William "Bud" Abbott

Bud Abbott

William Alexander "Bud" Abbott was an American actor, producer and comedian. He is best remembered as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.-Early life:...

and Lou Costello

Lou Costello

Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...

(born Louis Francis Cristillo) performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comedy duo

Double act

A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...

 whose work on stage, radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s. Their patter routine "Who's on First?

Who's on First?

Who's on First? is a vaudeville comedy routine made most famous by Abbott and Costello. In Abbott and Costello's version, the premise of the routine is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team to Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers...

" set the framework for many of their best-known comedy bits.

Burlesque years

Bud Abbott (1897—1974) was a veteran burlesque

American burlesque

American Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...

 entertainer from a show business family. He had worked at Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 and ran his own burlesque touring companies. At first he worked as a straight man to his wife Betty, then with veteran burlesque comedians like Harry Steppe

Harry Steppe

Harry Steppe Harry Steppe Harry Steppe (born Abraham Stepner, March 16, 1888 – November 22, 1934 was a Jewish-American actor, musical comedy performer, headliner comedian, writer, librettist, director and producer, who toured North America working in Vaudeville and Burlesque. Steppe performed at...

 and Harry Evanson. When he met his future partner in comedy, Abbott was performing in Minsky's Burlesque

Minsky's Burlesque

Minsky's Burlesque refers to the brand of American burlesque presented by four sons of Louis and Ethel Minksy: Abraham 'Abe' Bennett Minsky , Michael William 'Billy' Minsky , Herbert Kay Minsky , and Morton Minsky . They started in 1912 and ended in 1937 in New York City...

 shows.

Lou Costello (1906—1959) had been a burlesque comic since 1930, after failing to break into movie acting and working as a stunt double

Stunt double

A stunt double is a type of body double, specifically a skilled replacement used for dangerous film or video sequences, in movies and television , and for other sophisticated stunts...

 and film extra

Extra (actor)

A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...

. He appears briefly in the 1927 Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...

 silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 two-reeler, The Battle of the Century

The Battle of the Century

The Battle of the Century is a 1927 Hal Roach two-reeler starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who, although just teamed, had yet to take on their recognisable Stan and Ollie characters on a more or less permanent basis. A young Lou Costello can be seen in an early scene as a member of the...

, seated at ringside during Stan's ill-fated boxing match. As a teenager, Costello had been an amateur boxer in his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...

.

The two first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater on 42nd Street--now the lobby of the AMC

AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...

 Empire movie complex in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. When AMC moved the old theater 168 ft (51.2 m) west on 42nd Street

42nd Street (Manhattan)

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...

 to its current location, giant balloons of Abbott and Costello were rigged to appear to pull it.

Other performers in the show, including Abbott's wife Betty, advised a permanent pairing. The duo built an act by refining and reworking numerous burlesque sketches into the long-familiar presence of Abbott as the devious straight man and Costello as the stumbling, dimwitted laugh-getter.

Movies and fame

The team's first known radio appearance was on The Kate Smith Hour

Kate Smith

Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...

in February 1938. Initially, the similarities between their voices made it difficult for listeners (as opposed to stage audiences) to tell them apart due to their rapid-fire repartee. The problem was solved by having Costello affect a high-pitched childish voice. "Who's on First?" was first performed for a national radio audience the following month. They stayed on the program as regulars for two years, while landing roles in a Broadway revue, "The Streets of Paris", in 1939.

In 1940 they were signed by Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 for the film One Night in the Tropics

One Night in the Tropics

One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 comedy film noteworthy for being the film debut of Abbott and Costello. The team play minor roles but steal the picture with five classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and...

. Cast in supporting roles, they stole the show with several classic routines, including "Who's on First?" The same year they were a summer replacement on radio for Fred Allen

Fred Allen

Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...

. Two years later, they had their own NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 show.

Universal signed them to a long-term contract, and their second film, Buck Privates

Buck Privates

Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...

, (1941) made them box-office stars. In most of their films, the plot was a framework for the two comics to reintroduce comedy routines they first performed on stage. Universal also added glitzy, gratuitous production numbers featuring The Andrews Sisters

The Andrews Sisters

The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...

, Ted Lewis

Ted Lewis (musician)

Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...

 and his Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, and other musical acts. They made 36 films together between 1940 and 1956. Abbott and Costello were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Other film successes included Hold That Ghost

Hold That Ghost

Hold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Shemp Howard....

, Who Done It?, Pardon My Sarong

Pardon My Sarong

-Plot:Tommy Layton , a wealthy bachelor, rents a city bus and rides it from Chicago to Los Angeles. Once there he intends to participate in a yacht race to Hawaii. The drivers of the bus, Algy and Wellington , are then chased by a detective who was hired by the bus company. They escape capture by...

