Santa, baby: Marilyn Monroe posed in her stockings for this seductive 1951 photo. That year she was voted ‘the present all GI’s would like to find in their Christmas stocking’
“For a man who played third billing to Siamese twins and trained seals, Bob Hope has become the most recognized profile and talent in the world. And, in the entire history of show business, no individual has traveled so far — so often — to entertain so many.
Hope’s entertainment persona has been evident in every decade of the 20th century — from impersonating Charlie Chaplin in front of the firehouse in Cleveland in 1909, to celebrating an unprecedented 60 years with NBC in 1996.”
“ The fifth of seven sons, he was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England on May 29, 1903. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason — his Welsh mother, Avis Townes Hope, an aspiring concert singer.”
”In 1940, Hope made his first film with popular crooner Bing Crosby. The pair starred together as a pair of likeable con artists in The Road to Singapore with Dorothy Lamour playing their love interest. The duo proved to be box office gold. Hope and Crosby, who remained lifelong friends, made seven Road pictures together.”
“Hope did many specials for the NBC television network in the following decades, beginning in April 1950. These were often sponsored by General Motors (1955–1961), Chrysler (1963–73) and Texaco (1975–1985), and Hope served as a spokesman for these companies for many years and would sometimes introduce himself as “Bob, from Texaco, Hope.” 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 Olivia Newton-John, Barbara Eden, and Brooke Shields), or with his wife Delores, with whom he dueted on two specials.
In October 1956, Hope appeared on an episode of the most-viewed program in America at the time, I Love Lucy. He said, upon receiving the script: “What? A script? I don’t need one of these”[cite this quote], and ad-libbed the entire episode. Desi Arnaz said of Hope after his appearance: “Bob is a very nice man, he can crack you up, no matter how much you try for him to not.”[cite this quote] Lucy and Desi returned the favor by appearing on one of his Chevy Show specials (with Vivian Vance and William Frawley) later that season and the former would go on to co-star with Hope in three movies.”
”Hope’s entertainment persona was evident in every decade of the 20th century — from impersonating Charlie Chaplin in front of the firehouse in Cleveland in 1909, to celebrating an unprecedented 60 years with NBC in 1996″
On the anniversary of Bob Hope’s death we present a preview of our upcoming tribute to one of the worlds greatest entertainers .
Well deserved praise for a 21st Century Bob Hope from the American Thinker .
” With the exceptions of Bob Hope and Martha Raye, there may be no other American entertainer who has served our armed forces more. That person is Gary Sinise,actor, director, producer writer, musician, a bit of a down home, foot-shuffling, aw-shucks guy from the Midwest who has probably spent as much time in war zones as many members of our over-worked military,and certainly more than any Member of Congress. Sinise is one of those rare humans who is easy to sum up in quick terms: a really good guy. Or if you wish to add accolades as I’m sure many in the military would: a really damned good guy, among many other unpublishable terms of praise.”
