Why Is He Reviled By So Many?
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somic — 18 years ago(May 15, 2007 09:51 PM)
(marklwicksted) Do you really think he would say that to a little old lady with a huge crowd around around him? Come on.
"I was plumb horn swoggled.By the time I got back to my car a plumber swoggled my horn." Bob Hope -
jedediah41 — 18 years ago(June 24, 2007 08:15 AM)
Hope is reviled because he was a staunch Republican who actively supported Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan, didn't do anything useful with his money, and wore a hairpiece
Oh I get it if one supports a major political party and wears a toupee, then that person is hated. OK, putting aside his trips to visit troops for 50 years and using the same standard then you have to be the most hated person around, willie. You supported Kerry, are anti-Semitic, inform on everyone in sight, spread lies about people after they are dead and buried, and have no respect for anyone or anything.
"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper" -
frontrowkid2002 — 15 years ago(March 30, 2011 10:14 AM)
I became interested in old movies and vaudeville as a teenager. Somebody once told I was born about 50 years too late. I read Arthur Marx's book on Bob Hope and other than knowing he was Groucho's son, I didn't realize that Marx had once worked for Hope as a scriptwriter. In answer to the blogger who said Arthur never commented on his own father's shortcoming, I beg to differ. He wrote a book in the Fifties which has comments by Groucho in reference to what he said. Arthur said that Groucho's sense of humor was sometimes hard to take even in teasing. He did come off as a little cranky and even hypercondriac when he was sick. That's how he got his nickname "Groucho." His real name of course is Arthur. Getting back to Hope, Arthur Marx mentions that when Bob brought his autobiography, Groucho was also bringing one out. They mutually agree to comment favorably on each other's book on their TV shows. Groucho took time off from his quiz show to display the book to the audience. However, when it was Bob's turn, he was supposed to say to someone, "Have you read Groucho's book," but instead made a reference to his own. It sounds petty, but still, a deal's a deal. Yes, Hope did make tours to US soldiers in WWII, but he was not the only one. That was a common practice. It was just that after the war, he kept on doing it as well as putting on TV shows that were obviously aimed at young audiences, even though he represented the Old Guard. While he may not have used crude humor on his TV show,I have heard people like Phyllis Diller say that he does black dialect jokes and gay jokes at parties, affecting a lisp. That was funny at one time, but we have all grown up now. Like Bing Crosby, whose personal life got leaked out over the years, it is better to remember Hope as he was years ago, and not what he eventually became.
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willpollock — 12 years ago(November 08, 2013 02:38 PM)
Harpo's real name was Arthur (he changed it from Adolph), Groucho was Julius. Groucho used to carry his money in a "grouch bag" (a bag hung around his neck)when he was young.
If your name was Julius wouldn't you prefer to be called something else? -
DButcher — 16 years ago(June 02, 2009 09:15 AM)
Maybe it was a joke and he gave her the autograph but somebody only heard half of the story.
If he gave her the autograph, then "Get her out of here" is very funny. If he didn't give her the autograph, he's an ass. -
still_a_TCurryfan — 18 years ago(July 23, 2007 06:46 AM)
Here's an article that ma2000y explain why some people don't think too highly of Bob Hope, the man:
http://blogs.citypages.com/amadzine/2003/07/
I think there's probably a lot of truth to what is written and it certainly colored my opinion of Hope as a person. It's always disappointing to find out sordid details about someone who has a family man image. -
dadier55 — 18 years ago(August 03, 2007 10:36 AM)
Being a pedophile is typically Republican? Gee, I didn't know Brando and thorn were Republicans.
So if Hope was a "woman-izer," would that make thorn a "teenboy-izer"?
"I've been beaten up but I'm not beaten, and I'm not quitting" -
generalusgrant — 18 years ago(January 02, 2008 10:42 AM)
In 1984 and 1985, Bob Hope used to come in regularly to the Velvet Turtle restaurant in Pasadena. I was then in college and worked there. He always came in with daughter, Linda. I had always been a big fan of Bob Hope and even more of a fan of Bing Crosby.
All I can say is this: Bob Hope was one of the rudest customers I ever saw in that place. On a tab of $34, he would always leave one dollar as a tip and crumple up the bill. He was profane, insulting and sullen. It devastated me because I had been a great fan, but his behavior was always so boorish it just totally turned me off. His daughter wasn't much better, but on occasion she would hand the server a 10 dollar bill upon exiting, to make up for her dad's measley tip.
I will say that whenever anyone approached him for an autograph, he would sign it, but would not chat with the fan, just brush them off. -
WhWm — 18 years ago(January 03, 2008 11:59 PM)
Did you find him profane, insulting and sullen because he brushed off fans?
Or was it because you thought he was not generous?
Remember Bob Hope was in his 80s by this time and probably just wanted to be alone. -
stacker62399 — 18 years ago(January 12, 2008 04:34 PM)
WOW, did I open a can of worms, or what??!!
Hello all, Original Poster of this thread here. Hadn't visited it in a lonnng time, just going back through some old posts today.
Bob Hope seems to have been the ultimate enigma, that's all I'm gonna say lest I make somebody mad at me. I don't really have the interest in him to do much research, it's just that I've always been a little bit troubled when watching him since an incident I related to in my OP of 8-5-06. This WWII veteran from my area said in a newspaper interview that Hope was a real arrogant SOB, or something to that affect. This was years ago that I read that, but it stuck with me, and I always tried to picture Hope instead offering his hand and that mile-wide grin and saying something like "I'm Bob Hope, what's your name, soldier?!" Sounds CORNY AS HELL, I know, but dammit, I hate it sometimes when my perceptions get screwed with. Just call me naive, I guess.
Oh well, I can't say as I really care, but Mr. Hope is one of the old timers that seeems to stir up a lot of dander, both pro and con. -
mwicksted-1 — 18 years ago(March 12, 2008 11:52 AM)
generalusgrant, I want to thank you for sharing your experience. It has truth written all over it, and it dovetails nicely with my earlier post on this subject. Why don't people realize that the public image that has been carefully crafted over the years can be at such odds with reality? Someone might try to argue with you saying, "Oh come on! This can't be! Do you think Bob Hope would act that way in public? What would his fans think?" My answer is an emphatic "Yes." Sometimes the truth isn't pretty.
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FortySecondStreetFreak — 17 years ago(December 12, 2008 04:19 AM)
Rubbish.
Everyone has off days and bad points.
But you tell the very emotional ex-army speakers at the service where Hope was given an honourary medal on his 100 birthday that he was a bad guy.
Hope brought a lot of pleasure to many fighting men and women for decades. At times like those it meant a lot.
He gave and raised millions for charities, hospitals and theatres.
And for every negative remark (which may indeed be based on truth) you can find a positive one.
And how you deliver a comic line or sketch is JUST as important (if not more so) as the actual writing of it. Many great performers.read PERFORMERS.never wrote stuff. That does not make them any less skilled or worthy.
As for his WifeAn affair (especially in the context of a popular star being surrounded by gorgeous women for decades) does not mean a lack of love if it was purely sexual.
People tend to forget we are animals. We are meant, naturally, to find a sexually attractive woman alluring and to mate. That is how animals survive and no amount of civilisation can change that most basic wiring. That biology.
To find another woman attractive enough to have sex with her (as long as sex is all it is) does NOT mean Hope (or anyone) did not love his Wife and his family.
Yes, it would be better if these, pretty much surrounded by temptation, flings never occurredbut they do not mean a lack of love or devotion to his wife. And people need to remember that basic biological wiring we have as a species.