, The Time of Their Lives

The Time of Their Lives

The Time of Their Lives is a 1946 American film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.As in the previous Abbott and Costello film, Little Giant, the duo plays separate characters instead of partners, due to tensions between them that led to their splitting up for a while in 1945. The film...

, Buck Privates Come Home

Buck Privates Come Home

Buck Privates Come Home is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a sequel to their 1941 hit, Buck Privates....

, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...

, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man is a 1951 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild.The film depicts the misadventures of Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, two private detectives investigating the murder of a...

.

In 1942, Abbott and Costello were the top box office draw with four films earning a total of $10 million. They remained a top ten box office attraction until 1952.

Radio

After working as Allen's summer replacement, Abbott and Costello joined Edgar Bergen

Edgar Bergen

Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...

 and Charlie McCarthy on The Chase and Sanborn Hour

The Chase and Sanborn Hour

The Chase and Sanborn Hour was the umbrella title for a series of US comedy and variety radio shows, sponsored by Standard Brands' Chase and Sanborn Coffee, usually airing Sundays on NBC from 8pm to 9pm during the years 1929 to 1948....

in 1941, while two of their films (Buck Privates and Hold That Ghost) were adapted for Lux Radio Theater

Lux Radio Theater

Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...

. They launched their own weekly show October 8, 1942, sponsored by Camel

Camel (cigarette)

Camel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design.-History:In 1913, R.J...

 cigarettes.

The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (by vocalists such as Connie Haines

Connie Haines

Connie Haines was an American singer. Her 200 recordings were frequently up-tempo big band songs with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, and Frank Sinatra...

, Ashley Eustis, the Delta Rhythm Boys

The Delta Rhythm Boys

The Delta Rhythm Boys were an American vocal group active for over 50 years in the 20th century. The group was first formed at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma in 1934 by Elmaurice Miller, Traverse Crawford, Essie Joseph Adkins and Otha Lee Gaines...

, Skinnay Ennis

Skinnay Ennis

Edgar Clyde "Skinnay" Ennis, Jr. was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and singer.Ennis was born in Salisbury, North Carolina and met Hal Kemp while attending the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He joined Kemp's orchestra as a drummer and vocalist in the late 1920s, playing...

, and the Les Baxter

Les Baxter

Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...

 Singers). Regulars and semi-regulars on the show included Artie Auerbach

Artie Auerbach

Arthur Auerbach , was an American comic actor and professional photographer who became famous as “Mr. Kitzel”, first on the Al Pearce radio show in 1937 then as a regular on the Jack Benny radio show for 12 years...

 ("Mr. Kitzel"), Elvia Allman

Elvia Allman

Elvia Allman was a character actress and voice over performer in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and for being the voice of Walt Disney's Clarabelle Cow...

, Iris Adrian

Iris Adrian

Iris Adrian was an American film actress.-Life and career:Born in Los Angeles, California as Iris Hostetter, Adrian won a beauty pageant and worked with the Ziegfeld Follies, before she entered films at the end of the silent era in Chasing Husbands and appeared as an extra or chorus girl in early...

, Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

, Wally Brown

Wally Brown

Wally Brown was an actor, comedian, and long-time partner of Alan Carney.- Biography :Wally was born in Malden, Massachusetts and served as a vaudevillian. In 1942, he began his film career in Hollywood at RKO Radio Pictures with the film Petticoat Larceny...

, Sharon Douglas, Verna Felton

Verna Felton

Verna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...

, Sidney Fields

Sidney Fields

Sidney Fields was a comedy actor and writer best known for his featured role on The Abbott and Costello Show in the early 1950s. He was sometimes credited as "Sid Fields" and "Sidney Field."...

, Frank Nelson, Martha Wentworth

Martha Wentworth

Martha Wentworth was an American actress.Originally a radio actress, she became a film actress in the 1940s, starring in several Red Ryder Western films...

, and Benay Venuta

Benay Venuta

Benay Venuta was an American actress, singer and dancer.Born Benvenuta Rose Crooke in San Francisco, Venuta attended finishing school in Geneva and lived in London where she worked as a dancer before returning to the States. She made her first screen appearance in the silent Trail of '98 in 1928...

. Ken Niles

Ken Niles

Ken Niles was an American radio announcer. He was married to Nadia Niles, and had two children named Kenneth Niles and Denise Niles. His brother, Wendell Niles, was also a radio announcer....

 was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott and 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

Matty Matlock

Julian Clifton "Matty" Matlock was an American Dixieland jazz clarinettist, saxophonist and arranger born in Paducah, Kentucky...

, Matty Malneck

Matty Malneck

Matty Malneck was an American jazz violinist, violist and songwriter.Malneck's first professional gigs as a violinist began when he was age 16. He worked with Paul Whiteman from 1926 to 1937, and also recorded in the same period with Frank Signorelli, Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, and...

