ABBOTT & COSTELLO - BROTHERS in Comedy

THROUGH GOOD TIMES AND BAD, THE LEGENDARY COMIC DUO ALWAYS REMAINED THE BEST OF FRIENDS

- Natalie Posner and Katie Bruno

During the months that Lou Costello was stuck in bed recovering from rheumatic fever, Bud Abbott called often. "They played this game on the phone called 'Guess the Blood Pressure," Lou's daughter Chris Costello tells Closer. "He and Bud both loved to gamble - although they weren't good gamblers. They lost a lot of money."

For a time, they could afford it. During World War II, the comedy team of Abbott and Costello made Bud and Lou the highest-paid entertainers in the world. Their friendship, born out of a business partnership, would survive petty arguments, personal tragedies, trouble with the IRS and even death. "They were together 21 years and had their disagreements," says Chris, "but it never meant that they hated each other."