Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-born American comedian, centenarian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, starring in 54. These included a series of seven Road to ... musical comedy films with long-time friend Bing Crosby as his partner.
This article is about the actor. For other uses, see Bob Hope (disambiguation).
Bob Hope
July 27, 2003 (aged 100)
American
- Les Hope
- Packy East
- Comedian
- vaudevillian
- actor
- singer
- dancer
1923–1999
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Grace Louise Troxell(m. 1933; div. 1934)
4
Jack Hope (brother)
Super featherweight (128 lb)
5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
72 in (183 cm)
3
1
Vocals
Hope hosted the Academy Awards show 19 times, more than any other host. He also appeared in many stage productions and television roles and wrote 14 books. The song "Thanks for the Memory" was his signature tune. He was praised for his comedic timing, specializing in one-liners and rapid-fire delivery of jokes that were often self-deprecating. Between 1941 and 1991, he made 57 tours for the United Service Organizations (USO), entertaining military personnel around the world. In 1997, Congress passed a bill that made him an honorary veteran of the Armed Forces.[2]
Hope was born in the Eltham district of southeast London. He arrived in the United States with his family at the age of four, and grew up near Cleveland, Ohio. He became a boxer in the 1910s but moved into show business in the early 1920s, initially as a comedian and dancer on the vaudeville circuit before acting on Broadway. He began appearing on radio and in films starting in 1934. Hope retired from public life in 1998 and died in 2003, at 100.
Estate[edit]
Hope's Modernist 23,366-square-foot (2,171 m2) home, built to resemble a volcano, was designed in 1973 by John Lautner. It is located above Palm Springs, with panoramic views of the Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto Mountains. It was put on the market for the first time in February 2013 with an asking price of $50 million.[141] Hope also owned a home which had been custom built for him in 1939 on an 87,000-square-foot (8,083 m2) lot in Toluca Lake. That house was put on the market in late 2012.[142] The Palm Springs house sold in November 2016 for $13 million to investor Ron Burkle, far below its 2013 asking price.[143]