, Jack Meakin, Will Osborne, Fred Rich

Fred Rich

Frederic Efrem "Fred" Rich was a Polish-born American bandleader and composer who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s. Among the famous musicians in his band included the Dorsey Brothers, Joe Venuti, Bunny Berigan and Benny Goodman. In the early 1930s, Elmer Feldkamp was one of his...

, Leith Stevens

Leith Stevens

Leith Stevens was an American composer for radio and film scores.Born in Mount Moriah, Missouri, he was a child prodigy who was an accompanist for Madame Schumann-Heink....

, and Peter van Steeden

Peter van Steeden

Peter van Steeden was a composer. His best-known composition, Home, has been performed by many musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Sam Cooke. In 1937, Joseph Henabery directed a 10 minutes documentary .-External links:...

. The show's writers included Howard Harris

Howard Harris

Howard Harris was a comedy writer whose credits included Copacabana starring Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda , The Jackie Gleason Show, You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, Gilligan's Island, Petticoat Junction, and other popular television shows.Howard Harris attended Fordham University School...

, Hal Fimberg, Parke Levy, Don Prindle, Eddie Cherkose (later known as Eddie Maxwell), Leonard B. Stern

Leonard B. Stern

Leonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...

, Martin Ragaway

Martin Ragaway

Martin Ragaway was an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter.-External links:...

, Paul Conlan, and Eddie Forman, as well as producer Martin Gosch. Sound effects were handled primarily by Floyd Caton.

In 1947 Abbott and Costello moved the show to ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 (the former NBC Blue Network

Blue Network

The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...

). 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 child vocalist Anna Mae Slaughter and child announcer Johnny McGovern.

Television

In 1951, they moved to television as rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...

. (Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...

 and Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....

 were among the others.) Each show was a live hour of vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 in front of a theater audience, revitalizing the comedians' performances and giving their old routines a new sparkle.

Beginning in 1952, a filmed half-hour series, The Abbott and Costello Show

The Abbott and Costello Show

The Abbott and Costello Show is an American television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello that premiered in syndication in the fall of 1952 and ran until May 1954....

, appeared in syndication on local stations across the country. Loosely based on their radio series, the show cast the duo as unemployed wastrels. One of the show's running gag

Running gag

A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....

s 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

Hillary Brooke

Hillary Brooke was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films...

 as a friendly neighbor who sometimes got involved in the pair's schemes. Other semi-regulars were Shemp Howard,and fellow Stooge Joe Besser

Joe Besser

Joe Besser was an American comedian, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters, and is now best remembered for his brief stint as a member of the Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957-59...

 as Stinky, a 40-year-old sissy dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886...

 suit. Gordon Jones was Mike the cop, who always lost patience with Lou. Even though "Who's on First?" is the most famous routine, "Hey, Abbott!" is the most famous single line. Lou said it repeatedly on stage, radio and TV, often when he was in some sort of difficulty and needed help. The pronunciation was comical, with the emphasis on the "hey" and the second syllable of the last name.

The simple plotlines were often merely an excuse to recreate old comedy routines—including "Who's on First?" and other familiar set pieces—from their films and burlesque performances. Since Bud and Lou owned the series, this allowed them to own these versions of their classic routines as well. The Abbott and Costello Show ran two seasons, but found a larger viewership in reruns from the late 1960s to the 1990s. In 2006 the shows were released in two five-DVD sets.

Private lives

Both Abbott and Costello met and married women they knew in burlesque. Bud Abbott married Betty Smith in 1918, and Lou Costello married Anne Battler in 1934. 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

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...

 and turned to alcohol for pain management. Costello had occasional, near-fatal bouts with rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...

. On November 4, 1943, the same day that Costello returned to radio after a one year layoff due to his illness with rheumatic fever, his infant son "Butch" (born November 6, 1942) died in an accidental drowning in the family's swimming pool.

During 1945, a rift developed when Abbott hired a domestic servant who had been fired by Costello. Angered by Abbott's decision, Costello refused to speak to his partner except when performing. In 1946, they made two films in which they appeared separately rather than as a team. Some sources claim this was because the two men wanted to experiment with new kinds of comedy, but others say it was a result of the tensions between them. Abbott allegedly resolved the rift when he volunteered to help with Costello's pet charity, a foundation for underprivileged children.

Later years

In the 1950s Abbott and Costello's popularity waned as their place as filmdom's hottest comedy team was taken by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....

. Another reason for the decline was overexposure. 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

Realart Pictures Inc.

Realart Pictures was a motion picture re-releasing organization started in 1948 by Jack Broder and Joseph Harris. It had no relation to the silent pictures Realart Pictures Corporation that handled Paramount releases...

 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.) They were forced to withdraw from Fireman Save My Child

Fireman Save My Child (1954 film)

Fireman Save My Child is a 1954 American comedy film starring Hugh O'Brian and Buddy Hackett in a movie originally meant for Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, a last-minute substitution when Costello fell ill. Comical musical band "Spike Jones and His City Slickers" also appear at great length, with...

in 1954

1954 in film

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...

 due to Costello's health and were replaced by Hugh O'Brian

Hugh O'Brian

Hugh O'Brian is an American actor, known for his starring role in the ABC television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp .-Early years and career:...

 and Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...

