Bud Abbott (left) and Lou Costello (right)
Abbott and Costello William (Bud) Abbott and Lou
Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo) were an American comedy duo whose work in radio, film and
television made them one of the most popular teams in the history of comedy. Thanks to the
endurance of their most popular and influential routine, "Who's on First?" — whose
rapid-fire word play and comprehension confusion set the preponderant framework for most of their best-known routines — the team
is, as a result, featured in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
(Contrary to popular belief, however, the duo was not inducted into the Hall). Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, NJ,
October 2, 1895 and died April
24, 1974 in Woodland Hills, California. Lou Costello was born in Paterson, NJ,
March 6, 1906 and died March 3,
1959 in East Los Angeles, California.
The Burlesque Years
The two comedians first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater on 42nd Street in New York.
Abbott was a veteran burlesque entertainer from a show business family, who had worked at Coney
Island and ran his own burlesque touring companies. He worked as a straight man with
his wife Betty, and with veteran comedians like Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson. When he met
his future partner in comedy, Abbott was performing in Minsky's burlesque shows. Costello was a burlesque comic since 1930 after
failing to break into movie acting, and working as a stunt double and film extra. Costello appeared briefly in the 1927
Laurel and Hardy silent two-reeler,
The Battle of the Century, seated at ringside during Stan's ill-fated
boxing match. As a teenager, Costello was an amateur boxer in his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey.
Radio historian Gerald Nachman has suggested Abbott's wife advised the permanent pairing with Costello. Nachman adds,
"Costello look[ed] for a smoother straight man and Abbott [needed] a permanent opposite." The duo built an act by refining and
reworking numerous routines from their former vaudeville and burlesque sketches into the long-familiar presence of Abbott as the
devious straight man, and Costello as the stumbling, dimwitted laugh-getter.
Fame
The duo's first known radio appearance was on The Kate Smith Hour, where they
debuted with a version of "Who's on First?" and ended up replacing Henny Youngman on the
show. They stayed as regulars for two years, but the original similarities between their New
Jersey-rooted voices made it difficult for listeners (as opposed to stage audiences) to tell them apart thanks to their
rapid-fire repartee. The problem, Nachman noted, was resolved by having Costello affect a high-pitched childish voice, and their
remaining tenure on the Smith show was successful enough to get the pair roles in a Broadway revue, "The Streets of Paris", in
1939.
In 1940 they were signed by Universal Studios for the film One Night in the Tropics. Cast in a supporting capacity, they stole the show with several
classic routines, including "Who's on First?" In the same year, they were a summer
replacement on radio for Fred Allen, getting their own NBC show
two years later.
Universal signed them to a long-term contract, and their second film, Buck Privates, (1941) secured them as box-office
stars. The duo made over 30 films between 1940 and 1956 (see below; Nachman credits Abbott and Costello's films with saving
Universal, which the duo are believed to have pondered buying themselves at the height of their success). They were among the
most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. Their other film successes included Buck
Privates, Hold That Ghost, Who Done It?, Pardon My Sarong, The Time of Their Lives, Buck
Privates Come Home, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.
In 1942, Abbott and Costello were the top box office draw with a reported take of $10 million. They would be a top ten box
office attraction---helped in no small manner by their popular radio shows---until 1952.
Radio
After working as Allen's summer replacement, Abbott and Costello joined Edgar Bergen and
Charlie McCarthy on The Chase and Sanborn
Hour in 1941, while two of their films (Buck Privates and Hold That Ghost) were adapted for
Lux Radio Theater. They launched their own weekly show October 8, 1942, sponsored by Camel cigarettes.
The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (by singers such as Connie Haines, Marilyn Maxwell, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Skinnay Ennis, and the Les
Baxter Singers). Regulars and semi-regulars on the show included Artie Auerbach ("Mr. Kitzel"), Elvia Allman, Iris Adrian, Mel Blanc, Wally Brown,
Sharon Douglas, Verna Felton, Sidney Fields,
Frank Nelson, Martha Wentworth, and Benay Venuta. Ken
Niles was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott & Costello's mishaps (and often fuming in
character as Costello routinely insulted his on-air wife); Niles was succeeded by Michael Roy, with announcing chores also
handled over the years by Frank Bingman and Jim Doyle. The show went through several orchestras during its radio life, including
those of Ennis, Charles Hoff, Matty Matlock, Jack Meakin, Will Osborne, Freddie Rich, Leith
Stevens, and Peter van Steeden. The show's writers included Howard Harris, Hal
Fimberg, Parke Levy, Don Prindle, Eddie Cherkose (later known as Eddie Maxwell), Leonard Stern,
Martin Ragaway, Paul Conlan, and Eddie Forman, as well as producer Martin Gosch. Sound effects were handled primarily by Floyd
Caton.
