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Lou Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo in Paterson, New Jersey in 1906. It might surprise you to know that in high school he was an excellent athlete, playing basketball (he was a champion free throw shooter) and he also did some boxing! In 1927, Lou went to Hollywood, wanting to be an actor, but he only got some extra roles, and a job at a studio as a carpenter. In 1930, he gave up and moved back home, and got jobs in vaudeville as a stand-up comic (and at this time he changed his name to Costello). A few years later he met "straight man" Bud Abbott, and they worked together sometimes, and in 1936 they became a team. In 1938, they got their big break on "The Kate Smith Hour" on radio. They were a giant success, and that led to an appearance in the 1940 movie, One Night in the Tropics, where they repeated a shortened version of their already classic "Who's On First?" routine. The next year they were given the starring roles in Buck Privates, and the movie was such a huge success that they made 14 more movies for Universal before the end of World War II, and they were among the foremost Hollywood stars. After the war, they continued to make lots of movies but in 1948 they hit on a new kind of movie, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which paired them with classic Universal monsters. This was very popular, and led to three more similar movies. The team had a popular radio show throughout the 1940s, and in the early 1950s, with their movie careers winding down, they started another radio show, and they also had a TV show for two seasons. Lou Costello had had a great tragedy in his life. In 1943, he had caught rheumatic fever and did not work for six months. He and his wife had three children, and later in 1943, soon after he returned to work, and when their youngest was just under a year old, the child fell into their pool and drowned. In 1957, the IRS went after Bud and Lou for back taxes, and they both sold their homes and the rights to some of their movies. They split up their act, and Lou acted alone in just one movie, but then he died of a heart attack in 1959. He was just 52, and his wife died later that year at age 49. In their day, Abbott and Costello were the biggest comedy stars (and were likely the most successful comedy team ever in terms of box office). They had many classic routines and catchphrases that are instantly recognizable to anyone over a certain age ("Who's On First?","HEEEEYYY ABBOTT!", "I'm a BAAAD boy", etc)! AND Jack Dempsey was the American heavyweight champion boxer from 1919 to 1926, and he made a few movie appearances (and there were also filmed versions of some of his fights). His nickname was "The Manassa Mauler". After his boxing career, Dempsey owned his own restaurant ("The House That Jack Built") on Broadway in New York City in Manhattan (opposite the Madison Square Garden). He passed away in 1983 at the age of 87.

Important Added Info: Note that this great still shows Lou Costello and Lock Martin on the set of Lost in a Harem. They were being visited by Jack Dempsey, who was not in the movie, and they posed for this humorous publicity photo. Martin was a giant (reputedly 7 foot 7), and he later also played "Gort" in "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Also note that this is a deluxe still printed on double weight paper stock.

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