That fact always stuck out in my mind about him after reading a newspaper article several years ago when he was staying at a hotel in Toronto. A reporter accompanied him while he took his wife's two dogs out for a walk and when they passed two inebriated customers coming out of a bar, they cheerfully said hello, but Bob angrily commented that he couldn't stand "drunk people".

His father was a serious drinker, and seriously unsuccessful at supporting his large family (7 boys), so they grew up in great poverty. Probably the root cause of his antipathy.

Must have been something that stemmed from his childhood or his days in vaudeville. You never hear of Hope drinking alcohol. I don't really know where he stood on the issue.
Anyway I don't blame him. Drunks are annoying. They always appear when you don't want them. They are loud, obnoxious, rude, violent and far too sensitive. Just yesterday I had to deal with two of them and both of them had their feelings hurt way too easy. They speak of lovable drunks, but I've rarely met any of them.