Biography for
Bob Hope
Nickname
Old Ski Nose
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Height
5' 11 1/2"
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Mini biography
Comedian, born in London. He emigrated with his parents to the USA in 1907. After some
years on the stage as a dancer and comedian, he made his first film appearance in The Big Broadcast of 1938 singing "Thanks for the Memory', which became his signature tune. In partnership with Bing Crosby and
Dorothy Lamour, he appeared in the highly successful Road to ... comedies (1940--52), and in many others until the early 1970s. During World War 2 and the Korean and Vietnam Wars he spent much time entertaining the
troops in the field. For these activities and for his continued contributions to the industry he was given a special Academy Award on five occasions.
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Spouse
'Dolores Reade' (19 February 1934 - present)
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Trivia
ABC -TV Network News Poll, A&E Biography Viewers Poll, as well as magazine and newspaper 'century roundups'
have proclaimed Bob Hope as the "Entertainer of the 20th Century."
May be 2 years or so older than usual year of birth (1903) provided in reference books per a biography written about Bob Hope.
1957: Golden Globe: Ambassador of Good Will Award
1959: Emmy: Trustees' Award "for bringing the great gift of laughter to all peoples of all nations; for selflessly entertaining American troops throughout
the world over many years; and for making TV finer by these deeds and by the consistently high quality of his TV programs through the years"
1959: Academy: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
1962: Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Cecil B. DeMille Award
1965: Screen Actors Guild: Life Achievement Award
1984: Emmy: Governor's Award
1985: Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award
1994: American Comedy Award: Lifetime Achievement(male)
1995: National Medal of Arts: presented by President Bill Clinton
Has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Has 4 adopted children: Linda, Anthony, Kelly, and Nora
Has entertained the troops overseas in every war from WWII to the Gulf War
(1998) Queen Elizabeth to confer honourary Knighthood on Hope.
Played his first big part in the Broadway version of "Roberta" in 1933.
In the 1950s, a part-owner of the Cleveland Indians
baseball team. His guest appearance in "I Love Lucy" (1951) centered around his attending a Yankees-Indians game at Yankee Stadium.
Honorary knighthood awarded May, 1998.
(Summer 1998) Was
reported dead by a televison station...a few minutes later the correction was made. Bob laughed it off.
Holds two entries in "The Guinness Book of World Records". One is for having the distinction of
being the entertainer with "the longest running contract with a single network - spanning sixty-one years". The second is for being the "most honored entertainer".
Boxed for a short while under the name of "Packy East".
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Personal quotes
"Golf is my real profession - show business pays my green fees."
(on being told he was being awarded an honourary knighthood) "What an honour and what a surprise for a boy born in England, raised
in Cleveland and schooled in vaudeville."
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Where are they now
(Early June, 2000) Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho
Mirage, California, USA. Condition improving, in bout with intestinal bleeding.
