Louis Francis Cristillo

1906 - Born in Paterson, New Jersey on the 6th of March.

1927 - He went to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at MGM and Warner Brothers.

1930 - He hitchhiked back home but ran out of money in St. Joseph, Missouri.

        - He took a job as a Dutch-accented comic at a local burlesque theater. Changing his name to "Costello," he went back to New York and began working in vaudeville theater and burlesque there

1938-1940 - Received national exposure for the first time by becoming featured performers on "The Kate Smith Hour," a popular variety show.

1943 - Had an attack of rheumatic fever and was unable to work for a year.

1957 - Abbott and Costello split, after troubles with the Internal Revenue Service that forced both men to sell off their large homes and the rights to some of their films.

1959 - Died of a heart attack three days before his 53rd birthday, on the 3rd of March. He was interred in the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

2005 - Madison Street, in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, where Costello was born, was renamed Lou Costello's Place.