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Marty Krofft, who, with his brother Sid, created a string of television shows that captured audiences from Saturday morning to prime time, including fantastical children\u2019s fare, like \u201cH.R. Pufnstuf\u201d and \u201cLand of the Lost,\u201d and variety shows, like \u201cDonny and Marie,\u201d died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 86.<\/p>\n
His publicist, Harlan Boll, said the cause was kidney failure.<\/p>\n
The Kroffts said they came from a line of puppeteers, and Sid, who as a child traveled the world performing an elaborate puppet show, was usually the creative force behind the partnership.<\/p>\n
But Krofft shows, which featured extravagant puppets and scenery, were often expensive to produce and sometimes had premises that could be a hard sell; one show, for instance, focused on magical, talking hats. Marty\u2019s business acumen and ability to woo studio executives ensured that some of the strangest programs ever to appear on the small screen actually got made.<\/p>\n
\u201cSid was always \u2018the artist,\u2019\u201d Marty was quoted as saying in \u201cPufnstuf & Other Stuff: The Weird and Wonderful World of Sid & Marty Krofft\u201d (1998), by the critic David Martindale. \u201cHe never did have a business sense. So I came in and filled that vacuum.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The shows often had psychedelic sets and a trippy feel, leading many older viewers to read drug references in them. The Kroffts said that had never been their intention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The first Krofft television show, debuting on NBC in 1969, was \u201cH.R. Pufnstuf,\u201d which was about a boy who is spirited away to a magical island by a witch who wants to steal his talking flute. On the island the boy meets H.R. Pufnstuf, the dragon mayor of a town where virtually all the animals and objects can speak. Pufnstuf and island denizens try to help the boy get home in spite of the machinations of the witch and her doltish minions.<\/p>\n
Only 17 episodes were filmed, but they aired as reruns for years and in time inspired a made-for-TV movie, an ice show and extensive children\u2019s merchandise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s our Mickey Mouse,\u201d Mr. Krofft said of Pufnstuf.<\/p>\n
\u201cPufnstuf\u2019s\u201d success also proved to studios that far-out Krofft programs could draw viewers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Kroffts went on to produce \u201cSigmund and the Sea Monsters,\u201d about a tentacled lump of seaweed who befriends humans; \u201cThe Bugaloos,\u201d about a rock group made up of teenage insects; and \u201cLidsville,\u201d about the hats.<\/p>\n
Those shows were all lighthearted fantasy. The next show the Kroffts produced, \u201cLand of the Lost,\u201d was more serious.<\/p>\n
In \u201cLost,\u201d which premiered on NBC in 1974, a family plunges into another dimension populated by dinosaurs, primates called Pakuni and dangerous lizard-men called Sleestaks. Like \u201cPufnstuf,\u201d the show was about the family\u2019s attempts to get home while navigating their strange new surroundings.<\/p>\n
Episodes were written by seasoned science fiction writers like Ben Bova<\/a>, Larry Niven and Norman Spinrad, and a linguist developed a language of sorts for the Pakuni.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Kroffts produced new episodes of \u201cLost\u201d until 1977, and simultaneously made several other children\u2019s shows, which starred, among others, the actors Bob Denver<\/a> (\u201cFar Out Space Nuts\u201d), Ruth Buzzi and Jim Nabors<\/a> (both in \u201cThe Lost Saucer\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n They also went into prime time with the popular variety show \u201cDonny & Marie,\u201d starring two siblings from the singing Osmond family act. It premiered on ABC in 1976 with guest appearances by Farrah Fawcett, Vincent Price and Lee Majors.<\/p>\n New episodes of \u201cDonny and Marie\u201d were produced for four years. But later Krofft prime time offerings had far shorter runs, like \u201cThe Brady Bunch Hour\u201d (1976), which featured much of the cast of the sitcom singing and dancing. As a series, it lasted eight episodes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like a freak show,\u201d said Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady.<\/p>\n Marty Krofft was born in Montreal on April 9, 1937, the youngest of four brothers born to Peter and Mary (Yolas) Krofft. Sid, who learned puppetry from their father, was already touring professionally by the time Marty could walk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The brothers officially became partners in 1959, and the next year they debuted their signature production, \u201cLes Poupe\u0301es de Paris,\u201d a risqu\u00e9 extravaganza that initially required 12 puppeteers working 240 marionettes.<\/p>\n Les Poupees ran alongside the New York World\u2019s Fair in 1964 and \u201965, and traveled to Australia and Japan before closing in 1967. It also caught the eye of Angus Wynne<\/a>, who owned the Six Flags amusement park chain; he asked the Kroffts to create a puppet show for his parks.<\/p>\n The Kroffts went on to design puppets, costumes and props for clients like the Jackson 5, the Ringling Brothers Circus and the Ice Capades, working for a time out of a former airplane hangar in Southern California. Years later, they briefly opened their own theme park, \u201cThe World of Sid and Marty Krofft,\u201d at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Many Krofft programs had short initial runs but resurfaced decades later, first as reruns on networks like Nick at Nite and as streaming options for nostalgic Gen-Xers. For instance, a \u201cLand of the Lost<\/a>\u201d feature starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel was released in 2009; and in 2017 Amazon rebooted \u201cSigmund and the Sea Monsters,\u201d starring Rebecca Bloom and David Arquette.<\/p>\n Mr. Krofft\u2019s wife, the former Playboy playmate Christa Speck, died in 2013<\/a>. He lived in Los Angeles and is survived by his brothers Sid and Harry; his daughters Deanna Krofft-Pope, Kristina Krofft and Kendra Krofft; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.<\/p>\n Mr. Krofft\u2019s daughters continued the family business, guided by their father, who kept working until recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n