. Universal dropped the comedy team in 1955, and after one more independent film, Bud Abbott retired from performing.

In 1956 the Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

 charged them for back taxes, forcing them to sell their homes and most of their assets, including their film rights. In 1957 they formally dissolved their partnership.

Lou Costello made about ten solo appearances on The Steve Allen Show

The Steve Allen Show

The Steve Allen Show is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964....

and headlined in Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. He appeared in episodes of GE Theater

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...

and Wagon Train

Wagon Train

Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...

. On March 3, 1959, shortly after making his lone solo film, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock

The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock

The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock is a 1959 film starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine.-Plot:Artie Pinsetter is a junk collector and amateur inventor who lives in the desert town of Candy Rock. Artie's finacée, Emmy Lou Raven happens upon magical waters of Dinosaur Springs and is changed into a...

, Lou Costello died of a heart attack just short of his 53rd birthday.

A depressed Bud Abbott attempted a comeback in 1960, teaming with Candy Candido

Candy Candido

Candy Candido was an American radio performer, bass player, vocalist and animation voice actor, best remembered for his famous line, "I'm feeling mighty low."...

. Although the new act received good reviews, Bud quit, saying, "No one could ever live up to Lou."

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

Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

. Lou's character was voiced by Stan Irwin. Bud Abbott died of cancer on April 24, 1974.

Spin-offs

The cartoon series was not the first time Abbott and Costello were in animation. During the height of their popularity in the 1940s, Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

's Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

/Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

 animation unit produced 3 cartoons featuring the pair as cats or mice named "Babbit and Catstello". One of the cartoons, Bob Clampett's "A Tale of Two Kitties

A Tale of Two Kitties

A Tale of Two Kitties is an American cartoon, released in 1942, notable for the first appearance of A yellow canary, who would come to be known as Tweety. It was directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, and features music by Carl W. Stalling. It was also the first appearance of Babbit...

", introduced Tweety

Tweety

Tweety Bird is a fictional Yellow Canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being a typical English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds...

. The other cartoons were "A Tale of Two Mice" and "Mouse-Merized Cat." In all 3 cartoons, Tedd Pierce

Tedd Pierce

Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...

 (normally a storyman/writer for the cartoons) and Mel Blanc, respectively, provide 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

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

—who says Abbott and Costello were strong influences on his work—hosted a television special Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld (the title refers to 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 20 million homes.

"Who's on First?"

"Who's on First?" is Abbott & Costello's signature routine. They always referred to it informally as "Baseball." Depending upon the version you are hearing, Abbott has organized a new baseball team, and the players have nicknames; or, he is pointing out the proliferation of nicknames in baseball—usually launching a variation on St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 sibling pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

s Dizzy

Dizzy Dean

Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....

 and Daffy Dean

Paul Dean (baseball)

Paul Dee "Daffy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Born in Lucas, Arkansas, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals , the New York Giants , and the St. Louis Browns ....

, before launching the routine with the infielder

Infielder

An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...

s' nicknames of Who (first base

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

), What (second base

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

) and I Don't Know (third base

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

). The key to the routine: Lou Costello's unwavering pronoun confusion and Bud Abbott's unwavering nonchalance.

Before very long the team could time the routine at will, adding or deleting portions as needed for films, radio, or television. If their director asked them to fill four minutes, for example, Bud and Lou would do four minutes' worth of the baseball bit. "Who's on First?" is believed to be available in as many as 20 versions, ranging from one minute to about 10 minutes. The longest version is seen in "The Actors' Home," an episode of their filmed TV series, in which "Who's on First?" constitutes the second half of the program. A live performance commemorating the opening day of the Lou Costello, Jr. Youth Foundation, in 1947 was recorded, and has appeared on numerous comedy albums. The team's final performance of "Who's on First?" was seen on Steve Allen

Steve Allen

Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...

's TV variety show, in 1957.

In the full-length version of Who's on First, all of the positions are mentioned except right field

Right fielder

A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

.

For a performance on June 20, 1945 Bud Abbott was ill and was unable to perform on the Walgreens 44th anniversary radio special. Sidney Fields, in the his role as Professor Mellonhead, was the "fill-in" manager in the absence of Abbott and performed the straightman role with Lou Costello.

In popular culture

The comedy group The Credibility Gap

The Credibility Gap

The Credibility Gap was a satirical comedy team comprising Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander and Michael McKean. Lew Irwin, John Gilliland, Thom Beck, and Len Chandler also performed in their early days...

performed a rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 update of "Who's on First?" using the names of rock groups The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

, The Guess Who

The Guess Who

The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...

