Date of Birth

29 May 1903, Eltham, London, England, UK

Date of Death

27 July 2003, Toluca Lake, California, USA

Birth Name

Leslie Townes Hope

Comedian, born in London and moved to Bristol before emigrating with his parents to the US in 1908. After some years on the stage as a dancer and comedian, he made his first film appearance in The Big Broadcast of 1938 (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 (1940-1952), and in many others until the early 1970s. During World War II 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.

ABC-TV Network News Poll, A&E Biography Viewers Poll, as well as magazine and newspaper 'century roundups' have proclaimed Hope as the "Entertainer of the 20th Century."

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"

1985: Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award

1995: National Medal of Arts: presented by President Bill Clinton.

Has 4 adopted children: Eleanora Avis "Nora", Anthony, Linda Hope and Kelly Hope.

Has entertained the troops overseas in every war from WWII to the Gulf War

Awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II. (1998)

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.

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", with over 1500 awards.

Served as United Service Organizations, Inc. (USO) Entertainment Coordinator from 1941 - 2001. Retired his post at age 98 in favor of Wayne Newton.

Received 58 honorary degrees.

Entertained U.S. troops starting 6th May 1941, and became the first 'honorary veteran' by Congress.

He entertained 11 different Presidents, beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and ending with Bill Clinton.

His golf buddy was Prescott Bush, the father and grandfather of presidents George Bush and George W. Bush.

He was the only entertainer to have complete carte blanche to walk on whenever he felt like it on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).

He changed his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.

In a mostly ad-libbed skit for a TV show, Hope joked with Jimmy Durante about the size of his own nose. Durante quipped "When it comes to noses, you're a retailer. I'm a wholesaler!"

Appointed an honorary CBE in 1976.

Wife Dolores Hope was born 27th May 1909. She and Bob celebrated their birthdays on 28th May every year - splitting the difference between their respective real birthdays.

Spent his 99th birthday--29 May 2002--at home in Toluca Lake, CA. Wife Dolores Hope's 93rd birthday was just two days before. Los Angeles National Cemetery dedicated veterans' chapel in his name to salute his lifetime of service entertaining U.S. troops.

His grandfather lived to age of 99 years, 11 months, and 25 days

Was the first honoree of the "'Dean Martin' Celebrity Roasts" series on October 30, 1974. The Celebrity Roasts had begun in the last season (1973-74) of "The Dean Martin Show" (1965) and were so popular that after that show went off the air, the "Celebrity Roasts" continued as specials.

Has three theaters named after him, located in London, California, and on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

Was incorrectly declared dead several times since retiring from the public eye. On the most infamous occasion in 1998, a wire service accidentally posted a pre-written obituary to a Web page. A member of the US House of Representatives saw this bogus news flash and announced Hope's death during a session at the Capitol. Hope learned he was dead when a reporter called his home asking for a statement. According to family members, Hope took this mistake in good humor.

First show business job was as a dancer in the 'Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle' vaudeville revue in Cleveland in 1924.

Graduated from Fairmount High School in Cleveland, Ohio.

Wrote several books about his experiences over the years, including "I Owe Russia $1200", about his Soviet tour in early 1962; "Confessions of a Hooker", about his lifelong passion for golf; and "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me!", about his many overseas trips to entertain U.S. troops over the years.

In 1999 he became the first to start the tradition of the official lighting of the Christmas Tree in Disneyland. Afterwards, he and wife Dolores Hope drove their own golf cart down Main Street, through Frontier Land to Club 33 for dinner.

His last TV appearance with Lucille Ball was March 28, 1989 on The 61st Annual Academy Awards (1989) (TV). They received a standing ovation upon walking out on stage. Hope and Ball introduced a musical number featuring "The Stars of Tomorrow", which included Johnny Depp, Christian Slater, and Ricki Lake. Lucille Ball passed away 28 days later on April 26, 1989.

Brother Jack Hope sometimes served as producer of Bob's shows; his memoir 'I Owe Russia $1200' is dedicated to Jack's memory.

Has a ship named after him: USNS Bob Hope.

In 1997, Congress named Hope an honorary U.S. veteran, citing his decades of entertaining troops around the world. He is the only person to receive that distinction.

In 1997, the U.S. Air Force honored Hope by naming a cargo plane "The Spirit of Bob Hope" after the legendary entertainer.

USO center is named after him

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 219-222. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Was a supporter of Valley Forge Military Academy & Junior College in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He has the "Bob Hope Five-Star Award for Distinguished Service to the United States of America" named in his honor.

At 69 years, his marriage to Dolores Hope held the record for the longest Hollywood marriage when he passed away in 2004. It has since been passed by the marriage of Art Linkletter to Lois Foerster. They were married November 25, 1935.

