Lou Costello

Who remembers that Abbott and Costello (born on this date in 1906) were for a while the biggest comedy team in Hollywood? Their movies were enormous hits, and they went on to a popular television show. The vaudeville material that made them famous was all about wordplay, and of course the most famous of their routines is "Who's on First." Me, I've always been a fan of loafing.



Speaking of their Hollywood success, it no doubt didn't hurt that the Andrews Sisters were in some of their pictures. Hey, vaudeville is all about variety, isn't it? Same for the interwebs, if you ask me.



I love some of Costello's movie character names: Wishy Dunn, Wellington Phlug, Sebastian Dinwiddle, Harvey Garvey. Most people, however, probably just thought of him simply as Costello to his partner Bud's Abbott, preferably shouted out as "Hey, Abbbotttttt!"

Costello died just shy of his 53rd birthday in 1959.