, and Yes

Yes (band)

Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

, recorded and released on their first album, "The Bronze Age of Radio".

In the 1988 movie Rain Man

Rain Man

Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...

, Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....

's autistic

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

 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. Later in the movie, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

) rents "The Naughty Nineties" on VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 to show Raymond the full and accurate version of the routine.

NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American dramedy television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It ran for 22 episodes.The series takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional television network NBS , whose format is similar to that of NBC's...

(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

Tom Jeter

Tom Jeter is a fictional character on the American television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, played by Nate Corddry.-Personal history:...

 (Nate Corddry

Nate Corddry

Nathan "Nate" Corddry is an American actor best known for his television roles on programs such as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Daily Show, United States of Tara and Harry's Law. He played Private First Class Loudmouth in the HBO miniseries The Pacific...

) 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.

An episode of the VeggieTales

VeggieTales

VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity...

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.

An episode of Animaniacs

Animaniacs

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

featured the characters of Skippy and Aunt Slappy doing a version of the skit at Woodstock

Woodstock Festival

Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...

, using the band names of The Who, The Band

The Band

The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

 and Yes instead of the names "Who," "What," and "I Don't Know."

Dinosaucers

Dinosaucers

Dinosaucers Dinosaucers Dinosaucers (known in Japan as: is an animated television series co-produced in the United States, Canada and Japan. It was created by DIC Entertainment and Madhouse which has done the overseas animation and in association with Ellipse Programmé and Nelvana. This animated...

featured an episode called "Allo & Cos-Stego Meet the Abominable Snowman," which featured many Abbott and Costello references, including variations on "Who's on First" and the Niagara Falls sketches.

Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman

Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...

 (Bud) and Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...

 (Lou) portrayed the duo in Bud and Lou, a 1978 NBC made-for-television biopic.

In The West Wing first season episode "He Shall, from Time to Time...

He Shall, from Time To Time...

"He Shall, from Time to Time…" is the 12th episode of The West Wing.The National Multiple Sclerosis Society was pleased with the portrayal of a major character, which showed that multiple sclerosis is not fatal and that Bartlet uses modern medicine to treat it.-Plot:During the preparations for...

", White House Chief of Staff

White House Chief of Staff

The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...

 Leo McGarry

Leo McGarry

Leo Thomas McGarry is a fictional character played by John Spencer on the television serial drama The West Wing. The role earned Spencer the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. McGarry's character, the former United States Secretary of Labor, begins the series as the White...

 refers to Sam Seaborn

Sam Seaborn

Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...

 and Josh Lyman

Josh Lyman

Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...

 as Abbott and Costello.

Jerry Seinfeld is an avid fan and "The Old Man" (Season 4, Episode 18, aired 18 February 1993) featured a cantankerous old man named "Sid Fields," played by veteran actor Bill Erwin

Bill Erwin

William Lindsey "Bill" Erwin was an American film, stage and television actor with over 250 television and film credits...

, as a tribute to Sidney Fields, the landlord from the Abbott & Costello TV show. The influence of Abbott & Costello on Seinfeld was discussed in a 1994 NBC program "Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld." In Episode 30, Kramer

Cosmo Kramer

Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...

 hears the famous Abbott & Costello line "His father was a mudder. His mother was a mudder."

The Video Game Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second episode in a series of sequels to the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation in tandem with Episode One, the first game in the series, and released in Q4 2007 via Valve's Steam content distribution platform...

has two characters in it named Griggs and Sheckley. The Commentary for the game has stated that Griggs and Sheckley are modeled after Abbott and Costello, respectively.

In 2003 Montclair State University

Montclair State University

Montclair State University is a public research university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and Clifton, New Jersey. As of October 2009, there were 18,171 total enrolled students: 14,139 undergraduate students and 4,032 graduate students...

 dedicated a student residential complex aptly named The Abbott and Costello Center on Clove Road in the Little Falls

Little Falls, New Jersey

Little Falls is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 10,855. It is located about from New York City....

 portion of the university's campus.

In the web comic Ozy and Millie

Ozy and Millie

Ozy and Millie is a webcomic, created by D. C. Simpson, which debuted in January 1997. The comic was part of Keenspot from 2001 to 2003, going independent for several years before returning to Keenspot in November 2006. It follows the adventures of assorted anthropomorphized animals...

 on the strip for July 25, 2000, Millie's mother muses, "I'm not sure doing Abbott and Costello routines is in the parental job description," when asked why "They" are.

On the January 13, 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

host Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen

Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....

 and SNL cast-member Rachel Dratch

Rachel Dratch

Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...

 performed a modified version of "Who's On First?" in a vaudeville reminiscent sketch wherein the names "Who", "What" and "I Don't Know" were used in reference to prostitutes that perform only one specific service but no others, culminating in a joke where Sheen says "You know what, I don't give a damn," to which Dratch replies, "Oh, you mean my crack dealer."

