WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 this 00:07.520 --> 00:10.640 is your life program for all america 00:10.640 --> 00:13.680 now here is mister this is your life himself 00:13.680 --> 00:15.680 ralph edwards 00:15.680 --> 00:19.040 this is bob warren bidding you welcome to this is your life 00:19.040 --> 00:22.400 in another studio here at nbc burbank california 00:22.400 --> 00:24.240 two famous comedy stars 00:24.240 --> 00:28.560 are rehearsing a television film trailer for their newest movie we are secretly 00:28.560 --> 00:32.240 hooked up to their watch and guess which one of them ralph edwards is about to 00:32.240 --> 00:33.520 surprise 00:33.520 --> 00:35.120 take it away studio for 00:35.120 --> 00:36.080 i want to talk about 00:36.080 --> 00:38.880 that's what we have 00:38.880 --> 00:43.120 yes i want to get some help on that no no way down that i thought about this 00:43.120 --> 00:44.200 at the end of all 00:44.200 --> 00:48.000 what's on second was not second who's on for a lot of work what's on second i 00:48.000 --> 00:51.760 don't know all you don't want to know who's out there who's out there 00:51.760 --> 00:55.040 but i'm looking forward to that uh... new avenue the castella 00:55.040 --> 00:59.400 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 00:59.400 --> 01:03.040 on your rehearsal to say that tonight great comedian and a half of a beloved 01:03.040 --> 01:04.640 team of comedians 01:04.640 --> 01:11.640 this is your life 01:18.360 --> 01:19.720 but we can relax 01:19.720 --> 01:24.680 but i have a told me this would be a great chance to get your 01:24.680 --> 01:26.680 we should 01:26.680 --> 01:27.800 and they blow 01:27.800 --> 01:28.560 your life 01:28.560 --> 01:30.240 would make a great movie itself 01:30.240 --> 01:31.320 because often 01:31.320 --> 01:33.680 unknown to all of us 01:33.680 --> 01:36.400 watched your happy clowning on stage 01:36.400 --> 01:37.360 screen 01:37.360 --> 01:39.200 you're hiding an aching heart 01:39.200 --> 01:42.480 we're going to hear about that tonight so come on but let's take a little to 01:42.480 --> 01:43.920 our chair of honor 01:43.920 --> 01:48.280 that uh... you'll never believe it again over there on as he takes his place in 01:48.280 --> 01:55.280 your life 02:01.800 --> 02:03.720 let your mind go back now 02:03.720 --> 02:05.680 your wonderful boyhood days 02:05.680 --> 02:12.120 uh... you were a member of uh... was a basketball team of the car 02:12.120 --> 02:12.800 armory 02:12.800 --> 02:18.800 uh... five the armory five yeah you know you were with the filch eric and 02:18.800 --> 02:21.880 yeah you were the free throw paterson and the whole state of new jersey in 02:21.880 --> 02:22.960 that right 02:22.960 --> 02:26.200 well uh... we want to see if you can still do it now here's a regulation 02:26.200 --> 02:28.680 backstop and basketball right here 02:28.680 --> 02:33.040 now let's see if you can score a basket for the honor of the old armory five the 02:33.040 --> 02:48.040 free throw champ 02:48.040 --> 02:51.040 the 02:51.040 --> 02:52.680 the 02:52.680 --> 02:53.840 here 02:53.840 --> 02:55.520 that's what i meant to you 02:55.520 --> 02:57.680 and that's uh... 02:57.680 --> 03:00.040 bill probert and george probert 03:00.040 --> 03:02.840 and jake presley the whole game 03:02.840 --> 03:09.840 here's the 03:11.520 --> 03:14.480 but you're also living in the patterns marionette balance 03:14.480 --> 03:18.240 as i said why did you call your team the uh... armory five j 03:18.240 --> 03:20.640 well we live in the neighborhood of the old armory 03:20.640 --> 03:22.160 ralph 03:22.160 --> 03:23.000 and uh... 03:23.000 --> 03:23.920 we used to 03:23.920 --> 03:26.080 in order to practice basketball 03:26.080 --> 03:29.520 all make a little bit