Lou Costello

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Lou Costello
Lou Costello in Africa Screams.jpg
Born (1906-03-06)March 6, 1906
Where Paterson, New Jersey, US
Died March 3, 1959(1959-03-03) (aged 52)
Where Los Angeles, California, US
Gender {{{gender}}}
Years Active 1926–1959
Roles {{{roles}}}
Parents {{{parents}}}
Spouse Anne Battler
(m. 1934; his death 1959)
Birth Name Louis Francis Cristillo
Occupation Actor, comedian
Appearances
First Appearance: {{{first}}}

Last Appearance: {{{last}}}


Louis Francis "Lou" Cristillo (March 6, 1906March 3, 1959), known by the stage name Lou Costello, was an American actor and comedian best remembered for the comedy double act of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott.[1] Costello played a bumbling character. He was known for the catchphrases "Heeeeyyy, Abbott!" and "I'm a baaaaad boy!"

Early life[edit | edit source]

Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Helen Rege and Sebastiano Cristillo.[1] His father was Italian (from Calabria, Italy) and his mother was an American of Italian, French, and Irish ancestry.[2][3] He attended School 15[4] in Paterson and was considered a gifted athlete. He excelled in basketball and reportedly was once the New Jersey state free throw champion (his singular basketball prowess can be seen in Here Come the Co-Eds (1945), in which he performs all his own tricky hoop shots without special effects). He also fought as a boxer under the name "Lou King".[5] He took his professional name from actress Helene Costello.

Family[edit | edit source]

On January 30, 1934, Costello married Anne Battler, a burlesque dancer. Their first child, Patricia "Paddy" Costello, was born in 1936, followed by Carole on December 23, 1938, and Lou Jr. (nicknamed "Butch") on November 6, 1942.[6] On August 15, 1947, their last child, Christine, was born.[7]

Career[edit | edit source]

As a young man Costello was a great admirer of silent movie great Charlie Chaplin. In 1927 he went to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers, including MGM's The Fair Co-Ed (1927). His athletic skill brought him occasional work as a stunt man, notably in The Trail of '98 (1928). He can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film The Battle of the Century (1927).[8]

Burlesque and Bud Abbott[edit | edit source]

In 1930, discouraged by his lack of success, he hitchhiked back home but ran out of money in Saint Joseph, Missouri during the Great Depression. There he changed his stage name to "Costello", after actress Helene Costello, and convinced a local burlesque theater owner to let him perform, taking the stage as a Dutch comic ("Dutch" was a corruption of "Deutsche," and the comic performed with a German accent). Soon after that he went back to New York and began working in vaudeville and then burlesque on the Mutual Burlesque wheel.[9]

Costello crossed paths with a talented straight man named Bud Abbott.[10] In 1935 they first worked together at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City when Costello's partner failed to show. Abbott and Costello formally teamed up in 1936.

Reportedly their first disagreement was over a booking in a minstrel show at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, NJ. Costello wanted to take the gig, but Abbott was resistant. Costello offered to give Abbott a larger split of their salary, and Abbott agreed. Years later, in the flush of their Hollywood success, Costello reversed the salary split, 60-40 in his favor.

Radio and Hollywood[edit | edit source]

Abbott and Costello were signed by the William Morris talent agency, which succeeded in landing them featured roles and national exposure on The Kate Smith Hour, a popular variety show, in 1938. The team's signature routine, "Who's On First?," made its radio debut on Smith's show that year. Many of the team's sketches were further polished by John Grant, who was hired soon after the team joined the radio show. They had their own program, The Abbott and Costello Show, on radio from 1942-49.

Their success on the Smith program led to their appearance in a Broadway musical in 1939, The Streets of Paris.[citation needed]The following year they were signed to a movie contract with Universal Pictures.[citation needed]

They only had supporting roles in their first picture, One Night in the Tropics (1940), but stole the film with their classic routines, including a much-shortened version of "Who's On First?"[citation needed] (a more complete version was performed in The Naughty Nineties, released in 1945). The team's breakthrough picture, however, was Buck Privates, released early in 1941. They immediately became the top-ranking comedy stars in Hollywood.[citation needed] Most moviegoers had never seen the duo's burlesque routines, and so their dated but hilarious material seemed fresh.[citation needed]

Fame[edit | edit source]

The duo made 36 films between 1940–56, and were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. Among their most popular films are 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.

The team also appeared on radio throughout the 1940s. On October 8, 1942, they launched their own weekly show on NBC, sponsored by Camel cigarettes.

