Marty Krofft

THE KING OF SATURDAY MORNINGS - MARTY KROFFT – OBIT

BORN: on April 9th, 1937 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

DIED: on Saturday, Nov 25th, 2023, at 3:21pm, in Los Angeles, California, of kidney failure at 86 years of age

Often referred to as the King of Saturday Mornings, Marty Krofft has passed away surrounded by family and friends due to kidney failure. 

Along with brother and fellow icon of Saturday morning programming, Sid Krofft dominated children’s television as well as equally successful primetime programming. Multiple generations of fans have grown up with the popular shows of Sid & Marty Krofft. They made memories for millions to enjoy and will continue to do so through their recently announced "World Of Sid & Marty Krofft Channel" global streaming deal with Cineverse.

Marty Krofft produced quality family entertainment for more than 50 years. Sid & Marty Pictures first became a household name in the 70s with quite a list of children’s TV Shows, including,  “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “The Bugaloos,” “Lidsville,” “Land Of The Lost,” “Sigmund & the Sea Monsters,” “Pryor’s Place” (starring Richard Pryor), “Far Out Space Nuts,” “Lost Saucer,” “The Krofft Supershow,” “Wonderbug and Bigfoot,” “Electra Woman & Dyna Girl,” “Dr. Shrinker,” and “Bigfoot & Wildboy.”  Krofft also created a long list of primetime hits that included the satirical and funny “D.C. Follies” series, the “Donny & Marie Show” (which rocketed to #1 on Friday-nights on ABC), “The Brady Bunch Hour,” and “Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters,” all of which were audience favorites and remained in the top 10. 

Marty opened the World of Sid & Marty Krofft amusement park in downtown Atlanta in 1976, now the former CNN headquarters. He was the creative director for Six Flags and produced live shows in theme parks across America before they embarked on their television career.  Marty had been working puppets off and on with his brother, Sid Krofft, for years while gaining experience in the business of shows and creating a company of their own. His vision was to take puppets out of the 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.  An immediate success, the show traveled throughout the United States — from the Seattle World’s Fair to The New York World’s Fair, playing to millions nationwide.  Having been instrumental in the success of the “Banana Splits” for Hanna Barbara in 1969, NBC approached Marty to create his own Krofft Saturday Morning Children’s Series. They picked HR Pufnstuf, who is 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.  In the late 80s, the Kroffts created and produced D.C. Follies, featuring a cast of life-size puppets ranging from ‘Richard Nixon’ to ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger,’ with outrageous political and current events satire. The program was not only popular with the public but politicians as well. Despite the irreverent attitude towards our elected officials, it was seen as a badge of honor. In fact, President Ronald Reagan called Marty at home from the White House after one presidential roasting broadcast to tell him how much he enjoyed the humor directed towards himself and opening the floodgates from members of Congress, hoping they might get their 15 minutes of fame on the show.

Following a Special for CBS with hot acts performing at a fictitious night club called Red Eye Express in 1988, Krofft produced a series of live shows entitled “Comedy Kings” for the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  Nick at Nite Classic TV honored the Kroffts by airing Puf-A-Palooza, which brought back classic episodes of some of the Kroffts’ most beloved shows, resulting in a smash hit and making Puf-A-Palooza one of the highest-rated specials ever to air on Nick-at-Nite. The Kroffts also created “The Okee Dokee Show,” a series of 150 interstitials that ran on The Family Channel featuring a pair of not-too-bright puppets that come to life after the humans go home.

The Kroffts centered their operation in Los Angeles, opening their show business ‘Factory’ in the early 60’s in the San Fernando Valley, where props, costumes, sets, road show stages, and puppets were designed and built for Krofft projects as well as others in the industry.  TV sets included the “All in the Family” set built just for the pilot but ended up being used for two seasons.  They also built road-show stages for top acts like Earth Wind & Fire. The Kroffts built 25-foot-high puppets of the mega pop group *NSYNC for the January 2000 American Music Awards.

In 2003, Marty and Sid were awarded the Lifetime Career Award at the 2003 Saturn Awards for being the creative minds behind some of television's most imaginative and beloved fantasy shows. In 2018, Marty and his brother received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 2020, they both received a star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in celebration of their "Golden Anniversary.” This year, in 2023, Marty Krofft received the highly coveted Annual Julie Award at the 2023 Dragon Con in Atlanta.

Marty is survived by his brothers, Harry Krofft and Sid Krofft; daughters Deanna Krofft-Pope (husband, Randy Pope), Kristina Krofft, and Kendra Krofft (husband, Lou Moreno); five grandchildren (Taylor Pope, Karson Pope, Griffin Pope, Georgia Zander, Drake Zander) and one great-grandchild, Maddox Nichols. Arrangements are under the care of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, CA.