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Lou's on First

Author: Chris Costello, with Raymond Strait
Hardback: 272 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (1981)
Avg. Rating: [ Unrated ]
ISBN: 0312499132
In Print? No

Shemp Howard and Joe Besser are discussed in passages related to AFRICA SCREAMS (1949) and radio's and television's THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW.

From the dust jacket...

"Here at last is the hilarious, affectionate, and definitive biography of the nice Italian kid from Paterson, New Jersey, who rose to become America's favorite comedian for twenty-five years.  He started out on the burlesque circuit, where he met Bud Abbott, graduated to night clubs, then to radio, and finally made the big jump to movies and international stardom.

Filled with fascinating interviews with those who knew Costello throughout his life, punctuated with excerpts from some of Abbott and Costello's funniest acts, Lou's on First is a lively and intimate portrait of one of America's great comic geniuses and a sparkling portrait of Hollywood in its heyday.  Chris Costello reveals the family side of things with grace and wit and brings her father to life as the engaging clown and reluctant adult whom the whole world loved."

  • 1982 softcover edition from St. Martin's featured the same content and cover.
  • Re-released in 2000 by Cooper Square Press, with a slightly higher 288-page count and new cover art.
  • Available in a Kindle edition from Crossroad Press in May 2016, with new cover art.

(Refreshing the page will alternate the editions pictured.)


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