In March 1943, after completing Hit the Ice, Costello had an attack of rheumatic fever and was unable to work for six months. On November 4 of that year he returned to the team's popular radio show, but a tragic event overshadowed his comeback. Upon arriving at the NBC studio, Lou received word that his infant son, Lou Jr., had accidentally drowned in the family pool.[6] During an afternoon nap, the baby worked loose one of the slats on his crib, climbed out and fell into the pool, unnoticed by the nanny.[11] The baby ('Little Butch') was just two days short of his first birthday. Lou had asked his wife to keep Butch up that night so the boy could hear his father on the radio for the first time. Rather than cancel the broadcast, Lou said, "Wherever he is tonight, I want him to hear me," and went on with the show. No one in the audience knew of the death until after the show when Bud Abbott explained the events of the day, and how the phrase "The show must go on" had been epitomized by Lou that night. Costello's close friend, Maxene Andrews of the The Andrews Sisters, said that his entire demeanor changed after the tragic loss of his son, saying, "He didn't seem as fun-loving and as warm . . . He seemed to anger easily . . . there was a difference in his attitude."[12]

Also in 1943 he was drafted into World War II and went to court to seek a deferment.[13] It was about this time that serious cracks began to appear in the relationship between Abbott and Costello. In 1945, when Costello fired a domestic servant and Abbott hired her, Costello announced that he would no longer work with Abbott.[14] However, they were still under contract to Universal, and required to complete two movies in 1946. They did so, filming Little Giant and The Time of Their Lives, but they barely appeared together in both films. By then they were not speaking to one another off-camera.[15][citation needed] A year later Abbott reached out to heal their relationship, suggesting that the foundation Costello had founded be named the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation, which touched Costello deeply.

Their radio program moved to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from 1947-49.

In 1951 the duo began to appear on live television, becoming one of the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour (Eddie Cantor, Martin and Lewis and Bob Hope were among the others) and the following year they began their own filmed situation comedy, The Abbott and Costello Show. Costello owned the half-hour series, with Abbott working on salary. The show, which was loosely adapted from their radio program, ran for two seasons, from 1952–54, but found a new life as syndicated reruns.

They were forced to withdraw from Fireman Save My Child in 1954 due to Costello's poor health—he had been plagued by heart problems all his life due to a childhood bout of rheumatic fever—and were replaced by lookalikes Hugh O'Brian and Buddy Hackett. They were dropped by Universal the following year.

Costello was surprised and honored by Ralph Edwards on NBC's This Is Your Life in 1956.[16]

Abbott and Costello split[edit | edit source]

By the mid-1950s Abbott and Costello films were no longer box-office gold, and after a failure to come to terms with the team, Universal dropped their movie contract in 1955. With radio, film and television vehicles, they suffered from overexposure, and the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were the new hot entertainment commodity that Abbott and Costello had been a decade earlier.

In 1956, after troubles with the Internal Revenue Service forced both men to sell their large homes and the rights to some of their films, Abbott and Costello made their final film together, an independent production called Dance with Me, Henry. The film was a box-office disappointment and received mixed critical reviews.

Abbott and Costello dissolved their partnership in 1957 amicably.[17] Costello then pursued a solo stand up career, including stints in Las Vegas, and sought film projects for himself. He appeared several times on Steve Allen's fledgling The Tonight Show, but most often in variations of his old routines, with Louis Nye or Tom Poston taking on the straight man role. Costello sought to be known as something other than the funny fat man in the baggy clothes, and played a dramatic role on television's Wagon Train.

Death[edit | edit source]

File:LouisCristillo.jpg
The crypts of Lou Costello and his wife Anne.

Shortly after completion of The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock—his only starring film appearance without Abbott—Costello suffered a heart attack. He died at Doctors Hospital in Beverly Hills on March 3, 1959, three days before his 53rd birthday.[1] Sources conflict on the circumstances of his last day and final words. By some accounts—restated in numerous "quotes" aggregates—he told visitors that the strawberry ice cream soda he had just finished was "the best I ever tasted", then expired.[18] By other reports, including several contemporaneous obituaries, the ice cream soda exchange occurred earlier in the day; later, after his wife and friends had left, he asked his private-duty nurse to adjust his position in bed. "I think I'll be more comfortable," he said; but before the nurse could comply, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died.[19][20][21]

After a funeral Mass at his parish, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks,[22] Costello was interred at the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, on March 8.[23][24] His wife Anne died from an apparent heart attack nine months later, at age 47.[25][26]

Family legacy in the entertainment industry[edit | edit source]

Costello's older brother, Pat Costello (Anthony Sebastian Cristillo 1902–1990) was a stuntman and an actor, mostly performing the stunts in Lou's place.

