In 1927, Costello hitchhiked to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Hal Roach Studios.

Stranded in St. Joseph, Missouri, he persuaded a local burlesque producer to hire him as a "Dutch" comic, a corruption of Deutsch, meaning "German" in this context.

[10] After the Mutual Wheel collapsed during the Great Depression, Costello worked for several stock burlesque impresarios, including the Minskys, where he crossed paths with talented producer and straight man Bud Abbott.

[10] They did not work together until 1935 at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City after Costello's straight man fell ill.

[10] Abbott and Costello were signed by the William Morris talent agency, which landed them featured roles and national exposure on The Kate Smith Hour, a popular radio variety show, in 1938.

Abbott and Costello were hosting a summer replacement series for The Fred Allen Show in 1940 when they were signed by Universal Pictures for supporting roles in One Night in the Tropics (1940).

[10] That year they became regulars on Edgar Bergen's The Chase and Sanborn Program, and in October 1942 launched their own series, The Abbott and Costello Show on NBC.

Reportedly their first disagreement occurred in 1936 over a booking in a minstrel show at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

[citation needed] In the summer of 1942, Abbott and Costello embarked on a 35-day cross-country tour to promote and sell war bonds.

[10] In March 1943, after completing a winter tour of army bases, Costello suffered an attack of rheumatic fever and was unable to work for six months.

On November 4 of that year, he returned to the team's popular radio show, but while rehearsing at their NBC studio, Costello received word that his infant son Lou Jr. had accidentally drowned in the family pool.

[16][citation needed] Abbott attempted to heal their relationship by suggesting that the foundation that they had founded for rheumatic fever sufferers be named the Lou Costello Jr.

[citation needed] In 1951, the duo began to appear on live television, joining the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour.

The show, which was loosely adapted from their radio program and films, ran for two seasons from 1952 to 1954 but found long life in syndicated reruns.

They were undermined by overexposure in concurrent film and television appearances, and were eclipsed by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, who were as popular in the 1950s as Abbott and Costello had been a decade earlier.

[10] In the early 1950s, troubles with the Internal Revenue Service forced both men to sell their large homes and the rights to some of their films.

Abbott and Costello's final film together, Dance with Me, Henry (1956), was a box-office disappointment and received mixed critical reviews.

[18] Costello worked with other comedians, including Sidney Fields in Las Vegas, and sought film and television projects.

He appeared several times on Steve Allen's The Tonight Show, most often performing his old routines with Louis Nye or Tom Poston in the straight-man role.

[19] Shortly after completion of The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, his only film after the partnership with Abbott ended, Costello suffered a heart attack.

Later, after his wife and friends had departed, he asked his nurse to adjust his position in bed just before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest.

[3][21][22][23] After a funeral Mass at his Catholic parish, St. Francis de Sales in Sherman Oaks,[24] Costello was interred at the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles on March 8.

Their first child, Patricia "Paddy" Costello, was born in 1936,[28][29] followed by Carole on December 23, 1938, and Lou Jr. (nicknamed "Butch") on November 6, 1942, who died in a drowning incident a year later.

Also premiered was a 35 mm restored print of the Costello-produced 1948 short film 10,000 Kids and a Cop, which was shot at the Lou Costello Jr.