MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
TV creator and puppeteer Sid Krofft has died. Along with his brother, Marty, he dreamed up some of the most captivating and trippy kids' programs of the 1960s, '70s - shows like "H.R. Pufnstuf" and "Land Of The Lost." Krofft died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 96. NPR's Chloe Veltman has this appreciation.
CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: Sid Krofft's ideas for children's television programming sound pretty unhinged. A boy with a talking flute who's stranded on a magical island is protected by a friendly dragon from an evil sorceress.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HR PUFNSTUF")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) I want that golden flute, and I'll get it.
VELTMAN: A family trapped in an alternate universe after a rafting accident negotiates ferocious dinosaurs, talking apes and a bunch of giant, bug-eyed lizards.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LAND OF THE LOST")
WESLEY EURE: (As Will, yelling) Careful dad.
KATHY COLMAN: (As Holly, yelling) Daddy it's a Sleestak (ph). Be careful.
VELTMAN: Two brothers befriend and shelter a young sea monster who's been kicked out of his home for refusing to scare humans.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS")
DREW MASSEY: (As Sigmund) Woo-wee (ph). I didn't know whether I'm coming or going.
VELTMAN: Yet, "H.R. Pufnstuf," "Land Of The Lost" and "Sigmund And The Sea Monsters" were beloved kids' TV shows. Krofft biographer David Martindale told NPR in 2005 about the brothers' unusual approach to engaging young minds.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
DAVID MARTINDALE: You're not quite sure what makes them come up with these strange dreams and put them on television. But when it works, it's a feast for the eyes.
VELTMAN: The Kroffts' shows mixed human actors with colorful, larger-than-life puppets. Born in Montreal, Canada, Sid Krofft took up puppeteering when he was a boy growing up in Rhode Island. He told NPR in 2005 he soon became a pro.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
SID KROFFT: In the '40s, I worked in vaudeville all over the country. I played Radio City Music Hall, the Palladium in London and all over the world.
VELTMAN: By the late 1950s, Sid Krofft was opening for Judy Garland on tour and had appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show." He then teamed up with his brother, Marty, on a project that wasn't very child friendly. "Les Poupees De Paris" was an elaborate, adults-only musical revue, complete with scantily clad marionette showgirls.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (As character) The sensation of Paris - Mademoiselle Desiree.
S KROFFT: (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
S KROFFT: There was a swimming pool in the stage, waterfall.
VELTMAN: Sid Krofft spoke about the revue on NPR.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
S KROFFT: That's the show that put us on the map.
VELTMAN: The Kroffts then broke into TV. After a string of successes for young audiences, the siblings started making equally popular prime-time variety shows in the late 1970s and '80s, like "Donny & Marie."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DONNY & MARIE")
DONNY OSMOND: We may not have come out together, but we'll always be together.
MARIE OSMOND: Because you can't divorce your brother.
VELTMAN: The Krofft Brothers work together throughout their careers. Here's Marty talking about Sid on Bullseye with Jesse Thorn in 2007.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
MARTY KROFFT: He's eight years older than me but looks about 20 years younger.
VELTMAN: Marty, who died in 2023, said his older brother stayed looking young because he never stopped coming up with wacky, creative ideas. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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