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Podcast: Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting
Episode: BW - EP157—006: Thanksgiving 1944—Thanksgiving Dinner with Abbott and Costello
Description: Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers
Although Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are remembered for their movies, they got their start toward national fame in radio.
They’d met in 1929, when Costello was booked with a vaudeville act into a neighborhood theater. Abbott worked in the box office and soon found himself playing Costello’s straight man.
In 1938 they appeared at Loew’s in New York, where they were seen by Ted Collins, architect of Kate Smith’s career. Their slaphappy style was perfect for radio, and their rise to frontline stardom was rapid.
For two seasons, beginnin...