Portal:Abbott and Costello
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Introduction
Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work on radio and in film and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and early 1950s. Their patter routine "Who's on First?" is one of the best-known comedy routines of all time in the world, and set the framework for many of their best-known comedy bits.
Selected general articles
Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 – May 12, 1995) was an American film director and producer who directed several Abbott & Costello films, Phantom of the Opera (1943), the Francis the Talking Mule series and created the talking-horse TV series Mister Ed. A prominent director for Universal Pictures in the 1940s and 1950s, he is perhaps best known today as the man who gave Clint Eastwood his first contract in film. Read more...- Buck Privates is a 1941 musical military comedy film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide 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 (In the Navy and Keep 'Em Flying). A sequel to this movie, Buck Privates Come Home, was released in 1947. Buck Privates is one of three Abbott and Costello films featuring The Andrews Sisters, who were also under contract to Universal Pictures at the time.
Abbott and Costello performed a radio adaptation of the film on the Lux Radio Theater on October 13, 1941. Read more... - 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. No songs from the stage musical were used in the film. Read more...
- Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (on screen title Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood) is a 1945 black-and-white comedy film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Martin A. Gosch, directed by S. Sylvan Simon, that stars the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Read more...
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. Abbott was active for over 40 years, appearing in both television and film roles. Read more...- Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a 1955 horror comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the 28th and final Abbott and Costello film produced by Universal-International. Read more...
- 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. Kathryn Grayson (in her first starring picture) and John Carroll replace the 1929 version's Bebe Daniels and John Boles. Read more...
Who Done It? is a 1942 American comedy-mystery film starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Read more...- Abbott and Costello Go to Mars is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Howard Christie, directed by Charles Lamont, that stars the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.
The film's storyline concerns the misadventures of Lester and Orville who accidentally find themselves aboard a rocketship bound for Mars, or so they think. Instead, they wind up landing at the New Orleans Mardi Gras thinking they have landed on the Red Planet. The pair are forced by bank robbers Mugsy and Harry to fly to the planet Venus, where they encounter a civilization consisting entirely of beautiful women. Despite the film's title, no character in the film travels to the planet Mars. Read more... - Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (also known as Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man (full screen title)) is a 1951 American horror comedy 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 boxing promoter. The film was part of a series in which the duo meet classic characters from Universal's stable, including Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Keystone Kops. Read more... - Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion is a 1950 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Read more...
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.
The picture is the first of several films in which the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable. In this film, they encounter Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange), and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.). Subsequent films pair the duo with the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Mummy. (The comedians interacted with the last of the Universal Studios monsters, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, on live television on the Colgate Comedy Hour in 1954.) This film is considered the swan song for the "Big Three" Universal horror monsters, none of whom had appeared in a Universal film since House of Dracula (1945). Read more...- 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. It was the second film in SuperCinecolor, a three-color version of the two-color process Cinecolor. Read more...
- One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 comedy film noteworthy for being the film debut of Abbott and Costello. They are listed as supporting actors but steal the picture with five of their classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and their next film, Buck Privates, made them bona fide movie stars. Songs in the film were by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The film is based on a 1914 novel, Love Insurance by Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan.
It was filmed as a silent movie in 1919 as Love Insurance by Paramount with Bryant Washburn and Lois Wilson, and in 1925 by Universal as The Reckless Age. Read more... - The Time of Their Lives is a 1946 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedic duo Abbott and Costello. Read more...
- John Grant (December 27, 1891 – November 19, 1955) was a writer best known for his association with Abbott and Costello. Lou Costello called him their "chief idea man". Read more...
- Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (the film's poster title), or Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (the onscreen title)—usually referred to as simply Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff—is a 1949 horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton starring Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff.
In 1956 the film was re-released along with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Read more... - The Naughty Nineties is a 1945 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is notable for containing a filmed version of the duo's "Who's on First?" routine. This version is shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. Read more...
- 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 (1939). Read more...
- Africa Screams is a 1949 American adventure comedy film starring Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton that parodied the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary Africa Speaks!. The supporting cast features Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard, and Joe Besser. Read more...
- Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The supporting cast features Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas Dumbrille and Morris Ankrum, and the film was directed by Arthur Lubin. Read more...
- Hit the Ice is a 1943 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and their first film directed by Charles Lamont. Lamont later directed the team's last few films in the 1950s. Read more...
