I was doing some digging the other day and came up with some more interesting Abbott and Costello trivia.  For example, did you know…

• Abbott and Costello stored 16mm prints of every film and television show they made.,,
• Ever the avid gun collector, Abbott actually owned one of Adolf Hitler’s shotguns…
• Abbott and Costello were godfathers to each others sons…
• After the birth of Lou Costello Jr. the comedy team willed their famous routine, “Who’s On First?” to Lou Jr. and Bud Jr., with the hope that someday the two boys would carry on the legacy of Abbott and Costello…
• There was a full decade difference in the ages of Abbott and Costello (Abbott being the older of the two, of course)…
• Speaking of which, for years studio and official documents listed Abbott’s birthday as Oct. 2, 1895, and his family reported that they always celebrated his birthday on that day.  However, the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Ashbury Park, NJ, show his birthday as Oct.6, 1897…
• Lou’s brother, Pat Costello, worked in several films as his brother’s stunt double.  The two were so similar in stature, that Lou would often send his brother in his place for wardrobe fittings…

Now you know.

Until next time…

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For those of you who don’t know who Harry Shearer is, he is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author and radio host. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show.

But what you may not know is that his film debut was Abbott and Costello in the 1953 movie, Abbott and Costello Go To Mars.  He played the uncredited role of “Boy”.

Now you know.

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It was on this day, 68 years ago, that Abbott and Costello’s Rio Rita was released.  This comedy film is a remake of the Ziegfeld Broadway operetta and the 1929 RKO movie starring Wheeler & Woolsey, both of the same name.

Rio Rita, along with  Lost in a Harem (1944) and Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), were made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while the comedy team was under contract to Universal.  Abbott and Costello had become so popular by 1942 that MGM made a deal to “borrow” them for these three films.

It’s interesting to note two connections that Rito Rita has with MGM’s The Wizard of Oz.  The first is that the songs for Rio Rita were written and composed by many of the same individuals who put together the songs for MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939).  Second, Mitchell Lewis, who plays Julio in this Abbott and Costello film also played the Wicked Witch’s lead soldier in The Wizard of Oz.

Here is the funny “Laundry Room” clip from Rio Rita:

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It was on this day, 64 years ago, that the Abbott and Costello film, Little Giant, was released.  Originally titled, On the Carpet, Little Giant was filmed from November 1 through December 17, 1945.  Regardless, it’s questionable whether any other title would have helped this particular Abbott and Costello movie.

Indeed, Little Giant is not considered one of the comedy team’s best films, perhaps owing to the fact that this was the first time the team attempted to work separately within the same film.   In this film, as well as the next Abbott and Costello film, The Time of Their Lives, the team play separate roles as opposed to partners.  This is due to a falling out between the two men that actually led them to splitting up the team for a short period in 1945.

In this film, Abbott and Costello perform the 7×13=28 routine, where Costello attempts to prove to Abbott that 7 times 13 equals 28, 28 divided by 7 equals 13, and seven 13’s added together equals 28.  Here is a video clip of that routine:

I still crack up at the lines:

Bud:  Did you ever go to school stupid?

Lou:  Yes, sir.  And I come out the same way.

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Did you know…?

I read somewhat recently that the two lead characters in one of my favorite TV shows, Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter of The Big Bang Theory, were named as a tribute to the late Sheldon Leonard (see picture to the right). Sheldon Leonard was one of the 20th century’s most prolific directors (The Andy Griffith Show, among many others), producers (The Dick Van Dyke Show, among many others), and actors (probably most famous for playing Nick, the bartender, in It’s a Wonderful Life).  His acting career also included two films with Abbott and Costello – Hit The Ice (1943) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951).

Anyway, since I’m such a big fan of both The Big Bang Theory and Abbott & Costello, I decided to research the connection (albeit a somewhat loose one) between the two.

