An estimated 150 fans camped out over night in front of the Funco Store on Hollywood Blvd to be on hand to help celebrate the careers of SID & MARTY KROFFT with a star on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Stars.
Emcee, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Rana Ghadban along with guest speakers David Arquette, Beverly D’Angelo, Greg Garcia as well as three Brady Bunch cast members, Maureen McCormick, Chris Knight and Susan Olsen and more were on hand to dedicate the 2,687th Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in the Category of Television. The star, located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Funko Store was dedicated on Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 11:30 A.M. PST and live-streamed exclusively on www.walkoffame.com
Legends to adults during the week and Saturday morning heroes to children, the recent recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy and now a star on the walk of fame, Sid & Marty Krofft (http://www.sidandmartykrofft.com) are icons to generations who enjoyed shows like Donny & Marie, Pryors Place, The Brady Bunch Hour, Barbra Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, D.C. Follies, etc and their characters became family members to children around the globe who were riveted to their televisions for H.R Pufnstuff, Land of the Lost, Sigmund & The Sea Monsters, Lidsville, Lost Saucer, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl or Mutt & Stuff and so much more.
“Many of us have grown up with the popular shows of Sid & Marty Krofft. The brothers have made memories for many kids of all ages and will continue to do so for years to come,” said Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We are proud to add these memory makers to our Walk of Fame family.”
Their roster of show stars included David Arquette, Richard Pryor, Will Ferrell, Jim Neighbors, Ruth Buzzi, Timothy Bottoms, Deidre Hall, Cesar Millan, Chuck McCann, Bob Denver, Jack Wild, Anson Williams, Martha Raye, Johnny Whitaker, Rip Taylor, Butch Patrick, Barbara Mandrell, Florence Henderson, Charles Nelson Reilly, Billie Hayes, Margaret Hamilton, Donny and Marie Osmond, not to mention just about every politician who feared and hoped that the Kroffts would imortalize them in puppet form on hit D.C. Follies or the Krofft Kwickies, featuring a cast of life-size puppets ranging from ‘Richard Nixon’ to ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger’, with outrageous political and current events satire. D.C. Follies ran for two seasons, prematurely ending with a writer’s strike.
Many of the most colorful and fondly remembered children’s series of the 1970s and 1980s sprang from the imaginations of Sid and Marty Krofft. Their groundbreaking, live-action fantasy shows were mainstays of the Saturday morning airwaves, which had previously been the exclusive domain of cartoons. To this day, DVD box sets of beloved Krofft creations H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, and Land of the Lost are brisk sellers, a testament to the artistry and charm of the Krofft brothers and the magical spell they cast on generations of TV viewers.
They opened their World of Sid & Marty Krofft amusement park in downtown Atlanta in 1976, where CNN is now headquartered. They were creative directors for Six Flags and produced live shows in parks across America before they embarked on their television career. By the time he was a teenager Sid was a show business veteran, able to strike out on his own and join the Ringling Brothers Circus sideshow. He was billed as “the world’s youngest puppeteer”. After a year he moved on and soon was touring the world, opening for the likes of Judy Garland and Liberace. But Sid wanted to be more than just an opening act. He wanted big, fantastic puppet shows.
Enter Marty. He had been working puppets off and on with Sid for years, but in the meantime had been gaining experience in the business world. They realized that for what they wanted to do, for Sid’s vision, they needed a company of their own. Their vision was to take puppets out of realm of strictly children’s entertainment and build a slightly risqué adult-oriented puppet show called “Les Poupees De Paris”, loosely based on the cabarets of Paris. It was a success! The show traveled throughout the United States – from the Seattle World’s Fair, to New York Worlds Fair playing to millions people across the country.
Hanna Barbara approached the Kroffts to help create the “Banana Splits” for Hanna Barbara and NBC. In 1969, the Kroffts were approached by NBC to create their own Saturday Morning Children’s Series. They picked HR Pufnstuf, by far the fans’ favorite character from their live shows. Its success spawned a feature film produced with Universal Pictures as a partner and distributor.
The Krofft’s produced a series of live shows entitled “Comedy Kings” for the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In 2018, Sid & Marty received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Now, as Sid & Marty celebrate their “Golden Anniversary”, along with H.R. Pufnstuf, they are still going strong as they have created three series and five pilots in the past three years. The three series include the 2-time Emmy nominated Nickelodeon television series Mutt & Stuff, a remake of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, which aired on Fullscreen from Legendary, and a remake of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, which is currently streaming on Amazon with David Arquette starring as Captain Barnabas … AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME