The Creator of ‘H.R. Pufnstuf’ Began His Career With Topless Puppet Shows

For kids growing up in the late 1960s who thought that Mister Rogers Neighborhood didn’t feel enough like a bad acid trip in a dodgy renaissance fair, there was H.R. Pufnstuf, the story of a human boy who battles a witch in a trippy fantasyland full of puppet men and talking musical instruments. Just try watching 30 seconds of this show and see how well you pass a sobriety test afterwards. 

H.R. Pufnstuf was created by Sid and Marty Krofft, the brother team that also gave us the cult ‘70s kids show Land of the Lost (which was later turned into a Will Ferrell movie) and the world’s most batshit crazy amusement park — although “The World of Sid and Marty Krofft” in Atlanta closed down after only five months in operation, and eventually became the decidedly less fun CNN Center.

But before all of that, the Krofft brothers got their start performing semi-erotic puppet shows. Yeah, you heard me.

In a new interview with People, Sid Krofft recounted the full arc of his career, which began by entering showbiz at “the tender age of 10.” Krofft became a puppeteer, and performed in “vaudeville and Ringling Bros. Circus sideshows.” When he was “barely in his teens,” Krofft played burlesque shows and performed “risqué acts with his stripper puppet.” 

According to Krofft, he was too young to legally be performing in burlesque venues, meaning that he wasn’t even allowed to take a bow after his act because the police “would have raided the place.” Plus, the reveal of a teenage boy popping up from behind the scenery may have ruined the whole exotic puppet dancer vibe, if there is such a thing.

But somehow this wasn’t the end of Krofft’s sexy puppet career. He eventually got a job opening for Judy Garland, then quit to team up with his brother and perform Les Poupées de Paris, a “$250,000 adults-only musical review.” The show played at World’s Fairs in Seattle, New York and San Antonio, and boasted a cast of 250 puppets.

“It played to millions, and it was a puppet show for adults only because it was topless,” Krofft explained also recalling that evangelist Billy Graham said that “everybody should come to the World’s Fair, but don’t go see ‘Les Poupées de Paris' because the women don’t wear bras.” 

It’s true, when the show came to Six Flags in Texas, Graham sparked a write-in campaign complaining about one puppet’s “heaving bosom,” which also moved to the music. “It got the biggest laugh of the show,” puppeteer Alan Cook claimed. Graham was ultimately successful, and “Cook was instructed and forbidden from moving the breasts during the song.”

Graham must have really freaked out when he saw that Kermit the Frog performed every episode of The Muppet Show totally in the nude. 

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