ACTOR
Bud Abbott
- Known for
- Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), The Abbott and Costello Show (1952)
24 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Bud Abbott is an actor best known for Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Abbott and Costello Show.
All facts (24)
- #001
His sister, Olive Victoria Abbott, also worked in vaudeville and lived to be 101, dying on August 8, 1997.
- #002
He was a passionate gun collector and at one time owned one of Adolf Hitler's shotguns and some of Tom Mix's pearl-handled pistols.
- #003
Shortly after the death of his former partner Lou Costello, the Internal Revenue Service demanded that Bud pay more than $750,000 in back taxes. He had to sell his property in Encino, California, and his 200-acre farm (at a loss). His wife sold her jewelry and furs, and they also gave up their remaining shares of the profits from their formerly lucrative Universal films. He said he would have to start all over again and joked in an interview that if each of his fans sent him a dollar, he would be out of trouble. He received hundreds of dollars in the mail.
- #004
Abbott and Costello toured 78 cities in 34 days at their own expense, with the proceeds going to Uncle Sam's war bonds and stamps. They raised $85 million for the U.S. government. Less than 20 years later, that same government (the IRS) forced Bud Abbott (Lou Costello died during this debacle, but his belongings were also sold) to sell most of his possessions to pay a debt he could not afford: about $750,000. Bud never recovered financially. Talk about gratitude.
- #005
He wore a front toupee in most of his early films and never wore a hairpiece in his personal life.
- #006
The comedy team's salary in 1941 was $291,905.
- #007
His mother, Rae Fisher, was a bareback rider in the Ringling Brothers Circus.
- #008
His salary in 1942 was $393,314, which made him one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors.
- #009
1960: This time he tried to form a new duo with the veteran comedian and instrumentalist Candy Candido. In an interview, Abbott said that he and Candy would appear in "Space Privates," a futuristic version of Lou Costello's classic Buck Privates (1941). "Space Privates" never materialized and the team-up was short-lived. They did not draw audiences, and Abbott had to leave after suffering an epileptic seizure while on his way to one of his personal appearances.
- #010
1940: He made his film debut with One Night in the Tropics (1940), which was also the first film in which he worked with his partner Lou Costello. It was not, however, Costello's first film, since he had appeared in many films as an extra and stunt double in the late 1920s before teaming up with Abbott.
- #011
March 1959: When his former partner Lou Costello died, he was pictured in a nationally published news photograph reading a newspaper article about his former partner's death.
- #012
A lifelong epileptic, he died of prostate cancer after two strokes.
- #013
He married Betty Smith in 1918. They adopted two children: Bud Abbott Jr. and Vickie Abbott.
- #014
He was honored with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard; for Radio at 1611 Vine Street; and for Television at 6740 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #015
He and his professional partner Lou Costello were nominated to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for their services to entertainment.
- #016
He and his professional partner Lou Costello were inducted into the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for their services to arts and entertainment.
- #017
On August 29, 1991, he was pictured on one of five 29¢ U.S. commemorative postage stamps honoring famous comedians, issued in booklet form. He is shown together with his partner Lou Costello. The stamp designs were drawn by cartoonist Al Hirschfeld. Other comedians honored in the set include Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Edgar Bergen (with his alter ego Charlie McCarthy); Jack Benny; and Fanny Brice.
- #018
His father, Harry Abbott, was an advance man for the Barnum and Bailey Circus.
- #019
He was the father of actor Bud Abbott Jr. and the uncle of Norman Abbott and Betty A. Griffin.
- #020
On August 7, 2021, Bud Abbott was honored with a day of his filmography on Turner Classic Movies as part of its Summer Under the Stars programming.
- #021
The surname Abbott is of Scottish origin. Abbott is one of the septs of Clan MacNab, a Highland clan.
- #022
Bud Abbott's father had English and German ancestry. On his mother's side, his grandparents Fredericka (Buxbaum) and Alexander "Aleck" Fisher were immigrants from Germany to Maryland.
- #023
After his death, Bud Abbott was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
- #024
Bud Abbott is mentioned in the musical comedy Crazy House (1943).
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work