BOB HOPE

May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003

Bob Hope was born Lesley Townes Hope in England in 1903. During his extensive career (in virtually all forms of media) he received five honorary Academy Awards. After a brief marriage to his vaudeville partner Grace Troxell, he wed singer and actress Dolores Read, with whom he adopted four children. Although they stayed together for the rest of his life, their marriage was not always an easy one, with Hope having a reputation as a womanizer, and constantly his constant travel for performances.  He was so busy on screen and off that he was facetiously dubbed “Rapid Robert”. 

Aside from his collaboration with Lucille Ball, he was known for his partnership with crooner Bing Crosby on the “Road” films, his devotion to the USO, and his love of golf.     

In 1945, Desi Arnaz was the orchestra leader on Bob Hope’s NBC radio show. 

HOPE (about Lucy and Desi): “Lips and hands were all over one and another. I never saw a couple loving each other more after Bogie and Bacall.”

Ball and Hope had made four feature films together: Sorrowful Jones (1949), Fancy Pants (1950), The Facts of Life (1960), and Critic’s Choice (1963). 

Hope and Ball first collaborated on television on September 14, 1950 on the third installment of “The Star-Spangled Revue”, Hope’s first regular television program.  Lucy played the mayor of NYC and Bob her henpecked husband. 

Kicking off season six of “I Love Lucy” in October 1956, Bob Hope guest-starred as as himself. The story was built around the real-life fact that Hope was part owner of the Cleveland Indians Baseball team.  

Two weeks later, in one of TV’s first network cross-overs, the entire cast of “I Love Lucy” appeared on “The Bob Hope Chevy Show”. The premise of the sketch (later colorized for home video) supposed that Bob, instead of Desi, married Lucy and became her bandleader husband on the sitcom.  

In October 1959, Lucy and Hope were two of many celebrities paying tribute to “Eleanor Roosevelt on Her Diamond Jubilee” aired as part of “Sunday Showcase” on NBC. 

On January 10, 1960, Hope and Ball were two of the stars profiled in “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood.”  Lucille is seen in front of her Desilu Playhouse on the backlot. Standing amid a pile of suitcases, Bob Hope talks about Hollywood in general, presenting almost a monologue on the subject. 

Hope:“Hedda has a fabulous fund of Hollywood knowledge. She has to wear those big hats to keep the secrets from leaking out.”

On February 15, 1961, Ball served as a presenter on “The Bob Hope Buick Sports Show.” Boxer Floyd Patterson could not attend the ceremony on the West Coast, so Hope shows footage of Lucille Ball presenting him the award on the East Coast, where she was appearing in Wildcat on Broadway.

On October 24, 1962 Bing Crosby and Juliet Prowse joined Lucy for “The Bob Hope Show”. In a sketch, Lucille plays a District Attorney and Bob a gangster named Bugsy.

During the “Bob Hope Special: TV Guide Awards” on April 14, 1963, Lucille Ball is nominated for Favorite Female Performer. Ball is not present so a still photo of her is shown instead. The winner is Carol Burnett.  

On a May 5, 1963 “Toast of the Town” (aka “The Ed Sullivan Show”) from New York City, Bob Hope and Lucille Ball promote their new movie Critic’s Choice. 

The pair continued their Critic’s Choice promotion tour that same day (May 5, 1963) by appearing on “What’s My Line?” 

This would be their last film together and one they both considered a failure.

On April 19, 1964, Hope and Ball teamed for a CBS Comedy Special titled “Mr. and Mrs.” in which they played themselves and a husband and wife acting team.  

Hope made a cameo appearance in “The Lucy Show” (TLS S3;E2) on September 28, 1964, that starred Jack Benny as a plumber with hidden talents. 

In “Bob Hope Presents Chrysler Theatre: Have Girls, Will Travel” on October 16, 1964, Lucille Ball does a cameo as Hope’s wife in a cast of ‘girls’ that includes Jill St. John, Marilyn Maxwell, and Rhonda Fleming.

“A Bob Hope Comedy Special: Bob Hope’s Leading Ladies” on September 28, 1966, Lucile Ball played herself and arrived in Bob Hope’s bedroom on a chauffeur-driven adult-size tricycle! During their scene, old friends Ball and Hope continually crack each other up.   

