Why did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello not get along? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 03-22-2025, 07:02 PM

Question: Why did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello not get along?

Multiple reasons, including:

When they started, they split their earnings 60/40 in Abbott’s favor because he was the straight man and that’s the harder role. They changed the split to 50/50 when they began films, but Costello demanded that the split change to 40/60 in HIS favor as he became the more popular of the two. Since they already weren’t very close, that change made them essentially co-workers and not friends.
Abbott was an alcoholic - While ironically his health was always a problem due to that, he managed to outlive Costello by fifteen years. However when they worked together, Costello had major issues with Abbott’s intoxication, and the problems it caused them.
They spent too much time together - They were very different, but they were forced to spend a great deal of time together on the road and while making films. They never grew particularly close during that time and in fact, it seems to have driven them further apart. By 1957, they had reached an impasse and decided to end their partnership.
The maid - Abbott hired a maid who Costello claimed had stolen from his family. Costello demanded that Abbott fire the woman, he demurred, and that was apparently enough to make Costello unwilling to communicate with him unless it had to do with work. Ironically the maid lost her role anyway a few years later when both Abbott and Costello were confronted by the Internal Revenue Service regarding the fact that they failed to pay significant amounts of back taxes.
They had different views on how things would go - Abbott was strong as a straight man or a comedian, while Costello was strictly a comedian. Had the managed to repair their relationship, they could have taken their act onto television in the late 1940s/early 1950s when there was a demand for content. However by that time, they barely spoke, Abbott’s drinking had grown worse, and Costello’s own health was failing. In retrospect had they altered things in the 1940s during their peak, they probably would have earned more money and been around longer.

TMC · 04-12-2026, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Did you know one of the most famous comedy teams in history spent years battling tension behind the laughs? Did you know the breakup of Abbott and Costello was far more complicated than a simple falling out?

▬Contents of this video▬

00:00 - Intro
01:28 - First Click
02:41 - Built-In Tension
04:27 - The Cracks Deepen
06:14 - Money Trouble
08:00 - After The Split
09:47 - Outro

03-22-2025, 07:02 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 127,505	Why did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello not get along? Question: Why did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello not get along? Multiple reasons, including: When they started, they split their earnings 60/40 in Abbott’s favor because he was the straight man and that’s the harder role. They changed the split to 50/50 when they began films, but Costello demanded that the split change to 40/60 in HIS favor as he became the more popular of the two. Since they already weren’t very close, that change made them essentially co-workers and not friends. Abbott was an alcoholic - While ironically his health was always a problem due to that, he managed to outlive Costello by fifteen years. However when they worked together, Costello had major issues with Abbott’s intoxication, and the problems it caused them. They spent too much time together - They were very different, but they were forced to spend a great deal of time together on the road and while making films. They never grew particularly close during that time and in fact, it seems to have driven them further apart. By 1957, they had reached an impasse and decided to end their partnership. The maid - Abbott hired a maid who Costello claimed had stolen from his family. Costello demanded that Abbott fire the woman, he demurred, and that was apparently enough to make Costello unwilling to communicate with him unless it had to do with work. Ironically the maid lost her role anyway a few years later when both Abbott and Costello were confronted by the Internal Revenue Service regarding the fact that they failed to pay significant amounts of back taxes. They had different views on how things would go - Abbott was strong as a straight man or a comedian, while Costello was strictly a comedian. Had the managed to repair their relationship, they could have taken their act onto television in the late 1940s/early 1950s when there was a demand for content. However by that time, they barely spoke, Abbott’s drinking had grown worse, and Costello’s own health was failing. In retrospect had they altered things in the 1940s during their peak, they probably would have earned more money and been around longer.