Gene Kelly’s Adults-Only Puppet Show

In the 1960s, Gene Kelly lent his voice to Sid and Marty Krofft's nude marionnette show. 

In the early 1960s, Gene Kelly lent his singing voice to an "adults-only" puppet show called Les Poupées de Paris (or The Dolls of Paris).

Created by Sid and Marty Krofft, the risqué program boasted a bevy of nude marionettes, each about three feet tall. Also featured onstage: an erotic torture-chamber sequence, a wrestling match between a topless female puppet and an octopus, and several strategically placed stripteases.

​Interestingly, the Krofft's show, which would ultimately feature more than 130 puppets and marionettes (whoa), was first presented as an opening act for Judy Garland and other headliners.

Marty Krofft. Wikimedia Commons.

Maurice Chevalier next to his marionette. Wikimedia Commons.

By the time 1964 rolled around, Les Poupées de Paris had been touring the U.S. for several years. Fortunately for posterity, RCA made an original cast recording.

In this number, the third audiences would've heard, you'll recognize the voices of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and our friend, Gene Kelly. Just imagine their likenesses onstage in marionette form, dancing with a dozen or more can-can girls.

I can’t confirm, but the image below, from University of North Texas libraries, might showcase Gene Kelly’s puppet. (I don’t know why another male marionette would be placed in that most-famous “singin’ in the rain” position.)

For more on Les Poupées de Paris, see Hal Erickson’s book on Sid and Marty Krofft. For pictures from the original stage show, see The Belated Nerd.

Puppets from Sid and Marty Krofft's Poupées de Paris variety show. The Krofft brothers presented an original show, Kaleidoscope, at HemisFair '68. University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, San Antonio Fair, Inc., Records, 1962-1995 (bulk 1964-1968) MS 31.