of debate is clean up the floors and sleep around 03:29.520 --> 03:34.760 the other uh... i did uh... lou promoted well you tell us some more about the 03:34.760 --> 03:38.360 well we're all sports crazy ralph uh... every week we could figure out some way 03:38.360 --> 03:40.840 to get us to the pro basketball games in the fights 03:40.840 --> 03:41.960 yeah i put it 03:41.960 --> 03:43.760 how did you know how did they get in there 03:43.760 --> 03:47.480 belt well uh... lou fast talk the professional players and carry their 03:47.480 --> 03:48.760 bags 03:48.760 --> 03:52.280 uh... you hope to be mistaken for the mascot admitted free 03:52.280 --> 03:59.000 education at the rapid i vegan 03:59.000 --> 04:01.680 such a happy every day 04:01.680 --> 04:04.960 holdback 04:04.960 --> 04:08.940 but you may be fatal take restless president george probert you'll be 04:08.940 --> 04:14.920 saying good night 04:14.920 --> 04:17.320 development 04:17.320 --> 04:19.720 alone 04:19.720 --> 04:20.080 here 04:20.080 --> 04:26.680 were kids, eh, Lou? All right, down the old familiar Patterson Street, Lou, let's go 04:26.680 --> 04:32.240 to your house on 33rd Street. Remember back there? Come on, let's take a walk 04:32.240 --> 04:36.140 back here to 33rd Street and look sitting on the front porch, there's mom! 04:36.140 --> 04:42.920 Yes, indeed, your beloved mom, Mrs. Cicillo. Here she is. 04:42.920 --> 04:53.200 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. 04:53.200 --> 04:57.680 Everybody was gone. Says, where is everybody? What's going on around here? 04:57.680 --> 05:02.840 Let's see, Cristillo is your real name, Lou, but you changed it to 05:02.840 --> 05:06.800 Costello. When was this? Oh, when I was doing extra work in fiction. Yeah. 05:06.800 --> 05:11.080 There was a girl named Colleen Costello and I took her name. Yes, indeed, remember her. 05:11.080 --> 05:15.920 Here we are swinging with mom on the porch on a summer evening, just like you 05:15.920 --> 05:21.080 when you were a boy. Dad's here in spirit too, Lou, I'm sure, though he died in 1947. 05:21.080 --> 05:26.280 And I was here on the front porch swing that used to tell mom about a glorious 05:26.280 --> 05:31.720 dream. What was that dream, Mrs. Cristillo? Well, Lou always wanted to be an actor. 05:31.720 --> 05:36.040 And he used to say to me, well, mother, someday I'm going to take you to 05:36.040 --> 05:41.600 California, to Hollywood, and I'm going to buy you a little White House. And you know, 05:41.600 --> 05:47.400 Ralph, he did all that. He bought me my little house. And he became a star. 05:47.400 --> 05:54.840 Yes, indeed. After a whirl as a prize fighter in Patterson, New Jersey, under the name of 05:54.840 --> 05:59.080 Lou King, that's the name you fought under, you talked your parents into letting you go to 05:59.080 --> 06:04.560 Hollywood to try to make that movie dream of yours come true. But it didn't. Not right at 06:04.560 --> 06:09.880 first. When I first met Lou in Hollywood, you didn't even have a place to sleep. 06:09.880 --> 06:15.600 Now that's the voice of a buddy of those real tough days. He was sort of in a position to 06:15.600 --> 06:20.440 see that they were tough days for you. He used to run a parking lot at MGM Studios and had a 06:20.440 --> 06:24.680 little gas station there. Now in business at Lake Tahoe Resort, here from Lake Tahoe, 06:24.680 --> 06:38.360 California, is Mr. Eddie Devine. Here he is. Where did... there during those early days, Eddie? 06:38.360 --> 06:40.240 Well, for a while, I slept in a car. 06:40.240 --> 06:42.000 That's right, in the autopilot. 06:42.000 --> 06:43.960 That's exactly where he slept. 