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Chris
Costello is the daughter of comedy legend Lou Costello.
Her book, "Lou's On First" details both his career
and her life with him. As part of the comedy team "Abbott and
Costello", Lou helped to pioneer the art of quick wit and rapid-fire
conversation. Their routines have been imitated and admired by so
many, that they remain inspirational to the countless number of
comics in the world today. In addition to writing her book, Chris
also has a hand in the official online Abbott and Costello collectible
store, found at www.abbottandcostellocollectibles.com.
Visitors to the store can find products ranging from DVDs, posters
and ornaments to blankets and pillows. The site also has a brand
new feature in the Live Chat, which is a fantastic way for Abbott
and Costello fans to keep in touch with each other, as well as with
Chris herself! The chat is also the best way to get the latest news
and updates, so be sure to check it out! We recently had the opportunity
to speak with Chris about her father's career, how he first got
started and his impact on Hollywood. You can read the transcription
as well as listen to the audio from the interview by clicking the
play button on the player below. Please make sure that your
browser is equipped with the flash plugin in order to hear the audio.
MP: Today I am speaking with Chris
Costello, daughter of comedy legend Lou Costello. Chris, thank you
so much for speaking with me today.
Chris: Thank
you. Thank you. It?s good to be speaking with you.
MP: Your father Lou was, of course, part of the legendary comedy
team Abbott and Costello. But before he met Bud Abbott, he made
an early attempt at a solo career. Can you explain that first shot
he took at Hollywood?
Chris: He
went to Hollywood, mid-20s, 1920s to become an actor. He got into
Hollywood, but work was hard to find. He worked as a construction
crew member for a while at MGM, landed a couple of stints doing
some minor stunts. That was in ?The Trail of ?98?
with Dolores Costello (del Rio), which was a silent epic. And then
he was advised to go back and hone his craft and let Hollywood ask
for him. So he hitchhiked back to New Jersey and got as far as St.
Joe, Missouri. Ran out of money, and they were advertising for a
Dutch comic across the street at the Lyceum Theatre and he applied,
had no idea what a Dutch comic was and he said he would not wear
the putty nose or the oversized shoes and wouldn?t speak with
a Dutch accent, but he would wear the baggy pants. And so he worked
there for, I guess a year and then he got back into New Jersey and
started doing the burlesque circuit.
MP: Was
your father inspired by any of the comedians or entertainers that
came before him?
Chris: I
think Charlie Chaplin was probably the closest. I believe he regarded
Charlie Chaplin as more of an actor than a comic. But that is who
he kind of, you know, well, he loved Charlie Chaplin and he loved
all the B westerns.
MP: I actually heard
he tried to buy the rights to Chaplin?s film ?The Kid?
but he wasn?t able to. Is there a reason he wanted that film
so badly?
Chris: No idea!
That?s the first I?ve heard of that.
MP: There have been
different versions of how your father met Bud Abbott. So in the
interest of putting the many theories to rest, how did they actually
meet and decide to form this comedy team?
Chris: They
were both on the burlesque circuit and Bud Abbott was one of the
most sought-after straight men in burlesque. And my dad had a straight
man and Bud had another comic, and from what I understand, Dad?s
straight man got sick, and Bud happened to be on the bill that night
and knew all the routines and filled in. And then sort of history
was made that night and I think it was just chemistry. And they
teamed shortly thereafter.
MP:
Their big break, so to speak, came on the radio and from there they
went on to Broadway. I know that the work they did on the Kate Smith
radio hour was a huge springboard. So how did that lead them to
Hollywood?
Chris: Who?s
on First. (laughs) They performed it for the first time on Kate
Smith?s show and NBC said the switchboards were lighting up,
and Hollywood then asked them to come do a test film ?One
Night in the Tropics?. But I guess you would have to credit
their stint with ?Who?s on First? as launching
them into Hollywood.
MP: Great skit. Wasn?t
there some initial discomfort over the name being Abbott and Costello
as opposed to Costello and Abbott?
Chris: No,
total untruth. No, it was always Abbott and Costello, and the only
thing they did was when they came into Hollywood, they decided that
it would no longer be a 60/40 cut, which was normal in burlesque.
The straight man always got 60, the comic always got 40. And so
it changed to 50/50 when they came to Hollywood.
MP: You mentioned their
debut was ?One Night in the Tropics? and they actually
worked alongside William Frawley, who people are probably most familiar
with as Fred Mertz in ?I Love Lucy?, and the film debuted
in your father?s hometown of Paterson, New Jersey. What was
it like for him to premiere in his own town?
Chris: Well,
first of all, ?One Night in the Tropics? film started
out as an Allen Jones film. It was not an Abbott and Costello film.
It was a test film for Abbott and Costello. And they realized how
funny they were and kept incorporating more and more routines. Through
the years, Allen Jones said all of a sudden his film and his name
above the title suddenly became Abbott and Costello in ?One
Night in the Tropics.? But it was a test film.
MP: There?s a great skit that
film where your father supposedly has a year?s wages of $365
coming to him. It was the ?Paid in Full? routine. Through
a series of ridiculous deductions, he only winds up with one dollar
which is then taken by a waiter passing by, leaving your father
with nothing. The dialogue between him and Abbott became a signature
of that act. Do you know if he had a favorite routine among all
of them and do you have a favorite routine?
