Butch Patrick paid tribute to legendary television producer Sid Krofft following his death at age 96. On April 13, The Munsters child star posted a lengthy tribute to Facebook that included several photos of him at fan events with the iconic TV creator and puppeteer.
Patrick, 72, also credited Krofft for convincing him to return to acting after a failed movie. “Very sad today,” the actor wrote. “My dear buddy Sid Krofft passed away peacefully at his home this morning. What a great life he had.“
“A very long time ago, Sid convinced me over lunch to spend my summer of 71 at Paramount Studios,” Patrick continued. "On stage 8, I would spend 11 weeks filming a little Saturday morning show called Lidsville. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of the impact that sandwich with Sid would have. At that point in my life, I was done with Hollywood. Had a huge movie go south. No interest to work. I didn’t know much about the Kroffts. Marty was the guy who kept calling. But Sid closed the deal. He was such a kind soul. He was so convincing, I even cut my hair to play the part of Mark. BIG deal back then when we all had hair like Led Zeppelin.”
In addition to his memories of the Saturday morning TV hit, Patrick recalled the 2022 Krofft Kon at the Orinda Theater, which honored the legendary producing duo Sid and Marty Krofft just one year before Marty’s death.
“Sid was loved by all,” Patrick wrote. “Thanks again, my friend, for a lunch that changed my life.”
Butch Patrick, Sid Krofft, H.R. Pufnstuf and Marty Krofft.Photo by Donato Sardella on Getty Images
Lidsville, created by Canadian sibling duo the Krofft brothers, aired on ABC from 1971 to 1972. The 17-episode series featured Patrick as a teen boy, Mark, who fell into a magician’s hat and landed in a psychedelic world of living hat people.
Character actor Charles Nelson Reilly played Merlin the magician and his alter ego Horatio J. HooDoo, while Billie Hayes played a genie named Weenie.
Lidsville was one of many Saturday morning children’s TV shows produced by the Krofft brothers in the 1970s. The duo also created H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and more. Most of the shows featured puppets or animation along with live action.
Sid Krofft once explained the inspiration for Lidsville in an interview with The Television Academy Foundation. "I do a lot of my creating running down the beach. I run nine miles every day,” he shared. “And I had all these running hats in my van. Each day I had another hat, and I always felt that hats had a personality depending on how you felt, and it gave you a personality. And so that's where that idea came from, the land of hats.”
Krofft noted that TV show pitches became “more and more elaborate” over the years. “We had a huge art department, and we just had a blast, you know, creating all those characters,” he said.
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Another Krofft kid paid tribute
In addition to Patrick, fellow former child star Johnny Whitaker recalled Krofft’s kindness when he was a star on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in the early 1970s.
Whitaker, who played a teen who befriended a friendly sea monster on the series, posted to Facebook to pay tribute to his “mentor, co-worker and most important, forever friend.”
“I had the privilege of getting to work closely with this genius and show business legend and his brother,” Whitaker wrote. "They were very different, but each had their style bringing to life countless characters and stories. Sid was the creative genius and Marty was the business mind, and the two made a perfect pair of Creative Genius melded with Business Savvy, hutzpah and true grit.”
“I was a non-credited producer on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters but was given 5% of the NET profits as a Producer,” Whitaker shared. "Sid had that much faith in me and my experience as an actor and young producer and I got to make decisions very few 13-year-old actors get. …Sid, you will be missed, my mentor & forever friend.”
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