06:43.960 --> 06:50.760 And then I understand that he and Gene Coogan used to wash their laundry out on the wash rack 06:50.760 --> 06:56.840 at night. The automobile wash rack. How about your eating in those days? Things were... 06:56.840 --> 07:02.040 It's kind of tough. Real tough. We didn't do much eating, but we got along all right. 07:02.040 --> 07:06.240 Bread and jam for a month, I understand. Lou worked at a laboring job there, 07:06.240 --> 07:08.160 some of the laboring jobs in the studio, didn't he, Eddie? 07:08.160 --> 07:08.680 Yes. 07:08.680 --> 07:11.520 And of course, he got his big break. 07:11.520 --> 07:17.240 He got a big break at that time. Stuntman for Joan Crawford. 07:17.240 --> 07:21.480 And then you worked extra in Rosemary and a few other pictures. 07:21.480 --> 07:21.680 Yeah. 07:21.680 --> 07:26.160 Well, this wasn't exactly the dream of stardom you'd told mom about there. 07:26.160 --> 07:33.480 So you start hitchhiking back home. And in St. Joseph, Missouri, you landed a job in Gelu. 07:33.480 --> 07:34.920 You got the whole story. 07:34.920 --> 07:39.920 Yeah, we got it right. You heard there was a burlesque show that wanted... 07:39.920 --> 07:43.440 Yeah, there was a burlesque show in St. Joe, Missouri. They wanted a Dutch comedian. 07:43.440 --> 07:43.880 Right. 07:43.880 --> 07:46.520 So I was on the stage, but I told the fella I was a Dutch comedian. 07:46.520 --> 07:51.240 Burlesque, the training ground for so many great comedians, 07:51.240 --> 07:55.840 was just a way to make a living for you, Lou Costello, age 20 in 1928. 07:55.840 --> 07:58.720 Thank you, Eddie Devine of Lake Tahoe, California. 07:58.720 --> 08:04.040 And thank you, Mrs. Helen Crisillo. You take mom back with the Armory Five, Eddie. 08:04.040 --> 08:06.360 Lou, you'll see her a little later. 08:06.360 --> 08:10.400 There you go. 08:10.400 --> 08:16.560 Her last clue in a most unusual way is to bring you face to face with your wife. 08:16.560 --> 08:24.440 And we know that you've stood together since in the most difficult problems that face a father and mother. 08:24.440 --> 08:29.120 Now, we leave your story for a moment, and I know you would be happy to catch your breath just a minute. 08:29.120 --> 08:29.560 Yes, I would. 08:29.560 --> 08:31.480 Okay, fella. 08:31.480 --> 08:43.280 Back, world famous comedian, beloved by all of us, Lou Costello of Abbotton, Costello. 08:43.280 --> 08:45.920 1933, Lou, you're a pretty handsome guy there. 08:45.920 --> 08:47.280 You're a handsome guy now. 08:47.280 --> 08:51.320 You're the comedian at the Republic Burlesque Theater in New York City. 08:51.320 --> 08:58.080 In the chorus is a pretty dark haired girl named Ann Backler, whom you'd like to meet. 08:58.080 --> 08:59.560 I met her. 08:59.560 --> 09:01.040 You sure did. 09:01.040 --> 09:05.280 They took a very impetuous young man, but I didn't expect he'd knock me out. 09:05.280 --> 09:07.240 Uh-huh. 09:07.240 --> 09:08.120 Lou, you're right. 09:08.120 --> 09:09.880 Your wife, she helped us plan this. 09:09.880 --> 09:10.760 Go easy on her. 09:10.760 --> 09:12.560 It's been a tough week. 09:12.560 --> 09:19.360 Here you are, Ann, Mrs. Lou Costello. 09:19.360 --> 09:24.840 Oh, if you knew what this gal had been going on, and Eddie, and the whole gang here. 09:24.840 --> 09:30.440 Now, sit beside your husband, Ann, and tell us how Lou's wooing knocked you out. 09:30.440 --> 09:33.640 I think he's knocked out now. 09:33.640 --> 09:37.800 Well, I wasn't particularly interested in meeting him, but a girlfriend of mine in the 09:37.800 --> 09:43.760 show insisted I should go and see Lou do this act, which I did. 09:43.760 --> 09:46.080 And he makes a sudden turn on stage. 09:46.080 --> 09:47.080 Where were you standing? 09:47.080 --> 09:48.080 In the wings. 