Bud Abbott

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Bud Abbott (actually William Alexander Abbott , born October 2, 1895 in Asbury Park , New Jersey , † April 24, 1974 in Woodland Hills , California ), was an American comedian and actor . Together with Lou Costello he formed one of the most successful American comedian duos with Abbott and Costello .

Life

Abbott's parents were both in the show business: his mother was a western rider for the Ringling Brothers Circus , and his father advertised Barnum and Bailey . Bud Abbott dropped out of school in 1909 and began performing at Coney Island amusement parks as a child . He worked at the box office of the Casino Theater in Brooklyn , then manager of various theaters across America. While managing the National Theater in Detroit , he began appearing as a key word for vaudeville comedians. As early as 1931, when he was working in Brooklyn, he was very successful as a replacement for Lou Costello's sick partner.

The two teamed up as a new comedian duo and appeared in the 1930s as Abbott and Costello at fairs, vaudeville stages and as a break filler in cinemas. In 1938 they became known nationwide for appearing on Kate Smith 's radio show and appeared on Broadway . The most famous was her sketch Who's on First? , which is about a baseball player named Who , the cause for ever new misunderstandings between the comedians.

In 1940 she made her film debut at Universal Studios : One Night in the Tropics . In 1941 their film Buck Privates , in which they starred alongside the Andrews Sisters , became a huge box-office hit (grossing $ 10 million), and in 1942 they were voted Hollywood's Favorite Stars. They had their own radio show (on ABC from 1941-46 and on NBC from 1946-49) and their own television show in 1952-53 ( The Abbott and Costello Show , 1952).

Abbott and Costello were very active in promoting war bonds during World War II . For this purpose they financed a nationwide tour from their own resources. In New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia honored them for raising $ 89 million in just three days. After the war they made their most successful films, parodies of horror and adventure films . In the Abbott and Costello Meet… series, they met Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , the invisible , the mummy and Frankenstein's monster .

1957 the comedians separated. There has been a dispute about the distribution of fees for a long time. Two years later, Abbott's tax office demanded a back tax payment of $ 750,000; Abbott and his wife had to sell their property, ranch, jewelry and furs, and stake in their films, and were literally destitute. Abbott lived on $ 180 a month in welfare until his death in 1974 at the age of 78. Abbott tried a new start with Candy Candido in the 1960s for financial reasons , but despite good reviews, he did not pursue this project. In 1966 he dubbed his own animation for the cartoon series Abbott and Costello .

Abbott was a Freemason , owned by Daylight Lodge No. 525 in Michigan . He suffered from epilepsy for life , which he hid from the public and tried to control through excessive alcohol consumption.

Honors

Three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (in the film, television and radio categories) commemorate Bud Abbott. In 1991 Abbott and Costello were selected for a US postage stamp series of famous comedians drawn by Al Hirschfeld (the others were Laurel and Hardy , Edgar Bergen with his doll Charlie McCarthy, Jack Benny and Fanny Brice ). Groucho Marx called Abbott “the greatest keyword of all time”.

The main belt asteroid (17023) Abbott , discovered on March 7, 1999, was named after him.

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Bud Abbott  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography . abbottandcostello.net. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  2. ^ "Bud" Abbott . freemasonry.bcy.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  3. ↑ Bud Abbott biography . abbott-and-costello-whos-on-first.info. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo: Abbott and Costello in Hollywood . New York 1991
personal data
SURNAME Abbott, Bud
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abbott, William Alexander (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, producer, and comedian
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Asbury Park , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1974
Place of death Woodland Hills , California