lou costello was born louis frances cristillo on march 6 1906 in paterson new jersey he went
to school in paterson and was a good athlete he was good at basketball and boxing boxing
under the name of lou king lou married anne battler a burlesque dancer on january 30th
1934. they had four children patricia carol lou jr and christine in 1927 lou went to hollywood
to become an actor but only found work as a laborer extra and occasional work as a stuntman
in 1930 after not having much success he returned home to new jersey while performing in burlesque
theaters he changed his stage name to costello after actress helene costello
during these years he met a straight man named bud abbott abbott and costello formally teamed up
in 1936 abbott and costello were very popular on the radio with routines like who's on first and
were signed to do hollywood pictures where they enjoyed legendary success over the next 20 years
in march 1943 costello was suffering from rheumatic fever and wasn't able to
work for six months on november 4th of that year he returned to the team's radio show
but a tragic event darkened his comeback after arriving at the nbc studios lou received word
that his baby son lou jr had accidentally drowned in the family pool
during an afternoon nap the baby managed to get out of his crib and ended up in the pool unnoticed
by the nanny the child was just two days short of his first birthday lou had asked his wife to keep
blue junior up that night so that boy could hear his father on the radio for the first time rather
than cancel the broadcast lou said wherever he is tonight i want him to hear me and went on with the
show no one in the audience knew of the death until after the show when bud abbott explained
the events of the day and how the phrase the show must go on had been demonstrated by lou that night
though they were very successful as a comedy duo in films radio and tv there were hard feelings
between bud and lou they argued constantly over money and billing by the mid-1950s abbott and
costello films were no longer doing so well at the box office universal declined to renew their movie
contract in 1955. abedin costello dissolved their partnership in 1957 on good terms costello then
pursued a solo career including performing in las vegas he appeared several times on steve allen's
the tonight show shortly after the completion of the film the 30-foot bride of candy rock costello
suffered a heart attack he died at doctors hospital in beverly hills on march 3rd 1959 just
three days before his 53rd birthday many times it has been falsely reported that his final words
were that the strawberry ice cream soda he had just finished was quote the best i ever tasted
by other accounts including several newspaper obituaries
he asked his nurse to adjust his position in bed and said i think i'll be more comfortable
but before the nurse could comply he suffered a cardiac arrest and died after a funeral mass at
his parish in sherman oaks costello was interred at the calvary cemetery in east los angeles on
march 8th his wife ann died only nine months later from an apparent heart attack at age 47.