Bob Hope Biography
The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
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Free Encyclopedia.”
Leslie Townes Hope KBE (May 29, 1903 – July
27, 2003), best known as Bob Hope, was a famous entertainer, having
appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, movies and
in army concerts. Hope became famous with several Broadway musicals
including Roberta, Say When, the 1936 Ziegfeld Follies and Red, Hot and
Blue with Ethel Merman. Before becoming a comedian, Hope boxed
professionally under the boxing nickname of Packy Easte.
* * * *
London origins
Hope was born in Eltham, London, as fifth
of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason
from Weston-super-Mare and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light
opera singer. The family lived in Weston-super-Mare, Whitehall and St.
George in Bristol before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907. He became a
United States citizen in 1908.
Personal
life
According to biographer Arthur Marx, Hope
married his first wife, Grace Louise Troxell, his vaudeville partner
since 1928, on January 25, 1933, although when the marriage record was
uncovered some years ago, Hope denied that they had actually wed; they
were quickly divorced, but it was rumoured that he had fathered a child
with Troxell, and that, despite a reputation for frugality, he sent
generous checks to her daughter. He married his second wife on or about
February 19, 1934, one Dolores DeFina, a devoutly Roman Catholic Bronx,
New York-born nightclub singer of Irish and Italian extraction who was
professionally known as Dolores Reade. They had met two months
previously, at The Vogue, a Manhattan nightclub where Reade was
performing. Dolores and Bob Hope had four children - all adopted from
the same Evanston, Illinois, orphanage - and remained together until his
death. Theirs was the longest marriage is Hollywood history - 69 years
of wedlock.
Thanks for
the Memory
In his 1938 film The Big Broadcast of 1938,
he introduced the song that became his trademark: "Thanks for the
Memory", which he initially sang in a duet with Shirley Ross.
Hope's film
career
Hope starred in several one-reel comedies
for Warner Bros. and from there his movie career accelerated quickly. As
a movie star he was best known for the road movies in which he was
paired with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, as well as the movie My
Favorite Brunette. He never won any Oscars for these, though the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored him five times—with two
honorary Oscars, two special awards and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award. As host of the Academy Awards - a role he filled numerous times
from the 1950s to the 1980s - he once joked about Oscar time, "Or as
it's known at my house, Passover."
Tours of
duty
Hope made big money performing live: An
eight-week tour in 1940 took in a then-record $100,000 in receipts,
according to newspaper reports. The next year, he did a show for free.
On May 6, 1941 at California's March Field,
Hope performed his first USO show. He continued entertaining troops for
the rest of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War all the way
until the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War (The Hundred Hour War). He took the
matter to heart when entertaining and was almost always seen in army
duds, just like his audience, as a sign of support for the troops for
whom he performed. Hope's USO career spanned six decades, during which
he headlined approximately 60 tours.
Hope for
humanity and sport
Hope was also renowned for his passion for
sports. He boxed professionally, was a pool hustler, watched football
and even owned part of the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Rams.
Hope is mostly remembered for his passion for golf, and even played in a
few PGA tour events. The Hope/Chrysler Classic is named after him, which
is now in its 44th year. He also golfed with nearly every President of
the United States from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
In the 1950s he was named honorary mayor of
Palm Springs, California.
In 1978, Hope was created an honorary
knight in the Order of the British Empire "in recognition of his
contributions to film, to song, and to the entertainment of troops in
the past." (citation)
In 1997, Hope was honored by the United
States Congress with the title "Honorary Veteran of the United States
Armed Forces" during an October 29 tribute. It was given him in
recognition of the entertainment he provided US troops during war and
peacekeeping missions.
Hope for
(and on) the air
Hope's career in broadcasting spanned
sixty-four years, and part of this was his long association with NBC. He
first appeared on television in 1932, back when the tube was in the
experimental stages, but it wasn't on the Peacock network--he appeared
on a test transmission for CBS. By the time Hope made his radio debut in
1937, NBC was mainly just a radio network. Hope's first regular series
for NBC Radio was the "Woodbury Soap Hour". One year later, he had the
first show to bear his name, and then sponsored by Pepsodent toothpaste.
Modern viewers remember Hope best for the many specials he did for the
NBC television network in the decades that followed, some of which were
sponsored by Texaco. Hope's Christmas specials were always fan
favorites. A signature portion of his yuletide specials was his
performance of "Silver Bells" (from his 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid),
usually done as a duet with a featured female guest star (through the
years done with such stars as Olivia Newton-John and Brooke Shields).
His final television special was in 1996, with guest Tony Danza helping
Hope to salute the Presidents of the United States.
Hope's
twilight
Hope lived so long that he suffered the
rare indignity of receiving premature obituaries on two separate
occasions. In 1998 his death was erroneously reported by Associated
Press and then announced in the US House of Representatives. In 2003 he
was among several famous figures who had pre-written obituaries
published on CNN's web site due to a lapse in password protection.
Hope celebrated his 100th birthday on May
29, 2003, and might rival Irving Berlin or George Burns as the most
notable entertainment centenarian. In honor of Hope on his birthday, the
intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles,
California was christened Bob Hope Square. His centennial was declared
Bob Hope Day in 35 U.S. states. Hope celebrated his birthday privately
in his Toluca Lake home where he had lived since 1937. Even at 100 years
of age, Hope maintained his sense of humor, quipping "I'm so old,
they've canceled my blood type." And according to one of Hope's
daughters, when asked on his deathbed where he wanted to be buried, he
told his wife, "Surprise me." He died two months later of pneumonia at
9:28 PM July 27, 2003 at his home in Toluca Lake, north of Hollywood.
