Burr Tillstrom

American puppeteer.
Born October 13, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Died December 6, 1985 (age of 68) in Palm Springs, California), USA.
Tillstrom was the creator, and from 1947-1957, was involved with the weekday NBC-TV puppet show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" show, which starred his puppets and Fran Allison. It was widely regarded as being the first children's show to appeal to both children and adults. In 1951, he became the highest paid puppetteer in the world. He signed a contract with NBC calling for $10,600 per week for the first two years, plus a thousand dollar raises the third and fourth year.
Tillstrom got his start in high school theater. He left the University of Chicago after one semester to join a puppet theater company run by the city's parks department and funded by the Works Progress Administration.
He won two Primetime Emmys for Special Classification of Individual Achievements in 1966 and Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming - Individuals in 1971.