09:48.080 --> 09:49.080 Oh, my. 09:49.080 --> 09:52.800 And he hits his head on this hall tree, knocks it over, and knocks me out cold. 09:52.800 --> 09:55.120 That was my introduction to Lou. 09:55.120 --> 09:58.520 And now we've got three children and two grandchildren. 09:58.520 --> 10:00.560 Well, he told the whole story. 10:00.560 --> 10:01.560 Good night, everybody. 10:01.560 --> 10:03.920 Within four months, you two are married. 10:03.920 --> 10:07.960 And in your very first year of marriage, Lou, you and Ann had an automobile accident, didn't 10:07.960 --> 10:08.960 you? 10:08.960 --> 10:09.960 Yes, we did. 10:09.960 --> 10:10.960 What happened? 10:10.960 --> 10:11.960 Do you want to tell us about that? 10:11.960 --> 10:13.360 Well, it was sort of early in the morning, around 3 in the morning, and there was a bus 10:13.360 --> 10:20.240 coming around a turn, I think, around Massachusetts, and I wanted to get away from him, and I did, 10:20.240 --> 10:24.880 but I went over an embankment and landed amongst a lot of trees, about 40 feet. 10:24.880 --> 10:26.200 Then you took a bus to Patterson. 10:26.200 --> 10:28.400 No, we hitchhiked all the way back. 10:28.400 --> 10:31.120 Ah, I'll change that little note in here. 10:31.120 --> 10:33.520 You walked then from... 10:33.520 --> 10:36.040 You got to your folks' home, isn't that right? 10:36.040 --> 10:37.040 Oh, yes. 10:37.040 --> 10:39.240 And when you got home, what did you find really that helped? 10:39.240 --> 10:40.240 We were very fortunate, Ralph. 10:40.240 --> 10:41.240 We had a family physician. 10:41.240 --> 10:44.760 He came in and he said, well, this is not for me, but I'm going to call a doctor right 10:44.760 --> 10:45.760 away. 10:45.760 --> 10:50.200 And he did, a Dr. Redding, who lived two blocks away from us on 33rd Street, and he was, at 10:50.200 --> 10:53.840 that time, supposed to be about surgeons in the whole country. 10:53.840 --> 10:56.640 And he put my wife immediately in a hospital and in a care unit. 10:56.640 --> 11:00.000 But the answer is she had a broken neck all this time. 11:00.000 --> 11:02.720 You've been cast, as you say, for over a year. 11:02.720 --> 11:06.680 Money problems on a burlesque comedian's salary are pretty grim for you. 11:06.680 --> 11:11.960 I like Lou's clean brand of comedy and believe we could make a hit of it if we got together. 11:11.960 --> 11:12.960 The other half! 11:12.960 --> 11:16.800 I said in my letters that we meet and talk it over. 11:16.800 --> 11:22.760 The other half of the celebrated comedy team, here he is again, Bud Abbott, ladies and gentlemen. 11:22.760 --> 11:28.520 You take it like I made you. 11:28.520 --> 11:29.520 Your face is very familiar. 11:29.520 --> 11:33.880 You two formed your team in 1936, fellas. 11:33.880 --> 11:35.880 Did success come easily then, Bud? 11:35.880 --> 11:38.440 No, no, Ralph. 11:38.440 --> 11:44.080 Our timing was perfect for each other, but it took, oh, at least three years of struggle 11:44.080 --> 11:49.480 to get our first act organized and material together. 11:49.480 --> 11:54.120 And during that time, Lou, your baby girls, Patty Ann and Carol Lou, are born. 11:54.120 --> 11:55.800 Remember those days, Ann? 11:55.800 --> 11:57.480 I certainly do, Ralph. 11:57.480 --> 12:02.160 We lived in a basement apartment in Atlantic City and the floor was so slow, this daughter 12:02.160 --> 12:04.160 kept falling out of the crib and hitting me. 12:04.160 --> 12:06.160 She's throwing her back in. 12:06.160 --> 12:07.160 Ann, she's out again. 12:07.160 --> 12:08.160 She's out again. 12:08.160 --> 12:09.160 Your turn. 12:09.160 --> 12:15.480 Your big break comes then, a chance on the Kate Smith radio show in 1938. 12:15.480 --> 12:19.280 Week after week, you and Bud keep the nation screaming with laughter and this leads a 12:19.280 --> 12:22.080 1940 to your first movie, isn't that right? 12:22.080 --> 12:23.800 Yes, that's right. 