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Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906 in Paterson and died of a heart attack on March 3, 1959 at the age of 52 in Los Angeles. His heart had been damaged by rheumatic fever in 1943.
He played sports while at school in Paterson, but dropped out of high school to try and make it in the movies. He teamed up with Bud Abbott to form what would become the most popular U.S. comedy duo in the 1940s.
Costello mentioned his hometown of Paterson in nearly every episode of his TV show. A life-size bronze statue of Costello holding a bat and wearing his trademark derby was erected in a Paterson park in 1994. The baseball bat is a reference to his signature "Who's on First?" routine with Abbott.
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