Costello's sister, Marie Katherine Cristillo (1912–1988) was married to actor Joe Kirk (Nat Curcuruto), who portrayed "Mr. Bacciagalupe" on the Abbott and Costello radio and television shows [27] and appeared in supporting roles in several of the team's films.[28]

Lou and Anne's second daughter, Carole, appeared in uncredited baby roles in several Abbott and Costello films. She went on to become a contestant coordinator for the game show Card Sharks as well as a nightclub singer. She died of a stroke on March 29, 1987, at age 48 while married to Craig Martin, eldest son of Dean Martin.[29] Carole's daughter, Marki Costello, is an actress, director and producer in film and television.[citation needed]

Lou and Anne's youngest daughter, Chris, published a biography, Lou's On First, in 1981.[30]

Memorials[edit | edit source]

File:Costello2.JPG
The Lou Costello statue in Paterson, New Jersey

On June 26, 1992, the city of Paterson, New Jersey—in conjunction with the Lou Costello Memorial Association—erected a statue of Costello in the newly named Lou Costello Memorial Park in the city's historic downtown section. It shows Costello holding a baseball bat, a reference to the team's most famous routine, "Who's on First?". The statue has had brief appearances in two episodes of The Sopranos: "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Cold Stones". The statue and the "Who's on First?" routine also featured in the 2016 film Paterson. In 2005, Madison Street, in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, where Costello was born, was renamed Lou Costello Place.

The centennial of Costello's birth was celebrated in Paterson on the first weekend in March 2006. From June 24 to June 26, 2006, the Fort Lee (NJ) Film Commission held a centennial film retrospective at the Fine Arts Theatre in Hollywood. Films screened included the premiere of a digital film made by the teenagers of the present day Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center in East Los Angeles. Also premiered was a 35mm restored print of the Lou Costello-produced 1948 short film 10,000 Kids and a Cop, which was shot at the Lou Costello, Jr. Youth Center in East Los Angeles.[6]

In 2009, Costello was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Abbott and Costello are among the few non-baseball personnel to be memorialized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they are not inductees of the Hall itself. A plaque and a gold record of the "Who's On First?" sketch have been on permanent display there since 1956, and the routine runs on an endless video loop in the exhibit area.[31]

Filmography[edit | edit source]

Year Film Role Notes
1926 Bardelys the Magnificent Extra[citation needed]
1927 The Battle of the Century [8]
The Taxi Dancer Extra[citation needed]
The Fair Co-Ed Extra[citation needed]
1928 Rose-Marie Extra[citation needed]
Circus Rookies Extra[citation needed]
The Cossacks Extra[citation needed]
The Trail of '98 Stunt Double[32]
1940 One Night in the Tropics Costello Film Debut of Abbott and Costello
1941 Buck Privates Herbie Brown
In the Navy Pomeroy Watson
Hold That Ghost Ferdinand Jones
Keep 'Em Flying Heathcliffe
1942 Ride 'Em Cowboy Willoughby
Rio Rita Wishy Dunn
Pardon My Sarong Wellington Phlug
Who Done It? Mervyn Milgrim
1943 It Ain't Hay Wilbur Hoolihan
Hit The Ice Tubby McCoy
1944 In Society Albert Mansfield
Lost in a Harem Harvey Garvey
1945 Here Come The Co-Eds Oliver Quackenbush
The Naughty Nineties Sebastian Dinwiddie
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood Abercrombie
1946 Little Giant Benny Miller
The Time of Their Lives Horatio Prim
1947 Buck Privates Come Home Herbie Brown Sequel to Buck Privates
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap Chester Wooley
1948 The Noose Hangs High Tommy Hinchcliffe
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Wilbur Gray
Mexican Hayride Joe Bascom/Humphrey Fish
10,000 Kids and a Cop Himself Documentary short
1949 Africa Screams Stanley Livingston
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff Freddie Phillips
1950 Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Lou Hotchkiss
1951 Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Lou Francis
Comin' Round The Mountain Wilbert Smith
1952 Jack and the Beanstalk Jack In color
Lost in Alaska George Bell
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Oliver "Puddin' Head" Johnson In color
1953 Abbott and Costello Go to Mars Orville
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Tubby
1955 Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops Willie Piper
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Freddie Franklin
1956 Dance With Me Henry Lou Henry
1959 The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock Artie Pinsetter
1965 The World of Abbott and Costello - Compilation film

