Mini-Biography:
Bob Hope was born on March 28, 1903 in Standiforth Court, Eltham. He was an American Actor, known for The Five Pennies (1959), Boy did I get a wrong number ! (1965), Alias Jesse James (1959), Bob Hope's first movie on record is from 1935. Bob Hope died on July 27, 2003 in Toluca Lake, CA, US. His last motion picture on file dates from 1979.

Biographical Notes
Der amerikanische Filmessayist David Thomson hat es einmal so auf den Punkt gebracht: Es gäbe keinen großen Komiker, der nicht demonstriert hätte, dass es ein trauriges Geschäft sei, Menschen zum Lachen zu bringen. In der Reihe der US- Komödianten, denen das gelungen sei (von Chaplin über Groucho Marx bis Jerry Lewis) sah er den Entertainer Bob Hope aber nur bedingt.

"Smarte Ansagen, gut vorbereitete Witze, mechanische Verrenkungen", so Thomson - dies gestattete es Hope auch im Kino kaum, Charaktere zu schaffen. Vielmehr blieb der 1903 in England geborene Leslie Townes Hope zeitlebens ein heiterer Pausenfüller in bester Vaudeville-Tradition, und wenn man unter seinen Erfolgen halbwegs Zeitloses zitieren müsste, dann wäre es noch am ehesten die unaufwändige Filmserie mit Bing Crosby, die 1940 mit Road to Singapore begann und später auf weitere Routen nach Sansibar, Marokko, Rio, Bali, ja sogar Utopia führte.

Mit handfestem Hauruck-Patriotismus, laut vorgetragenem Expertentum in Sachen Golf und Baseball und 17 Auftritten als Moderator der Oscar-Gala wurde Hope nichts destotrotz zu einer nationalen Institution. Ja, im April dieses Jahres wurde er sogar noch zum "US-Bürger des Jahrhunderts" erkoren. Wie hieß es in England einmal: "Amerika hat Bob Hope, Johnny Cash und Ronald Reagan. Für uns gilt: No Hope, No Cash und Margret Thatcher."

Am Montag ist Hope in seinem Haus in Toluca Lake an einer Lungenentzündung gestorben. In den letzten Jahren war er nicht mehr aufgetreten. Seit dem 29. Mai, seinem 100. Geburtstag, trägt ein Platz am Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles seinen Namen. (cp/DER STANDARD, Printausgabe, 29.7.2003)

