As a youth in Cleveland he earned spending money selling newspapers and as a constant entrant in amateur shows and foot races in Luna Park. He took dancing lessons from entertainer King Rastus Brown and vaudeville hoofer Johnny Root. He taught dancing and he tried amateur boxing -- fighting under the name of Packy East.
In 1924 he hastily put together a dancing act for vaudeville and appeared in a Fatty Arbuckle show at the Bandbox Theater in Cleveland. One year later he teamed with George Byrne with tab shows -- most memorable was "Hurley's Jolly Follies." In New York they were chosen for the Broadway show "Sidewalks of New York." The show enjoyed a long run. Hope and Byrne didn't. They headed west to change their act. At a tiny theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Hope was asked to announce coming attractions. At the conclusion of the run Hope was a single act.
In 1932 he was on Broadway with "Ballyhoo," followed by a starring role in the highly successful musical "Roberta." Bob's personal life changed during "Roberta" when he met Dolores Reade who was performing at the Vogue Club. They were married in 1934.
A succession of Broadway hits followed: "Say When" (1934), "Ziegfeld Follies" (1935) and "Red, Hot and Blue" (1936) with Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante.
In 1934 he also made his radio debut with the "Rudy Vallee Show" and in late 1937 he signed a radio contract with NBC for his own show. His television debut was with NBC on Easter Sunday 1950. In 1996, Bob retired.
Although he made seven two-reeler films in New York, his movie career was launched with "The Big Broadcast of 1938" and he became one of the industry's top box office favorites. His seven road pictures with Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby are film legend.
But, it is doubtful if anyone in the annals of show business ever made a more endearing hit than Hope did the moment he stepped before American servicemen sick for home and quipped, "Hi, fellow tourists."
An ardent sports fan, it was golf that captured his heart. "Golf is my real vocation," he said. "I entertain to pay my green fees." For forty-two years he hosted the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Springs. His foursomes included golf professionals, rank amateurs, entertainers, presidents, kings and a wife who frequently out-played him.
He authored fourteen books, received 56 honorary doctorates and when asked what he wanted to be remembered for, he said, "A laugh."
John Steinbeck said of Hope, "This man drives himself and is driven. It is impossible to see how he can do so much, can cover so much ground, can work so hard and be so effective. There's a man. There is really a man."