12:23.800 --> 12:29.880 In fact, Lou and I were both amazed at the response that we got from our first couple 12:29.880 --> 12:30.880 of movies. 12:30.880 --> 12:34.520 That's right, almost overnight, Abbott and Co. become the number one box office attraction 12:34.520 --> 12:35.680 in the nation. 12:35.680 --> 12:39.920 And will any of us ever forget the laughs you two gave us in such all-time hits as Buck 12:39.920 --> 12:46.000 Privates, Rio Rita, In the Navy, and many, many more wonderful comedy pictures from the 12:46.000 --> 12:49.480 early days of the movie. 12:49.480 --> 12:55.280 And here, at the pinnacle of fame, Lou, you're struck down by rheumatic fever. 12:55.280 --> 12:59.120 You face a year in bed with a chance that you may never get well, isn't that right, 12:59.120 --> 13:00.120 Bud? 13:00.120 --> 13:05.440 Well, if I walked into Lou's sick room, he had tears in his eyes and he was probing over 13:05.440 --> 13:11.480 a lot of, oh, hundreds and hundreds of letters from kiddie fans who were in the same predicament 13:11.480 --> 13:18.600 as Lou, bedridden with rheumatic fever, and all the months that he was in bed, he was 13:18.600 --> 13:20.120 answering these letters. 13:20.120 --> 13:25.600 Their parents had written to Lou and asked him to beg his children, their children, not 13:25.600 --> 13:28.240 to get to that type of... 13:28.240 --> 13:31.640 And anyhow, Lou wrote and wrote and wrote and kept on writing, and that's all he did 13:31.640 --> 13:34.800 was write to those kiddies and told them to stay in bed and get well. 13:34.800 --> 13:41.040 Right, Bud, I know your daily visits to Lou meant a lot when he was so ill. 13:41.040 --> 13:42.040 It meant everything. 13:42.040 --> 13:47.320 I only wish, I only wish it protected our friendship, but everyone knows that Lou and 13:47.320 --> 13:50.840 I had a rift in 1945. 13:50.840 --> 13:57.880 Like a lot of people do, we magnified a difference of opinion and we let a molehill become a 13:57.880 --> 13:58.880 mountain. 13:58.880 --> 14:02.840 Lou, I thank God we came to our senses. 14:02.840 --> 14:12.600 I'm glad that neither you nor I could sing. 14:12.600 --> 14:23.160 Today our friendship seems all the more precious to me because we almost lost it forever through 14:23.160 --> 14:24.720 foolish pride. 14:24.720 --> 14:25.720 Thank you, Bud Abbott. 14:25.720 --> 14:28.720 Believe me, that may make a lot of people see how to forgive them. 14:28.720 --> 14:33.480 Thank you, Bud. 14:33.480 --> 14:43.880 Just before that first long illness of yours, Lou, another lifelong dream comes true. 14:43.880 --> 14:47.520 And here presents you with a baby boy, your little son. 14:47.520 --> 14:48.920 What's your pet name for him? 14:48.920 --> 14:49.920 What'd you call him? 14:49.920 --> 14:50.920 Little Butch. 14:50.920 --> 14:51.920 Little Butch. 14:51.920 --> 14:55.360 Butch was to be one year old on November 6, 1943. 14:55.360 --> 14:59.320 On November 4, what was the gala broadcast that you were scheduled to do? 14:59.320 --> 15:02.600 Well, we were doing a broadcast. 15:02.600 --> 15:05.080 It was my first broadcast after my illness. 15:05.080 --> 15:06.080 That's right. 15:06.080 --> 15:09.720 To tell of the events of that day, here's your faithful friend and manager, Mr. Eddie 15:09.720 --> 15:10.720 Sherman. 15:10.720 --> 15:11.720 Here's Eddie. 15:11.720 --> 15:20.680 You know, Ralph, Lou was planning to use some funny sounds on his show that night so Little 15:20.680 --> 15:24.040 Butch could hear him at home how much Butch loved him. 15:24.040 --> 15:29.360 And his wife, Mrs. Costello, may be awake at night to hear the show. 15:29.360 --> 15:35.240 But you know, Ralph, that afternoon at the studio, I got the tragic call from Lou's home 15:35.240 --> 15:39.360 that his little baby had drowned in the family pool. 15:39.360 --> 15:41.040 How'd it happen? 