Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 [on Bing Crosby] A lot of people think that Bing was a loner, but Bing was a very loyal friend. If you haven`t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.
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[1991] Remember, you kids, always pay to get into the movies; the Japanese need the money.
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You know you`re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.
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[When asked by his wife where he wanted to be buried] Surprise me.
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I love Oscar, that little bald head. I didn`t know Sinéad O`Connor had children!
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I was lucky, you know, I always had a beautiful girl and the money was good. Although I would have done the whole thing over for, oh, perhaps half.
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[on Katharine Hepburn] This dame is terrific -- and expert in her craft and so electrifying on set that if you don`t watch out, you`re likely to wind up as part of the scenery.
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[In reference to the Academy Awards] It`s wonderful to be here in person. I couldn`t be here in spirit, so I`m here in person.
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[In reference to Macaulay Culkin] I remember when they handed out the Oscars in 1927; I was Home Alone, too!
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[on Jane Russell] Don`t let her fool you. Tangle with her and she`ll shingle your attic.
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[on MGM chief Louis B. Mayer] Louis B. Mayer came out west with $28.00, a box camera and an old lion. He built a monument to himself -- the Bank of America.
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Bing Crosby and I weren`t the types to go around kissing each other. We always had a light jab for each other. One of our stock lines used to be "There`s nothing I wouldn`t do for Bing, and there`s nothing he wouldn`t do for me. And that`s the way we go through life - doing nothing for each other!"
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[on being told he was being awarded an honorary knighthood] What an honor and what a surprise for a boy born in England, raised in Cleveland and schooled in vaudeville.
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Welcome to the Academy Awards -- or as it`s known at my house, Passover.
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[1991] Remember me? The Macaulay Culkin of 1927.
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[when asked why he didn`t run for President of the United States] I thought about it. But my wife said she wouldn`t want to move into a smaller house.
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People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy.
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[referring to both the film release of "Mommie Dearest" (Mommie Dearest (1981)), the biography of Joan Crawford written by her daughter Christina Crawford, and the equally scathing book about Bette Davis, written by her daughter] Now I know why tigers eat their young.
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[at the 50th Anniversary Academy Awards, referring to Oscar Winners Tribute Sequence] They`ve all got their Oscars. But are they happy?
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[on Dorothy Lamour] Dottie was fearless. She stands there before the camera and ad libs with Bing Crosby and me, fully knowing the way the script`s written, she`ll come up second or third best.
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I do benefits for ALL religions. I`d hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.
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They said I was worth $500 million. If I was worth that much, I wouldn`t have visited Vietnam, I`d have sent for it.
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[at the height of the Cold War] We had a very successful trip to Russia. We made it back.
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[on Jack Benny] He didn`t just stand on the stage. He owned it.
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[At the Academy Awards] We`re all here to celebrate Oscar -- or as he`s known at my house, The Fugitive!
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Golf is my real profession - show business pays my greens fees.
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[referring to the Academy Awards ceremonies] Tonight we set aside petty differences, forget old feuds and start new ones.
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I`ve never wanted an Oscar, although they are reassuring to an actor who doesn`t know how really great he is.
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[on Vincent Price] He always loved a good joke. Moreover, he was kind enough to laugh at jokes that weren`t so good.
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[referring to Macaulay Culkin] That kid`s getting $5 million for his next picture. For this we need child labor laws?
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[On his 100th birthday] I`m so old, they`ve canceled my blood type.
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Personally, I never drink on Oscar nights, as it interferes with my suffering.
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I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.
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[At the Academy Awards] To all you losers, remember there`s a bright side to all of this: you can still run for Governor.
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[referring to the Academy Awards ceremonies] Welcome to "You Bet Your Career."
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Trivia
Wrote several books about his experiences over the years, including "I Owe Russia $1200", about his Soviet tour in early 1962; "Confessions of a Hooker", about his lifelong passion for golf; and "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me!", about his many overseas trips to entertain U.S. troops over the years.
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Received 58 honorary degrees.
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Has a ship named after him: USNS Bob Hope.
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His grandfather lived to age of 99 years, 11 months, and 25 days
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He and best friend Bing Crosby were planning to make one last "road" picture in early 1977, but Bing died before filming. Bob was so broken up about Bing's death that he couldn't sleep for days on end. He stated that it was one of the worst times of his life and that his wife was his rock who got him through the tough time.
