Lou (Cristillo) Costello - "Hey, Abbott! It's My Birthday!"

Mr. Bacciagalupe makes Lou a birthday cake

When I was growing up in New Jersey, most of my Saturday afternoons would be spent in the Mayfair matinee watching two movies and cartoons for 55 cents. Another 50 cents or so would buy me a Coke, some pretzels and Junior Mints. Many of the films I saw in that dark movie palace were Abbott and Costello films. Lou Costello was the funniest person on the planet--at least to my 10 year old mindset.  The photo above shows Lou and Marjorie Reynolds in The Time of their Lives about two Revolutionary War ghosts cursed to spend eternity at the well in which their bodies were dumped. It's one of the best Abbott and Costello films ever.

Like me, Costello was also a Jersey boy. He was born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Helen Rege and Sebastiano Cristillo. His father was Calabrese and his mother had a mixed family background... Italian, French, and Irish.

As kids, we always used his famous line, "I'm a baaad boy!"

They are playing the old Abbott and Costello shows again on cable TV... watch a few just for a laugh.

--Jerry Finzi

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