He is among the select few non-band members who have had the honor of dotting the "i" during The Ohio State University Marching Band's 'Script Ohio' routine. This is considered the greatest honor the band can bestow to any non-band person and is an extremely special (and rare) event.

Awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by President John F. Kennedy at the White House. (September 11th 1963).

Awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson on his last day in office. (January 20th 1969)

He was one of the richest movie stars.... he ranked in the top ten highest salaried stars continuously from 1941-1953 [except for 1948]

Hosted the Academy Awards in 1939, 1940, 1943, 1945 (alongside John Cromwell), 1946 (alongside James Stewart), 1953 (alongside Conrad Nagel), 1955 (alongside Thelma Ritter), 1958 (alongside James Stewart, David Niven, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell and "Donald Duck"), 1959 (alongside Jerry Lewis, David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Mort Sahl and Tony Randall), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1975 (alongside Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra) and finally in 1978.

According to Hope's biographer Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx, Hope married his vaudeville partner of five years, Grace Louise Troxell, on 25 January 1933, although they divorced soon afterwards. Hope denied that they had actually married.

As a young comedian, he won a Charles Chaplin look-alike contest in Cleveland.

Was briefly a professional boxer. He fought under the name Packy East.

He and best friend Bing Crosby were planning to make one last "road" picture in early 1977, but Bing died before filming. Bob was so broken up about Bing's death that he couldn't sleep for days on end. He stated that it was one of the worst times of his life and that his wife was his rock who got him through the tough time.

On his wartime USO tours he had one ironclad rule that he insisted his fellow performers follow: under no circumstances were they allowed to cry when visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals. This was often difficult given the amount of suffering they saw, but he told his performers that it was their duty to always smile and provide laughs and good cheer for the troops. According to Hope, he broke his own rule only once. While visiting an army hospital in Italy in 1943, he stopped at the bedside of a wounded soldier who had been in a coma for two months. The soldier suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Hey, Bob Hope! When did you get here?" He had to leave the hospital room to keep the troops from seeing his tears, but he returned a few hours later to present the soldier with his Purple Heart medal.

Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1983.

Attended the funeral of his friend of more than forty years, former President Richard Nixon. (27 April 1994).

He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party.

In November of 1948, when President Harry S. Truman scored his upset presidential re-election victory, Hope sent him a one-word telegram: "Unpack". Truman was so amused by it he kept it in his desk in the Oval Office.

There is a major street in Rancho Mirage, CA, named after him. Bob Hope Drive crosses Frank Sinatra, Gerald Ford, Ginger Rogers and Dinah Shore Drives.

He bought several acres of prime real estate in Rancho Mirage, CA, to build a racetrack. He later decided a medical center was needed in the area instead, so he donated the land to build Eisenhower Medical Center, which is now rated as among the top 100 hospitals in America today. A medical building on the campus is named for him and contains statues of he and wife Dolores Hope in the lobby. Another medical building next door is called "Hope Square".

Hospitalized with gastro-intestinal bleeding in June 2000. Although he received a blood transfusion after the bleeding in his colon was stopped, no surgery was performed.

Hospitalized with pneumonia and respiratory problems in August 2001. A week after he left hospital on 4 September, Hope and his wife released a joint statement expressing their horror at the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

At the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, Hope released a statement saying he wished he could go to the country to entertain the troops, but that his doctors would not allow him.

Despite a well documented reputation for frugality, Hope is believed to have donated an estimated $1 billion to charity.

Retired from show business at the age of 93 after filming Bob Hope's Bag Full of Christmas Memories (1993) (TV).

Once remarked the only place where he could walk unrecognized was in the People's Republic of China. But even then a Chinese man still recognized him from one of his movies from before the Chinese Revolution.

In 1969, he was worth in excess of $150 million, largely as a result of shrewd business and real estate investments.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 256-258. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

His mother's name was Agnes Townes (she was a concert singer). He had many brothers, including Jack Hope (1898 - 1962) who was his personal manager. James Hope was Director of Hope Enterprises. Ivor Hope (? - 1969) was President of Hope Metal Products. George Hope (? - 1969) was a production company coordinator. Two more brothers were Sidney Hope (? - 1946) and Frederick Hope.

He was awarded 4 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard; for Radio at 6141 Hollywood Boulevard; for Live Theatre at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6758 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Pictured on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp issued 29 May 2009, Hope's 106th birthday. The two official first-day-of-issue postmarks for the stamp feature caricatures by cartoonist Al Hirschfeld.

Introduced two Oscar-winning songs: "Thanks for the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) (Music: Ralph Rainger . Lyrics: Leo Robin) and "Buttons and Bows" from The Paleface (1948) (Music: Jay Livingston. Lyrics: Ray Evans).

After his death in 2003, an airport in Burbank, California, was named "Bob Hope Airport" in his memory.

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