Editing Bob Hope (section)

== Career ==
=== 1927–1937: Early theatre and film roles ===
[[File:Bob Hope.jpg|thumb|upright|Bob Hope]]
In the early days, Hope's career included appearances on stage in vaudeville shows and Broadway productions.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web | url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bob-hope-biography/9725/| title=This Is Bob Hope... Biography| author=Zoglin, Richard| date=November 30, 2017| publisher=[[PBS]]| access-date=May 13, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514064753/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bob-hope-biography/9725/| archive-date=May 14, 2018| url-status=live}}</ref> Hope's first Broadway appearances, in 1927's ''The Sidewalks of New York'' and 1928's ''Ups-a-Daisy'', were minor walk-on parts.{{sfn|Faith|2003|p=403}} He returned to Broadway in 1933 to star as Huckleberry Haines in the [[Jerome Kern]] and [[Dorothy Fields]] musical ''[[Roberta (musical)|Roberta]]''.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=71}} Stints in the musicals ''[[Say When (musical)|Say When]]'', the 1936 [[Ziegfeld Follies]] with [[Fanny Brice]], and ''[[Red, Hot and Blue]]'' with [[Ethel Merman]] and [[Jimmy Durante]] followed.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=73–75}}

He began performing on the radio in 1934 mostly with [[NBC]] radio, and switched to [[television]] when that medium became popular in the 1950s. He started hosting regular TV specials in 1954,{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=229}} and hosted the [[Academy Awards]] nineteen times from 1939 through 1977.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.biography.com/news/bob-hope-king-of-the-oscars-21156325 | title=Bob Hope: King of the Oscars | website=Biography | access-date=July 19, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728163444/https://www.biography.com/news/bob-hope-king-of-the-oscars-21156325 | archive-date=July 28, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Overlapping with this was his movie career, spanning 1934 to 1972, and his [[United Service Organizations|USO]] tours, which he conducted from 1941 to 1991.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=318–320}}{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=181–182}}

Hope signed a contract with [[Educational Pictures]] of New York for six short comedies. The first was a comedy, ''[[Going Spanish]]'' (1934). He was not happy with it, and told newspaper columnist [[Walter Winchell]], "When they catch [bank robber] [[John Dillinger|Dillinger]], they're going to make him sit through it twice."{{sfn|Maltin|1972|p=25}} Educational Pictures took umbrage at the remark and canceled Hope's contract after only the one film. He soon signed with the [[Vitaphone]] short-subject studio in [[Brooklyn]], New York, making musical and comedy shorts during the day and performing in Broadway shows in the evenings.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=105, 107}}

=== 1938–1949: Hollywood contract and stardom ===
[[File:Bob Hope in The Ghost Breakers trailer.JPG|thumb|left|Bob Hope in ''[[The Ghost Breakers]]'' trailer (1940)]]

Hope moved to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] when [[Paramount Pictures]] signed him for the 1938 film ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1938]]'', also starring [[W. C. Fields]]. The song "[[Thanks for the Memory]]", which later became his trademark, was introduced in the film as a duet with [[Shirley Ross]], accompanied by [[Shep Fields]] and his orchestra.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=110, 113}} The sentimental, fluid nature of the music allowed Hope's writers—he depended heavily upon joke writers throughout his career{{sfn|Lahr|1998}}—to later create variations of the song to fit specific circumstances, such as bidding farewell to troops while on tour or mentioning the names of towns in which he was performing.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=133}}

[[File:Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in Road to Bali.jpg|thumb|Hope, [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Dorothy Lamour]] in ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952)]]

As a film star, Hope was best known for such comedies as ''[[My Favorite Brunette]]'' and the highly successful "[[Road to …|Road]]" movies in which he starred with [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Dorothy Lamour]]. The series consists of seven films made between 1940 and 1962: ''[[Road to Singapore]]'' (1940), ''[[Road to Zanzibar]]'' (1941), ''[[Road to Morocco]]'' (1942), ''[[Road to Utopia]]'' (1946), ''[[Road to Rio]]'' (1947), ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952), and ''[[The Road to Hong Kong]]'' (1962). At the outset, Paramount executives were amazed at how relaxed and compatible Hope and Crosby were as a team. What the executives didn't know was that Hope and Crosby had already worked together (on the vaudeville stage in 1932), and that working so easily in the "Road" pictures was just an extension of their old stage act.

