1950s Personalities
Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo was comprised of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Their work on radio, film and television
made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and early 1950s. Their routine "Who's on First?" is still one of the best-known comedy routines of all time in the US.
The two comedians first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater, New York. This duo came about when Costello's regular partner became ill and Abbott stepped in. Other performers in the show, including Abbott's wife, encouraged a permanent pairing. They built an act by reworking burlesque sketches with Abbott as the devious straight man and Costello as the dimwitted comic.
The team's first radio broadcast was on The Kate Smith Hour on February 3, 1938. Because of the similarities between their voices listeners couldn't tell them apart during their rapid-fire skits. Costello perfected a high-pitched, childish voice. "Who's on First?" was first performed for a national radio audience the following month. They were regulars for two years, while also landing roles in a Broadway revue, The Streets of Paris, in 1939.
They debuted their own TV program, The Abbott and Costello Show in 1940 to great reviews. The show mixed comedy with musical numbers by well known performers.
In 1940, Universal Studios signed them for a musical, One Night in the Tropics. Cast in supporting roles, they stole the show with several of their classic routines, including "Who's on First?". This began a barrage of films. All were big hits, and Abbott and Costello were voted the third biggest box office attraction in the country in 1941.
Costello was stricken with rheumatic fever upon his return from a winter tour of army bases in March 1943 and was bedridden for
In 1945 a rift developed, Costello refused to speak to his partner except when performing. Abbott resolved the rift when he suggested naming Costello's pet charity, a foundation for underprivileged children, the "Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation." The facility opened in 1947.
The duo was thwarted again for several months when Costello suffered a relapse of rheumatic fever. After Costello recovered they returned to the screen and more films followed.
In January 1951, Abbott and Costello joined the roster of rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC.
From the fall of 1952 to the spring of 1954, a filmed half-hour series, The Abbott and Costello Show, appeared in syndication on over forty local stations across the United States.
Abbott and Costello each married performers they met while in burlesque. Abbott wed Betty Smith, a dancer, and comedienne, in 1918, and Costello married a chorus girl, Anne Battler, in 1934. The Costellos had four children; the Abbotts adopted two.
At times Abbott and Costello faced personal demon. Both were habitual gamblers and had serious health problems. Abbott suffered from epilepsy and turned to alcohol for seizure management.
In the 1950s, Abbott and Costello's popularity waned with the premiere of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Universal dropped the comedy team in 1955 after they could not agree on contract terms.
In the early 1950s, the Internal Revenue Service charged them both for back taxes, forcing them to sell their homes and most of their assets, including the rights to most of their films.
In his last years, Costello made about ten solo appearances on The Steve Allen Show doing many of the old routines without Abbott. Costello performed stand-up in Las Vegas and appeared in episodes of GE Theater and Wagon Train. On March 3, 1959, not long after completing his one solo film, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, Costello died of a heart attack three days short of his 53rd birthday.
Bud Abbott died of cancer on April 24, 1974.
"Who's on First?" For a waltz down memory lane (Try looking at the baseball field while watching the video) Go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg
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