15:41.040 --> 15:44.920 Well, Mrs. Costello had gone out shopping. 15:44.920 --> 15:51.640 The nurse had put Little Butch in a playpen, but somehow he worked one of the slats loose 15:51.640 --> 15:56.080 and climbed out by the pool and dropped in unnoticed. 15:56.080 --> 16:01.880 You drive Lou home, and after he does all he can to console Mrs. Costello, what does 16:01.880 --> 16:03.520 Lou tell you, Eddie? 16:03.520 --> 16:06.040 Well, Lou was terribly heartbroken. 16:06.040 --> 16:07.880 This was a great tragedy to him. 16:07.880 --> 16:12.000 He thought the whole world tumbled from under him. 16:12.000 --> 16:16.200 But he said to me, Eddie, I want to go back to the studio and do the show. 16:16.200 --> 16:22.360 I promised Little Butch that he would hear me tonight, and wherever God has taken him, 16:22.360 --> 16:25.320 I know he will hear me, and I want to keep my promise. 16:25.320 --> 16:28.720 That's great an example of love that ever displayed. 16:28.720 --> 16:31.720 Thank you, Eddie Sherman. 16:31.720 --> 16:41.240 With a heart that came near breaking, Lou, you've gone on to make the world laugh. 16:41.240 --> 16:45.840 The more you've suffered, the more you wanted to bring healing to others. 16:45.840 --> 16:50.200 They called me Goldilocks when I sold my long hair to buy war stamps. 16:50.200 --> 16:52.040 Mr. Costello saved my life. 16:52.040 --> 16:54.200 Remember that girl, Lou? 16:54.200 --> 16:55.600 It's been ten years since you've seen her. 16:55.600 --> 17:00.360 We found her in Canada, where today she's wife to the young student minister. 17:00.360 --> 17:05.000 Here from Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, is Mrs. Milton Palmer, Lisa, whom you knew as 17:05.000 --> 17:11.680 Goldilocks Wolfe. 17:11.680 --> 17:16.080 As a girl of fourteen, you sold your long hair for use in wartime precision instruments. 17:16.080 --> 17:17.560 Why was that, Mrs. Palmer? 17:17.560 --> 17:23.040 To buy war stamps and to try to inspire other children to buy them. 17:23.040 --> 17:27.920 And then later, I had my appendix out and complications set in that caused me to waste 17:27.920 --> 17:29.960 away to sixty pounds. 17:29.960 --> 17:30.960 They said I would die. 17:30.960 --> 17:32.320 How did you hear of her, Lou? 17:32.320 --> 17:33.320 Do you recall? 17:33.320 --> 17:36.320 I was laying in bed and I read the newspaper about it. 17:36.320 --> 17:37.320 I see. 17:37.320 --> 17:39.760 What did Lucasella do for you, Mrs. Palmer? 17:39.760 --> 17:44.520 Well they flew me to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and there Mr. Costello spent thousands of 17:44.520 --> 17:47.240 dollars for my operations and care. 17:47.240 --> 17:51.720 Then my mother wired to him saying, uh, Lisa Loda will live. 17:51.720 --> 17:52.720 God bless you. 17:52.720 --> 17:53.720 I thank you. 17:53.720 --> 17:54.720 Thank you, sweetheart. 17:54.720 --> 17:55.720 Thank you for saving my life. 17:55.720 --> 17:56.720 Thank you, darling. 17:56.720 --> 17:57.720 Take care. 17:57.720 --> 18:04.400 Lou, here's one more example of the many people you've helped. 18:04.400 --> 18:09.240 Remember the boy who spent eleven years unable to walk, paralyzed in a hospital in Patterson, 18:09.240 --> 18:10.240 New Jersey? 18:10.240 --> 18:11.240 Yeah. 18:11.240 --> 18:14.040 Look, Mr. Costello, I walk. 18:14.040 --> 18:26.440 Here he is, your grateful young friend, Frank Morfito, walking toward you. 18:26.440 --> 18:30.160 What did Mr. Costello do when he heard of you, Frank? 18:30.160 --> 18:34.080 Well, he sent me to New York Hospital. 18:34.080 --> 18:35.080 And I think I don't know. 18:35.080 --> 18:36.080 Yeah, that's all right. 