Hope had seen Lamour performing as a nightclub singer in New York,{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=112}} and invited her to work on his [[United Service Organizations]] (USO) tours of military facilities. Lamour sometimes arrived for filming prepared with her lines, only to be baffled by completely rewritten scripts or ad-libbed dialogue between Hope and Crosby.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=128}} Hope and Lamour were lifelong friends, and she remains the actress most associated with his film career although he made movies with dozens of [[leading lady|leading ladies]], including [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Paulette Goddard]], [[Hedy Lamarr]], [[Lucille Ball]], [[Rosemary Clooney]], [[Jane Russell]], and [[Elke Sommer]].{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=174–180}}
[[File:Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in Road to Bali.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Hope and [[Bing Crosby]] sing and dance during the number "Chicago Style" in ''[[Road to Bali]]'' (1952)]]
Hope and Crosby teamed not only for the "Road" pictures, but for many stage, radio, and television appearances and many brief movie appearances together over the decades{{Sfn|Quirk|1998|p=127}} until Crosby died in 1977. Although the two invested together in oil leases and other business ventures, worked together frequently, and lived near each other, they rarely saw each other socially.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=127, 137}} After the release of ''Road to Singapore'' (1940), Hope's screen career took off, and he had a long and successful run. After an 11-year hiatus from the "Road" genre, he and Crosby reteamed for ''The Road to Hong Kong'' (1962), starring the 28-year-old [[Joan Collins]] in place of Lamour, whom Crosby thought was too old for the part.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=265}} They had planned one more movie together in 1977, ''The Road to the Fountain of Youth'', but filming was postponed when Crosby was injured in a fall, and the production was canceled when he suddenly died of heart failure that October.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=287}}

Hope starred in 54 theatrical features between 1938 and 1972,{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=41}} as well as cameos and short films. Most of his later movies failed to match the success of his 1940s efforts. He was disappointed with his appearance in ''[[Cancel My Reservation]]'' (1972), his last starring film; critics and filmgoers panned the movie.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=285–286}} Though his career as a film star effectively ended in 1972, he did make a few cameo film appearances into the 1980s.
[[File:Colonnahope.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)|Jerry Colonna]] and Hope, as caricatured by [[Sam Berman]] for NBC's 1947 promotional book]]

Hope's [[Bob Hope television appearances|career in broadcasting]] began on radio in 1934. His first regular series for [[NBC Radio]] was the ''Woodbury Soap Hour'' in 1937, on a 26-week contract. Serving as the master of ceremonies for these ''Rippling Rhythm Revue'' radio broadcasts, Hope collaborated with the big band leader [[Shep Fields]] during this period of transition from vaudeville to radio.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC |title=On the Air: the Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=The Bob Hope Show |author-last=Dunning |author-first=John |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=New York |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-977078-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Bob+Hope+Show+105%22+%22Music+Shep+Fields%22&pg=PA105 105-109]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ffiDAAAQBAJ |title=Bob Hope: A Tribute |author-last=Strait |author-first=Raymond |publisher=Crossroad Press |date=2016 |chapter=Chapter 11. Bob Hope, Shep Fields and The Rippling Rhythm Revue |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ffiDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT74}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/british-born-american-comedian-bob-hope-master-of-news-photo/79750132|title=British-born American comedian Bob Hope , master of ceremonies on NBC...|website=Getty Images|date=February 14, 2008 }}</ref> A year later, ''[[The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope]]'' began, and Hope signed a ten-year contract with the show's sponsor, [[Lever Brothers]]. He hired eight writers and paid them out of his salary of $2,500 a week. The original staff included [[Mel Shavelson]], [[Norman Panama]], [[Jack Rose (screenwriter)|Jack Rose]], [[Sherwood Schwartz]], and Schwartz's brother [[Al Schwartz (writer)|Al]]. The writing staff eventually grew to fifteen.{{sfn|Nachman|1998|p=144}} The show became the top radio program in the country. Regulars on the series included [[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)|Jerry Colonna]] and [[Barbara Jo Allen]] as spinster Vera Vague. Hope continued his lucrative career in radio into the 1950s, when radio's popularity began being overshadowed by the upstart television medium.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=30–32}}{{sfn|Quirk|1998|pp=92–103}}

=== 1950–1979: Television specials ===
[[File:Jack Hope Jack Benny Bob Hope 1954.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Hope (right) with his brother [[Jack Hope|Jack]] (seated), who produced his early 1950s show, with comedian [[Jack Benny]]]]

Hope did many specials for the NBC television network in the following decades, beginning in April 1950. He was one of the first people to use [[cue card]]s. The shows often were sponsored by [[Frigidaire]] (early 1950s), [[General Motors]] (1955–61), [[Chrysler]] (1963–73), and [[Texaco]] (1975–85).{{sfn|Grudens|2002|pp=47–48}} Hope's Christmas specials were popular favorites and often featured a performance of "[[Silver Bells]]"—from his 1951 film ''[[The Lemon Drop Kid]]''—done as a duet with an often much younger female guest star such as [[Barbara Mandrell]], [[Olivia Newton-John]], [[Barbara Eden]], and [[Brooke Shields]],{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=160}} or with his wife Dolores, a former singer with whom he dueted on two specials.