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Salary
Going Spanish (1934) $2500
Old Grey Mayor, The (1935) $2500
Big Broadcast of 1938, The (1938) $20,000
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Actor, producer. (b. May 29, 1903, Eltham, England, as Leslie Townes
Hope.) What can anyone say about the man who may be the most popular entertainer in the history of Western civilization? Having conquered every conceivable medium, he approaches the twenty-first century with
characteristic energy and enthusiasm, although age has slowed him up somewhat in recent years. He began his show-business life as a vaudeville comedian, and his machine-gun delivery of jokes quickly earned him the
nickname "Rapid Robert." Hope worked his way to Broadway by the early 1930s, and made numerous comedy shorts in New York studios through mid-decade, including a generally mediocre series for WarnerVitaphone. A
radio regular, he was starring on "The Pepsodent Show" by 1938; that same year he made his feature-film debut in Paramount'sThe Big Broadcast of 1938 in which he and Shirley Ross sang the wistful "Thanks
for the Memory," which became (and remains) his signature tune. Paramount knew it had a hot property, and kept Hope busy in such light fare asCollege Swing, Thanks for the Memory (both 1938),Some Like It Hot (no
relation to the Tony Curtis-Jack Lemmon-Marilyn Monroe film), andNever Say Die (both 1939) before dusting off and retailoring the old barnstorming thrillerThe Cat and the Canary (1939) for him. In that film, playing a
wisecracking ham actor whose scaredy-cat antics and topical references delighted movie audiences, Hope delivered what could be called his prototypical performance, delineating a screen persona that served him well for
more than 30 years.P>Cat's success led to another chiller, The Ghost Breakers (1940), which reunited him with Cat costar Paulette Goddard. That same year he joined forces with crooner Bing Crosby and sarong-clad
siren Dorothy Lamour inRoad to Singapore a modest program picture that became a sleeper hit, due in no small way to Hope's easy rapport with Crosby and their breezy, often ad-libbed repartee. Over the next two decades
they found themselves on the respective roads to ...Zanzibar (1941), ...Morocco (1942), ...Utopia (1945), ...Rio (1947), ...Bali (1952), and ...Hong Kong (1962), each outing screwier than the last. Hope and Crosby also
made frequent cameos in each other's solo starring films, and carried on a genial bantering "feud" for years.
Other Hope hits during the 1940s includeCaught in the Draft, Louisiana Purchase, Nothing But
the Truth (all 1941),My Favorite Blonde (1942),Let's Face It, They Got Me Covered (both 1943),The Princess and the Pirate (1944, the first of many period pictures brightened by Hope's anachronistic, contemporary
references),Monsieur Beaucaire (1946),My Favorite Brunette (1947), and a blockbuster Western spoof,The Paleface (1948), which introduced an Oscar-winning song ("Buttons and Bows") and spawned a sequel,Son of
Paleface in 1952.
Hope made his first TV special for NBC in 1950, beginning an uninterrupted, fourdecade-plus run on that network. His film work during the 1950s, while still entertaining, wasn't quite up to his
1940s output, although he did broaden his appeal by taking occasional dramatic roles.Fancy Pants (1950, the first of several comedies that paired him with Lucille Ball),The Lemon Drop Kid, My Favorite Spy (both
1951),Here Come the Girls (1953),The Seven Little Foys (1955, a straight role as vaudevillian Eddie Foy, Sr.),That Certain Feeling, The Iron Petticoat (both 1956),Beau James (1957, another dramatic role, as scapegrace
New York mayor Jimmy Walker),Paris Holiday (1958),Alias Jesse James (1959),The Facts of Life (1960),Bachelor in Paradise (1961),Critic's Choice andCall Me Bwana (both 1963) all have elements to recommend them, even if
they are inferior to Hope's 1940s vehicles.
As he grew older (and devoted more of his life to TV work and entertaining U.S. troops in the Far East), the quality of his starring films deteriorated rapidly,
resulting in such lame comedies asA Global Affair (1964),I'll Take Sweden (1965), Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966),Eight on the Lam (1967),The Private Navy of Sergeant O'Farrell (1968),How to Commit Marriage (1969,
opposite fellow TV icon Jackie Gleason), andCancel My Reservation (1972, mercifully his final starring feature). He did contribute a very Hope-like cameo to the Chevy Chase-Dan Aykroyd comedy Spies Like Us (1985). He
spent many years as the host of the annual Academy Awards ceremonies ("Or as it's known at my house, Passover," he once quipped, though in fact he did receive four honorary Oscars). Hope has written (or, at
least, is credited with writing) several humorous memoirs, including "I Never Left Home," "Have Tux-Will Travel," "I Owe Russia $1200," "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me," and "The
Last Christmas Show." His wife, Dolores, sometimes appears with him on his TV specials, and his granddaughter, Leslie, has acted in a few films, includingIt Takes Two, Talk Radio (both 1988), andMen at Work (1990).
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