Bud Abbott
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Bud Abbott | |
|---|---|
 Abbott in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948 | |
| Born | William Alexander Abbott October 2, 1897 Asbury Park, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 24, 1974 (aged 76) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, producer |
| Years active | 1935–1967 |
| Spouse |
Betty Smith (m. 1918) |
| Partner | Lou Costello |
| Children | 2 |
William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American actor of burlesque, radio, stage, television and film, producer, and comedian. He is best remembered as the "straight man" of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello, along with Lou Costello.[1] Abbott was active for over 40 years, appearing in both television and film roles.
Early life
Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 2, 1897, into a show business family.[1][2] His parents, Rae Fisher and Harry Abbott, had worked for the Barnum and Bailey Circus.[3][4] Several years after the family relocated to Brooklyn, Abbott dropped out of grammar school and began working summers with his father at Dreamland Park on Coney Island. When he was 15, Abbott signed on as a cabin boy on a Norwegian steamer but was soon forced to shovel coal. He would work his way back to the United States after one year.
His father was a longtime advance man for the Columbia Burlesque Wheel, and he installed Bud in the box office of the Casino Theater in Brooklyn. Bud spent the next few years in burlesque box offices. In 1918, working in Washington, D.C., he met and married Jenny Mae Pratt, a burlesque dancer, and comedian who performed as Betty Smith. They remained together until his death 55 years later. In 1923 Abbott produced a cut-rate vaudeville tab show called Broadway Flashes, which toured on the Gus Sun circuit.[5] Abbott began performing as a straight man in the show when he could no longer afford to pay one. He continued producing and performing in burlesque shows on the Mutual Burlesque wheel, and as his reputation grew, he began working with veteran comedians like Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson.[6] Abbott suffered from epilepsy starting from about 1926.[7] In 1964, he suffered the first in a series of strokes.[6]
Career
Lou Costello and Hollywood
Abbott crossed paths with Lou Costello in burlesque a few times in the early 1930s when Abbott was producing and performing in Minsky's Burlesque shows and Costello was a rising comic. They first worked together in stock burlesque in 1935 at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street, after an illness sidelined Costello's regular partner.[6] They formally teamed up in 1936, and went on to perform together in burlesque, vaudeville, minstrel shows, and stage shows.[1]
In 1938, they received national exposure as regulars on the Kate Smith Hour radio show, which led to roles in a Broadway musical, The Streets of Paris. In 1940, Universal signed the team for their first film, One Night in the Tropics. Despite having minor roles, Abbott and Costello stole the film with several classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?"[6]
During World War II, Abbott and Costello were among the most popular and highest-paid stars in the world. Between 1940 and 1956 they made 36 films and earned a percentage of the profits on each.[6] They had their own radio program (The Abbott and Costello Show) throughout the 1940s, first on NBC from 1942 to 1947, and from 1947 to 1949 on ABC. In the 1950s, they introduced their comedy to live television on The Colgate Comedy Hour, and launched their own half-hour series, The Abbott and Costello Show.
Abbott was very supportive of his relatives. Norman and Betty Abbott, the children of Bud's older sister, Olive, started their careers working behind the scenes on Abbott and Costello films. Betty became Blake Edwards' longtime script supervisor, and Norman directed episodes of many television series, including Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter.
Strain and split
Relations between Abbott and Costello were strained by egos and salary disputes. In their burlesque days, they split their earnings 60%–40%, favoring Abbott, because the straight man was always viewed as the more valuable member of the team. This was eventually changed to 50%–50%, but after a year in Hollywood, Costello insisted on a 60%–40% split in his favor, and it remained so for the remainder of their careers. Costello also demanded that the team be renamed "Costello and Abbott", but this was rejected by Universal Studios, resulting in a "permanent chill" between the two partners, according to Lou's daughter Chris Costello in her biography Lou's on First. Their relationship was further strained by Abbott's alcohol abuse, a habit motivated by his desire to stave off epileptic seizures.
