- He learned of son Lou Costello Jr.'s death in a swimming-pool accident at home just moments before going on the air to do his radio show with Bud Abbott. However, being the old-school professional who believed that "the show must go on", he went right out and did the show--including their famous "Who's on First" routine--without a hitch, but with tears streaming down his face. Once they were finished, Costello went over in a corner and passed out.
- He and Bud Abbott are the only two non-sportsmen honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, for their "Who's On First" routine. However, they are not members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 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 he took the furniture back home with him.
- At the beginning of their career, he insisted that any joint earnings with Bud Abbott be split 60-40 in Abbott's favor because of Bud's skill as a straight man.
- Mentioned his hometown of Paterson, NJ, at least once in every one of his films.
- In 1994, a life-size bronze statue of him holding a bat and wearing his trademark derby was placed in a downtown park in his hometown of Paterson, NJ.
- As an amateur boxer in Paterson, NJ, he used the name "Lou King" because he didn't want his mother to find out about it. He won 32 straight fights before being knocked out. The loss, combined with the fact that his mother finally found out what he was doing, ended his boxing career.
- In November 1943, his only son, Lou Costello Jr., drowned in the swimming pool of the family home just days before his first birthday. Lou never got over it, blaming his wife--who was home at the time and didn't see the boy wander out into the back yard and fall into the pool--for the tragedy. Although they didn't divorce--they were both Catholics, for whom divorce at the time was unthinkable--it put a permanent damper on their marriage.
- He invented the very first commercial automatic ice machine. He planned to market this but lost money on the deal.
- He had always suspected Universal Pictures of cheating he 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, re-titling them, selling them for the then burgeoning home 8mm market and not paying Abbott & Costello anything, which was in clear violation of the team's contracts with the studio. They sued Universal and received a hefty out-of-court settlement.
- When his heart began to weaken after his bout of rheumatic fever, he still insisted upon performing some of his own stunts for his movies. When he couldn't, his brother Pat Costello often doubled for him.
- He and Bud Abbott were so popular that there was an "Abbott and Costello" comic book that was published for about ten years until their partnership ended in 1956.
- In 1943, he was stricken with rheumatic fever, which halted the production of any new Abbott and Costello features for over a year until he 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.
- The performance of "Who's on First?" in The Naughty Nineties (1945) is considered the quintessential version of the routine, and the clip is enshrined in a looped video at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. NOTE: If you listen carefully you can hear laughter in the background. It was the crew, whom director Jean Yarbrough could not get to stop laughing during repeated takes of the routine. He finally gave up, shot the scene in one take and let the laughter stay in, hoping no one would notice it.
- In recent years, his daughter Chris Costello has strongly denied that there was any feeling of hate between her father and Bud Abbott. It is true that they had a disagreement in the mid-1940s and weren't on speaking terms for a while. Then following Abbott's tribute to Lou's deceased son Lou Costello Jr., the two men made their peace.
- His 1942 salary was $393,314, making him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.
- 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.
- Awarded three Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6438 Hollywood Blvd.; for Radio at 6780 Hollywood Blvd; and for Television at 6276 Hollywood Blvd.
- Along with partner Bud Abbott performed the "Who's on First" routine for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 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.
- He 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.
- Like Bud Abbott, Lou had a bald patch. He used shoe polish to disguise it.
- He and partner Bud Abbott were inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2008 for their services and contributions to arts and entertainment.
- He and Bud Abbott are both nominees for the inaugural 2007 New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services to entertainment.
- He and partner Bud Abbott weren't getting what they wanted from the scripts of the films they were given at Universal Pictures, so they would take the scripts to Stan Laurel and the three of them would work on the scripts together.
- He broke the "fourth wall" in most of his films and television appearances.
- Interred at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA, in the Main Mausoleum.
- Was chosen for the lead role in the Broadway musical "Fiorello!" (1959), lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock. On account of Costello's illness, the role was filled by a young Tom Bosley.
- 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.
- Founded the Television Corporation of America production company which produced The Abbott and Costello Show (1952) and I'm the Law (1953).
- He had only one starring role in a feature film without Bud Abbott, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959). He died before the film was released.
- On 8/7/2021 he was honored with a day of his filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.
- In 1959, he was ready to star in the comedy series "It Pays to Be Ignorant", but died before production began.
- In 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, who was also born in New Jersey.
- Charles Laughton reportedly took the title role in Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) so that Lou could teach him the proper way to do a comic "take".
- Father of Carole Costello, Chris Costello, Paddy Costello-Humphreys and Lou Costello Jr.. Grandfather of Marki Costello.
- Had two siblings: brother, Pat Costello; and sister, Marie Katherine (born December 8, 1912; died July 8, 1988).
- He and Bud Abbott are known in Italy as "Gianni and Pinotto", Abbott being Gianni and Costello being Pinotto.
- Has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Battle of the Century (1927) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
- Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith; pg. 1-3. New York: Facts on File (1992). ISBN 0816023387.
- His father was of Italian descent. His maternal grandfather was of half Italian and half French ancestry, and his maternal grandmother was of Irish descent.
- He and Bud Abbott are known in France as "Les Deux Nigauds" ("The Two Simpletons").
- Son of Sebastian Cristillo and Helen Cristillo.
- He appeared with Bud Abbott in the short films "Fun on the Run", "Riot on Ice" and "No Bulls Please".
- Brother-in-law of Joe Kirk.
- Mentioned in Crazy House (1943).
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