Trivia and Quotes
Trivia
 He and his professional partner, Bud Abbott, are nominated for the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services and contributions to arts and entertainment.
Interred at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA (Main Mausoleum, Block 354, Crypt B-1).
He had always suspected Universal Pictures of cheating him and partner Bud Abbott out of some of the profits of their pictures, but he could never prove it (that was one reason he didn`t feel guilty about taking home expensive props from the sets of films he was shooting at Universal). One day his manager stopped into a photo supply store in Hollywood to buy some film for his camera and noticed a display that was selling 8mm film clips from films featuring Abbott & Costello that he had never heard of. Upon further investigation, he discovered that Universal was lifting scenes from A&C`s early films, retitling them, selling them for the then burgeoning home 8mm market and not paying Abbott & Costello anything, which was in clear violation of its contracts with them. The team sued Universal and received a hefty out-of-court settlement.
1942: His salary was $393,314, making him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.
He and Bud Abbott are both nominees for the inaugural 2007 New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services to entertainment.
As an amateur boxer in Paterson, New Jersey, Costello won 32 straight fights before being knocked out. The loss ended his boxing career.
After the death of his son, Lou Costello Jr., he performed "Who`s On First" routine as normal, but with tears streaming down his face as he did so.
Mentioned his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, at least once in every one of his films.
Costello was a great admirer of Charles Chaplin. He claimed to have seen Shoulder Arms (1918) 30 times and The Gold Rush (1925) 16 times, and attempted - without luck - to buy the screen rights to The Kid (1921) from Chaplin.
September 2003: Montclair State University in New Jersey dedicated a building in its new residence hall complex as "Abbott and Costello Center", after Lou and his partner Bud Abbott.
Along with partner Bud Abbott performed the "Who`s on first" routine for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He and partner Bud Abbott made their debut as a comedy team in One Night in the Tropics (1940), although Costello had appeared in several silent films in the late 1920s as a stuntman and extra.
Was to have starred in a film based on the life of former New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The project was still in the talking stages at the time of his death.
Former amateur boxer
1959: He was set to star in the comedy series "It Pays to Be Ignorant", but died before production began.
He and Bud Abbott were so popular that there was an "Abbott and Costello" comic book that was published for about 10 years until their partnership ended in 1956.
1943: He was stricken with rheumatic fever, which halted the production of any new Abbott and Costello features for over a year until Lou fully recuperated. The disease, which normally strikes children, damaged his heart and led to the heart attack that ultimately killed him at such a young age.
Radio catchphrase: "I`m a bad boy."
He and Bud Abbott are known in Italy as "Gianni and Pinotto", Abbott being Gianni and Costello being Pinotto.
1994: A life-size bronze statue of Costello holding a bat and wearing his trademark derby was placed in a downtown park in his hometown of Paterson, NJ.
He and Bud Abbott are the only two non-sportsmen honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, USA, for their "Who`s On First" routine. However, they are not members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In keeping with the burlesque tradition at the time, profits earned from the "Abbott and Costello" act were initially split 60-40, favoring Bud Abbott. This long rankled Costello, who after their film success insisted that the percentages be reversed. Abbott had no choice but to agree. Costello also wanted the name of the team changed to "Costello and Abbott," but this was vetoed by Universal Pictures. The result was a permanent chill between the partners that lasted until their split in the late 1950s.
Pictured on one of five 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating famous comedians, issued in booklet form 29 August 1991. He is shown with partner Bud Abbott. 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.
He had a habit of taking home any prop or furniture item from a set that took his fancy. During filming of Hit the Ice (1943), director Charles Lamont went back to reshoot some scenes that took place at an ice-skating rink only to discover that all the wrought-iron patio furniture at the rink was gone--Costello took it home with him when he finished shooting the scene the previous day. An arrangement was worked out whereby Costello brought back the furniture, the scene was reshot, and then Costello took the furniture back home with him.
Founded the Television Corporation of America production company which produced "The Abbott and Costello Show" (1952) and "I`m the Law" (1953).
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