Chris: First
of all, you have to remember, I was 11 when he passed away, so I
never had the opportunity or the privilege of sitting down with
my father to discuss his career. As I?ve told so many people,
you know, when you?re a kid, the last thing on your mind is
talking to your parent, regardless of what they do, on their career.
So, everything that I have in my book ?Lou?s on First?
is basically from all the research I was able to do and talking
to with people that knew him. I have no idea if he had a favorite
routine. Probably ?Who?s on First?, that would
be a safe guess. And you know, for myself, I mean grew up on the
Little Rascals. That was who I was watching all the time. You know,
I never really even started to get into my father?s work until
the 70s. I think sometimes there is a misconception with fans that
when you with you live with a celebrity, that you feel like you?re
living with a celebrity. But for a child that who was born into
it, it?s sort of like, well he was just Dad. Probably now
being much older, and had he been alive, oh yes, it would have been
wonderful to sit down and talk to him about his career. But so much
of what I was able to lift was from family and from the people that
worked with him.
MP:
Now when they went into the horror-comedy hybrid films like ?Abbott
and Costello Meet Frankenstein?, ?Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde?, ?Meet the Mummy?. Many people recognize
those films as sort of benchmarks in their career. Do you know how
the idea for those first came about?
Chris: I
think it was Universal. I think it was just Universal was looking
for a way of bumping up Abbott and Costello. From what I understand,
my dad did not like the horror films. He thought that Universal
was selling them out because they couldn?t carry a film. And
that?s basically the knowledge I got from talking to various
people like Charlie Barton, the director, etc. So, I would say ?Abbott
and Costello meets Frankenstein?, even though it is a cult
classic, was certainly not one of his favorites.
MP: One of the things
that I love about their routines is that they?re busting at
the seams with intelligence and wit. Of course they?re funny
but you can tell behind all of that, they were masterminds. The
7x13=28 skit, and of course, Who?s on First. They seemed to
be on an successful run and they were so popular. What factors would
cause them to break up in the late '50s?
Chris: It
was time, you know. My dad wanted to, he really wanted to be a dramatic
actor. You know, it was just time. And I think he realized that
the comedy of Abbott and Costello was winding down. They were older,
the energy wasn?t as high, he wanted to try his hand at other
things. And I think, truly?it was just?it was, you know,
remembering that coming up in the ranks was Lenny Bruce and a different
type of comedy. So I think that Dad and Bud just realized they had
a great run, but that they couldn?t take it any farther than
where they had gone. I don?t think the audience was, I mean,
they enjoyed Abbott and Costello, but I think too, they were older
and as I said, the energy was winding down.
MP: So you don?t
think there would have ever been the possibility of them getting
back together.
Chris: I
don?t believe so, no.
MP:
You mentioned your book a few times and your father?s biography
that you wrote is called ?Lou?s on First?. Can
you explain the process of sitting down and balancing the importance
of Lou the comedy legend with Lou the dad?
Chris: Well,
now we?re going back so many years when I was doing research.
I basically wanted to do a book to correct the unfair portrayal
of my father in the movie of the week ?Bud and Lou?
and the book, from which the movie was based on. And I felt it was
very, very unfair, very negative, untrue story about him. A lot
of fabrication. And so I decided that I could sell a book by being
fair. I spent four years researching everybody, interviewing everybody
I could get my hands on. I had a co-author, which really helped
balance and lend the objectivity, Raymond Strait. I wanted to show
him as a man, a family man, a father, aside from being the comic,
and tap into his career with Bud Abbott, as there was a relationship
there. The book went out of print two years ago, but it had a great
21 year run. People can still probably find it on Amazon or through
Ebay. But it was just correcting a story. I probably never would
have written the book had it not been for the ?Bud and Lou?
movie of the week.
MP: How would you describe
your life as a child with your father? Was his personality anything
like we?re accustomed to seeing?
Chris: No.
(laughs) I don?t think any comic is, I truly don?t.
I think that, you know, this was a character he created. It was
a talent he had. He could turn the switch on very fast by putting
a child in the room with him. But certainly, he was not that man
at home. I think he would have driven my mother nuts. You know,
he was very quiet, he loved watching B-Westerns on TV. He was a
very generous man, the door was always open to the home to anybody
that wanted to walk through the door. I mean, my mother used to
say, ?There are people sitting around the pool I don?t
even know who they are.? You know, very generous, and someone
who never forgot his roots of Paterson. He was an Italian-Catholic
who ran a tight ship. As much as he had the wealth, he also tried
to instill, you know I think, in us a little more than that. You
know, you just weren?t handed things. And because I came along
after my brother died, I was a little more spoiled probably and
little bit more protected by him. I was like his shadow. Wherever
he went, I was right there. But no, he was certainly not the man
at home that he was on camera.
MP: I understand he was into athletics
as a child. He played basketball and also some baseball. I remember
a story about him fighting as a boxer under the name "Lou King"
and his father, your grandfather, went to see one of his fights,
which caused a little bit of turbulence. What happened there?