On April 26, 1970, [[CBS]] released the [[Raquel Welch]] television special ''[[Raquel! (TV program)|Raquel!]]''; in it Hope appears as a guest.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Du Brow|first=Rick|date=April 23, 1970|title=Sunday night 'special' features Raquel Welch|page=6|work=The News-Herald}}</ref> Hope's 1970 and 1971 Christmas specials for NBC—filmed in [[Vietnam]] in front of military audiences at the height of the war—are on the list of the [[List of most watched television broadcasts#Top 46 network prime-time telecasts|Top 46 U.S. network prime-time telecasts]]. Both were seen by more than 60 percent of the U.S. households watching television.{{sfn|Grudens|2002|p=48}} Likely the most unusual of his television specials was ''Joys!'', a parody of murder mystery narratives, where the audience discovers at the end of the broadcast that Johnny Carson was the villain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joys1 {Bob Hope} (TV) |url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=&p=1&item=B:07257 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.paleycenter.org}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=McDonough |first=Dick |title=Joys! |date=1976-03-05 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164066/ |type=Comedy, Mystery |access-date=2023-07-30 |others=Bob Hope, Don Adams, Jack Albertson |publisher=Hope Enterprises}}</ref>

[[File:Bob Hope James Garner 1961.JPG|thumb|upright|Hope with [[James Garner]] (1961)]]
Beginning in early 1950, Hope licensed rights to publish a [[celebrity comics|celebrity]] comic book titled ''[[The Adventures of Bob Hope]]'' to National Periodical Publications, alias [[DC Comics]]. The comic, originally featuring publicity stills of Hope on the cover, was entirely made up of fictional stories, eventually including fictitious relatives, a high school taught by movie monsters, and a superhero called [[Super-Hip]]. It was published intermittently and continued publication through issue #109 in 1969. Illustrators included [[Bob Oksner]] and (for the last four issues) [[Neal Adams]].{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Hope reprised his role as Huck Haines in a 1958 production of ''Roberta'' at [[The Muny]] Theater in [[Forest Park (St. Louis, Missouri)|Forest Park in]] [[St. Louis, Missouri]].<ref name="The Muny 1958"/> Additionally, Hope rescued the [[The Bob Hope Theatre|Eltham Little Theatre]] in England from closure by providing funds to buy the property. He continued his interest and support, and regularly visited the facility when in London. The theater was renamed in his honor in 1982.<ref name="bobhopetheatre 100th"/>

===1980–1996: Later appearances===
[[File:Gable Grant Hope Niven 1950s.jpg|thumb|left|With [[Clark Gable]], [[Cary Grant]], and [[David Niven]] in the 1950s]]

Hope made a guest appearance on ''The Golden Girls'', season 4, episode 17 (aired February 25, 1989) called "You Gotta Have Hope" in which Rose is convinced Bob Hope is her father. In 1992, Hope made a guest appearance as himself on the animated Fox series ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in the episode "[[Lisa the Beauty Queen]]" (season 4, episode 4).<ref name="Simpsons Season 4"/> His 90th birthday television celebration in May 1993, ''Bob Hope: The First 90 Years'', won an [[Emmy Award]] for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special.<ref name="Emmys 1993"/> Toward the end of his career, worsening vision problems rendered him unable to read his cue cards.{{sfn|Quirk|1998|p=291}} In October 1996, he announced he was ending his 60-year contract with NBC, joking that he "decided to become a free agent".<ref name="Errico 1996"/> His final television special, ''Laughing with the Presidents'', was broadcast in November 1996, with host [[Tony Danza]] helping him present a personal retrospective of [[President of the United States|presidents of the United States]] known to Hope, a frequent White House visitor over the years.<ref name=scott>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/bob-hope-laughing-with-the-presidents-1200447671/|title=Bob Hope Laughing with the Presidents|first1=Tony|last1=Scott|date=November 18, 1996}}</ref> The special, though different from his usual specials, received high praise from ''Variety'',<ref name=scott/> as well as other reviews.<ref name="Seely 2005"/> Following a brief appearance at the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1997, Hope made his last TV appearance in a 1997 commercial about the introduction of [[Big Kmart]], directed by [[Penny Marshall]].<ref name="K-Mart press release 1997"/>

Hope continued an active entertainment career past his 90th birthday, concentrating on his television specials and USO tours. Although he had given up starring in feature films after ''Cancel My Reservation'', he made several cameos in various films and co-starred with [[Don Ameche]] in the 1986 [[television film]] ''A Masterpiece of Murder''.<ref name="Turner Movies" /> A television special created for his 80th birthday in 1983 at the [[Kennedy Center]] in Washington, D.C., featured President Ronald Reagan, actress Lucille Ball, comedian-actor-writer [[George Burns]], and many others.<ref name="TV.com" /> In 1985 he was presented with the Life Achievement Award at the [[Kennedy Center Honors]],<ref name="Kennedy Center" /> and in 1998 he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent [[Order of the British Empire]] (KBE) by Queen [[Elizabeth II]]. Upon accepting the appointment, Hope quipped, "I'm speechless. 70 years of ad lib material and I'm speechless."<ref name="CBC News" />