Bob Hope

Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England in 1903; when he was a child, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. He died in California in July, 2003, a few months after his 100th birthday. (Fagan, A01) Amazingly, he performed in his last TV special in 1996 at the age of 93. Bob Hope started out as a young man as a vaudeville song-and-dance man, but moved rapidly to comedy.

By 1930, Hope had reached vaudeville's pinnacle, the Palace, and moved on to leading roles in Broadway musicals such as Roberta and Red, Hot and Blue. Next, he began appearing on radio, and then moved to Hollywood, where he starred in 50 films, and had cameos in 15 more. (Fagan, A01) His first movie was The Big Broadcast of 1938 and his last appearance was a cameo in Spies Like Us in 1985. He also influenced other comedic actors through his work, most notably Woody Allen.

In 1978, Allen celebrated Hope through a Carnegie Hall tribute for which he had edited together a 70-minute show of clips he called "My Favorite Comedian." Included was a clip from Allen's own Love and Death to show how Hope had influenced Allen's work. (Honeycutt, no page given) Whether or not Hope's lengthy career in movies is a record, Hope does hold the Guinness record for the longest contract ever with a TV network, 60 years with NBC.

(Fagan, A01) One thing he never did earn was a regular Oscar, although he did present the Oscar numerous times, and a favorite joke was "Oscar night at my house is called Passover." (Fagan, A01) He did, however, get special awards form the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, including two honorary Oscars, two special awards and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The final award makes a good introduction to much of Bob Hope's legacy.

He was a consummate comedian, and a pretty good singer and dancer (Honeycutt, no page given), but his work with U.S. troops in war zones was as much a part of his routine as the jokes. Hope began entertaining troops in May, 1941, when he took his radio comedy show to March Field, an Army Air Corps base near Los Angeles. He only intended to do it once, but the audience was so appreciative that it became standard procedure for seven more years.

(Arnold, B05) He also supported the war effort both indirectly and directly through his movies. In 1941, he made Caught in the Draft, which was released right before Pearl Harbor. In it, Hope played a vain movie star who tries to use his status to stay out of the army, but has a change of heart and joins up. Later, Hope used a version of this premise when he made a pretense during his Vietnam Christmas specials that he had really been conned into showing up.

(Arnold, B05) His ability to make fun of himself as a coward endeared him to the troops in danger themselves, and, of course, giving live shows in Vietnam was not without its own dangers. Hope logged 6 million miles entertaining troops at home and overseas in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. At the age of 87, he made his final tour during the Persian Gulf war in 1990. When he died, the U.S.

Defense Department Web site displayed a banner headline that said, "Farewell to a Friend" and a photo of Hope with the troops in Korea in October, 1950. (Fagan, A01) For his immense efforts on behalf of military morale, Congress declared Bob Hope an honorary veteran -- although he had never served in the armed forces -- in 1997. He was the first person ever honored in that way. He also was given the U.S. Medal of Freedom, and Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. The U.S.

Navy named a class of warship after him, the first being the USNS Bob Hope, commissioned in 1997. Shortly thereafter, the Air Force named a C-17 aircraft "The Spirit of Bob Hope." (Fagan, A01) Among his other movies during the Second World War were a number of comedies that helped lighten the mood back home.

These included Nothing but the Truth, Louisiana Purchase, My Favorite Blonde, They Got Me Covered, The Princess and the Pirate and three of the famous "road" pictures with Bing Crosby, Road to Zanzibar, Road to Morocco and Road to Utopia. In the "road" pictures, Hope had another chance to perfect his comic persona, that of the wisecracking but gentle guy who always loses the girl to his rival. In all the "road" pictures, that was Bing Crosby.

Crosby also beat out Hope in real life in the matter of recording popular songs. In 1951, Hope made a movie about a semi-loser racetrack tout, The Lemon Drop Kid. In it, he introduced the popular Christmas song, "Silver Bells." Unfortunately, Bing Crosby recorded it for release as a record first, and beat Hope to market. Both because of his comedy and his humanitarian efforts for servicemen and women, Bob Hope influenced and befriended some of today's military leaders, including Secretary of State and former general Colin Powell.