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"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy."

- Bob Hope

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"I always get confused voting in California. There are more propositions on the ballot than on the Sunset Strip."

-Bob Hope

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"My doctor says I've got everything going for me.
Unfortunately, he can't stop any of it from going."

-Bob Hope

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"But seriously, I think we should treat all of our presidents like stars...if their ratings are low, we should be able to cancel them!"

-Bob Hope

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"Crossing the street in New York City is like playing baseball in Los Angeles. You're either a Dodger or an Angel!"

-Bob Hope

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"I've always had a way with women... their way!"

-Bob Hope

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"I wore hand-me-downs all my life. By the time the trousers got to me, they were so worn that I could sit on a dime and tell you if it was heads or tails.

And by the time my younger brother got them, he could do the same thing sitting on a dollar bill."

-Bob Hope

Hollywood Went to War

Fifty second in our series Hollywood Went to War, and an exception to all the veterans who have appeared thus far, is a civilian from Hollywood that went to war again and again and again...Bob Hope!

While aboard the RMS Queen Mary when World War II began in September 1939, Hope volunteered to perform a special show for the passengers, during which he sang "Thanks for the Memory" with rewritten lyrics. He performed his first USO show on May 6, 1941, at March Field, California, and continued to travel and entertain troops for the rest of World War II, later during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the third phase of the Lebanon Civil War, the latter years of the Iran–Iraq War, and the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War. His USO career lasted half a century, during which he headlined 57 tours. He had a deep respect for the men and women who served in the military, and this was reflected in his willingness to go anywhere in order to entertain them. During the Vietnam War, Hope had trouble convincing some performers to join him on tour. Anti-war sentiment was high, and Hope's pro-troop stance made him a target of criticism. Some shows were drowned out by boos and others were listened to in silence. The tours were funded by the United States Department of Defense, his television sponsors, and by NBC, the network which broadcast the television specials that were created after each tour. Many people considered him as an enabler of the war and a member of the system that made it possible.

Hope recruited his own family members for USO travel. His wife, Dolores, sang from atop an armored vehicle during the Desert Storm tour, and his granddaughter, Miranda, appeared alongside Hope on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean. Of Hope's USO shows in World War II, writer John Steinbeck, who was then working as a war correspondent, wrote in 1943:

When the time for recognition of service to the nation in wartime comes to be considered, Bob Hope should be high on the list. This man drives himself and is driven. It is impossible to see how he can do so much, can cover so much ground, can work so hard, and can be so effective. He works month after month at a pace that would kill most people.

For his service to his country through the USO, he was awarded the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1968. A 1997 act of Congress signed by President Bill Clinton named Hope an "Honorary Veteran." He remarked, "I've been given many awards in my lifetime — but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most — is the greatest honor I have ever received."



Hope was awarded over two thousand honors and awards, including 54 honorary doctorates. In 1963 President John F. Kennedy awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal for service to his country. President Lyndon Johnson bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Hope in 1969 for his service to the men and women of the armed forces through the USO. In 1982, he received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. He was presented with the National Medal of Arts in 1995 and received the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in 1997. Hope became the 64th and only civilian recipient of the United States Air Force Order of the Sword on June 10, 1980. The Order of the Sword recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the enlisted corps.

Several buildings and facilities were renamed after Hope, including the historic Fox Theater in downtown Stockton, California, and the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. There is a Bob Hope Gallery at the Library of Congress. In memory of his mother, Avis Townes Hope, Bob and Dolores Hope gave the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC a chapel, the Chapel of Our Lady of Hope. USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300) of the U.S. Military Sealift Command was named after the performer in 1997. It is one of very few U.S. naval ships that were named after living people. The United States Air Force named a C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft the Spirit of Bob Hope

Fascinating too, and good reads, are Hope's own words to describe his many USO tours. "I never left home", "I Owe Russia $1200", and "Five Women I Love: Bob Hope's Vietnam Story".


Mr. Hope: we salute you and thank you for your service to the servicemen and women of our country. Rest in peace.

A Look Back at Bob Hope's USO Christmas Shows

I can remember wanting to be Bob Hope. I always liked making people laugh. I saw nearly all his movies, read nearly all his books, and I can remember praying that God would keep him safe as he visited our troops around the world. The world was a better place for having him in it.

Video shamelessly stolen from Brutally Honest

Quote du jour

Bigamy is the only crime where two rites make a wrong.

-Bob Hope

"Alias Jesse James" with Bob Hope

Saw "Alias Jesse James" for the first time this weekend. I didn't think it was one of Bob Hope's better movies, but there was one star studded gunfight, with nine different cameos from TV western and movie stars.



The cameos start at about 2:15 and just keep on coming, with Hugh O'Brian (TV's Wyatt Earp), followed by Ward Bond of "Wagon Train", James Arness of "Gunsmoke", Roy Rogers, Fess Parker as "Davy Crockett", Gail Davis as "Annie Oakley", Gary Cooper from "High Noon", Jay Silverheels from "The Lone Ranger", and finally, even Bing Crosby!

And, as an added bonus, here's the "cover stealing" scene between Bob and Trigger in "Son of Paleface".

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I love to go to Washington - if only to be near my money.

-Bob Hope

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When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.

-Bob Hope