>Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were one of the most popular comedy teams of all time, achieving success in films, radio, television, and the stage. Straight man Abbott met funnyman Costello while both were crisscrossing the country in different Burlesque acts in the 1930s. They worked up a number of comedy sketches that emphasized rapid wordplay between the somewhat devious Abbott and the always dim-witted Costello.

>When they began on radio in 1938, audiences had trouble telling their voices apart during their rapid-fire patter, so Lou adopted a high-pitched, childlike tone and Bud took on a deeper, gruff voice – this adjustment made the act really take off. Soon they appeared in a review on Broadway called The Streets of Paris, and in 1940 they were signed to a movie contract with Universal Pictures.

>Abbott and Costello made their film debut as supporting players in One Night in the Tropics (1940), which included their most fondly-remembered routine, "Who's On First?" They were the top-billed stars of their second movie, Buck Privates (1941), which became such a wild box-office success that it took Universal Pictures by surprise and made Abbott and Costello the hottest act in the country. The team went on to make a long series of films for Universal; in 1942 they were the top box-office draw and they remained in the top ten for the next decade.

>The team broke up amid personal and financial difficulties in 1957, and Lou died in 1959 after making one film without his longtime partner. To the present day, their "Who's On First" remains probably the most well-known comedy routine in history, and has even been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.