Chris: Oh,
yeah, that?s true. They didn?t want to see him get hurt
and I guess they wanted him to have some type of career going for
himself. But, he went under the name Lou King, and fought for a
while, nothing major, you know, the Armory or whatever. And my grandfather
just happened to go to a match with his brother-in-law, who was
the fire chief, and that?s when they noticed it was my dad
in the ring. And so the next morning, Dad woke up with a black eye,
and my grandfather turned and said ?Oh good morning, Lou King.?
And that kind of ended the career.
MP: Now you said your
book is now out of print. Do you have any plans for a reissue of
that?
Chris: We?ve tried. It was reissued about four years ago through
Cooper Square Press. But no, we haven?t had any bites on it.
But you know it had a great run and I?m very pleased with
the success it?s had. As I said, people can find the book,
it?s out there. We also have a wonderful collectible website,
a product website, we?re starting a Live Chat. We?re
all occasionally coming to talk to fans and Ron Palumbo, the head
of the fan club. And all they have to do is www.abbottandcostellocollectibles.com And we have all the Who?s on First items available plus we?re
bringing in other comedy legends.
MP: In 1992, a statue
of your father was dedicated in Lou Costello Memorial Park in Paterson,
New Jersey, which is again, his birthplace. How important was that
to you in regards to it being a physical representation of your
father?s achievements?
Chris: Oh
it was wonderful. It was an absolute wonderful tribute, you know,
and certainly, the whole family was just absolutely taken back by
it. We thought it was long-overdue, and thanks to people like Lou
Duva, the boxing promoter, he got this thing to happen. And it?s
still there and it?s just a wonderful tribute to him.
MP: The ?Who?s
on First? routine actually got them an honor in the National
Baseball Hall of Fame, and they?re the only non-baseball-playing
figures in there to date, even though there has been countless other
sports-related material. What do you think this says about their
place in entertainment history?
Chris: Well,
I think it says the one routine that really catapulted them, has
landed in the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I think is phenomenal
in itself. I think it is certainly a testimony to their being non
baseball celebrities inducted, as non baseball inductees into the
Hall of Fame. It?s something that the family has always been
proud of. Dad and Bud donated in perpetuity the gold record of Who?s
on First, which I believe is still there. It better be there. (laughs).
We also have a script that we sell on the website, which is taken
from my dad?s archives, and it?s the actual text which
was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame, so it?s not something
that one is going to find out there in the marketplace. So, it?s
certainly, it?s just a wonderful tribute, something we are
very proud of.
MP:
Do you see any of your father?s influence in the comedians
of today?
Chris: Oh,
boy. (laughs) You know, I think the closest would be Jerry Seinfeld,
who did ?Abbott and Costello meet Jerry Seinfeld? back
in the early 90s. I think probably because he said that so much
of the Abbott and Costello TV show was kind of incorporated into
the Seinfeld show, so I would say probably Jerry Seinfeld. I?m
sure that there are many others that I have not even heard about.
You know, it?s wonderful to see a younger generation today
getting behind their comedy because long after we?re gone
that comedy is still going on. It transcends time, it will never
be outdated, it will never be old, which is the beauty of it. A
lot of their comedy, it?s a physical comedy as well. And so,
no matter what language you speak, I think you can understand that
type of comedy, which is beautiful.
MP: Chris, what would
you say is the single most interesting thing about your father,
career or otherwise, that most people wouldn?t know?
Chris: Well,
I think it?s just, to me, it?s the way I like to look
at my dad as a person who was a very giving man, who gave back.
He wasn?t somebody who hoarded his success. He wanted to make
life easier for people in general, especially children. He was like
a fairy godfather performing magic to your every want. He loved
people, he wanted people to be happy. He paid for some many operations
of people he never met, not because of any kind of an arrogance,
only because he did not like to see people suffer. Even when he
himself, through the aftereffects of Rheumatic Fever, when it was
difficult for him to do pratfalls, to him he would not disappoint
his audience and he continued to do the pratfalls.
MP: You have your own
website, which is www.abbottandcostellocollectibles.com
Chris: Anything
and everything is now on our collectibles site. It's a wonderful
site for people who are looking for the Abbott and Costello products.
We have other comedy legends now that we're bringing in, Three Stooges,
I Love Lucy. Because dad always felt that everybody was wonderful
in their own right, all the great legends brought to the world something
very unique. So that's what we're trying to do, to bring in and
honor all the great comedy legends. I said our live chat, we're
really excited about, it's going to give the fans a chance to talk
with each other and then certainly with people like myself or Ron
Palumbo from the fan club and author of "Abbott and Costello
in Hollywood". We're even going to try to get Jim Mulholland,
who wrote the first major book on the team called "The Abbott
and Costello Book". So, it's really going to be fun, we're
promoting that right now.
MP: I've been speaking
again with Chris Costello, the daughter of comedy legend Lou Costello.
Chris, again, thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Chris: Thank
you so much Gary, anytime.
I would like to
extend my sincere appreciation to Chris Costello for taking time
out to speak with me. Please visit
the merchandise website, www.abbottandcostellocollectibles.com
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