UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · BIOGRAPHY · COMEDIANS
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.
William Henry Hope, Bob Hope's father, had many excuses.
— from Bob Hope, 2000
Most acclaimed
Bob Hope
2000
Lawrence J. Quirk delves into every personal and professional aspect of Bob Hope's long, complex and dramatic life; rising by sheer dint of will to great wealth and fame. Why did Hope become so identified with sponsoring the Vietnam War? What's the real scoop on his relationship with Bing Crosby? How far astray did Hope's frankly oversexed nature lead him from the marriage he successfully maintained with Dolores for over sixty years? Quirk writes about Hope based on long experience. He knew and interviewed Bob Hope while serving as an army sergeant during the Korean war and later as entertainment editor, and interviewer of top stars for over forty years. Quirk approaches his subject with original observations born of years of studying this most celebrated, yet in some ways most mysterious of entertainment giants.
I owe Russia $1200
1963
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
1944
"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 ..." --