- Keep 'Em Flying is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film was the third service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team had appeared in two previous service comedies in 1941, before the United States entered the war: Buck Privates, released in January, and In the Navy, released in May. The film's title is taken from the official motto of the U.S. Army Air Corps, some five months after it had been reformed into the USAAF. Read more...
- Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1953 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, and co-stars Boris Karloff.
Inspired by the 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film follows the story of two American detectives visiting Edwardian London who become involved with the hunt for Dr. Jekyll, who is responsible for a series of murders. Read more... - The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show is an American half-hour animated series of the famous comedy duo that aired in syndication from September 9, 1967 to June 1, 1968. Each of the 39 individual episodes consisted of four five-minute cartoons. The cartoons were created jointly by Hanna-Barbera, RKO General and Jomar Productions between 1965 and 1967. The series was syndicated by Gold Key Entertainment and King World Productions, with the rights now owned by Warner Bros. Television Distribution.
The primary feature of this cartoon series was the fact that Bud Abbott supplied the voice for his own character. Stan Irwin provided the voice of Lou Costello, who had died in 1959. The rest of the voice cast was composed of Hanna-Barbera regulars. The Canadian cartoonist, Lynn Johnston, who is famous for her comic strip, For Better or For Worse, was an uncredited cel colorist. Read more... - In the Navy is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was the second service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team appeared in two other service comedies in 1941, before the United States entered the war: Buck Privates released in January and Keep 'Em Flying released in November. Read more...
- 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. Read more...
- The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap is a 1947 black-and-white comedy western film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was released on October 8th and distributed by Universal-International. Read more...
- Little Giant is a 1946 comedy/drama film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film was released in the UK with the title On The Carpet. Read more...
- The Abbott and Costello Show is an American television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The program premiered in syndication in the fall of 1952 and ran two seasons, to the spring of 1954. Each season ran 26 episodes.
The series is considered to be among the most influential comedy programs in history. In 1998 Entertainment Weekly praised the series as one of the "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". In 2007, Time magazine selected it for its "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." Jerry Seinfeld has declared that The Abbott and Costello Show, with its overriding emphasis upon funny situations rather than life lessons, was the inspiration for his own long-running sitcom, Seinfeld. Read more... - 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-International wanted to rename it Abbott and Costello in the Stunt Men, because they did not consider the "Keystone Kops" to be relevant anymore. However, in October 1954, the studio relented and agreed to use the "Keystone Kops" name. Read more...
Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), known by the stage name Lou Costello, was an American actor of radio, stage, television and film and burlesque comedian best remembered for the comedy double act of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. They started in burlesque, before showcasing their routines on radio, on Broadway, and in Hollywood films between 1940–1956. Costello played a bumbling character opposite Abbott's straight man. He was known for the catchphrases "Heeeeyyy, Abbott!" and "I'm a baaaaad boy!" Read more...- Buck Privates Come Home is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was released by Universal International and is a sequel to their 1941 hit, Buck Privates.
This film marks the final role of veteran actor Nat Pendleton and the film debut of Russ Conway (in the role of an unnamed medic). Read more... - Comin' Round The Mountain is a 1951 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Read more...
- The World of Abbott and Costello is a 1965 American compilation film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Read more...
- Hold That Ghost is a 1941 horror comedy film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers and Richard Carlson.
On August 1, 1941, Abbott and Costello performed a live version of the film for radio audiences on Louella Parsons' Hollywood Premiere. Read more...
Abbott and Costello performing "Who's on First?"
"Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello's questions. For example, the first baseman is named "Who"; thus, the utterance "Who's on first" is ambiguous between the question ("Which person is the first baseman?") and the answer ("The name of the first baseman is 'Who'"). Read more...- 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. Read more...
- The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock is a 1959 film directed by Sidney Miller and starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine. Read more...
- 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. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that the plot of the 1994 comic book Archie Meets the Punisher was modeled after the 1948 film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein?
- ... that the Zombie Hut was a fictitious tiki bar in the 1945 Abbott and Costello film Zombies on Broadway, as well as a real tiki bar that opened in Sacramento, California, that same year?
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Selected images
With Carmen Miranda, The Streets of Paris, in 1939.
Abbott and Costello performing "Who's on First?"
Abbott and Costello on NBC's This Is Your Life November 21, 1956
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