Lou Costello

Lou Costello Headshot

Comedian • Actor • Vaudevillian

Birth Date: March 6, 1906

Death Date: March 3, 1959

Birth Place: Paterson, New Jersey

One-half of the popular American comedy team Abbott and Costello, Lou Costello was beloved by millions as the hapless, good-natured sap whose fireplug physique and manic energy hilariously played off Bud Abbott's fast-talking wise guy persona. Costello's career in vaudeville took off only after his pairing with Abbott, a fellow performer and talent promoter.

Growing recognition on the stages of New York in the 1930s eventually led to a guest stint on a widely-heard national radio program, followed by their first film as a team, "One Night in the Tropics" (1940). With the massive success of their sophomore effort, "Buck Privates" (1941), Costello and his partner became two of the biggest movie stars of the wartime era.

More hit films like "Pardon My Sarong" (1942), "In Society" (1944) and "The Naughty Nineties" (1945), combined with a popular radio program of their own, kept them at the top of the entertainment heap.

The comedy-monster mash-up "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein" (1948) marked the beginning of their "Abbott and Costello Meet " series of comedies.

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Born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906 in Paterson, NJ to parents Helen and Sebastian Cristillo, "Lou," although a precocious prankster at a young age, initially focused on athletics. Despite his lack of height, he was an accomplished basketball player, known for his skill at the free throw, as well as a formidable boxer.

Sometime after graduating high school, he accepted the fact that a sports career was not in the cards for him and changed his goals accordingly. Having recently christened himself with the stage name "Lou Costello," he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 with little money and no place to live.

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There was a modicum of work to be had, which included stints as an extra in such films as the Laurel & Hardy short "The Battle of the Century" (1927), and a job as a stuntman in the gold rush tale "The Trail of the '98" (1928). None of it, however, was enough to make a living, much less make Costello a star.

Disappointed and nearly broke, he hitchhiked his way back to Paterson, where along the way he began performing on the vaudeville circuit, eventually settling into a modest routine back in the New Jersey-New York area. It was during this period that Costello married Anne Battler, a burlesque dancer he had met on the circuit.

Around the same time, the young comedian crossed paths with veteran vaudeville producer-performer Bud Abbott, and after several onstage collaborations, Abbott and Costello officially became a comedy duo in 1936.

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Costello and his new straight man gradually began to make a name for themselves as they performed their act at various burlesque shows, vaudeville theaters, and movie house venues. After being signed to the William Morris Agency, Costello and his collaborator gained national exposure when they became featured performers on the popular weekly radio program "The Kate Smith Show" in 1938.

The following year - during which time they also appeared in the Broadway revue "The Streets of Paris" - the funnymen were signed by Universal Pictures, allowing Costello to make his West Coast return under greatly improved circumstances. The comedy team of Abbott and Costello made their feature film debut in "One Night in the Topics" (1940).

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Although cast in supporting roles, the duo virtually stole the show in the lighthearted comedy, giving audiences an abbreviated version of their famous "Who's on First?" bit, a word-play routine already made popular on the Kate Smith radio program. After renegotiating a long-term contract with Universal, Costello and his partner next appeared onscreen as the stars of "Buck Privates" (1941), a boot-camp comedy released prior to America's entry into World War II.

The first of three films in which the team would co-star alongside the Andrews Sisters, it not only beat "Citizen Kane" (1941) at the box office, but its famous "drill routine" was later notoriously used by the Japanese as wartime propaganda in an illustration of the "ineptitude" of the average U.S. soldier.

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The huge success of "Buck Privates" made movie stars of Costello and Abbott, and the pair wasted no time getting back into the studio for a string of hits, beginning with "In the Navy" (1941), "Hold That Ghost" (1941), and "Pardon My Sarong" (1942). The following year, the hugely popular duo was given a radio show of their own with "The Abbott and Costello Show," which aired for nearly a decade.

Amidst his enviable professional success, the portly comedian also experienced more than his share of personal tragedy. In November 1943, after recuperating from a bout of rheumatic fever - a prolonged illness that would have lasting, detrimental effects on his health - Costello was given the horrible news that his infant son, Lou, Jr., had accidentally drowned in the family pool.

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Having just arrived at the NBC studios to perform his weekly radio program that night, Costello insisted on performing as scheduled, telling producers "Wherever he is tonight, I want him to hear me." The age old showbiz axiom of "the show must go on," never held such stoic integrity.

In spite of such heartbreaking events, the streak of hit films continued with fun-loving romps like "It Ain't Hay" (1943), "In Society" (1944), and "Here Come the Co-Eds" (1945). In the best of these films, the boys played good-natured, bumbling schemers who experience changes of heart and/or fortune after being caught up in circumstances beyond their control.

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At the top of the box office heap throughout World War II, America could not get enough of Costello and his cohort. They even revived their old "Who's on First?" routine with a lengthier, unabridged version for the film "The Naughty Nineties" (1945). On the flip side of that equation, when they attempted to divert from the established pattern of their previous efforts, as they did in "Little Giant" (1945) and "The Time of Their Lives" (1945), which gave each player more individual storylines and injected a touch of drama into the proceedings, moviegoers were less enthusiastic.

In their more appreciated vehicles, the pair cavorted and double-talked their way through enjoyable frolics such as "Buck Privates Come Home" (1947) and "Mexican Hayride" (1948).

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However, a slight change of trajectory in Costello's career came with the inevitable effects of over-exposure, and a reliance upon an initially winning, but eventually lazy formula struck upon by the studio. At first, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) served as a wacky hybrid vehicle in which Universal could get additional mileage out of its stable of classic movie monsters.

