I read this on MSN... sad...
Bob Hope dead at 100 Last Updated Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:36:20
LOS ANGELES - Legendary comic Bob Hope died Sunday night at the age of 100. His family was at his bedside when he died of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake, California.
- FEATURE: Bob Hope: Thanks for the memory
Bob Hope entertaining the troops |
He turned 100 two months ago.
His daughter, Linda, described her father's death as "beautiful, serene and peaceful." She was at his bedside with other members of the family. "He gave us each a kiss, and that was it."
Hope was a friend of presidents and generals and a lifelong golf fanatic. He entertained troops around the world in many wars, performing at army bases and on the decks of fighting ships.
Linda Hope |
A typical Hope joke: "I stopped off in Paris on my way here. They had quite a few artists there, sketching the girls in a show I saw. I thought I'd try it but they threw me out – they said no fair tracing."
His latest war effort was in the first Gulf War in the early 1990s.
"Today America lost a great citizen," said U.S. President George W. Bush. "Bob Hope made us laugh. He lifted our spirits. Bob Hope served our nation. We will mourn the loss of a good man."
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Early on, he starred in a string of "Road" movies, with other stars such as the late Bing Crosby, a longtime friend.
It was in 1938, on a Paramount radio show, that Hope introduced his trademark theme song Thanks for the Memory.