Sid Krofft, who along with brother Marty Krofft created and co-produced a slew of trippy, beloved kids’ TV classic of the 1970s such as H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost and others, died Friday, April 10, of natural causes at the home of his friend and business partner Kelly Killian. He was 96.

His publicist, Adam Fenton, said Krofft died peacefully in his sleep.

“Sid Krofft was an icon who did what he loved most until the very end – being out in public with his legions of fans,” Fenton said. “Sid never slowed down, attending his final show where it all began just last November in his home state of Rhode Island. Sid was a beacon of light and will be greatly missed.”

Considered the artistic half of the Sid and Marty Krofft partnership, Sid Krofft infused Saturday mornings of the 1970s with a day-glo vision that combined the era’s psychedelia with the campy, self-knowing verge-of-adult style of those Fractured Fairy Tales cartoons. He and brother Marty created and produced a decade of live-action TV hits that combined outlandish and brilliantly colored costumes and bizarre puppetry that would have a profound influence on later shows including Pee-wee Herman’s Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

Among the Krofft brothers series, in addition to Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, were The Bugaloos, Lidsville and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. They created the costumes and look of The Banana Splits, and produced the variety entry The Donnie and Marie Show starring Donnie and Marie Osmond.

Sid Krofft’s career in show business began decades before his early ’70s heyday. Born Cydus Yolas in Montreal on July 30, 1929, he purchased his first puppet and became a street performer in Providence, Rhode Island at the age of 10. Impressed by his son’s earning ability, his father hired an agent and changed the boy’s name to Sid Krofft.

At 16 Kroff and his puppets were performing in vaudeville, burlesque and the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1949 he donned ice skates and, along with his puppets, appeared in Howdy Mr. Ice, 1950 with Sonja Henie at New York’s famed Center Theatre.

In the early 1950s, Krofft traveled through Europe performing his marionette act in such iconic theaters as The Lido and the Follies Bergier in France, and gave a command performance for the queen of England in the Night of 100 Stars.

In 1957, Krofft created his first tv pilot called Here’s Irving, recruiting many of the great puppeteers of the era to come together to perform, including Bill Baird and Bob Bakker. The pilot wasn’t picked up but while Krofft was in L.A. filming it, he was hired as the opening act for Judy Garland (at the recommendation of Jack Benny). During a 1959 show with Garland at the Fontainebleau resort, Sid invited brother Marty to join him on tour as his assistant. A car salesman at the time, Marty Krofft joined the act.

Sid Krofft would also work with such performers as Liberace, Martha Rae, Mickey Rooney, Xavier Cugat, Tony Martin and Pat Boone.

Two years after the Garland shows, Sid Krofft announced the the “world’s largest puppet show” to be called Les Poupees de Paris. Pulling from his knowledge of Parisian showgirls and burlesque antics, the critically acclaimed and risque show featured a real ice rink, fountains, swimming pool and voices from many popular actors and actresses of the time. From 1961 through 1968, Les Poupees de Paris played the Gilded Rafters in the San Fernando Valley, multiple World’s Fairs, and its own theaters in New York, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

In 1963, after a chance encounter with Walt Disney who advised adding their names above the title, the bill on the marquis was changed to credit Sid and Marty Krofft.

By 1967 Sid Krofft had become the creative head for Six Flags amusement parks at the request of owner Angus Wynn. There, he created and built many of the park’s rides, animatronics and attractions. This collaboration also placed a Krofft marionette theater in every Six Flags park, with hourly shows of their signature showgirls and celebrity likenesses.

Needing space and more creative talent, the Krofft brothers opened their Showbusiness Factory and, with the blessing from Wynn, began to build for other companies. In addition to the Disney company and McDonald’s, one of the first companies to hire the Krofft’s was Hanna Barbara, who needed full-body character suits created for their new show The Banana Splits. The show, debuting in 1968, was a hit, as were the Kroffts’ fantastical costumes. Offered their own TV show, the Kroffts dug into Sid’s archives from the Worlds Fairs, modifying them to create the sweet-natured dragon-like creature HR Pufnstuf and the show named for him.

Debuting in the 1969 fall season, Pufnstuf, starring Oliver! actor Jack Wild and, as the beak-nosed Witchipoo the Witch the scene-stealing Billie Hayes, was a smash, spawning a feature film spin-off (featuring Cass Elliot) and other similar, chaotic live-action shows such as The Bugaloos, Lidsville (set in a fantasy land populated by living hats), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, Dr. Shrinker, Fol-de-rol and Horror Hotel.

Land of the Lost, in which a time-traveling humans interacted with stop-motion dinosaurs and humanoid villains called Sleestaks, ran from 1974 to 1976 and was rebooted in 2009 as a feature film starring Will Ferrell.

At 90, Krofft joined Instagram and ran a weekly show called Sundays with Sid along with his producer and sidekick Kelly Killian. The two interviewed hundreds of creatives, artists and fans in the entertainment industry and puppetry world.

Killian said, “I loved Sid with my whole heart. He taught me more than I could ever put into words—about the art of Hollywood, the magic of the stage, and the depth and complexity of human nature. I didn’t know Sid for his shows—I only knew the man who created them. And that man was extraordinary. I wish so very much that I had more time with him. I will miss his big blue eyes, his cheerful smile with his dimples, and the warmth that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.”

Krofft and Killian were finalizing two books recounting Sid Krofft’s life and career, including one from the perspective of Sid the performer, and the other from Sid as the person behind the scenes.

Also in development were two children’s shows, Broomelda Snickelsnuff and Wonderwiggle, which Killian will continue. Krofft was also working with Suzie Vignon and Joshua Disney on their project Love Sucks as Creative and Visual Producer.

Sid and Marty Krofft were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys and have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.