BOB HOPE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Bob Hope was born on May 29th, 1903 with the birth name Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England to a family totaling seven boys. His father worked as a stonemason and his mother was a aspiring concert singer and who also worked as a house cleaner.
In 1907, his family relocated to Cleveland Ohio, and by 1920, all the boys had received US citizenship. Growing up, Hope had a variety of jobs to help make money such as a delivery boy for his brothers meat market and a pool hustler, soda jerk and shoe salesman. As a youngster he entered into talent contests and often won prizes for impersonating Charlie Chaplin.
After Hope graduated from East High School he took dancing lessons and also helped teach dance part time. Hope also took a job briefly as a newspaper reporter and tried out amateur boxing.
In the early twenties he partnered up with his girl friend and later another dancer, George Bryne and began performing dance routines on stage. In 1925, Hope was spotted by a silent film comedian, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle whom got the pair involved with the Hurley Jolly Follies.
In 1929, he changed his name to Bob and traveled the vaudeville circuit for five years with his partner and future wife, Grave Louise Troxell. When the couple decided to try out for a screen test in 1930 for Pathe, they sadly failed the test.
The couple continued working on stage in New York until Bob got the chance at his first film role in, "Going Spanish" (1934) a short subject comedy with Educational Pictures. He was soon fired from Educational but right away continued his film work in New York starring on twenty minute comedies and musicals at New York's Vitaphone studio from 1934 through 1936.
In 1938, Paramount Pictures approached Hope and offered him a role in the film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938" (1938). It was during this film and a duet number with Shirley Ross that the trademark song, "Thanks for the Memory" was introduced and became a major hit.
Hope was signed to a contract with Paramount and became one of their biggest male star actors. During World War II he did a variety of wartime performances for the troops. On May 6th, 1941, Hope performed his first United Service Organizations show at March Field Base in California. Throughout the war he continued to travel and entertain troops.
Hope returned back to acting after the War and continued to work with Paramount through the 1950's. Between his film work and his life concert performances, he was very well known and making a very decent living in the entertainment industry.
Along with a highly successful musical and film career, Hope was also well liked by the public and was the host of the Academy Awards ceremony for a total of eighteen times between 1939 and 1977. Hope, himself, never received an Academy Award but he was honored with four honorary awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
He had a broadcasting career that spanned sixty four years and he did the majority of his work with NBC. He was on a regular series with NBC Radio for the Woodbury Soap Hour and also had a show called, "The New Swan Show" which later became known as, "The Bob Hope Show" in the 1950's.
Hope was also a major spokesperson for a variety of products such as General Motors, Texaco and Chrysler. He made appearances on a number of popular television shows such as, "I Love Lucy" (1956) and "The Simpson's" (1992).
Hope was an avid golfer and in 1960, The Bob Hope Classic was founded. It is currently still the only Fedex Cup tournament that continues to take place over five rounds. Hope was also very active in a charity known as, Fight For Sight" in which he served as an active honorary chairman and donated $100,000 to establish the Bob Hope Flight for Sight Fund.
As Bob Hope entered into his 9th decade of working in the industry he showed no signs of considering retirement. Even at the age of ninety five, Hope made an appearance at the 50th anniversary of the Primetime Emmy Awards. When Hope celebrated his 100th birthday, there was an intersection on the corner of Hollywood and Vine Street in Hollywood, California that became officially named, Bob Hope Square.
Even though he remained in the public eye even up till his passing, Hope did have health issues that began in the year 2000. He was hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding in 2000 and in 2001 was hospitalized again for pneumonia.
Bob Hope passed away on July 27th, 2003 at the age of 100 in Toluca Lake, California due to pneumonia. He married twice, first to Grace Louise Troxell whom was his dance partner, from 1933 briefly for just one year. He then married Dolores Hope from 1934 through his death in 2003. He was interred in the Bob Hope Memorial Garden at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
1988 Highway to Heaven
1986 A Masterpiece of Murder
1985 Spies Like Us
1980 The Toni Tennille Show
1979 The Muppet Movie
1977 3 Girls 3
1972 Cancel My Reservation
1955-1971 The Bob Hope Show
1969 Roberta
1969 How to Commit Marriage
1968 The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell
1968 Carnival Nights
1968 Get Smart
1967 The Danny Thomas Hour
1967 Eight on the Lam
1963-1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1966 Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
1965 I'll Take Sweden
1964 The Lucy Show
1964 Mr. and Mrs.
1964 A Global Affair
1963 Call Me Bwana
1963 Critic's Choice
1962 The Road to Hong Kong
1961 Bachelor in Paradise
1960 The Facts of Life
1959 Alias Jesse James
1958 Roberta
1958 Paris Holiday
1957 Beau James
1956 The Charles Farrell Show
1956 The Iron Petticoat
1956 That Certain Feeling
1956 Showdown at Ulcer Gulch
1955 The Seven Little Foys
1954 Casanova's Big Night
1953 Here Come the Girls
1953 Scared Stiff
1953 Off Limits
1952 Road to Bali
1952 Son of Paleface
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth
1951 My Favorite Spy
1951 The Lemon Drop Kid
1950 Fancy Pants
1949 The Great Lover
1949 Sorrowful Jones
1948 The Paleface
1947 Road to Rio
1947 Where There's Life
1947 My Favorite Brunette
1946 Monsieur Beaucaire
1946 Road to Utopia
1944 The Princess and the Pirate
1943 Let's Face It
1943 They Got Me Covered
1942 Road to Morocco
1942 My Favorite Blonde
1941 Louisiana Purchase
1941 Nothing But the Truth
1941 Caught in the Draft
1941 Road to Zanzibar
1940 The Ghost Breakers
1940 Road to Singapore
1939 The Cat and the Canary
1939 Some Like It Hot
1939 Never Say Die
1938 Thanks for the Memory
1938 Give Me a Sailor
1938 College Swing
1938 The Big Broadcast of 1938
1936 Shop Talk
1935 Double Exposure
1935 Watch the Birdie
1935 Calling All Tars
1934 Paree, Paree
1934 Going Spanish
