What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular subjects

https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075

In article <9e98b09a-fdfd-4aa5-8816-8aeb9fcd791cn@googlegroups.com>,
Topic Cop <Beaver_Fever@live.com> wrote:

> What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of
> the most popular subjects
>
> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075

Warren Littlefield allowed Bob Hope's decades-long contract with NBC to
lapse as quietly as was possible, but the people still living off Hope
weren't having any of it. They took out ads in the trades along the
lines of "Now I'm a freelancer!" Allowing Hope to retire in dignity,
with all those leeches hanging off him, just wasn't possible.

I saw what I think was his last onstage NBC special, which featured
then-young comedians, e.g. Elayne Boosler. The young comedians fawned
all over Hope, who was unable to form a sentence without retakes. When
he told a joke, no matter how minor it was, the camera would cut to a
reaction shot of a wildly enthusiastic audience. It was pitiful.

In <090220220607592965%nope@noway.com> A Friend <nope@noway.com> writes:

>> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075

>Warren Littlefield allowed Bob Hope's decades-long contract with NBC to
>lapse as quietly as was possible, but the people still living off Hope
>weren't having any of it. They took out ads in the trades along the
>lines of "Now I'm a freelancer!" Allowing Hope to retire in dignity,
>with all those leeches hanging off him, just wasn't possible.

>I saw what I think was his last onstage NBC special, which featured
>then-young comedians, e.g. Elayne Boosler. The young comedians fawned
>all over Hope, who was unable to form a sentence without retakes. When
>he told a joke, no matter how minor it was, the camera would cut to a
>reaction shot of a wildly enthusiastic audience. It was pitiful.

Back when K-Mart was still a going concern.. I'm guessing
this was 1995 or so, they were transitioning their branding
and some of their stores to giant facilities (for that time)
using the name "Big K!"

One tv advert described this, and then zoomed in
on Bob Hope who was sitting in a chair leaning
forward onto a table, and his whole performance
was ... raising his head and simply yelling
out "Big K!"

It, or rather he, looked bad. And this was just
a five second clip that must have been reshot
and edited a half dozen times.

Like you said, pitiful.

--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Remember when Bob did AIDS jokes and starving Ethiopian jokes in the late '80s?

In article <cc59b06c-20da-4e92-b6da-40e011b0f8e6n@googlegroups.com>,
Tommie Hicks <tommie.hicks303@gmail.com> wrote:

> Remember when Bob did AIDS jokes and starving Ethiopian jokes in the late '80s?

Hope cashed in bigly on those USO tours he did for free in Vietnam et
sim. circa 1970. He packaged the resulting films for big bucks as
specials for NBC. The specials proved to be incredibly popular.

To this day, however, there's been no explanation as to why anybody
thought Hope would be a draw for the '60s generation. I've worked with
men who'd served in Vietnam, and two of the three were stationed at
bases Hope visited. One of them told me that attendance at Hope's show
was mandatory, and that few had wanted to go. The other said he hadn't
wanted to go, either, but he wound up enjoying himself, especially as
Hope's act got pretty blue here and there. (These parts were not shown
on TV. I'll bet the outtakes are still around, though.)

On Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 10:10:55 PM UTC-5, A Friend wrote:

> Hope cashed in bigly on those USO tours he did for free in Vietnam et
> sim. circa 1970. He packaged the resulting films for big bucks as
> specials for NBC. The specials proved to be incredibly popular.
>
> To this day, however, there's been no explanation as to why anybody
> thought Hope would be a draw for the '60s generation. I've worked with
> men who'd served in Vietnam, and two of the three were stationed at
> bases Hope visited. One of them told me that attendance at Hope's show
> was mandatory, and that few had wanted to go. The other said he hadn't
> wanted to go, either, but he wound up enjoying himself, especially as
> Hope's act got pretty blue here and there. (These parts were not shown
> on TV. I'll bet the outtakes are still around, though.)
My father was one of those ordered to attend a Hope USO event. He said the only reason people wanted to go was to get out of a field assignment that day. My old man found a cubby hole between some equipment containers and took a nap.