“Jack Benny’s Carnival Nights” (March 20, 1968) featured both Ball and Hope, although they did not share any scenes together.  

Bob Hope was there when Lucille Ball won her fourth (and final) competitive Emmy Award on a May 19, 1968 telecast from The Hollywood Palladium. Don Adams and Bill Cosby also won.

“The Dean Martin Christmas Special” (December 19,1968) featured many celebrities including Hope and Ball in (separate) cameos. Lucy promises that the kids at the City of Hope Medical Center will have a Merry Christmas.

Bob Hope, Lucille Ball (and dozens of other stars) make guest appearances on “The Dean Martin Show” sixth season opener on September 17, 1970. 

On “Jack Benny’s 20th Anniversary Show” (November 16, 1970) Lucy plays Benny’s maid, Janet. Bob does a monologue about Benny but does not share the screen with Lucille Ball. 

That same date (November 16, 1970) Ball appeared on “The Bob Hope Show: Bringing Back Vaudeville.” Bob plays a hypnotist who takes Lucy out of the audience to be his stooge.  

“Swing Out, Sweet Land” (November 29, 1970) was a star-studded patriotic special featuring Lucille Ball (voice of the Statue of Liberty) and Bob Hope entertaining the troops – at Valley Forge!    

“Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jack Benny* But Were Afraid To Ask” (March 10, 1971) featured Bob Hope in a quick cameo as a juggler and Lucille Ball plays a star-struck young Goldwyn Girl seduced by leading man Benny. 

Ball and Hope were both recognized with plaques on “Zenith Presents: A Salute to Television’s 25th Anniversary” on September 10, 1972.

An October 12, 1973 episode of “The Merv Griffin Show” is a Salute to Lucille Ball featuring her husband and children, and her two most famous male co-stars, Bob Hope and Gale Gordon.

On “Show Business Salute to Milton Berle” (December 4, 1973), the Friars Club celebrate Berle’s 60 years in entertainment. Sammy Davis Jr. hosts with guests Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.

In “The Bob Hope Christmas Special” aired on December 9, 1973, Lucille Ball played herself, thinking that Bob is buying her expensive presents because he is in love with her.  

Naturally, Hope is on the dais for the “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Lucille Ball” on February 7, 1975. 

Bob Hope: “Lucy’s always doing nice things. Even though she’s not with Desi anymore she got him a job as a dialogue coach on ‘Chico and the Man’.”

“Bob Hope’s World of Comedy” (October 29, 1969) naturally included Lucille Ball. 

“NBC: The First Fifty Years” (November 26, 1976) was a four and a half hour extravaganza that featured NBC’s biggest star Bob Hope, but somehow also included CBS star Lucille Ball, four years before she would leap over to the peacock network.

Two days, later (November 28, 1976) “CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years” includes Hope singing his signature song “Thanks for the Memory” with special lyrics about Lucy.

“Bob Hope’s All-Star Comedy Tribute to Vaudeville” (March 25, 1977) featured Lucy and Bob in a sketch titled “The Housecleaners”….

… as well as one titled “The Hospital” in which Lucille Ball is the clumsy Dr. Spinebender and Bob Hope is a heavily bandaged patient. 

On April 15, 1977, “Dinah!” presented “Bob Hope: The Road to Hollywood” with Dinah Shore welcoming guests Lucille Ball, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, and Dorothy Lamour.

“A Tribute To Mr. Television Milton Berle” (March 26, 1978) included testimonials from Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. 

Lucille Ball took to the Kennedy Center stage to say “Happy Birthday Bob” on May 29, 1978. 

LUCY: “I starred with Bob in four pictures and they were all fun, frantic, and foolish.”

John Wayne hosted "General Electric’s All-Star Anniversary” which recalls the music, song, and comedy of the past 100 years and marked the one-hundredth anniversary of the General Electric Company with stars such as Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. 

Lucille Ball is guest-host on “The Mike Douglas Show” and they interview stars that include Bob Hope (November 3, 1978). 

