Biography for
Bud Abbott More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

2 October 1895, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

Date of Death

24 April 1974, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (prostate cancer)

Birth Name

William Alexander Abbott

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Long acknowledged as one of the best "straight men" in the business, Bud Abbott worked in carnivals while still a child and dropped out of school in 1909. He worked as assistant treasurer for the Casino Theater in Brooklyn, then as treasurer and/or manager of various theaters around the country. He worked as the straight man to such vaudeville and burlesque comics as Harry Steepe and Harry Evanson while managing the National Theater in Detroit. In 1931 while cashiering at the Brooklyn theater, he substituted for comic Lou Costello's ill straight-man. The two clicked almost immediately and formed their famous comedy team. Throughout the 1930s they worked burlesque, minstrel shows, vaudeville and movie houses. In 1938 they got national exposure through the Kate Smith radio show "The Kate Smith Hour", and signed with Universal Pictures the next year. They made their film debut in One Night in the Tropics (1940), and, while the team wasn't the film's stars, it made money for Universal and they got good enough notices to convince Universal to give them their own picture. Their first starring film, Buck Privates (1941), with The Andrews Sisters, grossed what was then a company-record $10 million (on a $180,000 budget) and they were on their way to stardom and a long run as the most popular comedy team in America. In 1942 they topped a poll of Hollywood stars. They had their own radio show (ABC, 1941-6, NBC, 1946-9) and TV show ("The Abbott and Costello Show" (1952)). After the war their careers stalled and the box-office takes for their films started slipping. However, they made a big comeback in Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), which raked in huge profits and even got the team good notices from critics who normally wouldn't even review their films. The movie's success convinced Universal to embark on a series of films in which the team met various monsters or found themselves in exotic locations. Their film career eventually petered out and the team split up in 1957. Costello embarked on a series of TV appearances and even made a film, without Abbott, called The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959), but it was a flop. He received good notices after a dramatic performance in an episode of "Wagon Train" (1957) and was in discussion to star in a biography of famed New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a project Costello had been trying to get off the ground for years, when he died. Both Abbott and Costello had major tax problems with the Internal Revenue Service and wound up virtually broke. Abbott started over with a new partner, Candy Candido, in the 1960s and set off on a national tour, including Las Vegas, but the act failed. In 1966 he voiced his character in a cartoon version of their television show. His health deteriorated badly in the late 1960s, he had always suffered from epilepsy, and he died in 1974.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Spouse

Betty Smith

(17 September 1918 - 24 April 1974) (his death) 2 adopted children

Trade Mark

Deep voice

Fedora hat

Slapping 'Lou Costello'

Often uses the "play on words" technique in order to confuse another person (examples include the "who's on first" routine and "loafing" bit)

Jacket was always buttoned

Trivia

He was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

His mother was a bareback rider for the Ringling Bothers Circus.

Pictured on one of five 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating famous comedians, issued in booklet form 29 August 1991. He is shown with his partner Lou Costello. The stamp designs were drawn by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The other comedians honored in the set are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Edgar Bergen (with alter ego Charlie McCarthy); Jack Benny; and Fanny Brice.

At Lou Costello's insistance, the monies earned from the their act were split 60/40, favoring Abbott. Costello's reasoning was that "comics are a dime a dozen. Good straight men are hard to find."

Father of actor Bud Abbott Jr.

Abbott and Costello are known in Italy as "Gianni and Pinotto", Abbott being Gianni and Costello being Pinotto.

With Lou Costello, starred on ABC (1941-1946) and NBC (1946-1949) Radio's "The Abbott and Costello Show."

A lifelong epileptic, he died of prostate cancer following two strokes.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith; pg. 1-3. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

March 1959: When his former partner Lou Costello died, a nationally run news photo showed him reading a newspaper article covering his former partner's death.

He wore a front toupee for many of his early films.

1940: He made his film debut in One Night in the Tropics (1940), which was also his first film pairing with his partner Lou Costello. It wasn't Costello's film debut, however, as he had been in several movies in the late 1920s as an extra and stuntman before he teamed up with Abbott.

His twin sister, Olive Victoria Abbott, was also in vaudeville and lived to be 101 years old, dying on 8/8/1997.

His father, Harry, was a publicity advance man for Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Soon after former partner Lou Costello's death, the Internal Revenue Service demanded Bud pay over $750,000 in back taxes. He was forced to sell his estate in Encino, California (at a loss), as well as his 200-acre ranch. His wife sold her jewelry and furs and they relinquished their remaining share of profits from the old lucrative Universal movies. He said he'd have to start all over and begged for donations from Abbott & Costello fans, with little results.

September, 2003: Montclair State University in New Jersey dedicated a building in their new residence hall complex as "Abbott and Costello Center", after Bud and his partner Lou Costello.

He and his professional partner Lou Costello were nominated for the 2007 inaugural New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services to entertainment.

1942: His salary was $393,314, making him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.

Uncle of TV producer Norman Abbott.

An avid gun collector, he once owned one of Adolf Hitler's shotguns and some of Tom Mix's pearl-handled pistols.

1960: He tried to form a new duo, this time with veteran comic/instrumentalist Candy Candido. Abbott quipped during an interview that he and Candy would star in "Space Privates", a futuristic version of his and Lou Costello's Buck Privates (1941) classic. "Space Privates" never materialized and the teaming was short-lived. They weren't attracting an audience, and Abbott was forced to leave after experiencing an epileptic attack while traveling to one of their personal appearances.

He and his professional partner, Lou Costello, were elected into the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services to arts and entertainment.

He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio (6333 Hollywood Boulevard); Motion Pictures (1611 Vine Street) and Television (6740 Hollywood Boulevard); in Hollywood, California.

The performance of "Who's on First?" in the film The Naughty Nineties (1945) is considered the quintessential version of the routine, and the clip is enshrined in a looped video at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Personal Quotes

[speaking after his professional break-up with partner Lou Costello] I never understood Lou.

Salary

One Night in the Tropics (1940)	$17,500
Buck Privates (1941)	$25,000 + 5% of profits
In the Navy (1941)	$25,000 + 5% of profits
Hold That Ghost (1941)	$25,000 + 5% of profits
Rio Rita (1942)	$75,000
Who Done It? (1942)	$25,000 + 5% of profits
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)	$250,000
"The Abbott and Costello Show" (1952)	$15,000/episode