In a 2002 episode of the Scottish sitcom, Still Game

Still Game

Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with the BBC. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters - two Glaswegian pensioners, named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade respectively....

, Boabby (Gavin Mitchell

Gavin Mitchell (actor)

Gavin Mitchell is a Scottish actor and comedian.He is best known as Boaby the Barman in Scottish sitcom Still Game. He previously played the character of Winston in the stage show Still Game...

) called Jack and Victor "Abbott and Costello" to annoy them.

In 2001, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

's deputy Prime Minister Peter Costello

Peter Costello

Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...

 was widely known to be expecting to take over from John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

 as PM. It was also widely rumoured that the Workplace Relations' Minister, Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott

Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...

 was making a play to take over Costello's position as deputy. The rumours, denials and public comments became almost comical leading the opposition leader Kim Beazley

Kim Beazley

In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....

 to comment in an ABC

ABC News (Australia)

ABC News is a national news service produced by the News and Current Affairs division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - the division is responsible for all newsgathering and production of news output for ABC television, radio and online services...

 interview, "We've now apparently got on our hands the Abbott and Costello Show. The question is, who's on first?" The public responded by frequently referring to Abbott and Costello as "Abbott and Costello".

In Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 French-American adventure comedy film and a parody of the Robin Hood story. Produced and directed by Mel Brooks, the film stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle in his film debut...

, a 1993 spoof comedy directed by Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...

, Dick Van Patten

Dick Van Patten

Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...

 played the part of the Abbot. At one point, a man Chuck McCann

Chuck McCann

Chuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...

 who looked and sounded like Lou Costello yelled "Hey, Abbot!" at him, in exactly the same way Lou did in the Abbott and Costello movies.

In the 1999 episode of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'", Superintendent Chalmers and Principal Skinner try their hand at being Abbott and Costello, but Skinner botches the routine six seconds into the act with delivery of the line, "Not the pronoun but a player with the unlikely name of Who, is on first."

They were inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame

New Jersey Hall of Fame

The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond....

 in 2009.

In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Fear, Itself, Buffy says "If I were Abbott and Costello, this would be fairly traumatic," upon entering a frat house's Halloween party.

A biography movie called Bud and Lou, Starring Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman

Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...

 as Bud Abbott and Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...

 as Lou Costello, tells about the duo's life story.

