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Bob Hope

Bob Hope’s career was built on movement: from vaudeville stages to Broadway, from radio microphones to Hollywood sets, and eventually into decades of television. Born in Eltham on May 29, 1903, the American entertainer developed the easy timing and audience awareness that would carry him across nearly every major form of 20th-century popular entertainment. His first Broadway appearances were minor walk-on parts, but by 1933 he was starring as Huckleberry Haines in the musical Roberta. Radio followed in 1934, while his early screen work included the short comedy Going Spanish. Hollywood properly opened up when Paramount signed him for The Big Broadcast of 1938, which introduced “Thanks for the Memory” as a duet with Shirley Ross. The song became closely identified with Hope and was later adapted to suit different appearances and farewells. For movie audiences, Hope is most closely associated with comedy, particularly My Favorite Brunette and the seven “Road” pictures made between 1940 and 1962. His relaxed partnership with Bing Crosby drew on their earlier vaudeville experience, while Dorothy Lamour became the actress most associated with his film career. The loose, ad-libbed energy between Hope and Crosby helped give the series its particular rhythm, beginning with Road to Singapore and ending with The Road to Hong Kong. Hope starred in 54 theatrical features between 1938 and 1972, alongside cameos and shorts, but film was only one part of his unusually broad working life. He began hosting regular television specials in 1954, presented the Academy Awards 19 times between 1939 and 1977, and conducted USO tours from 1941 to 1991. Later appearances on The Golden Girls and The Simpsons showed how long his public persona remained recognizable. By the time his final television special aired in 1996, Hope had spent more than six decades finding new stages for the same essential skill: knowing how to play directly to an audience.