Bob Hope: A Life In ComedyHachette 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 |
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Common terms and phrases
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