Bob Hope

Bob Hope, stalwart and determined entertainer of U.S. troops, on the five women he could take on each of his Vietnam trips. Love that Bob!

America's Number One Expert (Old Sincere to his friends) didn't really cheat the Russians out of their money when he fled from Moscow. He left his writers there as security. They may have sneaked home by now, though. Someone had to write this book. It took guts. But on second thought...open the book and read a few pages. Could any hireling hand write this? Definitely not. For this you gotta have Hope: On London fog: "I saw a light in the distance. Slowly it became clearer and clearer and finally I could make it out. It was the end of my cigarette." On nervousness in planes: "Flying over to Europe I read a novel. Coming back I read the second page." On Air Force transportation: "I didn't know how old the plane was, but Lindbergh's lunch was still on the seat. The path to the washroom was outside." On Khrushchev in Hollywood: "Nikita was thrilled about coming to lunch at Twentieth Century Fox. He thought the studio was named after him." To Marines at a remote training camp: "I hear one Marine rolled out of the lean-to this morning and shaved three times before he realized he was staring into a bear." To sailors at Guantanamo: "My grandfather was the Naval hero who said, 'I have not yet begun to fight.' And you know, he never did. You probably remember him--Admiral Tuna, the chicken of the sea?" There's more, lots more, inside this book. And it isn't all that serious.

"I Never Left Home is about ... Bob Hope's journey among our armed forces, during which he has traveled more than 80,000 miles and played before more than half the entire army. It is composed of about three-fourths straight Hope humor and one-fourth extremely moving tribute to our soldiers. It is a personal adventure story and a Hope's eye view of the war ..." --

"If I had my life to live over again, I wouldn't have time." -- Bob Hope The legendary wit and unmistakable voice of America's favorite showman are captured here in the master entertainer's memoir of his first fifty years in show business. From his one-night stands in vaudeville to countless performances for servicemen on U.S. military bases across the globe, this delightfully candid book of funny life stories is pure Hope. In his own words, Hope recalls his brief career as an amateur prizefighter; his flops and successes in vaudeville; memories of sharing the stage with Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante; his courtship of the young singer who would become his bride; his forgettable first screen test; his friendship with Bing Crosby and their high jinks on the sets of the famous Road pictures; poignant and hair-raising trips to entertain the troops; a personal request from General Patton; and eighteen holes of golf with President Eisenhower. Bob Hope was the unchallenged king of the one-liner, a consummate performer, and a beloved supporter of our men in uniform, and his irrepressible spirit shines through in these hilarious, nostalgic, and truly memorable stories from a life lived to bring laughter to others.