LOS ANGELES -- One hundred years ago, on May 29, a son named Leslie Towns Hope was born to a stonemason and his wife in the London, England, suburb of Eltham.
The boy grew up to become the most American of comedians: Bob Hope.
The family moved to Cleveland when the little fellow was four. "I left England when I found out that I couldn't be king," Hope later quipped. Like many immigrants, he became strongly patriotic.
He entertained troops in far-off lands, often near combat zones, during every major 20th-century American conflict except the First World War. He was a tireless performer for charitable causes. He appeared before 11 U.S. presidents, even playing golf with several of them.
As a performer in radio, movies and television, Hope captured the American idiom. His crisp delivery was tuned to the latest slang. His barbs at politicians and other public figures were well-aimed, but sensitive. And unlike many later comedians, his humour was always fit for family audiences.
Since appearing on his final TV special on his 90th birthday, Hope's health has gradually worsened. No longer able to communicate, he may be unaware of all the celebrations for his 100th -- and this was a man who cherished honours.
Linda Hope, the oldest of Hope's four adopted children, believes her father realizes his birthday is approaching. "Every time we talk about it, he has a big grin on his face," she said. "He always said that he was determined to outlive his grandfather, who passed away shortly before his 100th birthday.
"His health is very frail at this point and the doctor won't let him out in crowds with all the infection going around. He's pretty much home in his room and out on the patio."
In his prime, Hope received more than 1,500 awards -- from the Queen, the Pope, the Motion Picture Academy (four honorary Oscars), the White House, U.S. Congress and dozens of universities (54 honorary degrees).
As a young man, Hope boxed briefly under the name Packy East. In the 1950s, he was part-owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
Two days before Hope's birthday, his wife, Dolores, turns 94. The couple met Dec. 21, 1933, when Bob walked into a Manhattan nightclub and heard a statuesque beauty singing It's Only a Paper Moon. Hope persuaded Dolores Reade to join his vaudeville act and they were married in 1934. They've been together 69 years in a town not known for marital longevity.
The usually affable Dolores has been under a doctor's care for severe muscular pain and was unable to be interviewed for this article.
Daughter Linda, unofficial keeper of the Hope legacy, said her dad "was a great father, full of fun.
"He made such fun for all of us, like giving us golf lessons with our own little clubs," she said. "And the ordinary things that fathers do: going out to restaurants, the theatre, circuses. It was always a fun-filled thing with him, because he was spontaneous."
For many years the Hope children observed Christmas Day while their father took his troupe of entertainers to far-off places.
"We had two Christmases," Linda explained. "We would open a few presents on Christmas Day. Two or three days later, dad would return and we'd have more presents. Dad would always bring us little exotic pieces he picked up on his trips."
Those who helped make Hope funny over the years agree he was a benign boss.
"He was the easiest person for a writer to work for that there ever was," says Mort Lachman, who also toiled as director and producer for Hope from 1947 to '75. "He was the opposite of most comics: he didn't hate the writers."
Gene Perret, who contributed gags from 1969 till Hope's retirement in 1993, says Hope always steered away from racy material.
Phyllis Diller, who became a regular on the Hope shows, remembers their first meeting: she had been booked into a second-rate hotel in Washington, D.C.
"I had an audience full of hookers," she recalled, "and I was doing my little act about domesticity. It wasn't going over -- so Bob saw me bomb. But he told me I was great. That was the turning point in my career."
Lachman touched on Bob Hope's great appeal:
"He was everyman. He wasn't better than anybody else. When we were in Vietnam, he was as big a coward as anybody. He was the guy who never got the girl, who always said the wrong thing, who couldn't quite dance or sing," Lachman said. "That's why he represented all those servicemen out there who were doing the same things."
HOPE'S GREATEST MOVIES
By no means an all-inclusive list, here are some of Bob Hope's best and most popular movies.
- The Big Broadcast of 1938, 1938
- Thanks for the Memory, 1938
- Some Like It Hot, 1939
- Road to Singapore, 1940
- Road to Zanzibar, 1941
- My Favourite Blonde, 1942
- Road to Morocco, 1942
- Road to Utopia, 1945
- Monsieur Beaucaire, 1946
- My Favourite Brunette, 1947
- Road to Rio, 1948
- The Paleface, 1948
- Sorrowful Jones, 1949
- Fancy Pants, 1950
- The Lemon Drop Kid, 1951
- My Favourite Spy, 1951
- Road to Bali, 1953
- The Seven Little Foys, 1955
- That Certain Feeling, 1956
- Beau James, 1957
- The Facts of Life, 1960
- Road to Hong Kong, 1962
- Critic's Choice, 1963
- Call Me Bwana, 1963
- I'll Take Sweden, 1965
- Boy Did I Get a Wrong Number, 1966
- Spies Like Us, 1985
HOPE'S HIGHLIGHTS
The best of times for Bob Hope:
- 1920s -- Rising vaudeville star
- 1927 -- New York stage debut
- 1932 -- Makes radio debut
- 1932-36 -- Appears in several important Broadway productions
- 1934 -- Marries singer Dolores Reade; they adopted four children: Linda, Anthony, William Kelly and Honora
- 1934 -- First radio show premieres, beginning a record 62-year affiliation with NBC
- 1938 -- Feature film debut in The Big Broadcast of 1938, in which he and Shirley Ross sing Thanks for the Memory, which would become his theme song
- 1939 -- First Oscar appearance, presenting an award
- 1940 -- First time as Academy Awards emcee; he hosted or co-hosted 20 times between 1940 and 1978
- 1940 -- Co-stars with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in first of the Road pictures
- 1941 -- Plays first camp show for servicemen at March Field in California
- 1948 -- First Christmas tour for servicemen taking part in Berlin airlift
- 1950 -- Makes first television specials
- 1969 -- Receives Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1990 -- Goes to Persian Gulf to entertain U.S. troops on the eve of the Gulf War; his last Christmas show for troops overseas
- 199 * -- 90th birthday celebrated with a TV special featuring U.S. President Bill Clinton and former presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush
- 1996 -- NBC airs his last special, Laughing With the Presidents
- March 1997 -- U.S. Navy christens the USNS Bob Hope, a support ship
- May 2000 -- Library of Congress opens the Bob Hope Gallery of American Entertainment
OSCAR EMCEE, HOPE'S MAGIC MOMENTS
During more than 20 appearances on Academy Awards shows from 1939 to 1978 as host, co-host or presenter, Bob Hope loved to tease the stars or joke about his own failure to win a regular Oscar.
Not that he didn't receive honorary Academy Awards over the years. When he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960, Hope joked that he felt out of place, "like Zsa Zsa Gabor at a PTA meeting." Some of his greatest Oscar wisecracks:
- "I'm very happy to be here for my annual insult." (1941)
- "I like to be here in case one of these years, they'll have one left over." (1953)
- "I don't mind losing, but I hate to go home and explain to my kids how the actors I've been sneering at all year beat me out." (1967)
- "Welcome to award night! In my house it's known as Passover." (1968)
- "And I just want to say, what a night -- the furs, the jewels, the glamour. Looks like the opening of the Beverly Hills Taco Bell. . . . I haven't seen so much expensive jewelry go by since I watched Sammy Davis Jr.'s home sliding down Coldwater Canyon." (1978)