And although audiences initially howled at the hilarious antics of Bud and Lou avoiding the clutches of Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange), Dracula (Bèla Lugosi) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.), the shtick soon grew stale with subsequent retreads, including "Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man" (1951) and "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" (1953), to name but a few.

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That was not to say that Abbott and Costello were no longer popular. Far from it, the pair found a highly receptive audience on television, where, in addition to their films being rerun, they were also given a half-hour comedy program of their own: "The Abbott and Costello Show" (syndicated, 1952-54).

Nonetheless, there were other aspiring successors to the comedy team throne - primarily Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis - and by the time they released the last of their big screen efforts, "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (1955) and "Dance with Me, Henry" (1956), they were as tired of each other as it seemed America had become with their act.

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Even though their relationship had been badly strained by a bitter disagreement, the two were tearfully reunited on a 1956 segment of "This is Your Life" (NBC, 1952-1961). Shortly thereafter, the team of Abbott and Costello officially called it quits in 1957. Both Costello and his former partner had run afoul with the IRS, forcing him to sell property and certain film rights, as well as take on jobs performing stand-up comedy and reworking old routines - sans Abbott - on TV programs like "The Steve Allen Show" (NBC, 1956-1960).

Possibly weakened by his bout of rheumatic fever more than a decade earlier, Lou Costello died of a heart attack on March 3, 1959, mere days before his 53rd birthday. His final movie, and the only one in which he starred without Abbott, "The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock" (1959), was released in August of that year.

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By Bryce Coleman

Credits

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Actor
Show
2017

Abbott and Costello

Self
Show
2015

Abbott and Costello

Writer
Show
2015

Abbott & Costello: Funniest Routines Volume 1

Actor
Movie
2007

I Know a Riddle

Actor
Show
2004

Best of Abbott and Costello

Actor
Movie
2004

Relatively Speaking

Self
Show
1988

The World of Abbott and Costello

Actor
Movie
1965

The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock

Actor
Artie Pinsetter
Movie
1959

Wagon TrainStream

Guest Star
Tobias Jones
Series
1957

Dance With Me Henry

Actor
Lou Henry
Movie
1956

Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops

Actor
Willie "Tubby" Piper
Movie
1955

Abbott and Costello Meet the MummyStream

Actor
Freddie Franklin
Movie
1955
25%

General Electric TheaterStream

Actor
Neal Andrews
Series
1953

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Actor
Tubby
Movie
1953

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

Actor
Orville
Movie
1953

The Best of This Is Your Life

Guest
Show
1952

The Abbott and Costello ShowStream

Actor
Series
1952

I've Got a SecretStream

Guest
Game Show
1952

Jack and the Beanstalk

Actor
Jack/Jack Strong
Movie
1952

Jack and the Beanstalk: 4k Restoration Special Edition

Actor
Movie
1952

Abbott & Costello Christmas

Host
Movie
1952

Lost in Alaska

Actor
Movie
1952

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

Actor
Captain `'Puddin' head'` Feathergill
Movie
1952

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

Executive Producer
Movie
1952

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Actor
Lou Francis
Movie
1951

Mail Call: Who's on First?

Actor
Movie
1951

Comin' Round the Mountain

Actor
Wilbert Smith
Movie
1951

Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion

Actor
Lou Hotchkiss
Movie
1950

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

Actor
Freddie Phillips
Movie
1949

Abbott & Costello Double Feature - Jack And The Beanstalk & Africa Screams

Actor
Stanley Livington
Movie
1949

Africa Screams

Actor
Stanley Livington
Movie
1949

Hommes du monde

Actor
Movie
1949

The Noose Hangs High

Actor
Tommy Hinchcliffe
Movie
1948

Abbott and Costello Meet FrankensteinStream

Actor
Wilbur Grey
Movie
1948
90%

Mexican Hayride

Actor
Joe Bascom/Humphrey Fish
Movie
1948

Buck Privates Come Home

Actor
Herbie Brown
Movie
1947

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

Actor
Chester Wooley
Movie
1947

The Time of Their Lives

Actor
Horatio Prim
Movie
1946

Little Giant

Actor
Benny Miller
Movie
1946

Here Come the Co-Eds

Actor
Oliver Quackenbush
Movie
1945

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood

Actor
Abercrombie
Movie
1945

The Naughty Nineties

Actor
Sebastian Dinwiddle
Movie
1945

In Society

Actor
Albert Mansfield
Movie
1944

Lost in a Harem

Actor
Harvey Garvey
Movie
1944

Hit the Ice

Actor
Weejie "Tubby" McCoy
Movie
1943

It Ain't Hay

Actor
Wilbur Hoolihan
Movie
1943

Rio Rita

Actor
"Wishy"
Movie
1942

Ride 'em Cowboy

Actor
Willoughby
Movie
1942

Pardon My Sarong

Actor
Wellington Pflug/Moola
Movie
1942

Who Done It?

Actor
Mervin Q. Milgrim/Voice of Himself on Radio
Movie
1942

Keep 'Em Flying

Actor
Heathcliff
Movie
1941

Buck Privates

Actor
Herbie Brown
Movie
1941

Abbott and Costello in the Navy

Actor
Pomeroy Watson
Movie
1941

Hold That Ghost

Actor
Ferdinand Jones
Movie
1941
100%

One Night in the Tropics

Actor
Costello
Movie
1940