I actually met him once and shook his hand. I was just a kid (11) on a transatlantic crossing.
An on board friend and I staged a pratfall on the staircase as Hope was coming down. Hope stopped to see if we were all right. Hence the opportunity to meet, speak, and shake hands.
I shook Bobby Kennedy’s hand once as well (high school), although he never even looked at me. It was just a perfunctory campaign handshake. One of hundreds, maybe thousands that day as his hand was obviously swollen/puffy.
Have had a few ‘brief encounters’...Tony Snow, Atty.Gen. Jeff Sessions, when I worked in DC. A few others down the memory hole.
Mr. GG2 is from Sunland Hills near LA. He used to work for his Dad’s contracting company. They did a lot of work at Bob Hope’s house. Mr. GG2 said Hope was friendly but always in a rush. Dolores was a wonderful person always giving them stuff to eat and drink.
He also knew Linda Gray from Dynasty. She took him for a ride in her new mustang one day.
I never got to meet him, but in 1975, I was recruited into the Navy music program for the purpose of joining his USO band for a tour in Southeast Asia for the Bi-Centennial and there was a rumor that he was behind the screen in the audition room. Unfortunately, by the time I completed boot camp and graduated from six months at the US Armed Forces School of Music they were helicoptering personnel out of Saigon and the USO Tour was cancelled. I ended up as “featured soloist” with the US Navy Steel Band (New Orleans) for their Bi-Centennial tour (over 400 shows in 48 states in 1976), but have always had small regrets for not being able to join Bob Hope’s troupe. The service he donated to this country isn’t measurable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr1X5xjD12U