this
is your life program for all america
now here is mister this is your life himself
ralph edwards
this is bob warren bidding you welcome to this is your life
in another studio here at nbc burbank california
two famous comedy stars
are rehearsing a television film trailer for their newest movie we are secretly
hooked up to their watch and guess which one of them ralph edwards is about to
surprise
take it away studio for
i want to talk about
that's what we have
yes i want to get some help on that no no way down that i thought about this
at the end of all
what's on second was not second who's on for a lot of work what's on second i
don't know all you don't want to know who's out there who's out there
but i'm looking forward to that uh... new avenue the castella
picture dance with me and rebutted by the way i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
on your rehearsal to say that tonight great comedian and a half of a beloved
team of comedians
this is your life
but we can relax
but i have a told me this would be a great chance to get your
we should
and they blow
your life
would make a great movie itself
because often
unknown to all of us
watched your happy clowning on stage
screen
you're hiding an aching heart
we're going to hear about that tonight so come on but let's take a little to
our chair of honor
that uh... you'll never believe it again over there on as he takes his place in
your life
let your mind go back now
your wonderful boyhood days
uh... you were a member of uh... was a basketball team of the car
armory
uh... five the armory five yeah you know you were with the filch eric and
yeah you were the free throw paterson and the whole state of new jersey in
that right
well uh... we want to see if you can still do it now here's a regulation
backstop and basketball right here
now let's see if you can score a basket for the honor of the old armory five the
free throw champ
the
here
that's what i meant to you
and that's uh...
bill probert and george probert
and jake presley the whole game
here's the
but you're also living in the patterns marionette balance
as i said why did you call your team the uh... armory five j
well we live in the neighborhood of the old armory
ralph
and uh...
we used to
in order to practice basketball
all make a little bit of debate is clean up the floors and sleep around
the other uh... i did uh... lou promoted well you tell us some more about the
well we're all sports crazy ralph uh... every week we could figure out some way
to get us to the pro basketball games in the fights
yeah i put it
how did you know how did they get in there
belt well uh... lou fast talk the professional players and carry their
bags
uh... you hope to be mistaken for the mascot admitted free
education at the rapid i vegan
such a happy every day
holdback
but you may be fatal take restless president george probert you'll be
saying good night
development
alone
here
were kids, eh, Lou? All right, down the old familiar Patterson Street, Lou, let's go
to your house on 33rd Street. Remember back there? Come on, let's take a walk
back here to 33rd Street and look sitting on the front porch, there's mom!
Yes, indeed, your beloved mom, Mrs. Cicillo. Here she is.
I wonder what they're here doing. Couldn't find nobody home. Lou says he couldn't find anybody home. We were told that he came home early tonight.
Everybody was gone. Says, where is everybody? What's going on around here?
Let's see, Cristillo is your real name, Lou, but you changed it to
Costello. When was this? Oh, when I was doing extra work in fiction. Yeah.
There was a girl named Colleen Costello and I took her name. Yes, indeed, remember her.
Here we are swinging with mom on the porch on a summer evening, just like you
when you were a boy. Dad's here in spirit too, Lou, I'm sure, though he died in 1947.
And I was here on the front porch swing that used to tell mom about a glorious
dream. What was that dream, Mrs. Cristillo? Well, Lou always wanted to be an actor.
And he used to say to me, well, mother, someday I'm going to take you to
California, to Hollywood, and I'm going to buy you a little White House. And you know,
Ralph, he did all that. He bought me my little house. And he became a star.
Yes, indeed. After a whirl as a prize fighter in Patterson, New Jersey, under the name of
Lou King, that's the name you fought under, you talked your parents into letting you go to
Hollywood to try to make that movie dream of yours come true. But it didn't. Not right at
first. When I first met Lou in Hollywood, you didn't even have a place to sleep.
Now that's the voice of a buddy of those real tough days. He was sort of in a position to
see that they were tough days for you. He used to run a parking lot at MGM Studios and had a
little gas station there. Now in business at Lake Tahoe Resort, here from Lake Tahoe,
California, is Mr. Eddie Devine. Here he is. Where did... there during those early days, Eddie?
Well, for a while, I slept in a car.
That's right, in the autopilot.
That's exactly where he slept.
And then I understand that he and Gene Coogan used to wash their laundry out on the wash rack
at night. The automobile wash rack. How about your eating in those days? Things were...
It's kind of tough. Real tough. We didn't do much eating, but we got along all right.
Bread and jam for a month, I understand. Lou worked at a laboring job there,
some of the laboring jobs in the studio, didn't he, Eddie?
