Bob Hope

He was a boxer for a brief period, after which he also played golf.

In 1933, he married Grace Louise Troxell, his vaudeville partner and the couple divorced in 1934.

In 1934, he married Dolores Reade and the couple adopted four children. They remained together until his death.

Leslie Townes Hope was born in Eltham, a district in South East London to William Henry Hope, a sculpture and stone craftsman and Avis Townes, a light opera singer.

In 1908, his family moved to the United States and settled down in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended the Boys Industrial School.

By the age of 12, he started earning his pocket money by singing, dancing, and performing comedy and he also won a prize for his impersonation of comic legend Charlie Chaplin.

As a teenager, he worked as a lineman and a butcher’s assistant and continued to work until his early twenties, while he simultaneously attended dance classes with his girlfriend, Millie Rosequist.

In 1925, along with girlfriend, Millie Rosequist, he became a part of a touring dance troupe called ‘Hurley's Jolly Follies’.

In 1933, he played the role of ‘Huckleberry Haines’ in the Broadway show ‘Roberta’ that opened at the New Amsterdam Theater, New York.

In 1934, after he had signed a six year contract with Educational Pictures, New York, he starred in the short comedy film ‘Going Spanish’.

In 1937, he became a part of the regular NBC radio series ‘Woodbury Soap Hour’ after which he starred in the popular radio program ‘The Pepsodent Show’.

In 1938, he moved to Hollywood, after he signed the film ‘The Big Broadcast of 1938’ with Paramount Pictures. The movie featured the song ‘Thanks for the Memory’, a line that became his trademark signature tune later.

He also appeared in movies like ‘Comedy Swing’, ‘Give Me a Sailor’, ‘Thanks for the Memory’, ‘Never Say Die’, ‘Some Like It Hot’ and ‘The Cat and the Canary’.

The popular song ‘Thanks for the Memory’, for which he gave the vocals won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and became his signature tune, which he adapted for future projects.

His 1970 and 1971 Christmas specials for NBC filmed in Vietnam are on the list of the ‘Top 30 U.S. Network Prime time Telecasts of All Time’. The shows were watched by more than 60 per cent of the U.S. households.