Interesting Abbott & Costello Trivia

This post is for all you trivia buffs out there.  Here’s a list of ten interesting bits of Abbott & Costello trivia:

1. In 1991, Abbott & Costello were featured on a 29 cent U.S. commemorative postage stamp.

2. While not members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, Abbott & Costello are the only two non-sportsmen honored there.

3. In Italy, Abbott & Costello are respectively known as Gianni and Pinotto.

4. Abbott & Costello performed there trademark routine, Who’s On First? For President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

5. In 1956, the Internal Revenue Service charged both Abbott & Costello for unpaid back taxes.  As a result, they were both forced to sell many of their assets, including their home and rights to some of their films.

6. During World War II, Abbott & Costello were the most popular and the highest paid entertainers in the world.

7. Abbott suffered from epilepsy.  It is reported that he took up drinking to combat the effects of the disease.  Abbott’s alcoholism was a source of strain in the duo’s relationship, even more so because Costello’s wife also had a problem with alcohol.

8. At the height of their popularity, there was an Abbott & Costello comic book.  It was published for about ten years, until their partnership was officially ended in 1956.

9. Both Abbott and Costello were awards three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:  One for motion pictures, one for radio, and one for television.

10. While working as a comic in vaudeville in Brooklyn in 1931, Costello’s straight man became ill.  The theater cashier – a man named Bud Abbott – filled in for the sick performer.  The rest, as they say, is history.