Abbott and Costello moved the show to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network)
five years after they premiered on NBC. During their time on ABC, the duo also hosted a 30-minute children's radio program
(The Abbott and Costello Children's Show), which aired Saturday mornings, featuring vocalist Anna Mae Slaughter and
announcer Johnny McGovern.
Television
In 1951, they moved to television--first as frequent hosts of The Colgate Comedy
Hour (Eddie Cantor and Martin and
Lewis were among the others). Each show was a live hour of vaudeville in front of a theater audience, revitalizing the
comedians' performances and giving their old routines a new sparkle.
Beginning in 1952, The Abbott and Costello Show was a filmed
half-hour series loosely adapted from their radio show, casting the duo as unemployed wastrels. One of the show's running gags
involved Abbott perpetually nagging Costello to get a job to pay their rent, while Abbott barely lifted a finger in that
direction. The show featured Sidney Fields as their landlord, and Hillary Brooke as a friendly neighbor who sometimes got involved in the pair's schemes. Another
semi-regular was Joe Besser as Stinky, a 40-year-old sissy dressed in a Little Lord
Fauntleroy suit. Gordon Jones was Mike the cop, who always lost patience with Lou.[1] The Abbott and Costello Show ran from 1952 to 1954, but the show found a
larger viewership via syndicated reruns from the late 1960s to the 2000's. In 2006 the shows were
released in two five-DVD sets.
Private lives
Both Abbott and Costello met and married girls they knew in burlesque: Bud's wife was the former Betty Smith, Lou's was the
former Anne Battler. The Costellos had four children; the Abbotts adopted two.
Abbott and Costello faced personal demons at times. Both were inveterate gamblers, and had serious health problems. Abbott
suffered from epilepsy and turned to alcohol for pain management; Costello had occasional, near-fatal bouts with rheumatic fever.
On the night Costello returned to radio after a one year layoff due to his illness, his infant son died in an accidental drowning
at home. Costello was never the same man after that.
During 1945 a serious rift developed, when a domestic servant fired by Costello was promptly hired by Abbott. Costello, stung
by Abbott's move, refused to speak to his partner except when performing. The team's films of 1946 reflect the split, with them
appearing separately in character roles. Abbott resolved the rift in 1947 when he volunteered to help with Costello's pet
charity, a foundation for underprivileged kids.
Later years
In the 1950s Abbott and Costello's popularity waned, their place as filmdom's hottest comedy team having long since been taken
by Martin and Lewis. Another reason was overexposure, as Abbott and Costello's
routines, already familiar, were now glutting the movie and television markets. Each year they made two new films, while Realart
Pictures re-released most of their older hits; their filmed television series was widely syndicated, and they did the same
routines frequently on the Colgate program. (Writer Parke Levy told Jordan R. Young, in The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in
Radio and TV's Golden Age, that he was stunned to learn that Bud and Lou were afraid to perform new material.) Universal
dropped the comedy team in 1955, and after one more independent film, Bud Abbott retired.
In 1956, the Internal Revenue Service charged them for back taxes, forcing
them to sell their homes and most of their assets, including their film rights.
Costello made about ten solo appearances on The Steve Allen Show and
headlined in Las Vegas. He appeared in episodes of GE Theater and
Wagon Train. On March 3, 1959, shortly after making his lone solo film, The 30 Foot
Bride of Candy Rock, Costello died of a heart attack.
Abbott attempted a comeback in 1960, teaming with Candy Candido. Although the new act
received good reviews, Bud quit, remarking, "No one could ever live up to Lou." A serious weakness of the new act was that it
copied the old act: Abbott and Candido simply reprised old Abbott & Costello routines, with Candido blatantly imitating
Costello. Candido would then do a comedic monologue in his own persona while Abbott took a break backstage, then the finale
consisted of both men performing the classic "Who's on First?" routine.
