TV Icon Sid Krofft Dead at 96

TV icon Sid Krofft has died at 96.

Known for shows such as The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and Land of the Lost with his younger brother, Marty, Krofft died Friday in his sleep at the Los Angeles home of friend and business partner, Kelly Killian, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Krofft was born on July 30, 1929, in Montreal. He and his family lived in Maine, Rhode Island, and the Bronx when he was young. While Krofft and his brother said they came from a long line of puppeteers going back many generations, the true story was that their father was a clock salesman who emigrated from Greece in the early 1900s. They also had two older brothers. Hy died while fighting in World War II, and Harry died last year.

When he was 20, Krofft was hired by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, with Marty joining his brother full-time in 1959 after an assistant left. They later opened Les Poupees de Paris, a hit adults-only burlesque puppet show that played to sold-out crowds at a dinner theater in the San Fernando Valley. The brothers took the show on the road, laying at world’s fairs in Seattle in 1962, New York in 1964, and San Antonio in 1968. It featured 240 puppets, consisting mostly of topless women.

This led to shows at Six Flags and TV appearances. In 1968, they were recruited to design the costumes for the live-action portion of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour on NBC. The following year, since they were such a hit, the brothers were tasked by NBC with creating a Saturday-morning kids’ show. They created H.R. Pufnstuf about a shipwrecked boy who lands on a magical island. The series was canceled after one season, after Sid and Marty refused to do a second season due to costs.

They went on to do The Bugaloos (1970-72), Lidsville (1971-73), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973-75), and Land of the Lost (1974-76). Land of the Lost spawned a 2009 movie adaptation starring Will Ferrell, but it was not nearly as popular as the series. Netflix is also rebooting the show. They also developed live-action variety shows such as The Brady Bunch Hour, The Donny & Marie Show, The Bay City Rollers Show, and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.

In addition to screen credits, the brothers opened The World of Sid & Marty Krofft theme park in downtown Atlanta. It had over six levels and was billed as the world’s first vertical amusement park. While around 600,000 visitors came during the ‘70s, it wasn’t enough to cover the costs and interest payments, and the park closed after only six months.

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Krofft is survived by his three nieces, Deanna, Kristina, and Kendra. Marty passed away in November 2023 at age 86. American Pickers star Mike Wolfe paid tribute to Krofft on Instagram. “My heart is broken, such a beautiful soul has left us,” he wrote. “@sidkrofft There are no words to describe how you shaped my imagination and so many others. Thank you for the beautiful short moments we shared together. I will Cherish the piece I bought from you forever. I love you to the moon and back buddy.”