Bob Hope
May 29, 1903 - July 28, 2003

Bob Hope was born born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England on May 29, 1903 and died July 27, 2003 at his home in Toluca Lake, north of Hollywood.

Bob starting up the airplane - 1940's

Bob Hope entertained American servicemen at the airstrip in Munda, New Georgia, an island in the central Solomons, on October 31, 1944.

Bob at the bloodbank - 1942

Bob promoting war-bonds -1942

Fort McCoy Installation Commander Col. Raymond G. Boland presents
Bob Hope with a Desert Shield uniform in 1990 at the La Crosse Center.

Bob Hope on tour with the USO

Bob Hope surrounded by Marines in Wosan, Korea 1950 on USO Tour

Bob in Viet Nam

Bob with the troops at Desert Storm

Bob entertaining the troops at Desert Storm

Bob on board ship during Desert Storm

Frances Langford, Tony Romano on guitar, & Bob Hope in 1944

Bob Hope performing on a USO Tour

Bob visiting the wounded -1944

Bob visiting the wounded soldiers - 1945

Bob Hope in Viet Nam with the USO

Bob Hope on the cover of TV Guide

Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby bigger than Life

Bob and Richard M. Nixon in the Oval Office

Bob and Dwight D. Eisenhower -1943

President Richard M. Nixen and Bob Hope

Lyndon Johnson, Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, & Stuart Symington, 1960

Bob Hope with President Reagan and the First Lady, Nancy Reagan 1985

Bob Hope & President Bush 1992

Bob Hope & President Clinton 1995

Bob & Dolores Hope recieving the Congressional Gold Medal from President John F. Kennedy

FRONT

BOB HOPE . HUMORIST . HUMANITARIAN . PATRIOT

BACK

Nancy Reagan, right, places the 1997 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award around the neck
of Bob Hope as his wife Delores looks on May 29, 1997, in Beverly Hills, California.

Bob Hope and James Arness

Gail Davis, Bob Hope and Ward Bond

Gail Davis played Annie Oakley and Ward Bond,
was the Wagonmaster on Wagon Train

Bob Hope, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan and Dean Martin

Bob Hope and Luiclle Ball

Bob Hope and Elizabeth Taylor

George Burns with his mother and Bob Hope

The front of Bob Hope's golf cart

Bob Hope G.I. Joe doll

Bob Hope G.I. Joe doll

Hasbro Toys issued a limited-edition Bob Hope G.I. Joe doll in 1998. The doll sold out very quickly and is now sought by collectors.

Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and George Burns

Bob and Anita Ekberg

From the movie: Son of Paleface - 1952

Bob And Jane Russell

Bob Hope in DC Comics

United States Naval Ship named the Bob Hope

Bob on his 90th birthday

Delores and Bob Hope

Bob Hope's Official Web Site

"BOB, THANKS FOR ALL OF THE WONDERFUL MEMORIES AND LAUGHS"

[Bob Hope's Obituary]

Bob Hope, Master of the One-Liner, Dead at 100
An American Entertainment Legend Dies of Pneumonia

July 28, 2003 -- Bob Hope's career stretched from the Jazz Age to the era of the V-chip. He vaulted to the top ranks of vaudeville, dominated the early days of radio, starred on Broadway and moved effortlessly into film and television.
His wiseguy delivery, fueled by a battery of joke writers on duty around the clock, propelled him to the forefront of show business. His service to American soldiers -- starting with tours of entertainment duty during World War II -- helped make him a national icon.
He died July 27 at the age of 100.
During his heydey, Hope seemed to be everywhere. "Trapped on the treadmill of his own acclaim," was the description provided by the writer John Lahr, who profiled Hope in a New Yorker article. Even in his 90s, Hope made as many as 300 personal appearances a year.
He could sing a little. He could dance a lot. And most of all, he could tell jokes. Giggles and gaggles of jokes, delivered to burlesque-house crowds and the boys on the battleships, from Southern California television studios to U.S.O. stages in North Africa, Korea and Vietnam.
One American generation grew up with Hope and his pal and friendly rival Bing Crosby in the On the Road movies. Another knew him from countless television specials and celebrity golf tournaments on NBC, or as a pitchman for Texaco gasoline and Pepsodent toothpaste.
Countless U.S. troops saw him as the guy who came to visit when they were far from home, bringing laughter and pretty actresses and an unsinkable supply of gags about military life.
"He never stopped working, he never stopped traveling," remembers Lahr. "He mostly got what he wanted throughout his life."
Hope was born in England and reached the United States at age 3, landing with his family in Cleveland, Ohio. He rose from poverty to become one of the richest entertainers in the nation's history.
Dancing was his first skill. When he was still called Leslie Hope -- his given name -- he studied with a performer called King Rastus Brown and later gave lessons himself.
He tried to make it as a prize fighter, calling himself Packy East, but met with little success. Dancing proved more successful. He started with vaudeville houses in the Midwest and -- with partner George Byrne -- reached Broadway in 1927.
By the late 1930s Hollywood had caught on to Hope's act, pairing him with Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in the first of the On the Road films. He was already one of the better-paid talents in America, having made a startling $1,000 a week for his vaudeville work at the depths of the Depression. And he was quickly establishing himself on the emerging medium of radio.
Then came World War II. An invitation to do a radio broadcast from California's March Field in the spring of 1941 led to stops at other pre-war installations. As part of the Victory Caravan -- a train full of 50 stars -- he traveled stateside to raise $1 billion worth of war bonds. In 1943 he moved to the combat zone, first on a U.S.O. tour of North Africa and Italy and eventually in the Pacific.
His efforts during the war built a loyal audience. Those fans supported a weekly radio show that lasted until 1956, his film career and his early and aggressive move into television. For a time he became America's favorite master of ceremonies, hosting the Academy Awards, charity golf tournaments and many corporate events. He defied the limitations of encroaching age to entertain troops during the Persian Gulf War. He was nearly 90.
He made his last movie in 1985, and co-hosted his last television special -- Laughing with the Presidents -- about 10 years later.
On July 27, he died at his California home, with his family at his bedside. He outlived many of the people who remembered him at the height of his talents, but the monologue style of comedy he perfected lives on in today's performers. He goes down in history as one of the most celebrated entertainers ever -- a friend of presidents, knighted by Queen Elizabeth, declared an honorary veteran by Congress and holder of more than 50 ceremonial degrees from colleges and universities.
"If I had my life to live over again," Hope once wrote. "I wouldn't have had the strength."

e-mail: shadowwodahs@comcast.net