Abbott made a solo appearance on an episode of GE Theater in 1961. In
1966 Bud voiced his character in a series of 156 five-minute Abbott and Costello cartoons made by Hanna-Barbera. [1] Lou's character was voiced by Stan Irwin. Abbott died of cancer on April 24,
1974.
Spin-offs
The cartoon series was not the first time Abbott and Costello were immortalized in animation. During the height of their
popularity in the 1940s, Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies animation unit
produced several cartoons featuring the pair as cats or mice named "Babbit and
Catstello". One of the cartoons, "A Tale of Two Kitties", introduced one of
the most enduring characters in the history of animation -- Tweety Bird. The other cartoon
was "A Tale of Two Mice". In both cartoons, Tedd Pierce and Mel
Blanc, respectively, provide good voice impressions of the comedy duo.
The revival of their former television series in syndicated reruns in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped spark renewed
interest in the duo, as did the televising of many of their old film hits. In 1994, comedian
Jerry Seinfeld---who claims Abbott and Costello were a strong influence on his own
work---hosted a television special Abbott and Costello meet Jerry Seinfeld (the title referencing the duo's popular film
series in which they met some of Universal's famed horror picture characters), on NBC; the special
was said to have been seen in over 20 million homes. Seinfeld himself has always claimed that The Abbott and Costello Show
was the inspiration for his own popular series.
"Who's on First?" is believed to be available in as many as 20 versions; Abbott and
Costello performed subtle variations of the routine in film, on their radio show, and on television (in one of their Colgate
Comedy Hour installments and their half-hour TV series). Nachman wrote that the duo's radio contract may have included an
agreement to perform "Who's on First?" at least once a month. Perhaps the most successful of the routines "Who's on First?"
spawned was "Hertz U-Drive," about renting a car. On one of their radio broadcasts, the duo preceded yet another version of
"Who's on First?" with a similar routine hooked around Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame
pitcher Bob Feller.
Cultural references
"The Abbott and Costello Show" is a catchphrase occasionally used when referring to the
Australian government of John Howard due to the names of two prominent members of the
ministry—federal health minister Tony Abbott and federal treasurer Peter Costello.
In the 1988 movie Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman's
autistic character Raymond Babbitt recites an affectless "Who's On First" as a defense
mechanism when others become upset with him or something does not go his way.
NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006), a drama about life
backstage at a television comedy series, used "Who's on First?" as a plot device when the parents of cast member Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) visit from Ohio, and he gives them a tour of
the theater. However, they have little understanding of comedy and have never heard of "Who's on First?" In an attempt to relate
to his parents just before they begin the long drive back to Ohio, Tom gives them a recording of "Who's on First?", which
(according to the show's mythology) was first performed in the Addison Theater—the august building which later became Studio
60.
In the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights, an Abbot, played by Dick Van Patten, walks down the aisle prior to a
wedding, and someone in the crowd screams out "Hey, Abbot!", much like Lou Costello.
An episode of the Veggie Tales children's show, "Duke and the Great Pie War", features a character named The Abbot of
Costello who tests two of the characters using a modified "Who's On First?" routine.
One episode of the 1980's television show Remington Steele also featured a character called the Abbot of Costello.
An episode of Animaniacs featured the characters of Skippy and Aunt Slappy doing a
version of the skit at Woodstock, instead using the band names of The Who, The Band and Yes instead of the
names "Who," "What" and "I Don't Know."
Harvey Korman (Bud) and Buddy Hackett (Lou)
portrayed the duo in a 1978 NBC television movie on the team.
In the first season of The West Wing in the episode He Shall, from Time To Time..., White House
Chief of Staff Leo McGarry refers to Sam Seaborn
and Josh Lyman as Abbott and Costello.
Filmography
See also
References
- ^ The Official Abbott and Costello Scrapbook ISBN 0-8092-4180-3
Books
- Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo. Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee, 1991. ISBN 0-3995-1605-0
- Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Nachman, Gerald. Raised on Radio. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1998.)
- Sies, Luther F. Encyclopedia of American Radio. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.
- Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs,. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999.
- Young, Jordan R. The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age. (Beverly Hills, California: Past
Times, 1999.)
Listen to
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