Television[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Lou Costello, 52, Dies on Coast. Comic Had Teamed With Abbott. 'Little Guy Trying to Be a Big Shot' in Films and on TV-Partners Broke Up in '57". New York Times. March 4, 1959. https://www.nytimes.com/1959/03/04/archives/lou-costello-52-dies-on-coast-comic-had-teamed-with-abbott-little.html. 
  2. http://www.louandbud.com/Lou.htm, accessed January 30, 2007
  3. Thomas, B. (1977). Bud & Lou: The Abbott & Costello Story. Lippincott. ISBN 9780397011957. https://books.google.com/books?id=M-dNAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 15 November 2014. 
  4. "Public School #15". paterson.k12.nj.us. Retrieved 15 November 2014. 
  5. C. Costello (1961), p. 7.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Mrs. Lou Costello Fatally Stricken". Reading Eagle. 6 December 1959. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VgkrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wpkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4428,2487619&dq=lou+costello&hl=en. Retrieved 21 November 2012. 
  7. "Daughter to Lou Costellos". New York Times. August 14, 1947. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9503E7D81631E13BBC4E52DFBE66838C659EDE&legacy=true. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Laurel & Hardy Films | Stills". laurelandhardyfilms.com. Retrieved 15 November 2014. 
  9. Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
  10. "Abbott, Bud; and Costello, Lou". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-Ak – Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8. 
  11. Sherman, Eddie (Lou's manager) interviewed on the program This is Your Life, NBC TV, presented by Ralph Edwards, 1956 (16:08), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWpEOXvnOmA, accessed January 20, 2014
  12. Sforza, John: Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story; University Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
  13. "Lou Costello Called. His Draft Case Is Transferred From Paterson to Hollywood". New York Times. November 20, 1943. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0CEEDA1538E33BBC4851DFB7678388659EDE&legacy=true. 
  14. C. Costello (1961), pp. 119-120.
  15. C. Costello (1961), p. 120.
  16. http://www.encyclopedia.com/.../c8v0xBFJMOI-this-is-your-life-lou.aspx
  17. "Abbott, Costello Split. Comedy Team Breaks Up to Let Abbott Raise Horses". New York Times. United Press International. July 15, 1957. https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/15/archives/abbott-costello-split-comedy-team-breaks-up-to-let-abbott-raise.html. 
  18. "dying words". corsinet.com. Retrieved 6 September 2015. 
  19. "Death Takes Lou Costello". The Milwaukee Journal. 4 March 1959. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=79YjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tCUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288,2204190&dq=lou+costello&hl=en. Retrieved 16 June 2012. 
  20. Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1959.
  21. Los Angeles Evening Mirror News, March 4, 1959.
  22. "Lou Costello". Los Angeles Times. http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/lou-costello/. 
  23. "Costello Rites Held. Comedian Mourned by 400 at Requiem Mass on Coast". New York Times. March 7, 1959. https://www.nytimes.com/1959/03/08/archives/costello-rites-held-comedian-mourned-by-400-at-requiem-mass-on.html. 
  24. Lou Costello at Find a Grave
  25. "Lou Costello's Widow Passes". Sunday Herald. 6 December 1959. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_OAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cQAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5141,507263&dq=lou+costello&hl=en. Retrieved 21 November 2012. 
  26. "Mrs. Lou Costello, 47. Widow of Movie Comedian is Dead in California". New York Times. United Press International. December 6, 1959. https://www.nytimes.com/1959/12/06/archives/mrs-lou-costello-47-widow-of-movie-comedian-is-dead-in-california.html. 
  27. Eder, Bruce. "Joe Kirk: Biography". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  28. Nollen, Scott Allen (2009). "Appendix". Abbott and Costello on the Home Front: A Critical Study of the Wartime Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. pp. 192-199. ISBN 978-0-7864-3521-0. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  29. "Carole Costello, 48, Comic's Daughter, Dies". Associated Press. Los Angeles Times. April 3, 1987. http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-03/news/mn-2409_1_lou-costello. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 
  30. Costello, C. Lou's on First: A Biography: The tragic life of Hollywood's greatest clown warmly recounted by his youngest child. St. Martin's Press (1981). ISBN 0312499132
  31. Dunning, J. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford Univ. Press (1998), pp. 2-3. ISBN 0-19-507678-8
  32. https://books.google.com/books?id=rloU-4ntD_EC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=trail+of+98+costello&source=bl&ots=wOvZp76jxt&sig=nJJld4Wg-q_mZugc9kXpXJ7Zcxs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL_5PuyITTAhVF4yYKHT5CCJAQ6AEIYTAQ#v=onepage&q=trail%20of%2098%20costello&f=false

External links[edit | edit source]