Bud Abbott: A Show Biz Life

November 3, 2009

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 [...]

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Lou Costello: Much Tragedy in a Blessed Life

October 29, 2009

When I first read up on the life of Lou Costello, I was struck by the contrasts in his life.  What I mean is, while he enjoyed what many would describe as a blessed life in terms of fame and fortune, Costello experienced much tragedy and heartache in his life.
Lou Costello, who was born Louis Francis [...]

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One Night In The Tropics

October 26, 2009

One Night In The Tropics marked Abbott and Costello’s film debut.  Released in 1940, the comedy duo essentially play themselves, right down to their character’s names, Abbott and Costello.
Cast in only supporting roles, the comedy team stole the show performing several of their routines from radio and vaudeville (including Who’s On First?) .
Universal Studios subsequently quickly [...]

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Who’s On First? The Script

October 25, 2009

Did you know?…
Abbott and Costello’s Who’s On First? routine has been translated into nearly thirty languages.  Believe it or not, some of these translations were done by Abbott and Costello themselves.
The set up has Costello playing a peanut vendor named Sebastion Dinwiddle who is considering becoming a baseball player, talking to Abbott who playing Dexter Broadhurt, the manager [...]

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Who’s On First? Part III

October 25, 2009

Abbott and Costello’s famous routine, Who’s On First,  had been performed many times on radio and in vaudeville before going to the big screen.  It first appeared, in a shortened version, in their first movie – One Night In The Tropics, but the longer, more definitive version can be seen in The Naughty Nineties.  For [...]

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Shemp Howard and Abbott & Costello

October 24, 2009

Did you know?…
Shemp Howard, of Three Stooges fame, appeared in several Abbott & Costello movies:   Buck Privates, In the Navy, Hold That Ghost, It Ain’t Hay, and Africa Screams.
Here is a clip from In The Navy, “13 X 7 is 28″, where Shemp Howard plays Dizzy, a fellow sailor.  I particularly like the lines:
Abbott:  You ever [...]

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Who’s On First? Part II

October 23, 2009

Did you know?…
Abbott and Costello first performed the Who’s On First? routine for a national audience on the popular radio show, The Kate Smith Hour,  in March 1938, just one month after the comedy duo’s radio debut.  Over time the skit, referred to by the duo informally as Baseball,  became their signature routine.  Believe it or not, [...]

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Who’s On First?

October 20, 2009

One of the best known comedy routines of all time, Abbott & Costello’s Who’s On First, still cracks me up.  Here is the video clip from their 1945 movie, The Naughty Nineties.  This is also the version that is featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
It’s easy to see why this skit has enjoyed [...]

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