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1957: Golden Globe: Ambassador of Good Will Award
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1984: Emmy: Governor's Award
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In the 1950s, a part-owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. His guest appearance in "I Love Lucy" (1951) centered around his attending a Yankees-Indians game at Yankee Stadium.
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In 1997, the U.S. Air Force honored Hope by naming a cargo plane "The Spirit of Bob Hope" after the legendary entertainer.
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He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.
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He bought several acres of prime real estate in Rancho Mirage, CA, to build a racetrack. He later decided a medical center was needed in the area instead, so he donated the land to build Eisenhower Medical Center, which is now rated as among the top 100 hospitals in America today. A medical building on the campus is named for him and contains statues of he and wife Dolores Hope in the lobby. Another medical building next door is called "Hope Square".
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In 1969, he was worth in excess of $150 million, largely as a result of shrewd business and real estate investments.
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First show business job was as a dancer in the 'Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle' vaudeville revue in Cleveland in 1924.
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He is among the select few non-band members who have had the honor of dotting the "i" during The Ohio State University Marching Band's 'Script Ohio' routine. This is considered the greatest honor the band can bestow to any non-band person and is an extremely special (and rare) event.
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1995: National Medal of Arts: presented by President Bill Clinton.
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In November of 1948, when President Harry S. Truman scored his upset presidential re-election victory, Hope sent him a one-word telegram: "Unpack". Truman was so amused by it he kept it in his desk in the Oval Office.
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Served as United Service Organizations, Inc. (USO) Entertainment Coordinator from 1941 - 2001. Retired his post at age 98 in favor of Wayne Newton.
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On his wartime USO tours he had one ironclad rule that he insisted his fellow performers follow: under no circumstances were they allowed to cry when visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals. This was often difficult given the amount of suffering they saw, but he told his performers that it was their duty to always smile and provide laughs and good cheer for the troops. According to Hope, he broke his own rule only once. While visiting an army hospital in Italy in 1943, he stopped at the bedside of a wounded soldier who had been in a coma for two months. The soldier suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Hey, Bob Hope! When did you get here?" He had to leave the hospital room to keep the troops from seeing his tears, but he returned a few hours later to present the soldier with his Purple Heart medal.
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Played his first big part in the Broadway version of "Roberta" in 1933.
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According to Hope's biographer Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx, Hope married his vaudeville partner of five years, Grace Louise Troxell, on 25 January 1933, although they divorced soon afterwards. Hope denied that they had actually married.
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Brother Jack Hope sometimes served as producer of Bob's shows; his memoir 'I Owe Russia $1200' is dedicated to Jack's memory.
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1985: Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award
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Awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by President John F. Kennedy at the White House. (September 11th 1963).
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Appointed an honorary CBE in 1976.
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1962: Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Cecil B. DeMille Award.
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Attended the funeral of his friend of more than forty years, former President Richard Nixon. (27 April 1994).
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Hosted the Academy Awards in 1940, 1943, 1945 (alongside John Cromwell), 1946 (alongside James Stewart), 1953 (alongside Conrad Nagel), 1955 (alongside Thelma Ritter), 1958 (alongside James Stewart, David Niven, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell and "Donald Duck"), 1959 (alongside Jerry Lewis, David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Mort Sahl and Tony Randall), 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1975 (alongside Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra) and finally in 1978.
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Wife Dolores Hope was born 27th May 1909. She and Bob celebrated their birthdays on 28th May every year - splitting the difference between their respective real birthdays.
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Once remarked the only place where he could walk unrecognized was in the People's Republic of China. But even then a Chinese man still recognized him from one of his movies from before the Chinese Revolution.
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Has three theaters named after him, located in London, California, and on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
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1965: Screen Actors Guild: Life Achievement Award
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He change his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.
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Holds two entries in "The Guinness Book of World Records". One is for having the distinction of being the entertainer with "the longest running contract with a single network - spanning sixty-one years". The second is for being the "most honored entertainer", with over 1500 awards.
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At the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, Hope released a statement saying he wished he could go to the country to entertain the troops, but that his doctors would not allow him.