18:36.080 --> 18:42.200 And he gave me a big surgical form of a spine operation. 18:42.200 --> 18:43.200 And it makes me walk again. 18:43.200 --> 18:44.200 God bless you, Lou. 18:44.200 --> 18:52.040 And today, today, Frank here, Lou you'll be happy to know, maybe you know, is a technician 18:52.040 --> 18:57.040 at St. Joseph's in Patterson, the very hospital where you used to lay paralyzed, Frank. 18:57.040 --> 19:03.040 Thank you, Frank Morfito, and thank you, Mrs. Milton Palmer. 19:03.040 --> 19:12.240 As a memorial to your infant son, in 1942, or I guess it was 47, wasn't it? 19:12.240 --> 19:17.520 Yes, you and your partner, Bud Abbott, built and equipped the fabulous Lou Costello, Jr. 19:17.520 --> 19:20.560 Recreation Center for Los Angeles Teeming Eastside Youth. 19:20.560 --> 19:26.240 There in the gym, the pool, the playground, boys like these are building good citizenship. 19:26.240 --> 19:32.080 And in memory of little Butch, many hundreds of boys and girls have had their lives protected 19:32.080 --> 19:34.760 by learning to swim. 19:34.760 --> 19:42.480 Now, Lou, as close to your heart as those children, who are even closer, your three 19:42.480 --> 19:48.280 daughters, first here is Patricia Ann, Pat, Mrs. James Mobley, with her husband, Jim, 19:48.280 --> 19:51.360 and your two grandchildren, Lou and Michael. 19:51.360 --> 19:52.360 Here they are. 19:52.360 --> 19:58.160 This is Jim, the husband, Lou and Michael, and daughter Carol, Lou Costello, home from 19:58.160 --> 19:59.160 Oklahoma University. 19:59.160 --> 20:00.160 And little Christy, here's Christy. 20:00.160 --> 20:09.440 That's Carol Lou from Oklahoma, and this is Christy, your youngest. 20:09.440 --> 20:10.440 Sit there, will you? 20:10.440 --> 20:13.560 Come on, Mom, you join the gang up here, Mrs. Christy. 20:13.560 --> 20:18.000 This is your wife, Lou Costello. 20:18.000 --> 20:23.000 The past that brought you tragedy and sorrow caused you to open the door to the future 20:23.000 --> 20:24.040 for others. 20:24.040 --> 20:30.400 So you are among those fortunate ones who have made their lives an inspiration. 20:30.400 --> 20:36.600 Now, Lou, let's take a look into your future. 20:36.600 --> 20:40.520 Know that part of your future will be at the Center of Las Vegas, where you and Bud will 20:40.520 --> 20:42.280 open December 1st. 20:42.280 --> 20:43.280 And I know all... 20:43.280 --> 20:44.280 4th? 20:44.280 --> 20:45.280 I'm sorry. 20:45.280 --> 20:46.280 I know that... 20:46.280 --> 20:47.280 I was managing. 20:47.280 --> 20:48.280 You were chairman. 20:48.280 --> 20:49.280 That's pretty good. 20:49.280 --> 20:53.520 I know all the folks will come along and see you who are around that way. 20:53.520 --> 20:56.840 First of all, Crest would like to present you, Mrs. Costello, Anne, with this beautiful 20:56.840 --> 21:03.000 custom-designed gold charm bracelet from Marshall Jewelers in New York City. 21:03.000 --> 21:04.000 There you go. 21:04.000 --> 21:05.520 Each charm represents an important event. 21:05.520 --> 21:10.560 Crest will also see to it that you and Lou receive a complete film of tonight's program. 21:10.560 --> 21:15.120 Now, Lou, also, these are for you from Marshall there, compliments to Crest. 21:15.120 --> 21:18.820 Now, Lou, we know that as one of the founders and staunchest supporters of the Old-Timers 21:18.820 --> 21:23.060 Club in Patterson, New Jersey, you are particularly proud of its success and achievements in helping 21:23.060 --> 21:26.360 the youngsters of Patterson become better citizens. 21:26.360 --> 21:31.200 So in your name, we're sending them this Bell & Howell 16mm sound projector and camera to 21:31.200 --> 21:35.000 be used as a visual aid in combating both the seeds of delinquency. 