William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man in the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. His parents, Rae Fisher and Harry Abbott, had met while working for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. She was a bareback rider of German Jewish background and he was a concessionaire and forage agent.
Lou Costello and Hollywood
Abbott crossed paths with Lou Costello in the early 1930s, when Abbott was producing and performing in Minsky's Burlesque shows in New York, and Costello was a rising comic. They worked together for the first time in 1935 at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street, after an illness sidelined Costello's regular partner.
During World War II, Abbott and Costello were among the most popular and highest-paid stars in the world. Between 1940 and 1956, they made 36 films and earned a percentage of the profits on each.
In the 1950s, they introduced their comedy to live television on The Colgate Comedy Hour, and launched their own half-hour filmed series, The Abbott and Costello Show (1952–54).
Strain and split
Relations between Abbott and Costello were strained by egos and salary disputes. In burlesque, they split their earnings 60/40, favoring Abbott, because the straight man was always viewed as the more valuable member of the team. This was eventually changed to 50/50, but after a year in Hollywood, Costello insisted on a 40/60 split in his favor. It remained 40/60 for the rest of their careers. Costello also demanded that the team be renamed "Costello and Abbott," but this was rejected by Universal because the studio had been promoting "Abbott and Costello" for years. Abbott's top billing resulted in a "permanent chill" between the two partners, according to Lou's daughter Chris Costello in her biography Lou's on First. Their relationship was further strained by Abbott's alcohol abuse, a habit motivated by his desire to stave off epileptic seizures.
In mid-1945, the comedians were not on speaking terms after Costello fired a maid and Abbott, having no grievance with the maid, hired her. As Costello recalled in 1958: "She went to work for Abbott. I explained to Bud why I let her go, and asked him to fire her, but he wouldn't." Costello refused to speak to Abbott except when they were working. In 1946, the team's box office ranking dropped out of the Top 10 and the studio, with Costello's assent, split the team in character roles in two films: Little Giant and The Time of Their Lives. "Bud didn't like doing them at all," said Abbott's nephew Norman Abbott. "He felt that Lou wanted to go on and be a different kind of comedian, that he didn't want to be a team anymore. So the parts were written that way in couple of pictures, and it didn't work." Abbott resolved their personal situation when he suggested that the team's ongoing plans to build a civic center for underprivileged children be named after Costello's son, who drowned before his first birthday. The Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation opened in Los Angeles in 1947 and is still serving the community.
The team's popularity waned in the mid-1950s, and the IRS demanded substantial back taxes, forcing the partners (both of whom had been free spenders and serious gamblers) to sell most of their assets, including the rights to many of their films. When the team's long-term contract with Universal was up in 1954, they demanded more money than the studio was willing to pay, and they were dropped after 14 years at the studio. (one version has Costello leading a drunk Abbott off the stage), but the accounts agree that Abbott's timing had slowed down noticeably, throwing Costello's responses off and embarrassing him.
Abbott and Costello split in 1957, shortly before Costello appeared on Steve Allen's variety show. Costello made solo appearances on several TV shows, including the Steve Allen show, and did one film, The Thirty-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (released posthumously in 1959). Costello died on March 3, 1959.
Later years
Abbott faced financial difficulties in the late 1950s when the IRS disallowed $500,000 in tax exemptions which forced him to sell his home and come out of semi-retirement.
In 1960, Abbott began performing with a new partner, Candy Candido, to good reviews. But Abbott called it quits, remarking that "No one could ever live up to Lou." The following year, Abbott played a straight role in a dramatic television episode of General Electric Theater titled "The Joke's on Me". In 1962, he was interviewed by NBC's Jack Lescoulie, in a nostalgic segment. That year, as it's reported, Abbott was considered for a cameo in Stanley Kramer's comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1964, he suffered the first in a series of strokes and recuperated at the Motion Picture Country Home. In 1967, Abbott provided his own voice for the Hanna-Barbera animated series The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show. Stan Irwin provided the voice of Lou Costello.
Personal life
thumb|right|Abbott's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television]]
Abbott suffered from epilepsy starting from about 1926.
Bud and Betty Abbott were married for 55 years. The couple adopted two children: Bud Jr. (August 23, 1939 – January 19, 1997) and Rae Victoria "Vickie" (March 27, 1942 – April 28, 2021).
Norman and Betty Abbott, the children of Bud's older sister, Olive, started their careers in Hollywood working behind the scenes on the Abbott and Costello films. Betty became Blake Edwards' longtime script supervisor, and Norman directed many episodic television series, including Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter.
Bud has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: the radio star is located at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard, the motion pictures star is located at 1611 Vine Street, and the television star is located at 6740 Hollywood Boulevard.
