Editing Bob Hope (section)

== Early years ==
[[File:HopewithGroupMeetsPattonWW2.jpg|thumb|left|(Left to Right) Writer [[Hal Block]], Hope, writer/actor Barney Dean, General [[George Patton]], singer [[Frances Langford]], and musician [[Tony Romano (musician)|Tony Romano]] in Sicily on August 21, 1943]]

Leslie Townes Hope was born on May 29, 1903, in [[Eltham]], [[County of London]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/> (now part of the [[Royal Borough of Greenwich]]), in a terraced house at 44 Craigton Road in [[Well Hall]],<ref name=BobBirthPlace>{{cite web|title=Bob Hope birthplace for sale|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/99571.stm|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref><ref name=BobBirthPlace2>{{cite web|title=Bob Hope – from Eltham to Hollywood|url=http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/nostalgia/10541810.Bob_Hope___from_Eltham_to_Hollywood/|website=www.newsshopper.co.uk|date=July 11, 2013 |access-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511081207/http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/nostalgia/10541810.Bob_Hope___from_Eltham_to_Hollywood/|archive-date=May 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> where there is now a British Film Institute 'Centenary of British Cinema' commemorative plaque in his memory.<ref name=BobBirthPlace3>{{cite web|title=Plaque: Bob Hope|url=http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/bob-hope|website=www.londonremembers.com|access-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511081506/http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/bob-hope|archive-date=May 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He was the fifth of seven sons of William Henry Hope, a stonemason from [[Weston-super-Mare]], Somerset, and Welsh mother Avis (née Townes), a light opera singer from [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://barryideasbank.crowdicity.com/post/7891 |title=Barry Ideas Bank |publisher=[[Crowdicity]] |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620040341/https://barryideasbank.crowdicity.com/post/7891 |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> who later worked as a cleaner. William and Avis married in April 1891 and lived at 12 Greenwood Street in Barry before moving to [[Whitehall, Bristol]], and then to [[St George, Bristol]]. The family emigrated to the United States aboard the [[SS Philadelphia (1888)|SS ''Philadelphia'']], passing through [[Ellis Island]], New York on March 30, 1908, before moving on to [[Cleveland, Ohio]].{{sfn|Moreno|2008|p=88}}

From age 12, Hope earned pocket money by singing, dancing, and performing comedy on the street.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=4}} He entered numerous dancing and amateur talent contests as Lester Hope, and won a prize in 1915 for his impersonation of [[Charlie Chaplin]].<ref name="loc.gov Early Life"/> For a time, he attended the [[Boys' Industrial School]] in [[Lancaster, Ohio]], and as an adult donated sizable sums of money to the institution.<ref name="ohiohistorycentral"/> He had a brief career as a boxer in 1919, fighting under the name Packy East. He had three wins and one loss, and he participated in a few staged charity bouts later in life.<ref name="Boxing-Scoop.com"/> In December 1920, 17-year-old Hope and his brothers became [[Citizenship of the United States|US citizens]] when their British parents became [[United States nationality law|naturalised Americans]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bob Hope: The Road from Eltham|first= Charles |last=Thompson |isbn= 9780423000405|year= 1981| publisher= Thames Methuen|page=57|quote="he had been naturalized along with his parents and brothers on 20 December 1920" }}</ref>

In 1921, while working as a [[lineman (technician)|lineman]] for a power company, Hope was assisting his brother Jim in clearing trees when a tree crashed to the ground, crushing his face; the accident required reconstructive surgery, which contributed to his later distinctive appearance.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-road-not-taken-19800320|title=Bob Hope Reflects on the Road Not Taken|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=White|first=Timothy|date=March 20, 1980|access-date=January 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061604/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-road-not-taken-19800320|archive-date=January 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In his teens, he had also worked as a butcher's assistant as well as a brief stint at Cleveland's [[Chandler Motor Car|Chandler Motor Car Company]] in his early 20s.

Hope and his girlfriend later signed up for dancing lessons, encouraged after they performed in a three-day engagement at a club. Hope then formed a partnership with Lloyd Durbin, a friend from the dancing school.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=19–23}} Silent film comedian [[Roscoe Arbuckle|Fatty Arbuckle]] saw them perform in 1925 and found them work with a touring troupe called Hurley's Jolly Follies. Within a year, Hope had formed an act called the "Dancemedians" with George Byrne and the [[Hilton twins|Hilton Sisters]], conjoined twins who performed a tap-dancing routine on the vaudeville circuit. Hope and Byrne also had an act as [[Conjoined twins|Siamese twins]]; they sang and danced while wearing blackface until friends advised Hope that he was funnier by himself.{{sfn|Faith|2003|pp=402–403}}

In 1929, Hope informally changed his first name to "Bob". In one version of the story, he named himself after racecar driver [[Bob Burman]].{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=44}} In another, he said that he chose the name because he wanted a name with a "friendly 'Hiya, fellas!' sound" to it.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=15–16}} In a 1942 legal document, his legal name appears as Lester Townes Hope; it is unknown if this reflects a legal name change from Leslie.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/uso.html|title=Bob Hope and American Variety: On the Road: USO Shows|date=May 10, 2000|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=January 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104211102/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/uso.html|archive-date=January 4, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> After five years on the vaudeville circuit, Hope was "surprised and humbled" when he failed a 1930 screen test for the [[RKO Radio Pictures|RKO]]-[[Pathé Pictures|Pathé]] short-subject studio at [[Culver City, California]].{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=57–58}}