Talk:Abbott and Costello

Who's On First section

Given the fact that this routine has its own Wikipedia entry, wouldn't it be better to remove the long dialogue from this article and put it over there?67.122.209.117 (talk) 03:49, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. Moved it. Donaldd23 (talk) 03:04, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Abbott's birth date

This is given as 1857 in this article, but his article gives 1855. Which is correct? Thryduulf 17:22, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

There is no way that Abboott was born in the 1850s. The article does not say that---at least not now.

BTW not all of the pair's films were at Universal. They made 3 films at MGM.

According to their official site http://www.abbottandcostello.net, Abbott was born in 1897. This article and his both reflect that now. Donaldd23 23:10, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

I have 7 different Abbott and Costello books that all support Bud Abbott's birthday as October 2, 1895. Betty Abbott said Bud was born in 1895 in Chris Costello's book "Lou's On First" All the Obituaries I have on Bud's passing say he was born is 1895. Here is another site that supports that: http://www.louandbud.com/ASP/one.asp

The Abbott and Costello books perpetuated the 1895 date because they sourced Bud's obituary, which in turn sourced studio publicity material. Bud Abbott's birth certificate filed in Asbury Park lists the year as 1897. The only discrepancy is the day--the birth certificate lists Oct. 2, athough the family celebrated Oct. 6.--Plummer (talk) 06:06, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

You have a copy of this birth certificate? Until then the date needs to stay as 1895. Donaldd23 (talk) 11:11, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The most credible evidence -- birth certificate, draft registration, and census reports -- support 1897 rather than 1895 (see the Talk page in the Wiki entry for Bud Abbott for more). The 1895 date was perpetuated by each subsequent author simply repeating the error of the previous works rather than any new research. The error was corrected in the second edition of "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood" by Furmanek and Palumbo.Plummer (talk) 05:17, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Lou Costello's death

Lou died in a hospital in Beverly Hills. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery, which is in East Los Angeles. See Chris Costello's book. --Plummer (talk) 06:10, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism

This site was vandalized on or around October 25th. I'm not a wiki regular, so I don't know if I did things right or not, but at least it isn't screwed up anymore. 72.24.165.120 01:25, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Sourcing

A lengthy article on a subject of this importance requires proper sourcing and footnoting. Much has been written about them. I shall begin when I can.--Silverscreen 20:44, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Bud's final years

I guess I should post this in this article and in Bud Abbott: Two articles posted on the official Abbott and Costello site say that Bud was living off Social Security at the time of his death. These articles were from the National Enquirer, which I would ordinarily discount if they hadn't appeared on the official website, which is run by the Abbott and Costello families. See http://www.abbottandcostello.net/ and click on "articles." Unless someone objects, citing better sources, I will correct these articles to reflect this information.--Silverscreen 21:14, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Find a verifiable source that's not the National Enquirer before changing the information. These "family" sites can be loosely directed by the family, which may result in any article that mentions the person to appear on it. I've seen this with other "official" sites. --PhantomS 23:08, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I found a reference to Bud and his wife living on Social Security in a book called "Here's to the Friar's," by Joey Adams, which I located via a Google Book search. [1] Since I don't have the book itself I am not comfortable about using this fragmentary mention, but it does provide added substantiation for the view that the article is not correct in stating that Bud was "not bad off financially."

I located the Lou Costello biography ("Lou's on First," by Chris Costello) and it has no reference to Bud's final years. --Silverscreen 17:12, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

I'll look over a copy of Joey Adams's book today, since it is at my local library. --PhantomS 17:43, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

That would be outstanding. You know, contrary to what I had thought, there is no serious biography of the duo that I can find. There is only Lou's biography. I must have been thinking of Laurel & Hardy, which have a good biography by John McCabe.--Silverscreen 00:44, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

According to the book, Abbott and costello were notorious gamblers. The joke was that 10 percent went to their agent and 90 percent to their bookmaker. Quote from Bud Abbott after having gone to a psychiatrist about his problem: "I used to go to the racetrack every day - now I only go when it's open." He would lose $50,000 in a crap game, played poker with $7000 pots, bet $100 for each card in black jack, and $5 a point gin. He also engaged in betting on horse races. Quote: "I had a little piece of every action." He also had yachts, traveled around the globe several times, fed lots of freeloaders, and bought expensive furs.