Yes.
And of course, he got his big break.
He got a big break at that time. Stuntman for Joan Crawford.
And then you worked extra in Rosemary and a few other pictures.
Yeah.
Well, this wasn't exactly the dream of stardom you'd told mom about there.
So you start hitchhiking back home. And in St. Joseph, Missouri, you landed a job in Gelu.
You got the whole story.
Yeah, we got it right. You heard there was a burlesque show that wanted...
Yeah, there was a burlesque show in St. Joe, Missouri. They wanted a Dutch comedian.
Right.
So I was on the stage, but I told the fella I was a Dutch comedian.
Burlesque, the training ground for so many great comedians,
was just a way to make a living for you, Lou Costello, age 20 in 1928.
Thank you, Eddie Devine of Lake Tahoe, California.
And thank you, Mrs. Helen Crisillo. You take mom back with the Armory Five, Eddie.
Lou, you'll see her a little later.
There you go.
Her last clue in a most unusual way is to bring you face to face with your wife.
And we know that you've stood together since in the most difficult problems that face a father and mother.
Now, we leave your story for a moment, and I know you would be happy to catch your breath just a minute.
Yes, I would.
Okay, fella.
Back, world famous comedian, beloved by all of us, Lou Costello of Abbotton, Costello.
1933, Lou, you're a pretty handsome guy there.
You're a handsome guy now.
You're the comedian at the Republic Burlesque Theater in New York City.
In the chorus is a pretty dark haired girl named Ann Backler, whom you'd like to meet.
I met her.
You sure did.
They took a very impetuous young man, but I didn't expect he'd knock me out.
Uh-huh.
Lou, you're right.
Your wife, she helped us plan this.
Go easy on her.
It's been a tough week.
Here you are, Ann, Mrs. Lou Costello.
Oh, if you knew what this gal had been going on, and Eddie, and the whole gang here.
Now, sit beside your husband, Ann, and tell us how Lou's wooing knocked you out.
I think he's knocked out now.
Well, I wasn't particularly interested in meeting him, but a girlfriend of mine in the
show insisted I should go and see Lou do this act, which I did.
And he makes a sudden turn on stage.
Where were you standing?
In the wings.
Oh, my.
And he hits his head on this hall tree, knocks it over, and knocks me out cold.
That was my introduction to Lou.
And now we've got three children and two grandchildren.
Well, he told the whole story.
Good night, everybody.
Within four months, you two are married.
And in your very first year of marriage, Lou, you and Ann had an automobile accident, didn't
you?
Yes, we did.
What happened?
Do you want to tell us about that?
Well, it was sort of early in the morning, around 3 in the morning, and there was a bus
coming around a turn, I think, around Massachusetts, and I wanted to get away from him, and I did,
but I went over an embankment and landed amongst a lot of trees, about 40 feet.
Then you took a bus to Patterson.
No, we hitchhiked all the way back.
Ah, I'll change that little note in here.
You walked then from...
You got to your folks' home, isn't that right?
Oh, yes.
And when you got home, what did you find really that helped?
We were very fortunate, Ralph.
We had a family physician.
He came in and he said, well, this is not for me, but I'm going to call a doctor right
away.
And he did, a Dr. Redding, who lived two blocks away from us on 33rd Street, and he was, at
that time, supposed to be about surgeons in the whole country.
And he put my wife immediately in a hospital and in a care unit.
But the answer is she had a broken neck all this time.
You've been cast, as you say, for over a year.
Money problems on a burlesque comedian's salary are pretty grim for you.
I like Lou's clean brand of comedy and believe we could make a hit of it if we got together.
The other half!
I said in my letters that we meet and talk it over.
The other half of the celebrated comedy team, here he is again, Bud Abbott, ladies and gentlemen.
You take it like I made you.
Your face is very familiar.
You two formed your team in 1936, fellas.
Did success come easily then, Bud?
No, no, Ralph.
Our timing was perfect for each other, but it took, oh, at least three years of struggle
to get our first act organized and material together.
And during that time, Lou, your baby girls, Patty Ann and Carol Lou, are born.
Remember those days, Ann?
I certainly do, Ralph.
We lived in a basement apartment in Atlantic City and the floor was so slow, this daughter
kept falling out of the crib and hitting me.
She's throwing her back in.
Ann, she's out again.
She's out again.
Your turn.
Your big break comes then, a chance on the Kate Smith radio show in 1938.
Week after week, you and Bud keep the nation screaming with laughter and this leads a
1940 to your first movie, isn't that right?
Yes, that's right.
