Thanks, Bob/ Bob Hope/ 1903-2003

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 29, 2003 | by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES - Bob Hope's one-liners gently poked fun at presidents, blunted the sting of combat for American soldiers from World War II to the Persian Gulf War, and ultimately made him the most revered of American comics.

Hope, who turned 100 on May 29, rode a genial wave of success in movies, radio and television to a position unique among entertainers. He died Sunday of pneumonia at his Toluca Lake home, publicist Ward Grant said Monday. His family was at his bedside.

As the 20th century's good humor delivery man for U.S. troops, Hope took his show on the road to bases, field hospitals, jungles and aircraft carriers around the world, peppering audiences with a fusillade of brief, topical gags.

One of them centered on former President Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

"I bumped into Gerald Ford the other day. I said, 'Pardon me.' He said, 'I don't do that anymore.' " Hope's humor lacked malice, and he made himself the butt of many jokes.

His golf scores and physical attributes, including his celebrated ski-jump nose, were frequent subjects:

"I want to tell you, I was built like an athlete once - big chest, hard stomach. Of course, that's all behind me now."

"It's hard for me to imagine a world without Bob Hope in it," said Woody Allen, who cited Hope's 1942 film "Road to Morocco" for pointing him toward comedy.

"The nation lost a great citizen," President Bush said Monday. "Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations. We extend our prayers to his family. God bless his soul."

He was "the best loved, most admired and most successful entertainer in all of history. He is quite simply, irreplaceable," longtime "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson said.

The English-born Hope began in vaudeville and ended up conquering every medium. When Hope went into one of his monologues, it was almost as though the world was conditioned to respond. No matter that the joke was old or flat; he was Bob Hope and he got laughs.

"Audiences are my best friends," he liked to say. "You never tire of talking with your best friends."

Hope earned a fortune, gave lavishly to charity and was showered with awards, so many that he had to rent a warehouse to store them.

Hope had a reputation as an ad-libber, but he kept a stable of writers and had filing cabinets full of jokes. He never let a good joke die - if it got a laugh in Vietnam, it would get a laugh in Saudi Arabia.

Leslie Townes Hope was born in 1903 in Eltham, England, the fifth of seven sons of a British stonemason and a Welsh singer of light opera.

The Hopes emigrated to the United States when he was 4 and settled in Cleveland. They found themselves in the backwash of the 1907 depression. The boy helped out by selling newspapers and working in a shoe store, a drugstore and a meat market. He also worked as a caddy and developed a lifelong fondness for golf.

Remembering the way classmates ridiculed his feminine sounding name, Hope changed it to Lester when we began vaudeville. He later switched to Bob because it sounded "chummier," he said.

By 1930, he had reached vaudeville's pinnacle - The Palace - and in the '30s he played leading parts in Broadway musicals. During "Roberta," he met nightclub singer Dolores Reade. They married in 1934.

After a few guest radio spots, Hope began working regularly on a Bromo Seltzer radio program. In 1938, he was hired by Pepsodent to create his own show, and that led him to Hollywood.

Paramount signed him for "The Big Broadcast of 1938," in which he introduced the song that became his trademark: "Thanks for the Memory."

Soon he was teaming with Bing Crosby in the seven "Road" pictures - "Road to Bali," "Road to Morocco," "Road to Zanzibar" and so on - playing best friends who lie, cheat and make fun of each other in comedic competition for glory and Dorothy Lamour.

In 1950, he entered television, and his successes continued. He also appeared more than 20 times at the Academy Awards, first on radio and than on TV, as presenter, cohost or host between 1939 and 1978.

Hope started playing to troops well before the United States entered World War II.

He tried to enlist but was told he could be of more use as an entertainer. He played his first camp show at California's March Field on May 6, 1941..

His traditional Christmas tours began in 1948, when he went to Berlin to entertain GIs involved in the airlift.

His 1966 Vietnam Christmas show, when televised, was watched by an estimated 65 million people, the largest audience of his career. But his initially hawkish views on Vietnam opened a gap between the comedian and young Americans opposed to the war.

Later, Hope said he was "just praying they get an honorable peace so our guys don't have to fight. I've seen too many wars."

He was the author or co-author of 10 books, including his 1990 autobiography, "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me."

Hope is survived by his wife; sons Anthony and Kelly; daughters Linda and Nora Somers; and four grandchildren. A private funeral is planned.