franklin burr tillstrom (october 13, 1917 – december 6, 1985) was an american television personality and puppeteer. he was the creator of "kukla, fran and ollie". after the original series ended in 1957, tillstrom continued to work with the kuklapolitans. early in 1958, tillstrom appeared with the puppets on polly bergen's short-lived nbc variety show, "the polly bergen show".