from number one boyfriend to stagehand (and “union steward”). He also did a duet with Fran called “Tooie Talk” that was released as an RCA recording (no word on its standing on the pop charts). Cecil Bill didn’t mind when Time magazine called him “an hysteric in a fright wig,” but he took his job as stagehand very seriously. He once threatened to “file a grievance” against Kukla for moving a curtain. Not to be outdone, Kukla made a similar threat when Cecil Bill took a bow in front of the audience (he might be in the stagehand’s union, but he wasn’t a member of AFTRA).

Mercedes (with Cecil Bill)

This Kuklapolitan came about while Burr was working for Marshall Fields. The management felt the Kuklapolitans could present skits for the employees to help them deal with certain types of customers. Mercedes became the spoiled little girl who gave clerks all kinds of grief. Her personality really didn’t change after she went on television. She appears on the earlier shows, but she is no longer a “regular” after 1953 or so. She has a small part in the 1968 special “The Reluctant Dragon,” but is nowhere to be found in the color series on WTTW in the ‘70s. Only Burr Tillstrom could really say why she was abandoned, although one suspects that it was either her one dimensional personality that didn’t allow for character growth, or the fact that she was not really Burr’s creation.

Buelah Witch

Miss Witch was originally the villain in a Kuklapolitan version of Hansel and Gretel. But Burr had no prejudice against witches, and so when he went to television, Buelah Witch came along. He named her for his producer Beulah Zachary (with a slight change in the spelling of the name) and she became a favorite of his television audience. Buelah was a modern woman, interested in aviation and electronics as well as whipping up a good brew. She was also the perfect foil for Mme. Ooglepuss, cutting her down to size whenever the diva got too high and mighty.

Fletcher Rabbit

Fletcher, like Buelah, came from “Hansel and Gretel” as a bit player. The son of a Washington DC mailman (or mail rabbit), he got a job as the troupe mailman once Kukla, Fran and Ollie went on the air. A good thing too, because they were getting thousands of letters a week! However, the job was often thankless, and Jack Fascinato wrote him a song called “There’s Never Any Mail For the Mailman.” Fletcher was also the Kuklapolitan gardening expert, giving the audience tips on when to plant different seeds during the season. He was also the primary liaison to E.B. (Easter Bunny), and tried to make things orderly around the Kuklapolitan theater, with “tried” being the key word. He was a bit of a fuss budget and could fly off the handle if things didn’t go just so. Kukla or Fran could usually calm him down if he got too agitated.

Col. Richard Crackie(serenading Mme. Ooglepuss)

This southern gentleman came to town to court Madame Ooglepuss after she and Cecil Bill went their separate ways. He sounds remarkably like “Senator Claghorn” from the Fred Allen radio show, and was named for Burr’s older brother Richard Tillstrom. The Colonel would often perform as master of ceremonies for various Kuklapolitan productions, however he was known to be long winded, forcing his lady love Madame Ooglepuss to shout “Get on with it Richard!” from the wings. Even though Col. Crackie plays a minor role at the Kuklapolitan Playhouse, his is my personal favorite of all Burr’s character voices.

Doloras Dragon (with cousin Ollie)

If you think about it, Doloras’ story is rather a sad one. She was dropped off at the Kuklapolitan theater one night in 1950 by her parents Dorchester and Doris Dragon and abandoned there for eternity for her cousin Ollie to raise (with the help of Kukla and Fran of course). The origin of her name is rather murky. Director Lew Gomavitz states that Doloras was named for Tallulah Bankhead’s niece. However, if one does some digging, one finds that it was not Tallulah’s niece who was named Doloras, but one of her dogs. But who am I to contradict Gommy? In the photo above Doloras is missing the famous Dragon tooth. That’s because she’s a baby in that picture and it hasn’t grown in yet. By the time we see her in the 1970s shows, she is sporting her own prehensile tooth.

This episode of "Classic Nude Hippo" is about the Chicago Historical Society where the Kuklapolitans now reside