Lou Costello
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lou Costello | |
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 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
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| Born | March 6, 1906 Paterson, NJ |
| Died | March 3, 1959 Los Angeles, CA |
| Occupation | Actor, Comedian |
| Spouse | Anne Battler |
| Children | Carole Costello Chris Costello Lou Costello Jr. |
Lou Costello, born Louis Francis Cristillo, March 6, 1906 - March 3, 1959), was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott.
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[edit] Early years
Lou Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo in Paterson, New Jersey to an Italian father and a mother of French and Irish descent.[1] The family was Catholic. A gifted athlete, he excelled in basketball and reportedly was once the New Jersey State Foul Shot champion. He also fought as a boxer under the name "Lou King."[2]
In 1927 he went to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at MGM and Warner Brothers. His athletic skill led him to occasional work as a stunt man, notably in The Trail of '98, (1927). He can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film The Battle of the Century (1927).
[edit] Burlesque and Bud Abbott
Discouraged by his lack of success, in 1930 he hitchhiked back home but ran out of money in St. Joseph, Missouri. He took a job as a Dutch-accented comic at a local burlesque theater. Changing his name to "Costello," he went back to New York and began working in vaudeville theater and burlesque there.[3]
Unlike many burlesque comics of the era, Costello did not use "off-color" material--a trait that continued for the rest of his career.
While working at vaudeville theaters in the 1930s, Costello became acquainted with a talented straight man named Bud Abbott. After working together sporadically, Abbott and Costello formally teamed up in 1936. They performed together in burlesque shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville and movie houses.
[edit] Radio and Hollywood
Abbott and Costello signed up with the William Morris Agency, which sought to enlarge their stature by putting them on the radio.
In 1938 they received national exposure for the first time by becoming featured performers on "The Kate Smith Hour," a popular variety show. They were hugely successful, and that ultimately led to their appearance in a Broadway play and signing with Universal Studios in 1940.
They filled supporting roles in their first film, One Night in the Tropics (1940), but stole the film with their classic routines, including a much shortened version of "Who's On First?". The duo became famous for that routine, in which Abbott enumerated the names of a mythical baseball team, with names like "What" and Who," confounding Costello. They were, among other things, recognized by, but not made members of, the Baseball Hall of Fame.)[4]
The team's breakout picture, however, was Buck Privates which was released early in 1941. They immediately became the top-ranking comedy stars in Hollywood and fans looked forward to each of their pictures as a major event. Costello's child-like demeanor was strictly acting, and he aggressively battled with the more easy-going Abbott as well as the studio. Universal upped the duo's salary, but refused Costello's demand to reverse the billing, saying that it had hired Abbott and Costello, not Costello and Abbott. Most movie-goers had never seen the duo's burlesque routines, and so their dated but hilarious material seemed fresh. Many of their films cast them as bumbling servicemen such as In The Navy and Keep 'Em Flying. An amusing footnote to this is that the Japanese military showed these films to Japanese soldiers to demonstrate how inept American soldiers were.
[edit] Stardom
The duo made over 30 films between 1940 and 1956, and were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. Among their most popular films are 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 the team launched their own weekly show on NBC sponsored by Camel cigarettes. They moved to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from 1947-49.
In 1951, the twosome became one of the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour (Eddie Cantor and Bob Hope were among the others) and then, the following year, inaugurated their own 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 two seasons, from 1952 to 1954, but found a new life in syndicated rerun broadcast.
[edit] Death of son
In 1942, Costello had an attack of rheumatic fever and was unable to work for a year. A tragic event shadowed his comeback. On November 04, 1943, the day Costello returned to the team's popular radio show, his infant son, Lou Jr. (nicknamed Butch) accidentally drowned in the family pool. The baby was only a few days short of his first birthday. Lou had asked his wife to keep Butch up that night so the boy could hear his Dad 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 tragedy 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. People who knew Lou Costello said that he never recovered from the loss of his son.
[edit] Split up
Abbott and Costello split up in 1957, after troubles with the Internal Revenue Service that forced both men to sell off their large homes and the rights to some of their films.
[edit] Death
After making one unsuccessful solo film, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, Costello died of a heart attack on March 03, 1959 (three days before his 53rd birthday). He was interred in the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.
[edit] Memorials
On June 26th, 1992, the city of Paterson, New Jersey in conjunction with the Lou Costello Memorial Association erected a statue of Lou Costello in the newly named Lou Costello Memorial Park in the city's historic downtown section. The statue had a brief appearance in a Sopranos episode which aired on May 21, 2006
In 2005, Madison Street, in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, where Costello was born, was renamed Lou Costello's Place.
The centennial of Costello's birth was celebrated in Paterson on the first weekend in March, 2006.
On June 24-26 the Fort Lee Film Commission of Lou Costello's native state of New Jersey 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 the 35mm restored print of the Lou Costello produced 1948 short film "10,000 Kids and a Cop" shot at the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in East Los Angeles.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Notes
- Despite the common spelling of their public names, Lou Costello was no relation to Italian-American mobster Frank Costello, whose birth surname was Castiglia.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.louandbud.com/Lou.htm, accessed January 30, 2007
- ^ Costello, Chris: "Lou's on First", page 7. St. Martin's Press, 1981
- ^ Costello, 14-17
- ^ http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/faq.htm, accessed January 30, 2007.