FilmographyFilmography [Auszug]
1979: The Private navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (Cast: O'Farrell), Directed by Frank Tashlin, with Mylène Demongeot, Phyllis Diller,
1978: The Muppet Movie (Cast: Gaststar), Directed by James Frawley, with Mel Brooks, James Coburn, Dom DeLuise,
1969: How to Commit Marriage (Cast), Directed by Norman Panama, with Jane Wyman, Jackie Gleason,
1967: Eight on the Lam (Cast: Henry Dimsdale), Directed by George Marshall, with Phyllis Diller, ,
1965: Boy did I get a wrong number ! (Cast), Directed by George Marshall, with Elke Sommer,
1965: The Oscar (Cast), Directed by Russell Rouse, with Tony Bennett, Milton Berle, Stephen Boyd,
1965: Boy, did I get that wrong Number ! (Cast: Tom Maede), Directed by George Marshall, with Cesare Danova, Phyllis Diller,
1964: A global affair (Cast: Frank Larrimore), Directed by Jack Arnold, with Michèle Mercier, Liselotte Pulver,
1963: Critic's Choice (Cast), Directed by Don Weis, with Dorothy Green, Lucille Ball,
1962: The Road to Hong Kong (Cast: Chester Babcock), Directed by Norman Panama, with Joan Collins, Bing Crosby, Zsa Zsa Gabor,
1962: Call me Bwana (Cast), Directed by Gordon Douglas, with Edie Adams, Anita Ekberg,
1961: Bachelor in paradise (Cast: Adam Niles), Directed by Jack Arnold, with Virginia Grey, Jim Hutton,
1960: The Facts of Life (Cast), Directed by Melvin Frank, with Lucille Ball, Ruth Hussey,
1959: The Five Pennies (The Red Nichols Story) (Cast: Gastrolle), Directed by Melville Shavelson, with Louis Armstrong, Henry Beau, Bob Crosby,
1959: Alias Jesse James (Cast: Milford Farnsworth), Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, with Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey,
1957: Beau James (Cast: James J. Walker), Directed by Melville Shavelson, with Paul Douglas, Joe Mantell,
1956: The Iron Petticoat (Cast), Directed by Ralph Thomas, with Robert Helpmann, Katharine Hepburn,
1956: That certain feeling (Cast: Francis X Dignan), Directed by Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, with Pearl Bailey, David Lewis,
1956: Seven little foys (Cast), Directed by Melville Shavelson, with Milly Vitale, George Tobias,
1956: That Certain Feeling (Cast), Directed by Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, with Eva Maria Saint,
1954: Casanova's big night (Cast: Pippo), Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, with Basil Rathbone, Audrey Malton,
1953: Here Come the Girls (Cast: Stanley Snodgrass), Directed by Claude Binyon, with Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl,
1953: Road to Bali (Cast), Directed by Hal Walker, with Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour,
1952: Son of Paleface (Cast), Directed by Frank Tashlin, with Jane Russell, Roy Rogers,
1951: My favorite Spy (Cast), Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, with Hedy Lamarr, Leah Waggner,
1949: Sorrowful Jones (Cast), Directed by Sidney Lanfield, with Lucille Ball, Bruce Cabot, William Demarest,
1949: The Great Lover (Cast), Directed by Alexander Hall, with Rhonda Fleming, Roland Young,
1948: Paleface (Cast: Painless Peter Potter), Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, with Nestor Paiva, Jane Russell,
1947: Where There's Life (Cast), Directed by Sidney Lanfield, with Signe Hasso, Ernst Verebes,
1947: My favorite Brunette (Cast), Directed by Elliott Nugent, with Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre,
1946: Monsieur Beaucaire (Cast: Monsieur Beaucaire), Directed by George Marshall, with Joan Caulfield, Patric Knowles,
1946: Road to Utopia (Cast: Chester Hooton), Directed by Hal Walker, with Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour,
1944: Memo for Joe (Cast: Bob Hope), Directed by Richard Fleischer, with , Joe E. Brown, Gary Cooper,
1943: Let's face it (Cast: Jerry Walker ), Directed by Sidney Lanfield, with Betty Hutton, ZaSu Pitts,
1942: They got me covered (Cast), Directed by David Butler, with Otto Preminger, Lenore Aubert,
1942: Road to Morocco (Cast: Orville 'Turkey' Jackson / Aunt Lucy ), Directed by David Butler, with Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour,
1942: My favourite blonde (Cast), Directed by Sidney Lanfield, with Madeleine Carroll, Gale Sondergaard,
1941: Louisiana Purchase (Cast: Jim Taylor ), Directed by Irving Cummings, with , Victor Moore,
1941: Caught in the Draft (Cast: Don Bolton), Directed by David Butler, with Dorothy Lamour, Lynne Overman,
1939: The Cat and the Canary (Cast: Wally Hampton), Directed by Elliott Nugent, with John Beal, Paulette Goddard,
1939: Never say Die (Cast: John Kidley), Directed by Elliott Nugent, with William Burress, Martha Raye,
1938: College Swing (Cast), Directed by Raoul Walsh, with George Burns, , Martha Raye,
1938: The Big Broadcast of 1938 (Cast: Buzz Fielding ), Directed by Mitchell Leisen, with W.C. Fields, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour,
1935: Shop Talk (Cast), Directed by Lloyd French, with Richard Lane, ,

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