“Bob Hope Salutes the Ohio Jubilee” (December 3, 1978)

has Lucy in a flimsy negligee to get her husband’s (Hope) attention during a football game. 

“The Annual Friars Club Tribute Presents a Salute to Johnny Carson” on May 6, 1979 was a testimonial dinner at Waldorf-Astoria with Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas and, of course, Ed McMahon. Lucy was accompanied by her husband and daughter.

After three decades on rival networks, Lucy joins Hope as an employee of the National Broadcast Corporation (NBC), kicking things off with this special: “Lucy Moves To NBC” on February 8, 1980.

“Bob Hope’s 30th Anniversary Television Special” took place on January 18, 1981.  It was a retrospect of Hope’s first 30 years on TV. Celebrating with Bob were guests Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Danny Thomas, George Burns, Glen Campbell, Sammy Davis Jr., and many more.

On February 26, 1982, “The John Davidson Show” featured both Bob Hope and Lucille Ball.

Hope takes a look back at the beautiful and funny women he has worked with over the years. Lucille Ball and more than 60 of Bob’s co-stars are presented in studio segments, as well as television and film excerpts in “Bob Hope’s Women I Love – Beautiful But Funny” aired on February 28, 1982.

“On the Road to Hollywood – Part II” (March 2, 1983)  was a tribute to Hope’s film career, with clips from many of his films and appearances by many of his female co-stars, including Lucille Ball, Dorothy Lamour, Martha Rae, Jane Russell and others.

Hope returns to the site of his 75th Birthday Special, the Kennedy Center, for another three hour special with Lucille Ball, George Burns, Kathryn Crosby, George C. Scott, and Jim Henson in “Happy Birthday, Bob: A Salute to Bob Hope’s 80th Birthday” on May 23, 1983.

“Who Makes The World Laugh? – Part II” on April 4, 1984, answered the question in the title by presenting Lucille Ball and Hope together!  

Hall of Fame winner Lucille Ball and Governor’s Award recipient Bob Hope are  presenters at the “36th Primetime Emmy Awards” on September 23, 1984. 

“Bob Hope’s Unrehearsed Antics of the Stars” (September 28, 1984) found Lucille Ball recounting her disastrous audition for the role of Scarlet O’Hara in the 1939 film Gone With The Wind.

Lucille Ball makes a cameo appearance in “Bob Hopes Buys NBC?” on September 17, 1985.

An “All Star Party for Clint Eastwood” on November 30, 1986, features former honoree Lucille Ball and Bob Hope paying homage to Eastwood. 

Lucille Ball and Bob Hope were part of an all-star cast for “Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood” on May 18, 1987. This was a two-hour special on ABC TV that won an Emmy for editing.

On the deck of an aircraft carrier, Bob Hope salutes the US Air Force’s 40th anniversary. Lucy and Bob sing “I Remember It Well” in “Bob Hope’s High-Flying Birthday Extravaganza” aired on May 25, 1987.

“America’s Tribute to Bob Hope” on January 2, 1988 – to celebrate the opening of the Bob Hope Cultural Center at Palm Springs, Lucille Ball and dozens of friends gather and offer comedy and musical performances to honor the building’s namesake.

On May 16, 1988, Bob Hope celebrates the 85th of his 100 birthdays in “Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years at NBC.” Lucille Ball sings “Comedy Ain’t No Joke,” her last ‘performance’ on television before her death. 

Lucille Ball’s final appearance was at “The 1989 Oscars” on March 29, 1989, appropriately alongside Bob Hope. They introduce a performance by ‘the stars of tomorrow. Lucy appears to be enjoying herself immensely, giggling at all Bob Hope’s jokes. 

After Ball’s passing, Hope hosted “Bob Hope’s Love Affair With Lucy”, a tribute which aired on September 23, 1989. Hope invited such stars as Betty White, George Burns, Danny Thomas, and even Kirk Cameron, to pay tribute to the Queen of Comedy. 

“100 Years of Hope and Humor” on April 23, 2003 was the last television appearance by Bob Hope. This tribute aired 29 days before his 100th birthday and 95 days before he passed away.

HOPE (on turning 100): “I don’t feel old. In fact, I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.”

Thanks for the memories, Bob. RIP