Bob Hope (Performer) | Playbill

Bob Hope

Performer

Mr. Hope's persona as a cowardly wise-craker was well known to the public from a string of wildly successful (and, for the time, innovatively extemporaneous) "Road" films with Bing Crosby and, later, a series of television specials which saw him warbling and cutting up with the latest stars of the moment. Mr. Hope was famous for his ready stream of one-liners and retorts, supplied by an unseen, but notorious team of joke men kept in his employ. He delivered each quip with a sheepish grin, clenched jaw and ski-slope nose thrust out, his slicked-back hair seemingly gleaming with flop sweat, and often milked a second laugh out of the crowd by squirming under the supposed failure of the first joke. He did not create characters, but was always Bob Hope, and, according to a John Lahr New Yorker profile, the self-preserving, hustling personality he presented on stage was not far from his own, faults and all.

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  • Also Known As: Leslie Townes Hope, Lester Hope
  • Born: May 29, 1903 in London, England
  • Death: Jul 27, 2003 in Los Angeles, CA

Roles (20)

The 32nd Annual Tony Awards Playbill - June 4, 1978 The 32nd Annual Tony Awards - 1978
Opened June 04, 1978
  • as Participating Artist (Original)
Pb Listing Placeholder BROADWAY V4 Red, Hot and Blue
Opened October 29, 1936
  • as Bob Hale (Original)
Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 Playbill - April 1936 Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
Opened January 30, 1936
  • as "I Can't Get Started With You" Singer (Original)
  • as "The Voice of Friendship" Performer (Original)
  • as Bing Powell (Original)
  • as Director (Original)
  • as Operator (Original)
  • as Rexford Givewell (Original)
  • as Sir Robert (Original)
Say When Playbill - Nov 1934 Say When
Opened November 08, 1934
  • as Jimmy Blake (Original)
Roberta Playbill - May 1934 Roberta
Opened November 18, 1933
  • as Huckleberry Haines (Original)
Ballyhoo of 1932 Playbill - Oct 1932 Ballyhoo of 1932
Opened September 06, 1932
  • as "Ballyhoo Complaint Department" Performer (Original)
  • as "Old Fashioned Wedding" Performer (Original)
  • as "Talker Backer" Performer (Original)
  • as Dick (Original)
  • as Minsky (Original)
  • as Second Traveller (Original)
Pb Listing Placeholder BROADWAY V4 Bob Hope at the Palace
Opened February 28, 1931
  • Performer
Ups-a Daisy Playbill - October 1928 Ups-a Daisy
Opened October 08, 1928
  • as Screeves (Original)
  • as Ensemble (Original)