I’ve never been a huge Hope fan, but I appreciated his quick wit. He was a true Entertainment Personality — from a time when that meant something more than the Flavor of the Day.
Hope appeared in more than 75 films, starred in more than 475 TV programs and 1,000-plus radio programs.
Yeesh. He was, in the old sense of the word, a trooper.
One of his greatest achievements, personally as well as how most folks of later generations knew him, was as the tireless entertainer of US armed forces in foreign theaters.
In 1997, Congress named Hope an honorary U.S. veteran, citing his decades of entertaining troops around the world. He is the only person to receive that distinction.
When informed of the honor, Hope was uncharacteristically serious. “I’ve been given many awards in my lifetime,” he said, “but to be numbered among the men and women I admire the most is the greatest honor I have ever received.”
Thanks for the memories, Bob.
(via Scott)
He was the last of a vanished breed. Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Milton Berle, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante…
With Hope’s passing, an era has ended.
Excuse me. I’m going to go watch My Favorite Brunette again.
Yup.
One thing I remember him for, fondly, was his appearance on I Love Lucy (since I grew up watching reruns of that show).