Abbott was a Freemason via Daylight Lodge No. 525 in Michigan.
Death
Abbott died of cancer at age 76 on April 24, 1974, at his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He was cremated at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. His ashes were subsequently sprinkled in the Pacific Ocean three miles out from Santa Monica.
His widow, Betty, died on September 12, 1981.
When asked about Abbott shortly after his death, Groucho Marx replied that Abbott was "the greatest straight man that ever lived."
Honors and awards
Abbott and Costello are among the few non-baseball personnel to be memorialized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they are not inductees of the Hall itself. A plaque and a gold record of the "Who's On First?" sketch have been on permanent display there since 1956, and the routine has run on an endless video loop in the exhibit area since 1967.
Abbott and Costello each have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work in radio, television and motion pictures.
In 1942, they were voted the country's No. 1 Box Office Stars by exhibitors. They ranked among the Top Ten in 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951.
Abbott received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting (posthumously) from the Garden State Film Festival in 2006; it was accepted on his behalf by his daughter Vickie Abbott Wheeler.
Abbott is a 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Film
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1940 || One Night in the Tropics || Abbott || Film Debut/Supporting Role
|-
| rowspan=4|1941 || Buck Privates || Slicker Smith || Starring Role
|-
| In the Navy || Smoky Adams ||
|-
| Hold That Ghost || Chuck Murray ||
|-
| Keep 'Em Flying || Blackie Benson ||
|-
| rowspan=4|1942 || Ride 'Em Cowboy || Duke ||
|-
| Rio Rita || Doc ||
|-
| Pardon My Sarong || Algy Shaw ||
|-
| Who Done It? || Chick Larkin ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1943 || It Ain't Hay || Grover Mickridge ||
|-
| Hit the Ice || Flash Fulton ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1944 || In Society || Eddie Harrington ||
|-
| Lost in a Harem || Peter Johnson ||
|-
| rowspan=3|1945 || Here Come the Co-Eds || Slats McCarthy ||
|-
| The Naughty Nineties || Dexter Broadhurst ||
|-
| Abbott and Costello in Hollywood || Buzz Kurtis ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1946 || Little Giant || John Morrison / Tom Chandler ||
|-
| The Time of Their Lives || Cuthbert / Dr. Greenway ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1947 || Buck Privates Come Home || Slicker Smith || Sequel to Buck Privates
|-
| The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap || Duke Egan ||
|-
| rowspan=4|1948 || The Noose Hangs High || Ted Higgins || (Also Producer, uncredited)
|-
| Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein || Chick Young ||
|-
| Mexican Hayride || Harry Lambert ||
|-
| 10,000 Kids and a Cop || Himself || Documentary short
|-
| rowspan=2|1949 || Africa Screams || Buzz Johnson ||
|-
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff || Casey Edwards ||
|-
| 1950 || Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion || Bud Jones ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1951 || Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man || Bud Alexander ||
|-
| Comin' Round the Mountain || Al Stewart ||
|-
| rowspan=3|1952 || Jack and the Beanstalk || Mr. Dinklepuss ||
|-
| Lost in Alaska || Tom Watson ||
|-
| Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd || Rocky Stonebridge || Also Executive Producer
|-
| rowspan=2|1953 || Abbott and Costello Go to Mars || Lester ||
|-
| Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde || Slim ||
|-
| rowspan=2|1955 || Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops || Harry Pierce ||
|-
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy || Pete Patterson/Abbott || Listed as "Pete Patterson" in the credits but called "Abbott" onscreen
|-
| 1956 || Dance with Me, Henry || Bud Flick ||
|-
| 1965 || The World of Abbott and Costello || – || Compilation Film
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Television
|- align="center"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1951–1954 || The Colgate Comedy Hour || Host || Multiple episodes
|-
| 1952–1954 || The Abbott and Costello Show || Bud Abbott || 52 Episodes
|-
| 1961 || General Electric Theater || Ernie Kauffman || Episode: "The Joke's On Me" (04/16/61)
|-
| 1967–1968 || The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show || Abbott || Voice, 39 Episodes, 156 segments
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Other works
|- align="center"
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
| 1941 || Meet the People || Himself
|-
| 1942 || Picture People No. 10: Hollywood at Home || Himself
|-
| 1949 || Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. || Himself
|-
| 1952 || News of the Day || Himself
|-
| 1954 || Screen Snapshots Series 33, No. 10: Hollywood Grows Up || Himself
|-
| 1955 || Toast of the Town || Himself
|-
| 1956 || This Is Your Life || Himself; Episode Lou Costello
|-
| 1999 || The Century: America's Time || Archival footage
|-
| 1999 || ABC 2000: The Millennium || Voice, Archival footage
|}