Bob Hope is interred in San Fernando
Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Conversion
It was confirmed by Roger Cardinal Mahony,
Archbishop of Los Angeles that Bob Hope had converted to Roman
Catholicism some years before he died, and that he had died a Catholic
in good standing. It is certain that his devout wife, Dolores, helped
him to make that decision.
Honors
-
On June 8, 1962, Bob Hope received the
Congressional Gold Medal.
-
In 1965 the PGA renamed an existing
tournament the Bob Hope Desert Classic in recognition of the
comedian's lifelong passion for the game.
-
On January 20, 1969, Lyndon B. Johnson
awarded Bob Hope with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
-
On May 29, 2003, Hollywood and Vine in
Hollywood, California was named "Bob Hope Square" to commemorate
Hope's 100th birthday.
-
On 3 November 2003 the
Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority voted unanimously to
rename that airport to "Bob Hope Airport." Hope had joked with his
family that he wanted an airport named for him after hearing in 1979
that Orange County officials renamed their airport after Hope's
friend John Wayne. On 18 November 2003 the Glendale, California, and
Burbank, California, city councils voted unanimously to approve the
change, and Pasadena, California, followed on 10 December. The
process of changing the name began immediately, though the
FAA-given, three-letter designation, "BUR," most likely will not
change. The rededication ceremony took place on 17 December, the
100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight.
-
USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300), one of the
few naval vessels to be named for a living person, was named in his
honor.
-
The United States Air Force named a
C-17 Globemaster III aircraft The Spirit of Bob Hope in 1997 in
Hope's honor.
-
Asteroid 2829 Bobhope is named after
Bob Hope.
-
Bob Hope has four stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame: the motion picture star on 6541 Hollywood
Blvd., the radio star on 6141 Hollywood Blvd., the TV star on 6758
Hollywood Blvd. and the live theatre special plaque on 7021
Hollywood Blvd.
-
Bob Hope has had several buildings in
the U.S. named after him. In 2004, Stockton, California's renovated
Fox Theatre movie palace was renamed the "Bob Hope Theatre".
-
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's
Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow
comedians and comedy insiders.
Filmography
Going Spanish (1934) (short subject)
Paree, Paree (1934) (short subject)
The Old Grey Mayor (1935) (short subject)
Double Exposure (1935) (short subject)
Calling All Tars (1935) (short subject)
Soup for Nuts (1935) (short subject)
Watch the Birdie (1935) (short subject)
Shop Talk (1936) (short subject)
Don't Hook Now (1938) (short subject)
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
College Swing (1938)
Give Me a Sailor (1938)
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
Never Say Die (1939)
Rhythm Romance (1939)
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Road to Singapore (1940)
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 6 (1940)
(short subject)
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Road to Zanzibar (1941)
Caught in the Draft (1941)
Nothing But the Truth (1941)
Louisiana Purchase (1941)
My Favorite Blonde (1942)
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4 (1942)
(short subject)
Road to Morocco (1942)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
Strictly G.I. (1943) (short subject)
Combat America (1943) (documentary)
They Got Me Covered (1943)
Show Business at War (1943) (short subject)
Let's Face It (1943)
The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
The All-Star Bond Rally (1945) (short
subject)
Story of G.I. Joe (1945) (voice)
Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945) (short
subject)
Road to Utopia (1946)
Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
Variety Girl (1947)
March of Time Volume 14, No. 1: Is
Everybody Listening? (1947) (documentary)
Where There's Life (1947)
Road to Rio (1947)
The Paleface (1948)
Sorrowful Jones (1949)
The Great Lover (1949)
Screen Actors (1950) (short subject)
Fancy Pants (1950)
Cassino to Korea (1950) (documentary)
You Can Change the World (1951) (short
subject)
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
My Favorite Spy (1951)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (cameo)
Son of Paleface (1952)
Screen Snapshots: Memorial to Al Jolson
(1952) (short subject)
Road to Bali (1952)
Off Limits (1953)
Scared Stiff (1953) (cameo)
Here Come the Girls (1953)
Casanova's Big Night (1954)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Invisible Man
(1954) (short subject)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Beauty (1955)
(short subject)
The Seven Little Foys (1955)
Showdown at Ulcer Gulch (1956) (short
subject)
That Certain Feeling (1956)
The Iron Petticoat (1956)
The Heart of Show Business (1957) (short
subject) (narrator)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Star Night
(1957) (short subject)
Beau James (1957)
Alias Jesse James (1959)
The Five Pennies (1959) (cameo)
The Facts of Life (1960)
Bachelor in Paradise (1961)
Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Critic's Choice (1963)
Call Me Bwana (1963)
A Global Affair (1964)
I'll Take Sweden (1965)
The Oscar (1966)
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) (cameo)
Eight on the Lam (1967)
Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968) (short
subject)
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)
How to Commit Marriage (1969)
Cancel My Reservation (1972)
The Muppet Movie (1979) (cameo)
Spies Like Us (1985) (cameo)
A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
Radio Star: The AFN Story (1994)
(documentary)
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's
(1997) (documentary)
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
August 26, 2005
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