Some more information: In 1942, Abbott and Costello's movie take alone was $10 million and they remained in the top ten until 1952. After that, Abbott and his wife existed on Social Security. He at first resisted, "I figured it was charity, but friends insisted, and I tell you it was a great thing." For social security, he received $108 a month and his wife received $44. His last move was to the Motion Picture Actors' Home. Also, he never learned to drive, since he once had six Cadillacs and a chauffeur. In the end, he had to depend on friends to drive him.

Quote: "Until I was forty I struggled. Five bucks to me was a fortune. So, when suddenly you have everything you don't stop to think about a rainy day. Your whole life's been rainy. All you want to think about are those sunny days."

Quote continuation: "In burlesque I'd save up $500 during a season. Betty and I would rent a little bungalow, play a little cards with the neighboring folks, and when we hit our last deuce we'd hop back to Minsky's. So it was the same later. Only on a larger scale."

There is also a story about him once tipping a messenger $20,000.

The above seems to be the most important information from the book, since the Abbott and Costello content (mostly Abbott) is only about three or four pages.--PhantomS 05:01, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

(restoring margin)Fascinating stuff. All the Abbott/Costello articles needs to be fleshed out, and that will all be very valuable. The Chris Costello book also has many good tidbits that should be added to Lou's bio. For example, I had no idea that Lou was a strong supporter of Joe McCarthy. I will add the Joey Adams stuff re Social Security to Abbott's bio -- I don't believe that they belong in an article on the team, as this all happened after he died.--Silverscreen 14:10, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Hall of Fame

According to Who's on First? (and the Hall of Fame web page linked from there), the notion that Abbott and Costello are in the Hall of Fame is an urban myth, though they are featured in the museum. Hairy Dude 23:24, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

True. In reality, only "Who's on First?" in itself was ever "conducted" into the Hall of Fame, and I hear that the routine is shown there. — Cinemaniac (talk • contribs) 02:48, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Cultural References

I seem to remember Bert & Ernie did a send-up of Abbott and Costello on Sesame Street in 1980 maybe? They copied the common routine in which Abbott and Costello are exploring, and spooky or strange things happen that only Costello sees and stop as soon as Abbott enters the room and Abbott tells Costello to stop panicking. In the case of Sesame Street, Ernie played the Costello role and Bert played the Abbott role. Anyone else remember this?216.90.56.122 20:43, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't remember that one, but there are many others I have seen over the years.Kidsheaven 18:48, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Pokomoko MP3?

Someone has added an MP3 with the filename "Pokomoko" to the external links section. What is it and why is it there? -- 192.250.34.161 12:31, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

"Pokomoko" refers to a noteworthy adaptation of the old vaudeville routine Slowly I Turned, from Lost in a Harem, in which Costello unwittingly becomes the victime of severe attacks just because of mentioning that one word. — Cinemaniac (talk • contribs) 02:51, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Who's Ted Lewis?

It says Ted Lewis made appearances in thier movies, but when i click on it, it shows alot of Ted Lewises so can someone tell me which one is the right one?

Link has been corrected to the right person. Donaldd23 (talk)

Yet another film not listed here?

I remember seeing a film with Abbott and Costello, in the late 1940's, about them serving on a ship or a submarine. The final scene showed Abbott sitting on the sunk submarine (or ship), playing a hand harmonica, and fish dancing to the tune. Can anybody confirm this? Why is it not listed here? Xenonius (talk)

The only film they were on a ship was In the Navy and Pardon My Sarong. I don't recall a fish dancing in either of them, but I could watch them again. Perhaps this was an skit on the Colgate Comedy Hour that you remember? Donaldd23 (talk) 16:41, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

The 1945 split....

