Who is Bob Hope

Bob Hope's career success spanned over eight decades during his lifetime with numbers of generations of fans.

Bob Hope appeared in over 70 movies and enjoyed a successful film career that spanned four decades, and earned him four Academy Awards for Lifetime Achievement (1941, 1945, 1953, 1966) as well two honorary Oscars, ten special awards, and the
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960.

Bob Hope was also honored with two Emmy Awards (1966 and 1984), two Golden Globe Awards (1958 and 1963), a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (1966),
and the American Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.

Bob Hope was named to the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1977 for his work in radio.

"The Bob Hope Special" has been referred to as the longest running program on television.

Bob Hope has four stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame:
One each for live theater, radio, television, and motion pictures.

Bob Hope appeared on the cover of Life Magazine on February 4, 1946, and the Saturday Evening Post November 9, 1963.

For twenty years, (fifteen consecutive) Bob Hope was the host of the annual Academy Awards program.

Bob Hope traveled over six million miles entertaining U.S. military and allied troops in both war and peace time.

Bob Hope was considered a goodwill ambassador in every country to which he traveled.

President John F. Kennedy awarded Bob Hope The Congretional Gold Medal in 1962. The medal reads:
"Bob Hope" Humorist, Humanitarian, Patriot. Presented to Bob Hope by President Kennedy in recognition of his having rendered outstanding service to the cause of Democracy throughout the world.

President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Bob Hope the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. It read in part, "With his gifts of joy to all the American people, he has written his name large in the history of our times."

President Bill Clinton signed an act of the US Congress in 1997 which named Bob Hope an "Honorary Veteran". He was the first and only receipient of such an award in US history. He commented; "I've been given many awards in my lifetime - but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most - is the greatest honor I have ever received."

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, represented by Nancy Reagan, awarded Bob Hope the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in 1997.

Queen Elizabeth II appointed Bob Hope an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1998. Thus he officially became Sir Bob Hope.

Even the Boy Scouts of America bestowed their highest honor on Bob Hope by presenting him with the Silver Buffalo Award

All tolled, Bob Hope received over 2,000 awards and citations in recognition of which The Guinness Book of World Records cited him as "the most honored entertainer in history".

Bob Hope was a show-business icon, a legend in his own time, and an American treasure. His name is known throughout the world, as well as among generations of fans.

I would add that Bob Hope was considered an American Institution, but he would have rebuked me for saying that. "I don't like being called an institution" he once said. "Institutions don't get laughs."

My earliest memories of Bob Hope are very clear.
A huge ship with the word "Hope" written on the side
would appear on the black and white TV screen, and
an engaging voice would announce,
"This is Bob - Join The Peace Corps - Hope". I was really much too young to understand the full meaning of the Peace Corps, but I knew that voice was familiar and friendly and unquestionably sincere. That was the thing that really made Bob Hope so likable. Besides his quick wit and ever present humor, there was a true sincerity about him that
simply attracted people to him. When he encouraged a generation of young people to join the Peace Corps, they knew it wasn't just an ad campaign, it was the sincere invitation of a caring person.

As I grew up with television in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Bob Hope was a comfortable, consistent and inviting image. He was from my dad's generation - a little older than the World War Two veterans, (Bob Hope tried to join up for that effort despite his
age, and was advised that he could do better to entertain the younger guys who did go - clearly he took that advice to heart) and from an era when children stood as an adult entered the room;
gentleman stood when a lady entered the room; and "respectful dress" and "common courtesy" were things practiced rather than discussed. On what was often live television, use of the words "hell" or "damn" would get you banned, and "adult entertainment" meant only that the plot was either too involved for the kids to follow, or too boring for young interest. Bob Hope's was a generation of folks I grew up viewing as the purveyors of wisdom, moral integrity and decency. At the time, I may have felt that was simply because they were the "grown ups", but now I understand that it was much, much more.... and I miss that generation of folks deeply. Bob Hope epitomized the best of that generation's ideals and ethics, and brought to it a personal style and character, and a genuine charm and sincerity that made his name a household word, and his memory place in history.

Bob Hope once stated, "I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful." That he had a genuine talent for invoking laughter and found a true joy in displaying it to an appreciative audience is
certainly an understatement. His humanitarian efforts were vast and there are few who can say Bob Hope never brought them a laugh.... And that is what he enjoyed above all else. Asked what he wanted to be remembered for, he answered simply, "A laugh".

When Bob Hope died at the age of one hundred, his wife of 69 years, Dolores, stated, "While we mourn the passing of such a wonderful and remarkable
man, may his friends and fans celebrate his life. A life that Bob loved and lived to the fullest."

Bob Hope once said, "When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness."
Things such as.....
a laugh.