Bud Abbott

William Alexander Abbott, known professionally as Bud Abbott, was born on October 2, 1897, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and died on April 24, 1974. He was an American comedian, actor, and producer who became widely recognized as the straight man in the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.

Abbott came from a show business family. His parents, Rae Fisher and Harry Abbott, had met while working for the Barnum and Bailey Circus, where his mother performed as a bareback rider and his father worked as a concessionaire and forage agent. The family eventually relocated from Asbury Park to Harlem and later to the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, where his father became an advance man for the Columbia Burlesque Wheel. Abbott left grammar school to work at Dreamland Park in Coney Island during summers when burlesque was on hiatus. As a teenager he signed on as a cabin boy aboard a Norwegian steamer, was put to work shoveling coal, and spent roughly a year working his way back to the United States.

Abbott entered the entertainment industry through burlesque box offices, beginning at the Casino Theatre in Brooklyn and eventually rising to the position of treasurer. In 1918, while working in Washington, D.C., he married Jenny Mae Pratt, a burlesque dancer and comedienne who performed under the name Betty Smith; they remained together until his death fifty-five years later. In 1923, Abbott produced a cut-rate vaudeville tab show called Broadway Flashes, which toured the Gus Sun circuit. When he could no longer afford to hire a straight man for the show, he stepped into the role himself. He continued producing and performing in burlesque on the Mutual Burlesque wheel, working alongside veteran comedians including Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson.

Abbott first crossed paths with Lou Costello in the early 1930s while producing and performing in Minsky's Burlesque shows in New York. The two worked together for the first time in 1935 at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street, after an illness sidelined Costello's regular partner. They formally teamed up in 1936 and performed together across burlesque, minstrel shows, vaudeville, and stage productions. National exposure came in 1938 when they became regulars on the Kate Smith Hour radio show, which led directly to their Broadway appearance. In 1939, Abbott and Costello appeared on Broadway in Streets of Paris, the credit that stands as Abbott's verified Broadway appearance.

Their Broadway work opened the door to Hollywood. In 1940, Universal signed the team for One Night in the Tropics, in which they appeared in minor roles but drew significant attention with several comedy routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's on First?" Universal then signed them to a two-picture deal, and the first of those films, Buck Privates in 1941, became a major hit and secured the team a long-term contract with the studio. Between 1940 and 1956, Abbott and Costello made 36 films and earned a percentage of profits on each. They ranked among the top ten box office stars from 1941 through 1951 and reached the number one position in 1942. During a 35-day tour in the summer of 1942, the team sold $85 million worth of War Bonds. Their radio program, The Abbott and Costello Show, ran throughout the 1940s, first on NBC from 1942 to 1947 and then on ABC from 1947 to 1949. In the 1950s, they brought their act to television through The Colgate Comedy Hour and launched their own half-hour filmed series, The Abbott and Costello Show, which ran from 1952 to 1954.

The partnership was marked by ongoing personal and financial tensions. In burlesque, the two had split earnings 60/40 in Abbott's favor, reflecting the traditional view that the straight man was the more valuable member of a comedy team. The split was later equalized, but after a year in Hollywood, Costello insisted on reversing it to 60/40 in his own favor, an arrangement that held for the remainder of their careers. Costello also sought to rename the act "Costello and Abbott," but Universal rejected the change, having already established the existing billing. Abbott's continued top billing contributed to what Lou Costello's daughter Chris Costello described in her biography Lou's on First as a permanent chill between the two men. Abbott's alcohol use, which he pursued in part to manage epileptic seizures, further strained the relationship. By mid-1945 the two were not on speaking terms over a dispute involving a household employee. Abbott helped repair the relationship by suggesting that the team's planned civic center for underprivileged children be named after Costello's son, who had drowned before his first birthday; the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation opened in Los Angeles in 1947.

The team's popularity declined in the mid-1950s, and both men faced significant IRS demands for back taxes, forcing them to sell assets including the rights to many of their films. When their long-term contract with Universal expired in 1954, the studio declined to meet their salary demands and dropped them after fourteen years. Abbott and Costello split in 1957. Costello died on March 3, 1959.

In the late 1950s, Abbott faced further financial difficulty when the IRS disallowed $500,000 in tax exemptions, compelling him to sell his home and return to performing. In 1960, he began working with a new partner, Candy Candido, to positive reviews, but ultimately retired from the act, stating that no one could ever live up to Lou. In 1961, he appeared in a dramatic television episode of General Electric Theater titled "The Joke's on Me." In 1964, Abbott suffered the first in a series of strokes and recuperated at the Motion Picture Country Home. He died on April 24, 1974.