In fact, Lou and I were both amazed at the response that we got from our first couple
of movies.
That's right, almost overnight, Abbott and Co. become the number one box office attraction
in the nation.
And will any of us ever forget the laughs you two gave us in such all-time hits as Buck
Privates, Rio Rita, In the Navy, and many, many more wonderful comedy pictures from the
early days of the movie.
And here, at the pinnacle of fame, Lou, you're struck down by rheumatic fever.
You face a year in bed with a chance that you may never get well, isn't that right,
Bud?
Well, if I walked into Lou's sick room, he had tears in his eyes and he was probing over
a lot of, oh, hundreds and hundreds of letters from kiddie fans who were in the same predicament
as Lou, bedridden with rheumatic fever, and all the months that he was in bed, he was
answering these letters.
Their parents had written to Lou and asked him to beg his children, their children, not
to get to that type of...
And anyhow, Lou wrote and wrote and wrote and kept on writing, and that's all he did
was write to those kiddies and told them to stay in bed and get well.
Right, Bud, I know your daily visits to Lou meant a lot when he was so ill.
It meant everything.
I only wish, I only wish it protected our friendship, but everyone knows that Lou and
I had a rift in 1945.
Like a lot of people do, we magnified a difference of opinion and we let a molehill become a
mountain.
Lou, I thank God we came to our senses.
I'm glad that neither you nor I could sing.
Today our friendship seems all the more precious to me because we almost lost it forever through
foolish pride.
Thank you, Bud Abbott.
Believe me, that may make a lot of people see how to forgive them.
Thank you, Bud.
Just before that first long illness of yours, Lou, another lifelong dream comes true.
And here presents you with a baby boy, your little son.
What's your pet name for him?
What'd you call him?
Little Butch.
Butch was to be one year old on November 6, 1943.
On November 4, what was the gala broadcast that you were scheduled to do?
Well, we were doing a broadcast.
It was my first broadcast after my illness.
That's right.
To tell of the events of that day, here's your faithful friend and manager, Mr. Eddie
Sherman.
Here's Eddie.
You know, Ralph, Lou was planning to use some funny sounds on his show that night so Little
Butch could hear him at home how much Butch loved him.
And his wife, Mrs. Costello, may be awake at night to hear the show.
But you know, Ralph, that afternoon at the studio, I got the tragic call from Lou's home
that his little baby had drowned in the family pool.
How'd it happen?
Well, Mrs. Costello had gone out shopping.
The nurse had put Little Butch in a playpen, but somehow he worked one of the slats loose
and climbed out by the pool and dropped in unnoticed.
You drive Lou home, and after he does all he can to console Mrs. Costello, what does
Lou tell you, Eddie?
Well, Lou was terribly heartbroken.
This was a great tragedy to him.
He thought the whole world tumbled from under him.
But he said to me, Eddie, I want to go back to the studio and do the show.
I promised Little Butch that he would hear me tonight, and wherever God has taken him,
I know he will hear me, and I want to keep my promise.
That's great an example of love that ever displayed.
Thank you, Eddie Sherman.
With a heart that came near breaking, Lou, you've gone on to make the world laugh.
The more you've suffered, the more you wanted to bring healing to others.
They called me Goldilocks when I sold my long hair to buy war stamps.
Mr. Costello saved my life.
Remember that girl, Lou?
It's been ten years since you've seen her.
We found her in Canada, where today she's wife to the young student minister.
Here from Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, is Mrs. Milton Palmer, Lisa, whom you knew as
Goldilocks Wolfe.
As a girl of fourteen, you sold your long hair for use in wartime precision instruments.
Why was that, Mrs. Palmer?
To buy war stamps and to try to inspire other children to buy them.
And then later, I had my appendix out and complications set in that caused me to waste
away to sixty pounds.
They said I would die.
How did you hear of her, Lou?
Do you recall?
I was laying in bed and I read the newspaper about it.
I see.
What did Lucasella do for you, Mrs. Palmer?
Well they flew me to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and there Mr. Costello spent thousands of
dollars for my operations and care.
Then my mother wired to him saying, uh, Lisa Loda will live.
God bless you.
I thank you.
Thank you, sweetheart.
Thank you for saving my life.
Thank you, darling.
Take care.
Lou, here's one more example of the many people you've helped.
Remember the boy who spent eleven years unable to walk, paralyzed in a hospital in Patterson,
New Jersey?
Yeah.
Look, Mr. Costello, I walk.
Here he is, your grateful young friend, Frank Morfito, walking toward you.
