Bud Abbott's Secret

[tv star collector]

It is not widely known, but comedian Bud Abbott suffered from epilepsy. Lou's
daughter, Chris Costello, mentioned it in her biography of her father, Lou's on First (1981).

Lou died in 1959, at age 53. Bud Abbott was devasted. Chris remembers:

"Bud Abbott had never been told of my dad's hospitalization. He too was quite
ill at the time and it was feared the shock would be too much for him. He later
told my grandmother, 'Mom, I don't know why they didn't tell me. Maybe if I had known I could've gone up there and helped Lou. My heart is broken. I've
lost the best pal anyone ever could have.'"

Her father's funeral was an all-star affair, with approximately 500 people in
attendance. "The pallbearers, [were] led by Bud Abbott--who, contrary to some reports, was not drunk, but overcome with grief."

P.S. Bud Abbott passed away, in 1974, at age 78.