Lou Costello

Lore & Background

He attended Public School 15, was a gifted athlete in basketball, and fought as a boxer under the name Lou King. drowned. He continued a radio broadcast that night, a decision that affected his demeanor.

Reader's Guide

Lou Costello, as half of Abbott and Costello, was a central figure in American comedy during the 1940s and early 1950s. Their routine "Who's on First?" became a classic of verbal comedy, and their films were among the most popular of the World War II era. The team's success was built on burlesque traditions, polished by writer John Grant, and their work in radio and film set a template for later comedy duos. Costello's athleticism and physical comedy distinguished him, while his personal resilience after family tragedy added depth to his public persona. The team's decline in the mid-1950s due to overexposure and changing tastes, including the rise of Martin and Lewis, marked the end of an era. Costello's legacy endures through the continued syndication of their television show and the lasting fame of "Who's on First?".

Did You Know?

• He fought as a boxer in his teens under the name Lou King.

Roots in the Bronx

The family called the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx home, and young Christine was baptized in the Lutheran faith. Looking back on her childhood, she painted a picture of a quiet, delicate boy who shied away from physical roughhousing and fistfights. Army at nineteen, where she served in a clerical capacity during World War II. Following her discharge, she pursued a string of educational experiences: Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, the Progressive School of Photography in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School in New York City. She also held a brief position at Pathé News and explored a career in photography. These varied years of study and work shaped a restless, curious young person who would soon make a decision that would alter not only her own life but the public conversation around gender in America.

A Journey Across the Atlantic

Returning to New York after her military service, Jorgensen grew increasingly troubled by what one obituary later described as a "lack of male physical development." She began taking estrogen in the form of ethinylestradiol and, with the help of Joseph Angelo—husband of a classmate from the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School—researched the possibility of sex reassignment surgery. Originally planning to travel to Sweden, where the only surgeons performing such procedures were based, she made a stopover in Copenhagen to visit relatives. There she met Christian Hamburger, a Danish endocrinologist specializing in rehabilitative hormonal therapy at the Serum Institute. She stayed, underwent hormone replacement under his guidance, and chose the name Christine in his honor. Hamburger described the gradual physical transformation he observed. Professor E. Dahl-Iverson performed the operations. Because her parents were Danish, the trip could be explained as a family visit, and she told no one of her true intentions, fearing they would not support her.

The World Finds Out

Jorgensen had intended to keep her transition entirely private, but a letter she wrote to her parents in New York was leaked to the press. Overnight, she went from an unknown young woman to a household name. Rather than retreat from the attention, she leaned into it. She became known for her directness and polished wit, and she deliberately used the platform that fame provided to speak on behalf of transgender people. She gave lectures at colleges and universities across the country on the subject of transsexuality, turning what could have been a tabloid spectacle into a sustained educational effort. Her visibility made her the first person in the United States to become widely known for having undergone sex reassignment surgery, and she carried that distinction with a steady, unflinching presence.

In Her Own Words

Throughout her life she gave lectures at colleges and universities, speaking openly about what she had experienced. Yet she had strong feelings about language. In a 1980s interview with Gary Collins for Hour Magazine, she recalled her family's reaction: "Either they were to accept me or there was a break. My family did not want to lose me." She remained close to her parents until their deaths. Harry Benjamin, who served as a medical adviser on her later vaginoplasty, credited her in the preface of her book, writing that without her, his own research, publications, and lectures might never have happened.