What did Mr. Costello do when he heard of you, Frank?
Well, he sent me to New York Hospital.
And I think I don't know.
Yeah, that's all right.
And he gave me a big surgical form of a spine operation.
And it makes me walk again.
God bless you, Lou.
And today, today, Frank here, Lou you'll be happy to know, maybe you know, is a technician
at St. Joseph's in Patterson, the very hospital where you used to lay paralyzed, Frank.
Thank you, Frank Morfito, and thank you, Mrs. Milton Palmer.
As a memorial to your infant son, in 1942, or I guess it was 47, wasn't it?
Yes, you and your partner, Bud Abbott, built and equipped the fabulous Lou Costello, Jr.
Recreation Center for Los Angeles Teeming Eastside Youth.
There in the gym, the pool, the playground, boys like these are building good citizenship.
And in memory of little Butch, many hundreds of boys and girls have had their lives protected
by learning to swim.
Now, Lou, as close to your heart as those children, who are even closer, your three
daughters, first here is Patricia Ann, Pat, Mrs. James Mobley, with her husband, Jim,
and your two grandchildren, Lou and Michael.
Here they are.
This is Jim, the husband, Lou and Michael, and daughter Carol, Lou Costello, home from
Oklahoma University.
And little Christy, here's Christy.
That's Carol Lou from Oklahoma, and this is Christy, your youngest.
Sit there, will you?
Come on, Mom, you join the gang up here, Mrs. Christy.
This is your wife, Lou Costello.
The past that brought you tragedy and sorrow caused you to open the door to the future
for others.
So you are among those fortunate ones who have made their lives an inspiration.
Now, Lou, let's take a look into your future.
Know that part of your future will be at the Center of Las Vegas, where you and Bud will
open December 1st.
And I know all...
4th?
I'm sorry.
I know that...
I was managing.
You were chairman.
That's pretty good.
I know all the folks will come along and see you who are around that way.
First of all, Crest would like to present you, Mrs. Costello, Anne, with this beautiful
custom-designed gold charm bracelet from Marshall Jewelers in New York City.
There you go.
Each charm represents an important event.
Crest will also see to it that you and Lou receive a complete film of tonight's program.
Now, Lou, also, these are for you from Marshall there, compliments to Crest.
Now, Lou, we know that as one of the founders and staunchest supporters of the Old-Timers
Club in Patterson, New Jersey, you are particularly proud of its success and achievements in helping
the youngsters of Patterson become better citizens.
So in your name, we're sending them this Bell & Howell 16mm sound projector and camera to
be used as a visual aid in combating both the seeds of delinquency.
Thank you.
Now, also, Lou, in your name, Crest has established and endowed 10 scholarships at the famous
DeVry Technical Institute in Chicago, one of America's foremost electronic centers,
an institution which for the past 25 years has been training men for better jobs in electronics.
For the next 10 years, one scholarship will be awarded each year by the Old-Timers Club
to the boy in the Patterson, New Jersey, area who shows the most interest and aptitude in
this field.
The boy will need no previous technical experience or advanced education.
What's more, after each boy completes his schooling, DeVry Tech's employment service
will help him find a job or start him in his own business, thanks to you.
Finally, one of our informants just happened to hear you make this statement last Friday
morning as you were getting ready to go to work.
Now, listen.
He said, one of these days, I'm going to buy me a wristwatch that works.
Did you say that, Lou?
Huh?
Well, here comes a delegation to prove that out.
Seven of the more than 10,000 members of the Lou Costello Jr.
Recreation Center.
Here they come, right here.
Now, hold it there.
And I understand you boys and girls have something you'd like to say to Mr. Costello.
Is that right?
That's right, Mr. Edwards.
Oh, good.
And what is it, Joseph?
Well, you sure helped an awful lot of us kids, Mr. Costello, and we just want to thank you.
Here, we all chipped in and bought you this for you.
You're wonderful.
Yeah.
And what about?
And read what it says on the back.
Yeah, see what it says on the back.
It says, thanks for sharing your life with ours.
Oh, thank you ever so much.
This is your life.
Lou Costello, America and all the world is, because of the love of the Lord, is a great
man.
And we're so grateful for that.
America and all the world is, because of the laughter you've brought into our lives, but
even more important, you've shared the rewards of that laughter with the needs of a child.
Good night, Lou.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks to you, pal.
And thanks to all these wonderful people who've come from out of your past to be with you
tonight.
Here we go.
Say hello to him, gang.
This is your life, is a Ralph Edwards production.
Directed by Axel Gruenberg.
And directed by Richard Goode.