21:35.000 --> 21:36.000 Thank you. 21:36.000 --> 21:41.640 Now, also, Lou, in your name, Crest has established and endowed 10 scholarships at the famous 21:41.640 --> 21:46.880 DeVry Technical Institute in Chicago, one of America's foremost electronic centers, 21:46.880 --> 21:51.640 an institution which for the past 25 years has been training men for better jobs in electronics. 21:51.640 --> 21:56.160 For the next 10 years, one scholarship will be awarded each year by the Old-Timers Club 21:56.160 --> 22:00.640 to the boy in the Patterson, New Jersey, area who shows the most interest and aptitude in 22:00.640 --> 22:01.640 this field. 22:01.640 --> 22:04.640 The boy will need no previous technical experience or advanced education. 22:04.640 --> 22:09.200 What's more, after each boy completes his schooling, DeVry Tech's employment service 22:09.200 --> 22:13.720 will help him find a job or start him in his own business, thanks to you. 22:13.720 --> 22:17.560 Finally, one of our informants just happened to hear you make this statement last Friday 22:17.560 --> 22:19.400 morning as you were getting ready to go to work. 22:19.400 --> 22:20.400 Now, listen. 22:20.400 --> 22:23.840 He said, one of these days, I'm going to buy me a wristwatch that works. 22:23.840 --> 22:24.840 Did you say that, Lou? 22:24.840 --> 22:25.840 Huh? 22:25.840 --> 22:31.000 Well, here comes a delegation to prove that out. 22:31.000 --> 22:34.360 Seven of the more than 10,000 members of the Lou Costello Jr. 22:34.360 --> 22:35.360 Recreation Center. 22:35.360 --> 22:36.360 Here they come, right here. 22:36.360 --> 22:37.360 Now, hold it there. 22:37.360 --> 22:46.640 And I understand you boys and girls have something you'd like to say to Mr. Costello. 22:46.640 --> 22:47.640 Is that right? 22:47.640 --> 22:48.640 That's right, Mr. Edwards. 22:48.640 --> 22:49.640 Oh, good. 22:49.640 --> 22:50.640 And what is it, Joseph? 22:50.640 --> 22:55.960 Well, you sure helped an awful lot of us kids, Mr. Costello, and we just want to thank you. 22:55.960 --> 22:59.040 Here, we all chipped in and bought you this for you. 22:59.040 --> 23:00.040 You're wonderful. 23:00.040 --> 23:01.040 Yeah. 23:01.040 --> 23:02.040 And what about? 23:02.040 --> 23:03.040 And read what it says on the back. 23:03.040 --> 23:04.040 Yeah, see what it says on the back. 23:04.040 --> 23:05.040 It says, thanks for sharing your life with ours. 23:05.040 --> 23:06.040 Oh, thank you ever so much. 23:06.040 --> 23:07.040 This is your life. 23:07.040 --> 23:08.040 Lou Costello, America and all the world is, because of the love of the Lord, is a great 23:08.040 --> 23:09.040 man. 23:09.040 --> 23:10.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:10.040 --> 23:11.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:11.040 --> 23:12.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:12.040 --> 23:13.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:13.040 --> 23:14.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:14.040 --> 23:15.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:15.040 --> 23:16.040 And we're so grateful for that. 23:16.040 --> 23:22.160 America and all the world is, because of the laughter you've brought into our lives, but 23:22.160 --> 23:27.560 even more important, you've shared the rewards of that laughter with the needs of a child. 23:27.560 --> 23:29.320 Good night, Lou. 23:29.320 --> 23:30.320 Thanks a lot. 23:30.320 --> 23:31.320 Thanks to you, pal. 23:31.320 --> 23:35.380 And thanks to all these wonderful people who've come from out of your past to be with you 23:35.380 --> 23:36.380 tonight. 23:36.380 --> 23:37.380 Here we go. 23:37.380 --> 23:38.380 Say hello to him, gang. 23:38.380 --> 23:45.680 This is your life, is a Ralph Edwards production. 23:45.680 --> 23:48.800 Directed by Axel Gruenberg. 23:48.800 --> 24:16.160 And directed by Richard Goode.