Bob Hope

Entertainer

  • Born: May 29, 1903
  • Birthplace: Eltham, England
  • Died: July 27, 2003
  • Place of death: Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California

American entertainer and actor

Hope was an entertainment icon of radio, television, and motion pictures, a comedian known for joking about fellow entertainers, politicians, and, in particular, himself. He also gained fame for his charity work, entertaining U.S. troops in several wars spanning more than fifty years.

Areas of achievement Theater and entertainment, film, television, radio, philanthropy

Early Life

One of the most famous entertainers in American history, Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England, a suburb of London. Hope’s father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason of English descent, and his mother, Avis Townes Hope, was an aspiring singer of Welsh descent. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1907, where Hope found a love for entertaining people at backyard picnics. In his teenage years, while attending East High School, Hope worked a number of jobs, including newspaper boy, stock boy in his brother’s meat market, soda jerk, and shoe salesman. He also began performing for money as a singer at restaurants and boxing under the name Packy East, entering the ring for three fights.

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Around the same time that he was beginning his entertainment career in modest fashion, Hope became a U.S. citizen, in 1920. After high school, he began taking dancing lessons and working in vaudeville, a form of entertainment popular at the time, which consisted of a number of separate, unrelated acts performed throughout a show. He worked briefly with his girlfriend, Mildred Rosequist, who became his dance partner during some vaudeville acts. In the mid-1920’s, he worked with such partners as Lloyd Durbin in Cleveland and then George Byrne and Louise Troxell. He began using his stage name, Bob, in 1928.

Hope gained success working with Byrne, traveling to New York City and eventually being selected for the Broadway show Sidewalks in New York. He followed his success in New York working in a theater in Pennsylvania announcing coming attractions to audiences, eventually developing his own act during this stint. While performing in the Broadway show Roberta, Hope met nightclub singer Delores Reade, who he married on February 19, 1934. They eventually adopted four children, Linda, Anthony, Kelly, and Laura.

Life’s Work

Hope continued working on Broadway in the mid- to late 1930’s, performing in a number of shows, including Say When (1934), the Ziegfeld Follies (1936), and Red, Hot, and Blue (1936). Hope broke into radio during his time on Broadway, appearing on radio promotions for New York’s Capital Theatre. Also featured in some of his radio promotions was Bing Crosby. After an appearance on the Fleishman Hour starring Rudy Vallee, Hope worked on the Woodbury Soap Show in 1937. He soon was rewarded with his own show on NBC, The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope (1938-1953), which quickly gained a number one ranking. Despite juggling a number of other ventures, Hope continued in radio until 1956.

With his success in vaudeville, Broadway, and radio, Hope began his motion-picture career in 1938 in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938. In the film, he teamed with Shirley Ross to sing the Academy Award-winning song “Thanks for the Memory,” which later became his theme song. The next year, Hope starred in The Cat and the Canary, which began another theme of Hope: playing a coward who uses sarcasm and jokes at his own expense. The next year, he starred with Crosby in Road to Singapore, beginning a long-term motion-picture collaboration between the two that lasted twenty-two years. Hope appeared in more than fifty films, spanning from the late 1930’s until 1985. His other films included ThePaleface(1948), Fancy Pants (1950), and The Lemon Drop Kid (1951). He also produced films such as Alias Jesse James (1959) and The Facts of Life (1960).

At the beginning of World War II, Hope and some of his colleagues visited American troops in California, performing a radio show as entertainment. The positive feedback received from his visit led to another of his long associations: entertaining the troops with the United Service Organizations, better known as the USO. After the California performance, Hope visited troops on both the European and Pacific fronts, providing them with a brief respite from the strain of war. He also began a tradition of traveling to entertain troops during Christmastime, a tradition he continued until he was no longer able to perform. He also entertained the troops during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. President John F. Kennedy awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal in 1962 for his work for the nation, and he has been honored by Congress five times. He was made an honorary military veteran in 1997.

Hope’s stardom led him to the rising popular medium of television. Although he had made a few commercials and guest appearances in the 1930’s and 1940’s while television was in its infancy, he officially began his TV career in 1950 with the special Star Spangled Revue. As Hope’s film career was taking a downturn in the 1960’s with some highly criticized films, his TV career was blossoming. Although he was not a TV regular, his specials, which included a number of Hope “traditions” such as introducing the All-Americans of college football, were popular with audiences into the late 1990’s.

In addition to being an entertainer and philanthropist, Hope also was an avid golfer, hosting an annual Bob Hope Classic tournament (now called the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic). Hope ended his television career in 1996 and made few appearances after he reached his nineties. His one hundredth birthday was celebrated with a TV special featuring numerous clips from his career. Hope died only a few months later, of pneumonia, on July 27, 2003.

Significance

Hope not only was one of the most famous entertainers of the twentieth century but also was one of the most active, appearing in more than fifty films, producing films, performing on Broadway, hosting a radio show for eighteen years, and hosting TV shows for nearly half a century.

Hope was also an innovator. His comedic tactics have been oft-repeated. His penchant for directing jokes at himself, to take one example, remains a staple of many comedians. He also helped bring entertainment and the military together, and he is one of the most important figures in USO history. He will be remembered for his philanthropic work as much as for his entertainment. According to some sources, he contributed more than a billion dollars to charity. His accolades range from the more trivial, such as his stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, to recognitions reflective of his legacy: the streets, buildings, golf tournament, and airport (the former Burbank Airport) named for him.

Bibliography

Faith, William. Bob Hope: A Life in Comedy. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2003. This book provides an elaborated view of Hope’s life in comedy, including his early life.

Hope, Bob, and Linda Hope. Bob Hope: My Life in Jokes. New York: Hyperion Books, 2003. A biography that touches on Hope’s life, from his childhood years to his beginnings in the entertainment industry, and from his work with the USO to films with Bing Crosby and his television career. Hope also shares his humor with readers.

Hope, Bob, and Pete Martin. Have Tux, Will Travel: Bob Hope’s Own Story. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. This book highlights Hope’s early career, focusing on his young adulthood. Includes his early experiences as a prizefighter and as an aspiring entertainer in vaudeville. Also discusses early experiences with entertaining the troops.

McCaffrey, Donald. The Road to Comedy: The Films of Bob Hope. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004. This book focuses on Hope’s film career and the characters he developed in the process of making the films. Particular attention to how Hope used his characters to reflect on the mood of the time in the United States.

Quirk, Lawrence. Bob Hope: The Road Well Traveled. New York: Applause Books, 2000. The author describes some of the difficulties that Hope encountered in making his way to the top of the entertainment industry. The author also provides a critical assessment of Hope’s career and life, focusing on his personal life and government-funded work with the USO.

1901-1940: 1930’s: Americans Embrace Radio Entertainment.

1941-1970: September, 1943: Sinatra Establishes Himself as a Solo Performer; June, 1948-1964: Variety Shows Dominate Television Programming.