Filmography

Year	Movie	Lou Costello Role	Bud Abbott Role	Notes
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....	One Night in the Tropics One Night in the Tropics One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 comedy film noteworthy for being the film debut of Abbott and Costello. The team play minor roles but steal the picture with five classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and...	Costello	Abbott	Film Debut, Universal
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Buck Privates Buck Privates Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...	Herbie Brown	Slicker Smith	Universal
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	In the Navy In The Navy (film) -Plot:Popular crooner Russ Raymond abandons his career at its peak and joins the Navy using an alias, Tommy Halstead. However, Dorothy Roberts , a reporter, discovers his identity and follows him in the hopes of photographing him and revealing his identity to the world.Aboard the battleship...	Pomeroy Watson	Smokey Adams	Universal
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Hold That Ghost Hold That Ghost Hold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Shemp Howard....	Ferdinand Jones	Chuck Murray	Universal
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Keep 'Em Flying Keep 'Em Flying -Plot:Jinx Roberts is a stunt pilot and his assistants are Blackie and Heathcliffe . All three are fired from the carnival and air show that they work for after a disagreement. Jinx decides that he should join the Army Air Force, so they go to a nightclub to party one last time. While there...	Heathcliffe	Blackie Benson	Universal
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Ride 'Em Cowboy Ride 'Em Cowboy Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:The author of best-selling western novels, Bronco Bob Mitchell , has never set foot in the west. A newspaper article has exposed this fact to his fans, and his image is suffering because of it. He decides to make...	Willoughby	Duke	Universal
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Rio Rita Rio Rita (1942 film) Rio Rita is a 1942 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello. It was based upon the 1927 Flo Ziegfeld Broadway musical, which was previously made into a 1929 film also titled Rio Rita that starred the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey.-Plot:...	Wishy Dunn	Doc	First of three films for Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Pardon My Sarong Pardon My Sarong -Plot:Tommy Layton , a wealthy bachelor, rents a city bus and rides it from Chicago to Los Angeles. Once there he intends to participate in a yacht race to Hawaii. The drivers of the bus, Algy and Wellington , are then chased by a detective who was hired by the bus company. They escape capture by...	Wellington Phlug	Algy Shaw	Universal
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Who Done It?	Mervyn Milgrim	Chick Larkin	Universal
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....	It Ain't Hay It Ain't Hay -Plot:Wilbur Hoolihan accidentally kills a hack horse owned by King O'Hara and his daughter, Princess by feeding it candy. In the hopes of raising enough money to replace it, he and his friend Grover Mockridge visit a gambling establishment...	Wilbur Hoolihan	Grover Mickridge	Universal
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....	Hit the Ice Hit the Ice (film) Hit the Ice is a 1943 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Lamont, who took over after the original director, Erle C. Kenton, was fired.-Plot:...	Tubby McCoy	Flash Fulton	Universal
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....	In Society In Society In Society is a 1944 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was the first of five Abbott and Costello films to be directed by Jean Yarbrough. It was re-released in 1953.-Plot:...	Albert Mansfield	Eddie Harrington	Universal
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....	Lost in a Harem Lost in a Harem -Plot:When a traveling vaudeville show becomes stranded in the Middle East, their singer, Hazel Moon , takes a job at a local cafe. Two of the show's prop men, Peter Johnson and Harvey Garvey , are hired as comedy relief, but their act unfortunately initiates a brawl...	Harvey Garvey	Peter Johnson	Second M-G-M release
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....	Here Come the Co-Eds Here Come the Co-Eds Here Come The Co-Eds is a 1945 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:Three friends, Oliver Quackenbush , Molly McCarthy , and her brother Slats work for the Miramar Ballroom as taxi dancers. Slats plants a phony article in the local newspaper that declares Molly's ambition to...	Oliver Quackenbush	Slats McCarthy	Universal
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....	The Naughty Nineties The Naughty Nineties The Naughty Nineties is a 1945 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is significant for containing perhaps the best-known recorded rendition of the team's classic "Who's on First?" routine, as it is this version of the routine that is shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame...	Sebastian Dinwiddie	Dexter Broadhurst	Who's On First? from this film is featured at the National Baseball Hall of Fame National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of... , Universal
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....	Abbott and Costello in Hollywood Abbott and Costello in Hollywood Abbott and Costello in Hollywood is a 1945 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. This film's full onscreen title is Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood.-Plot:...	Abercrombie	Buzz Kurtis	Third and final M-G-M studio release
1946 1946 in film The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...	Little Giant Little Giant Little Giant is a 1946 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:A naive country boy named Benny Miller , from Cucamonga, California, has been taking correspondence phonograph lessons in salesmanship...	Benny Miller	John Morrison/Tom Chandler	Universal
1946 1946 in film The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...	The Time of Their Lives The Time of Their Lives The Time of Their Lives is a 1946 American film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.As in the previous Abbott and Costello film, Little Giant, the duo plays separate characters instead of partners, due to tensions between them that led to their splitting up for a while in 1945. The film...	Horatio Prim	Cuthbert/Dr. Greenway	Universal
1947 1947 in film The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...	Buck Privates Come Home Buck Privates Come Home Buck Privates Come Home is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a sequel to their 1941 hit, Buck Privates....	Herbie Brown	Slicker Smith	Sequel to Buck Privates Buck Privates Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war... , Universal
1947 1947 in film The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...	The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:Chester Wooley and Duke Egan are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana while enroute to California. During the stopover, a notorious criminal, Fred Hawkins, is murdered, and...	Chester Wooley	Duke Egan	Universal
1948 1948 in film The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...	The Noose Hangs High The Noose Hangs High The Noose Hangs High is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is a remake of the Universal Pictures film For Love or Money .-Plot:...	Tommy Hinchcliffe	Ted Higgins	Eagle-Lion release
1948 1948 in film The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...	Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...	Wilbur Gray	Chick Young	Universal
1948 1948 in film The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...	Mexican Hayride Mexican Hayride Mexican Hayride is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is based on Cole Porter's Broadway musical Mexican Hayride starring Bobby Clark...	Joe Bascom/Humphrey Fish	Harry Lambert	Universal
1949 1949 in film The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...	Africa Screams Africa Screams Africa Screams is a 1949 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton.-Plot:Diana Emerson is in the book department of Klopper's Department store looking for a copy of the book Dark Safari, written by the famed explorer Cuddleford...	Stanley Livington	Buzz Johnson	United Artists release
1949 1949 in film The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...	Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff is a 1949 comedy horror film starring Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff. The full onscreen title is Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff....	Freddie Phillips	Casey Edwards	Universal
1950 1950 in film The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...	Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion is a 1950 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss are wrestling promoters. Their star, Abdullah , no longer wishes to follow the script for their crooked matches, especially since he is supposed to lose his...	Lou Hotchkiss	Bud Jones	Universal
1951 1951 in film The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...	Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man is a 1951 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild.The film depicts the misadventures of Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, two private detectives investigating the murder of a...	Lou Francis	Bud Alexander	Universal
1951 1951 in film The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...	Comin' Round the Mountain Comin' Round the Mountain Comin' Round The Mountain is a 1951 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:Theatrical agent Al Stewart has successfully booked his client, Dorothy McCoy , "The Manhattan Hillbilly", at a New York nightclub. Unfortunately, he has also booked an inept escape artist, The Great...	Wilbert Smith	Al Stewart	Universal
1952 1952 in film The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....	Jack and the Beanstalk Jack and the Beanstalk (1952 film) Jack and the Beanstalk is a 1952 American family comedy film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a comic revision of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale.-Plot:...	Jack	Mr. Dinklepuss	In sepia and color; Warner Bros. release
1952 1952 in film The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....	Lost in Alaska Lost in Alaska -Plot:The time is the 1890s, and the place is San Francisco. George Ball and Tom Watson are firemen who rescue 'Nugget' Joe McDermott from committing suicide by drowning. Joe wants to die because his girlfriend, Rosette no longer loves him...	George Bell	Tom Watson	Universal
1952 1952 in film The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....	Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is a 1952 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, along with Charles Laughton, who reprised his role as the infamous pirate from the 1945 film Captain Kidd.-Plot:...	Oliver "Puddin' Head" Johnson	Rocky Stonebridge	In color; Warner Bros. release
1953 1953 in film The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...	Abbott and Costello Go to Mars Abbott and Costello Go to Mars Abbott and Costello Go To Mars is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film follows the misadventures of Lester and Orville who accidentally find themselves on a rocketship bound for Mars, which accidentally...	Orville	Lester	Universal
1953 1953 in film The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...	Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1953 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, and co-starring Boris Karloff.Loosely based on the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr...	Tubby	Slim	Universal
1955 1955 in film The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....	Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops is a 1955 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.After the film was completed, Universal wanted to rename it Abbott and Costello in the Stunt Men, because they did not consider the "Keystone Kops" to be relevant anymore...	Willie Piper	Harry Pierce	Universal
1955 1955 in film The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....	Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a 1955 film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is also the 28th and final Abbott and Costello film produced by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...	Costello (erroneously listed in the film as "Freddie Franklin")	Abbott (erroneously listed in the film as "Pete Patterson")	Universal
1956 1956 in film The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...	Dance with Me, Henry Dance with Me, Henry Dance with Me, Henry is a 1956 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the final film that they starred in together, although Costello went on to star in one more film before his death, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock.-Plot:...	Lou Henry	Bud Flick	Their final film; United Artists release
1959 1959 in film The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....	The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock is a 1959 film starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine.-Plot:Artie Pinsetter is a junk collector and amateur inventor who lives in the desert town of Candy Rock. Artie's finacée, Emmy Lou Raven happens upon magical waters of Dinosaur Springs and is changed into a...	Artie Pinsetter		Lou Costello only; Columbia release
1965 1965 in film The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...	The World of Abbott and Costello The World of Abbott and Costello The World of Abbott and Costello is a 1965 American compilation film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:This film is a plotless compilation of scenes from eighteen films that Abbott and Costello made for Universal Pictures between 1941 and 1955. Comedian Jack E...	Himself	Himself	Compilation film

