Bob Hope, KBE, KC*SG, KSS (born Leslie Townes Hope; May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), was an English-born American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and author. With a career spanning over 60 years, Hope appeared in over 70 films and shorts, including a series of “Road” movies co-starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. In addition to hosting theAcademy Awards fourteen times (more than any other host), he appeared in many stage productions and television roles and was the author of fourteen books. The song “Thanks For the Memory” is widely regarded as Hope’s signature tune.
Celebrated for his long career performing United Service Organizations (USO) shows to entertain active service American military personnel—he made 57 tours for the USO between 1941 and 1991—Hope was declared an honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces in 1997 by act of the U.S. Congress.[1]
Hope participated in the sports of golf and boxing, and owned a small stake in his hometown baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. He was married to performer Dolores Hope (née DeFina) for 69 years. Hope died at age 100 at his home in Toluca Lake,
Bob Hope’s California.career in broadcasting spanned sixty-four years and included a long association with NBC. Hope made his network radio debut in 1937 on NBC. His first regular series for NBC Radio was the Woodbury Soap Hour. A year later The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope began, and would run through 1953. Hope did many specials for the NBC television network in the following decades and these were often sponsored by Chrysler and Hope served as a spokesman for the firm for may years. Hope’s Christmas specials were popular favorites and often featured a performance of “Silver Bells” (from his 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid) done as a duet with an often much younger female guest star (such as Olivia Newton-John or Brooke Shields). His final television special was in 1996 with Tony Danza helping Hope present a retrospective about presidents of the United States.
Broadcasting[edit]
Jerry Colonna and Bob Hope as caricatured by Sam Berman for NBC’s 1947 promotional book
Hope’s career in broadcasting began on radio in 1934. His first regular series for NBC Radiowas the Woodbury Soap Hour in 1937, a 26-week contract. A year later, The PepsodentShow Starring Bob Hope began, and Hope signed a ten-year contract with the show’s sponsor, Lever Brothers. Hope hired eight writers and paid them out of his salary of $2,500 a week. The original staff included Mel Shavelson, Norman Panama, Jack Rose, Sherwood Schwartz, and Schwartz’s brother Al. The writing staff eventually grew to fifteen.[31] The show became the top radio program in the country. Regulars on the series included Jerry Colonna and Barbara Jo Allen as spinster Vera Vague. Hope continued his lucrative career in radio through to the 1950s, when radio’s popularity was overshadowed by television.
My People Uncovered 