The article states that the two movies in which they appeared separately were made because the two were still not talking to each other. I'm not sure that's correct. I think I read somewhere that after they healed the rift, they decided to experiment with a new brand of comedy in which they worked separately instead of together. It didn't work out, so they went back to working as a team. I haven't changed anything in the article because I can't document the info. If I can remember where I read it, I'll let you know.97.73.64.169 (talk) 15:57, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

I got the above information from some production notes on a DVD collection of their films. It claimed that the two were tired of doing rehashes of their old burlesque routines, so that's why they made the two films in which they appeared separately. Was that just a cover-up for their rift? Possibly, but I understand that the rift was highly publicized, so I don't know why they'd have covered it up. Anyway, there are a lot of discrepancies in sources that talk about their relationship, so I guess we'll never know.97.73.64.170 (talk) 15:48, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

TV - Abbott and Costello Show

• S01, E01 (First Aired: Dec. 5, 1952)
• S01, E26 (First Aired: May. 29, 1953)
• S02, E26 (First Aired: May. 1, 1954)

Season 1 was 26 episodes broadcast from Dec 1952 to May 1953. Season 2 was 26 episodes broadcast from ??? 1953 to May 1954. Please add this information in appropriate form to the article.-96.233.20.34 (talk) 21:16, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

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Categories

They are currently classified as 'American male silent film actors'. I don't see how this can be correct, as they didn't work together until 1935, well into the sound-film era. Valetude (talk) 23:54, 27 November 2016 (UTC)

I deleted the cat, but perhaps it should be re-added. As a team they did not work during silent era, but Costello worked during the silent era (beginning in 1926, according to imdb). Onel5969 ^{TT me} 00:24, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Interesting point, and thanks for the input, but I don’t think it justifies the team of Abbot and Costello being placed in this category. Technically, it would be correct for Lou’s own page. But I think a single uncredited appearance in one silent film is stretching it a bit - rather like classifying H.G. Wells in the ‘Drapers’ category, because that was his original trade. Valetude (talk) 13:00, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

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Citation and Expansion

This article is underdeveloped and undersourced, and needs to be expanded in more detail. There is not a lot of information on the team's history, how they met/got started, success/popularity, radios/television, transition into film, and split. There also needs to be information on the team's legacy, and influence they've had on other performers. Although the article has sections on some of these pieces of information, they are too brief and don't contain enough information or detail. They need to be expanded in more detail than what they currently are, with proper citations from reliable sources given to each addition of information. The article also has information that's unsourced and should either be given proper citations from reliable sources or removed if none can be found. As a major fan of the team, and advocate for complete expansions of ALL articles, It's very sad that this article is in the poor shape that it's in as it could easily be turned into GA and FA status based on the amount of information and sources on the team. I would do this myself but biographies are not my specialty and I have more pressing matters to attend to. Hopefully someone comes along and gives this and other articles on classic comedians the attention they deserve to fulfill their full potential.--Paleface Jack 17:04, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

First Meeting

On the Bill Sterns Colgate Sports radio show, They were guest. The story went that they both played basketball. One for Patterson and the other from Camden. They got into a fight near the end of the game. They then became friends. I believe Sterns was known for stretching the truth. I heard the show on Sirius XM Radio Classics this week 68.142.35.161 (talk) 20:52, 29 June 2022 (UTC)

What the TV shows name

Khfi 197.229.3.208 (talk) 19:51, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

any link?

with the Abbot Castelli?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedetto_Castelli 2A01:CB0C:CD:D800:1D53:C2C1:473:FAA9 (talk) 13:31, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

Math

On the list of shows do we know the official (if any) title of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzxVyO6cpos

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/abbott-and-costellos-wacky-math That source tells there that is in in a couple of film reels but does not tell the segment 68.48.113.58 (talk) 18:04, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

abbot and costello split

what caused them to split up Peterw62 (talk) 14:48, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

Already covered in the article. The causes included the duo's waning popularity throughout the early 1950s, their failure to compete with the then-popular duo of Martin and Lewis, the termination of their contract with Universal Pictures in 1955, and their financial difficulties due to their legal troubles with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They "formally dissolved their partnership in 1957". Dimadick (talk) 14:42, 27 January 2024 (UTC)