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He was one of the richest movie stars.... he ranked in the top ten highest salaried stars continuously from 1941-1953 [except for 1948]
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Retired from show business at the age of 93 after filming Bob Hope's Bag Full of Christmas Memories (1993).
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Was honored on the "'Dean Martin' Celebrity Roasts" in 1974.
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Has 4 adopted children: Eleanora Avis "Nora", Anthony, Linda Hope and Kelly Hope.
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Was a supporter of Valley Forge Military Academy & Junior College in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He has the "Bob Hope Five-Star Award for Distinguished Service to the United States of America" named in his honor.
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Awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson on his last day in office. (January 20th 1969)
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There is a major street in Rancho Mirage, CA, named after him. Bob Hope Drive crosses Frank Sinatra, Gerald Ford, Ginger Rogers and Dinah Shore Drives.
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His last appearance with Lucille Ball on television was March 28, 1989 on the The 61st Annual Academy Awards (1989) (TV) show. Hope and Ball introduced a musical number featuring "The Stars of Tomorrow," (which included Johnny Depp, Christian Slater, and Ricki Lake). They both received a standing ovation upon arriving on stage. Lucille Ball died 28 days later on April 26. 1989.
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Hospitalized with gastro-intestinal bleeding in June 2000. Although he received a blood transfusion after the bleeding in his colon was stopped, no surgery was performed.
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Hosted the Oscars 18 times, including the ceremonies in 1939, 1954, 1962 and 1968.
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Hospitalized with pneumonia and respiratory problems in August 2001. A week after he left hospital on 4 September, Hope and his wife released a joint statement expressing their horror at the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
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Spent his 99th birthday--29 May 2002--at home in Toluca Lake, CA. Wife Dolores Hope's 93rd birthday was just two days before. Los Angeles National Cemetery dedicated veterans' chapel in his name to salute his lifetime of service entertaining U.S. troops.
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Entertained U.S. troops starting 6th May 1941, and became the first 'honorary veteran' by Congress.
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He entertained 11 different Presidents, beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and ending with Bill Clinton.
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Despite a well documented reputation for frugality, Hope is believed to have donated an estimated $1 billion to charity.
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Awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II. (1998)
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USO center is named after him
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He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party.
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1959: Emmy: Trustees' Award "for bringing the great gift of laughter to all peoples of all nations; for selflessly entertaining American troops throughout the world over many years; and for making TV finer by these deeds and by the consistently high quality of his TV programs through the years"
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As a young comedian, he won a Charles Chaplin look-alike contest in Cleveland.
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Graduated from Fairmount High School in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Was briefly a professional boxer. He fought under the name Packy East.
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Has entertained the troops overseas in every war from WWII to the Gulf War
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He was the only entertainer to have complete carte blanche to walk on whenever he felt like it on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).
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Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 219-222. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
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In 1999 he became the first to start the tradition of the official lighting of the Christmas Tree in Disneyland. Afterwards, he and wife Dolores Hope drove their own golf cart down Main Street, through Frontier Land to Club 33 for dinner.
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Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1983.
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In 1997, Congress named Hope an honorary U.S. veteran, citing his decades of entertaining troops around the world. He is the only person to receive that distinction.
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Was a Master Mason.
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His golf buddy was Prescott Bush, the father and grandfather of presidents George Bush and George W. Bush.
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Hosted the Oscars 11 times.
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At 69 years, his marriage to Dolores Hope holds the record for the longest Hollywood marriage.
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In a mostly ad-libbed skit for a TV show, Hope joked with Jimmy Durante about the size of his own nose. Durante quipped "When it comes to noses, you're a retailer. I'm a wholesaler!"
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ABC-TV Network News Poll, A&E Biography Viewers Poll, as well as magazine and newspaper 'century roundups' have proclaimed Hope as the "Entertainer of the 20th Century."
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Was incorrectly declared dead several times since retiring from the public eye. On the most infamous occasion in 1998, a wire service accidentally posted a pre-written obituary to a Web page. A member of the US House of Representatives saw this bogus news flash and announced Hope's death during a session at the Capitol. Hope learned he was dead when a reporter called his home asking for a statement. According to family members, Hope took this mistake in good humor.
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Has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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1994: American Comedy Award: Lifetime Achievement (male)
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