•
107
-
Arts-PEOPLE:
NBS100 Achievement Awards •
ShowBiz
•
Celebrities
• TV-Movies-Music-Theater-Art-Telecom
• TV
Programing
•
ClickFor KudoAds-107spot
/
•
vMusic-Sponsors107
•
107iis
Bob Hope Celebrates 100th
Birthday
May
29, 2003
Street Signs and Hollywood & Vine
Marks 100th Birthday for Hollywood Legend
- Bob Hope.
Henry Kissinger sent roses. Sarah
Kellerhals of Nashville, Ind., sent a
hand-knitted cap, complete with a pompom.
A 75-year-old from Lincoln, Neb., made his
own card featuring a photo of himself --
with his refrigerator.
----- Then
there was the note, similar to many, many
others, signed by a man from Hagerstown,
Md. Along with greetings, he enclosed a
black-and-white snapshot he had taken of
the birthday boy and a bathing beauty on
stage back in 1944, somewhere in the South
Pacific. "We are grateful we had someone
who cared enough to come to the danger
zones," he wrote. "You deserve to be an
honorary veteran."
----- On
Wednesday, the eve of the big 1-oh-oh for
Bob Hope, his Toluca Lake compound was
besieged by an onslaught of affection that
would warm the heart of any florist or
card seller -- and challenge the fortitude
of the hardest-working secretary.
----- "It's
like triage," said one, Annette Siegel, as
she worked through her lunch hour, trying
to sort the mail into "VIP," "fans and
friends" and "touching" categories. "When
I came in on Tuesday," she said, "I had
6,000 e-mails. I haven't had time to sort
them out."
----- In the
foyer of the staff's office, a
laundry-sized wicker basket overflowed
with unopened cards. One of the family
dogs, a yellow Labrador named Luke, lay in
the hall and watched lazily as more mail
was carried into the small office where
longtime staffers Siegel and Jan Morrill
coped with birthday greetings from around
the world.
----- There
was ice cream from Boston and cake from
community leaders who had lined the street
with Bob Hope banners.
----- Some
birthday messages to the quintessential
American entertainer were simple. "Dear
Bob," wrote a woman from Christchurch, New
Zealand, "I hope you have a lovely day."
From North Hollywood, Mike Phillips, a
former corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps,
sent a Hallmark card with a flag on the
front, and the greeting, "It's people like
you who make this country great."
----- Others
were a little more complex. Sharilyn
Wissink of Maple Grove, Minn., concluded
her birthday greeting with additional
congratulations for having "remained
faithful to your wife and that is
wonderful." Then she wrote, "If you ever
need a golf partner -- just call" and gave
him her phone number.
----- Reached
Wednesday by phone in Maple Grove, just
outside Minneapolis-St. Paul, Wissink said
she and her husband saw Hope perform in
1965 when her husband was in college and
she was teaching school. "We scraped
together this money to hear Bob Hope. He
was so funny. I just couldn't get enough
of him.... But I really feel that he
needed to know that people were
appreciative of what he has done not only
for the troops but as a role model for a
great man."
----- The
writers had sent their cards to his
business offices, to his home in Palm
Springs or directly to the stately Toluca
Lake home where he has lived since 1939.
In previous years, his assistants said, he
has received mail addressed only to "Bob
Hope, Somewhere in the United States." He
once received a letter with only his
picture slapped on the envelope.
----- In the
big house near the offices, Hope was
preparing to celebrate quietly with some
of his family: his wife, Dolores, who
turned 94 on Tuesday, children Linda,
Kelly and Tony, and three grandchildren.
This evening, there will be an intimate
party at home with a 100-candle
celebration.
----- Linda
Hope said that while her father is too
frail to attend any of today's public
celebrations or televised tributes, he
does see a sampling of the cards. "Some of
the most touching are the cards from
people Dad doesn't even know he knows,"
she said. "When we go up and tell him, he
smiles and says, 'Isn't that something' or
'For me?' as if people turn 100 every
day."
----- While
mail from veterans is the most typical,
Hope has plenty of other correspondents
out there, ranging from the queen of
England and both Presidents Bush to a
middle school student who enclosed his
"What Makes an American Hero" speech.
----- One
candidate for the "touching" category: An
Englishman who served in the Royal
Artillery in World War II and saw one of
Hope's films, "Monsieur Beaucaire" three
times during his service, wrote: "I know
of no other person that could make me
laugh three times watching the same film.
Thank you for lifting the spirits of so
many, especially during the darker days.
God Bless You!"
-----
Starting out in vaudeville, Hope became
one of the few show business celebrities
who achieved star status on Broadway, in
radio, in films and on television. He was
almost as famous for his "ski slope" nose
as for his razor-sharp comic delivery and
cowardly persona developed in a series of
"Road" pictures with Bing Crosby and
Dorothy Lamour, and TV specials. He began
visiting Army bases abroad to entertain
troops with the USO in 1942 and is
remembered by U.S. service personnel from
World War II through Korea, Vietnam and
the Persian Gulf.
-----
Tributes have been scheduled throughout
the week and the coming months. On
Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors proclaimed him "Citizen of the
Century," a fact noted by some letter
writers. Today there'll be festivities in
Hollywood, led by "honorary mayor" Johnny
Grant, to designate the intersection of
Hollywood and Vine "Bob Hope Square." His
family members have taped an appearance
that will be shown tonight on "Larry King
Live" to celebrate his legendary
career.
----- States
from California to New Hampshire are
expected to proclaim today "Bob Hope Day."
And one of the quirkier homages has turned
up at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho
Mirage, for which Hope donated land. The
center has been offering cookies decorated
with Hope's face to visitors all week.
----- While
there is no official Bob Hope fan club, it
was clear from the private correspondence
that his public regards him as a family
member. There were cards from Eltham,
England, his birthplace, where the Bob
Hope Theatre will honor him; and from
Cleveland, his family's home after they
immigrated to America, where a street in
the theater district will be named "Bob
Hope Way."
----- His
assistants said many people write to Hope
to say he reminds them of their father.
One enclosed a second, smaller card from
"Fido."
----- While
the assistants try to acknowledge the
writers, at the least through a Web site
posting, many cards will never make their
way across the driveway to their intended
recipient. Lorie Emmons, for one, doesn't
care. A self-described "huge fan," she
wrote, "I know you'll probably never get a
chance to read this, since I know you'll
receive a mountain of birthday cards. But
I gotta tell ya I'm proud and honored just
to have my card to you be one little
pebble in that mountain of cards."
----- She
adorned her card's envelope with a full
lavender lipstick kiss and a jaunty "Happy
Birthday, Toots!"
|
