Will the real Bob please stand up!
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Bob Hope
somic — 19 years ago(April 08, 2007 11:53 PM)
Was Bob the kind man that that some say he was or was he the jerk that others suggest? I can only relay what I know. My uncle fought in Korea. When Bob Hope came through to entertain the troops, my uncle was his driver. On one occation he had both Mr. Hope and Marilyn Monroe in his jeep. My uncle had only wonderful things to say about Bob. He went out of his way to show kindness to the men. When visiting the wounded he always told his people to be positive and caring.
I wrote Mr. Hope back in the 1990s and told him my uncles story. He wrote me back and sent me the original sheet music,(Which he signed)"Buttons and Bows" from the movie (Paleface). I thought that was really kind of him.
Those who have worked with him over the years feel the same. I host a national radio program. I have had a number of stars who have shared the screen with him on the show. Mickey Rooney called him "a wonderful Man". Debbie Reynolds loved him. Jane Russell said," I thought I died and gone to heaven. He was as much fun when he wasn't doing a scene as when he was". Margaret O'Brien said Bob Hope presented her the Oscar she won for "Meet Me In ST. Louis". She said he was a kind man. I can't speak for others. I can only tell you what I know personally.
"I was plumb horn swoggled.By the time I got back to my car a plumber swoggled my horn." Bob Hope -
ottermole — 18 years ago(May 29, 2007 04:58 PM)
Bob Hope made an unbilled cameo appearance in THAT LITTLE MONSTER (1994) and he was a super nice guy to work with. I'll always remember how gracious he was to make that cameo.
Thanks for the Memory, Bob!
PB
www.johnnyxmovie.com/ -
WishfulDreamer — 18 years ago(June 22, 2007 02:22 PM)
My grandfather served overseas in WW2. I have pictures in my photo album of Bob Hope that he took while Hope was entertaining the troops. My grandfather has passed, before I was born even, but he told my mother many times how nice Bob was. He shook his hand and was very kind to everyone. I don't believe he was a jerk at all, from what I have heard.
"Everything I do, I do it for you." -
metalman091 — 17 years ago(February 08, 2009 04:29 AM)
A lot of things have been written that he and Bing Crosby did not get along. But the opposite is true. Crosby and Hope liked and respected each other, but were not best friends, they both had separate lives.
Others who had great experiences with Bob were, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, John Wayne, Sammy Davis Jr, James Cagney, Jack Benny, George Burns and Katharine Hepburn etc. -
joeparkson — 16 years ago(July 31, 2009 03:48 PM)
Even though Hope did not serve as a combatant in any war, he faced many of the same dangers as our servicemen. On more than one occaison an enemy shell exploded near to where he was putting on a show. He'd ad lib some line like "they must have seen my last movie."
I don't know of any other Hollywood types who went out to be with our servicemen as often as Hope. -
metalman091 — 16 years ago(March 14, 2010 10:11 PM)
Charles Thompson's biography writes that with Bob Hope what you saw is what you got. He seems to have been as funny in real life as he was on screen. There was also plenty of stories concerning his generosity with money. Thompson also wrote that Bob rarely had a feud with a co-worker. I hope a definitive biography will be written one day on this great comedian.
Hope may have had those darker elements and if true, at least we know that he was also a kind and generous man. -
metalman091 — 13 years ago(March 23, 2013 01:28 AM)
Crosby and Hope enjoyed a great professional relationship, and they liked each other, but they were not close friends. Their encounters usually took place on a professional level [movies, charities, War Bond Tours, radio, television etc]. To some people, there are no grey areas. These stars either had to be friends or enemies. The idea of being professional friends just does not cut it for some people, and yet that was the case of Crosby and Hope, as it was for Gable and Tracy, Newman and Redford, Astaire and Rogers, Abbott and Costello. Even Laurel and Hardy remained professional friends until the 1940s.
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metalman091 — 11 years ago(September 12, 2014 12:10 AM)
Here are some recollections from Hope's writers.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-07-30/features/0307300114_1_schw artz-bob-hope-pepsodent
The writers don't shy away from Hope's stinginess etc, and he was a taskmaster, but a loyal one. Hope appears to have been a contradictory figure [he was well known for his generosity as well as his stinginess]. He held his own with his co-stars and appears never to have had a problem with any of them.