In 1927 he went to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at MGM and Warner Brothers. His athletic skill led him to occasional work as a stunt man, notably in The Trail of '98, (1927). He can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film The Battle of the Century (1927).
Unlike many burlesque comics of the era, Costello did not use "off-color" material--a trait that continued for the rest of his career.
While working at vaudeville theaters in the 1930s, Costello became acquainted with a talented straight man named Bud Abbott. After working together sporadically, Abbott and Costello formally teamed up in 1936. They performed together in burlesque shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville and movie houses.
In 1938 they received national exposure for the first time by becoming featured performers on "The Kate Smith Hour," a popular variety show. They were hugely successful, and that ultimately led to their appearance in a Broadway play and signing with Universal Studios in 1940.
They filled supporting roles in their first film, One Night in the Tropics (1940), but stole the film with their classic routines, including a much-shortened version of "Who's On First?". The duo became famous for that routine, in which Abbott enumerated the names of a mythical baseball team, with names like "What" and "Who," confounding Costello. They were, among other things, recognized by, but not made members of, the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The team's breakout picture, however, was Buck Privates which was released early in 1941. They immediately became the top-ranking comedy stars in Hollywood and fans looked forward to each of their pictures as a major event. Costello's child-like demeanor was strictly acting, and he aggressively battled with the more easy-going Abbott as well as the studio. Universal upped the duo's salary, but refused Costello's demand to reverse the billing, saying that it had hired Abbott and Costello, not Costello and Abbott. Most movie-goers had never seen the duo's burlesque routines, and so their dated but hilarious material seemed fresh. Many of their films cast them as bumbling servicemen such as In The Navy (film) and Keep 'Em Flying. An amusing footnote to this is that the Japanese military showed these films to Japanese soldiers to demonstrate how inept American soldiers were.
The team also appeared on radio throughout the 1940s. On October 81942 the team launched their own weekly show on NBC sponsored by Camel cigarettes. They moved to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from 1947-49.
In 1951, the twosome became one of the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour (Eddie Cantor and Bob Hope were among the others) and then, the following year, inaugurated their own situation comedy, The Abbott and Costello Show. Costello owned the half-hour series, with Abbott working on salary. The show, which was loosely adapted from their radio program, ran two seasons, from 1952 to 1954, but found a new life in syndicated rerun broadcast.
After making one solo film, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, Costello died of a heart attack on March 31959. He was interred in the Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California. His last words were "That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted." commenting on the Strawberry soda he had just been given.
In 2005, Madison Street, in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, where Costello was born, was renamed Lou Costello's Place.
The centennial of Costello's birth was celebrated in Paterson on the first weekend in March, 2006.
Between June 242006 and June 262006, the Fort Lee Film Commission of Lou Costello's native state of New Jersey held a centennial film retrospective at the Fine Arts Theatre in Hollywood - films screened included the premiere of a digital film made by the teenagers of the present day Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center in East Los Angeles. Also premiered was the 35mm restored print of the Lou Costello produced 1948 short film "10,000 Kids and a Cop" shot at the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in East Los Angeles.
October 22, 1958 Wagon Train, episode The Tobias Jones Story.
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