Sure enough, in The Official Vanity Archives (#187) of the Chuck Lorre Productions (these are the notes flashed briefly at the end of each show produced by Chuck Lorre), the producer “channels” Sheldon Leonard.  Apparently, Mr. Lorre has consistently ignored Mr. Leonard’s suggestions with regard to sitcom ideas.  Toward the end of this particular vanity card, he (the “channeled” Sheldon Leonard) states:

 ”…I tell him to do a show about four wise guys and a sexy dame what knows da score. So what does da knucklehead do? Scientists and a waitress! It just breaks my heart. But at least the dope managed to slip my name in dis one.” (italics added)

Here’s the trailer for Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.  Mr. Leonard plays a gangster, Boots Morgan, in the film:

Leonard died at in 1997 at the age of 89, and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

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Poker games on the sets of Abbott & Costello movies were legendary. It was not unusual for tens of thousands of dollars (much of it in $100 bills) to be on the poker table. Bud and Lou were famous for inviting all kinds of players to the high-stakes games. If no one else was available, the duo would play against each other.

According to Norman Abbott, Bud’s nephew who worked on many of the Abbott & Costello movie sets, these poker games would go on for hours, sometimes even days. It was also not unusual for these marathon gambling sessions to interfere with the production of whatever film they were working on at the time. Indeed, there were times when production came to a temporary standstill because nobody could get them away from the poker table.

This was long before Texas Hold ‘Em so the games of choice were stud poker and five card draw, popular poker card games of that time.

During the 1940’s and early 1950’s – the height of Abbott & Costello’s popularity – the comedy duo was literally the biggest and highest earning stars in Hollywood. They made millions of dollars, but also spent millions of dollars. The high-stakes poker games were just one illustration of this fact.

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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.

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Not many people know this, but in 1945, Abbott and Costello experienced a rift in their relationship.  The brouhaha concerned the hiring of a domestic servant by Abbott who had previously been fired by Costello.  Looking back, this may seem silly and maybe even petty, but Costello, hurt by his partner’s action, refused to speak to Abbott except when performing.  The films released in 1946 reflect this divide:  The comedians appear separately in character roles.  One of the films of that year, The Times of Their Lives, just happens to be one of my favorite Abbott and Costello movies (the other film released that year was Little Giant). 

Here is the trailer for The Times of Their Lives:

Eventually the rift was resolved in 1947 when Abbott volunteered to help with Costello’s favorite charity, a foundation for needy children.

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Did you know?…

Abbott and Costello’s film, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, is often cited as the funniest of the 36 movies these two made together.  The film was released in June 1948 and re-released in 1956.

In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and chose it for preservation in the National Film Registry, and in September 2007, Readers Digest selected the film as one of the top 100 funniest movie of all time.

Here is the original 1948 trailer for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein:

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You might say that Bud Abbott (born William Alexander Abbott in 1895) was destined from the day he was born to be in show business. He was born into a show business family –  both parents worked for the Barnum & Bailey Circus:  His mother, Rae, as a bareback rider and his father, Harry, as an advance man.

Abbott eventually dropped out of school as a child and went to work at Coney Island.  At the age of 16, he was put to work in the box office of the Casino Theatre in Brooklyn by his father, who worked for the Columbia Burlesque Wheel (“wheel”=circuit) at the time.

It wasn’t long before Abbott began putting together his own touring burlesques shows.  The woman who he would be married to for 55 years, Betty Smith, was a burlesque dancer and comedienne.  The two married in 1918 and shortly thereafter the newlyweds began producing a vaudeville “tab show” called Broadway Flashes. (A tab show was a short or “tabloid” version of various popular musical comedies performed in the United States at this time).  In 1924, Abbott began performing acts as a straight man with Betty.

Abbott first ran into Lou Costello in burlesque in the early 1930’s.  At this time, Abbott was producing and performing in Minsky’s Burlesque show.  They worked together sporadically for a while, but officially became a comedy duo in 1936, performing together in burlesque, vaudeville, and minstrel shows.  They first received national attention in 1938 when they performed on the Kate Smith Hour, a popular radio show at the time.  This led to their first movie together in 1940.  They would go on to make 36 films together from 1940 to 1956.

Illustrating the extent that show business was indeed in Abbott’s blood, you can find not one, not two, but three stars with his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:  one for radio, one for motion pictures, and one for television.

As a tribute to Abbott’s long and brilliant career in the entertainment business, Groucho Marx, when asked about Abbott shortly after his death, said he was “the greatest straight man ever.”  Well said.

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