Further reading

• Maltin, Leonard, Movie Comedy Teams (1970, revised 1985) New American Library
• Anobile, Richard J. (ed.), Who's on First?: Verbal and Visual Gems from the Films of Abbott & Costello (1972) Avon Books
• Mulholland, Jim, The Abbott and Costello Book (1975) Popular Library
• Thomas, Bob, Bud & Lou: The Abbott and Costello Story (1977) J.B. Lippincott Co. (Dual biography featuring a highly unflattering portrait of Lou Costello, contested by friends and family members)
• Firestone, Ross (ed.), "Bud Abbott and Lou Costello" from The Big Radio Comedy Program (1978) Contemporary Books, Inc.
• Maltin, Leonard, The Great Movie Comedians (1978) Crown Publishers
• Costello, Chris, Lou's on First: The Tragic Life of Hollywood's Greatest Clown Warmly Recounted by His Youngest Child (1982) St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-49914-0
• Cox, Stephen and Lofflin, John, The Official Abbott & Costello Scrapbook (1990) Contemporary Books, Inc.
• Furmanek, Bob and Palumbo, Ron, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1991) Perigee ISBN 0-399-51605-0
• Cox, Stephen and Lofflin, John, The Abbott & Costello Story: Sixty Years of "Who's on First?" (1997) Cumberland House Publishing (A revised and updated edition of The Official Abbott & Costello Scrapbook)
• Dunning, John, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (1998) Oxford University Press
• Nachman, Gerald, Raised on Radio (1998) Pantheon Books
• Terrace, Vincent, Radio Programs (1999) McFarland & Co.
• Young, Jordan R., The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age (1999) Past Times
• Sies, Luther F., Encyclopedia of American Radio (2000) McFarland & Co.
• Miller, Jeffrey S., The Horror Spoofs of Abbott and Costello: A Critical Assessment of the Comedy Team's Monster Films (2004) McFarland & Co.
• Nollen, Scott Allen, Abbott and Costello on the Home Front: A Critical Study of the Wartime Films (2009) McFarland & Co.

External links

• Official Website
• Radio Log