The team's popularity waned in the 1950s, and they were bedeviled by tax issues; the IRS demanded heavy back taxes, forcing the partners (both of whom had been free spenders and serious gamblers) to sell most of their assets, including the rights to many of their films. Universal dropped their contract after 14 years in 1955. Abbott and Costello split in 1957.[8] Lou Costello died on March 3, 1959. Abbott then planned to team up with Eddie Foy Jr.[9]
Later years
In 1960, Abbott began performing with a new partner, Candy Candido, to good reviews. But Abbott called it quits, remarking that "No one could ever live up to Lou." The following year, Abbott performed in a dramatic television episode of General Electric Theater titled "The Joke's on Me". A few years later, Abbott provided his own voice for the Hanna-Barbera animated series The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show, with Stan Irwin providing the voice of Lou Costello.
Personal life
Bud and Betty Abbott were married for 55 years. The couple adopted two children: Bud Jr. in 1942 and Vickie in 1949. Bud Jr. died on January 19, 1997, at age 57.
Abbott has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: the radio star is located at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard, the motion pictures star is located at 1611 Vine Street, and the television star is located at 6740 Hollywood Boulevard.[10]
Death
Abbott died of cancer at age 76 on April 24, 1974, at his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.[1][11] He was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. His wife, Betty, died on September 12, 1981.
When Groucho Marx was asked about Abbott shortly after his death, his response was that Abbott was "the greatest straight man ever."[6]
Honors and awards
Abbott and Costello are among the few non-baseball personnel to be memorialized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they are not inductees of the Hall itself. A plaque and a gold record of the "Who's On First?" sketch have been on permanent display there since 1956, and the routine runs on an endless video loop in the exhibit area.[12]
Abbott and Costello each have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work in radio, television and motion pictures.
In 1942, they were voted the country's No. 1 Box Office Stars by exhibitors.
Abbott received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting (posthumously) from the Garden State Film Festival in 2006; it was accepted on his behalf by his daughter Vickie Abbott Wheeler.[citation needed]
Abbott is a 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[13]
Filmography
As himself
- ABC 2000: The Millennium (1999) (TV) (voice)
- The Century: America's Time (1999) (TV miniseries)
- This Is Your Life (1956) (TV Series)
- Toast of the Town (1955) (TV series)
- Screen Snapshots Series 33, No. 10: Hollywood Grows Up (1954)
- News of the Day (1952)
- The Colgate Comedy Hour (1951) (Host, 1951–1954)
- Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. (1949)
- 10,000 Kids and a Cop (1948)
- Picture People No. 10: Hollywood at Home (1942)
- Meet the People (1941)
References
- ^ a b c d "Bud Abbott, Straight Man To Lou Costello, Is Dead". The New York Times. April 25, 1974.
- ^ The year of birth has been reported as 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898 in different sources. The 1895 date was perpetuated by sources copying from earlier sources. His birth certificate and World War I draft card both use "October 2, 1897".
- ^ "Bud Abbott". biography.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- ^ Parish, J.R.; Leonard, W.T. (1979). The funsters. Arlington House. ISBN 9780870004186. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- ^ Slide, Anthony. The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1994, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
- ^ Thomas, Bob (1977). "Bud and Lou: the Abbott and Costello Story." Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-01195-4
- ^ "Abbott, Costello Split. Comedy Team Breaks Up to Let Abbott Raise Horses". The New York Times. United Press International. July 15, 1957.
- ^ "Abbott and Foy Team. Late Lou Costello's Partner to Work With Comedian". The New York Times. United Press International. June 11, 1959.
- ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame - Bud Abbott". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Bud Abbott dies at 78
- ^ Dunning, J. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford Univ. Press (1998), pp. 2-3. ISBN 0-19-507678-8
- ^ New Jersey to Bon Jovi: You Give Us a Good Name Yahoo News, February 2, 2009
- ^ "Abbott, Bud; and Costello, Lou". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
External links
- Bud Abbott at IMDb
- Bud Abbott at the TCM Movie Database
- Bud Abbott at AllMovie
- Bud Abbott in the Hollywood Walk of Fame Directory
- Bud Abbott at Find a Grave
- 1897 births
- 1974 deaths
- 20th-century American comedians
- Abbott and Costello
- American male comedians
- American male comedy actors
- American male film actors
- American male radio actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American male voice actors
- American stunt performers
- American Burlesque performers
- Vaudeville performers
- Male actors from New Jersey
- Male actors from Los Angeles
- National Radio Hall of Fame inductees
- People from Asbury Park, New Jersey
- People with epilepsy
- Deaths from cancer in California
- 20th-century American male actors
- Comedians from California
- Comedians from New Jersey