Bob Hope: A Life In Comedy

Front Cover
Hachette Books, 2009 M04 24 - 512 pages
Reporter: "What's it like to be Bob Hope?"Hope: "I wouldn't have it any other way."From Bob Hope's early career as an upstart among professionals like Jack Benny and Milton Berle in the rollicking world of traveling comedians, to his blazing success as a radio, television, and film star, this completely revised and updated version of William Faith's acclaimed biography takes a straightforward, appreciative, and very funny look at Hope's life and times on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Filled with anecdotes, photographs, and plenty of jokes, the book reveals the real Bob Hope from his boyhood in England and youth in Cleveland to his present status as a living legend-a full-blooded, authentic appraisal of the man and his humor, a comic institution who is also a brilliant businessman, manipulator of the media, and politically influential figure. And of course Hope is the man who brought laughter and cheer (and long-legged beauties) to GIs throughout the world. At a time when patriotic fervor has never been running higher it's worth recalling the singular tribute paid Hope by none other than John Steinbeck: "When the time for recognition of service to the nation in wartime comes to be considered, Bob Hope should be high on the list.... He gets laughter wherever he goes from men who need laughter." Happy 100th, Bob!
 

Contents

The Road to Cleveland
3
Doans Corners
7
Backroad Follies
12
Sidewalks of New York
19
In the Wings
27
1929 to 1937
37
Hollywood Take One
39
Swimming the Palace Moat
45
Kings Clown
184
Christmas in Berlin
193
The Funniest Laughmaker
198
TVThat Dreadful Thing
206
Taking the Beach
216
Liking Ike
229
Have Tux Will Travel
240
Beyond the Iron Curtain
250

Ballyhoo and Benefits Too
51
Bing Berle and Broadway
55
Inspiration Point
61
Say When
66
The Fabulous Follies
71
Red Hot or Not
76
Laughter in the Air
82
1938 to 1941 _
89
Hollywood Take Two
91
This is Bob Pepsodent Hope
99
Reunion Abroad
107
Three for the Road
112
Covering the Bases
123
1942 to 1945
131
Victory Caravan
133
Frozen Follies
139
Tonic in the Foxhole
147
Presidential Pundit
156
Its Not Over Till Its Over
166
1946 to 1951
173
So This Is Peace?
175
Dropped on His Head
262
A Jester in Camelot
271
The Rose Garden
280
Operation Big Cheer
295
Hope for President
306
Father of the Brides
318
You Cant Walk Away
328
1971 to 1972
337
Rain on Bobs Parade
339
A Partisan Voice
347
This Is Your Life
351
The Road Gets Rougher
368
The Last Christmas Show
374
A Night with Pops
387
A Capital Affair
396
Breaking China
405
Bumps in the Road
414
Icon in Cyberspace
425
Im Still Here
433
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

William Robert Faith worked as Bob Hope's public relations representative for fourteen years. A professor at the University of Southern California's School of Journalism, he lives in Burbank, California.

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