A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> In article <9e98b09a-fdfd-4aa5-8816-8aeb9fcd791cn@googlegroups.com>,
> Topic Cop <Beaver_Fever@live.com> wrote:
>
>> What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of
>> the most popular subjects
>>
>> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075
>
>
> Warren Littlefield allowed Bob Hope's decades-long contract with NBC to
> lapse as quietly as was possible, but the people still living off Hope
> weren't having any of it. They took out ads in the trades along the
> lines of "Now I'm a freelancer!" Allowing Hope to retire in dignity,
> with all those leeches hanging off him, just wasn't possible.
>
> I saw what I think was his last onstage NBC special, which featured
> then-young comedians, e.g. Elayne Boosler. The young comedians fawned
> all over Hope, who was unable to form a sentence without retakes. When
> he told a joke, no matter how minor it was, the camera would cut to a
> reaction shot of a wildly enthusiastic audience. It was pitiful.

But at least he survived Bob Stump,who had erroneously
announced his death on the floor of the U.S. House,
as was remarked here on a.o. at the time.

Kane Tanaka (still OT) is the last surviving person
older than Bob Hope.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

Topic Cop <Beaver_Fever@live.com> wrote:
> What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular subjects
>
> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075

His years of Brave Last Days in the supermarket tabloids were
something of a joke,but per this article his entire last decade
really was a grave decline.

(Mary Trump's book indicate her grandfather had a similarly long
decline,and a great-aunt of mine I believe spent her last decade
bedridden after dementia for years before that).

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

On 09/02/2022 06:17, Topic Cop wrote:
> What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular subjects
>
> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075

How very interesting.
I have a soft spot for Bob Hope. He lived nearby as a child and we have
a plaque on the entrance to the local park. I wonder if he ever thought
about his roots here in the Southwest of the UK.
..

On 7 Mar 2022 at 01:26:10, Jenny <jenny@none.co.uk> wrote:
> On 09/02/2022 06:17, Topic Cop wrote:
>>** > What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular
>>** subjects
>>
>> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075
>
> How very interesting.
> I have a soft spot for Bob Hope. He lived nearby as a child and we have
> a plaque on the entrance to the local park. I wonder if he ever thought
> about his roots here in the Southwest of the UK.

Southeast actually. Eltham in Kent, now part of London.

On 07/03/2022 08:00, Bob Martin wrote:
> On 7 Mar 2022 at 01:26:10, Jenny <jenny@none.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 09/02/2022 06:17, Topic Cop wrote:
>>> ** > What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular
>>> ** subjects
>>>
>>> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075
>>
>> How very interesting.
>> I have a soft spot for Bob Hope. He lived nearby as a child and we have
>> a plaque on the entrance to the local park. I wonder if he ever thought
>> about his roots here in the Southwest of the UK.
>
> Southeast actually. Eltham in Kent, now part of London.

"Sir Bob Hope
Bob Hope was a British-American stand-up comedian, actor, singer,
dancer, athlete, and author. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years,
Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films. Hope lived in
Whitehall, Bristol, and then St George, Bristol before emigrating to the
United States in 1908"
He may well have been born in Eltham but he definitely lived just
around the corner from me here in St George, Bristol SW Uk

On 7 Mar 2022 at 22:16:36, Jenny <jenny@none.co.uk> wrote:
> On 07/03/2022 08:00, Bob Martin wrote:
>> On 7 Mar 2022 at 01:26:10, Jenny <jenny@none.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 09/02/2022 06:17, Topic Cop wrote:
>>>> ** > What a wonderful story but no mention of alt.obituaries where he was one of the most popular
>>>> ** subjects
>>>>
>>>> https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=128411&id=71075
>>>
>>> How very interesting.
>>> I have a soft spot for Bob Hope. He lived nearby as a child and we have
>>> a plaque on the entrance to the local park. I wonder if he ever thought
>>> about his roots here in the Southwest of the UK.
>>
>> Southeast actually. Eltham in Kent, now part of London.
>
> "Sir Bob Hope
> Bob Hope was a British-American stand-up comedian, actor, singer,
> dancer, athlete, and author. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years,
> Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films. Hope lived in
> Whitehall, Bristol, and then St George, Bristol before emigrating to the
> United States in 1908"
> He may well have been born in Eltham but he definitely lived just
> around the corner from me here in St George, Bristol SW Uk
>
Thanks, I didn't know that.

> Thanks, I didn't know that.

After leaving Britain, he landed in Cleveland for a few years: https://case.edu/ech/articles/h/hope-leslie-townes-bob

On 08/03/2022 12:40, Big Mongo wrote:
>
>> Thanks, I didn't know that.
>
> After leaving Britain, he landed in Cleveland for a few years: https://case.edu/ech/articles/h/hope-leslie-townes-bob
He certainly got around. After reading your link I was reminded of Cary
Grant and got sidetracked reading his life story. He was from Bristol
too . My mum told me how he used to dine in the restaurant she worked at.