Posted on 04/05/2021 11:30:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Bob Hope’s eldest child, Linda Hope — who worked with her father for many years — says her dad made it to the ripe old age of 100 because of sheer willpower.
“He was determined to do that,” Linda told Page Six. “His grandfather lived to be just short of 100 so Dad’s goal was always to beat his grandpa. I think it kept him alive towards the end.”
SNIP
Linda, who produced the documentary “Bob Hope: The First 90 Years,” has now co-authored a book with Martha Bolton called “Dear Bob: Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II.” It’s teeming with the emotional letters that soldiers, nurses and wives shared with the comedian, who was famous for his USO tours that spanned nearly 50 years. The correspondences, which now reside at the Library of Congress, are heartbreaking and intimate.
(Excerpt) Read more at pagesix.com ...
Golfer
Got plenty on the side. Going without a marriage license helped.
Bob Hope, sex machine, ‘often cheated’ during his 69-year marriage
“Golfer”
He wrote, confessions of a Hooker. Good read.
[Wiki] “Hope was well known as an avid golfer, playing in as many as 150 charity tournaments a year. Introduced to the game in the 1930s while performing in Winnipeg, Canada, he eventually played to a four handicap.”
I saw him in Saigon at his last show there. I was so far away I couldn’t tell if it was him or Arnold Schwarzenegger but I was there up in a tree, 14 years old too.
I remember security being much tighter getting on the base because of all the big wigs there. But I got in pretty easily as I went on the base almost every single day to hang out at MACV. It wasn’t long till all the barracks were empty and only military contractors around though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m23x3d2ZzVY
This was the show
âÂÂI’ve just flown in from California, where they’ve made homosexuality legal. I thought I’d get out before they make it compulsory.”
Hope 1976
Some people just have good genes. Some are just plain lucky.
There’s no “secret” since we have no control of our destiny.
The secret is not dying in your nineties.
So true... Good genes help and that’s your best guide to longevity, but common sense helps as well... There were two gentlemen killed in the town where I live. One in his early 90’s the other in his late 80’s. Together and out for a few drinks at a local establishment, they crossed a high traffic street after dark while half drunk.
Imagine living that long and blowing your chance to live even longer by making an amateur street crossing mistake. Death by alcohol at such fine ripe ages.
Gene roulette.
Accidents or crazy stuff can happen, but imho the most important key to longevity (other than good genes) is a positive attitude.
I have written often about my grandmother who lived to be 106.
That woman was always happy, smiling, friendly—even when “normal” people would be upset or angry.
Plus—she had amazing street smarts which she was kind enough to share with me as a young man—and I quote her often here.
One example: “Never believe _anything_ you see on TV.”
Another: “I don’t know what is wrong with these (90 year old) men around here—none of them want to dance.”
Happened to be working the right job and I met him in the early 1980’s. Ever so briefly. I was backstage during his performance.
A co-worker of mine was once a bellboy at a nice hotel...back in the early 1980s.
Said Hope gave him a $50 tip for carrying the luggage. Pretty big tip.
How to make it to 100: Good living and an occasional strong drink.
How to make it to 50: Don’t be a crocodile hunter.
You sound like you were either a military or diplomatic dependent...I was a military dependent and lived in Yokosuka and Subic during that time period...
Interesting time and place to be a kid, no doubt. Of course, add a few years onto your age, and it might have been a different time and place for sure, with a different set of “interesting” characteristics!
-PJ
He came to Winston-Salem where I worked when the Bing Crosby Tournament was there.
My father was a missionary in Vietnam.
We had to leave before Saigon fell. In fact my dad evacuated off of a BOQ in a helo and landed on a carrier. They pushed his helo off in the sea to make more room.
Interesting point...at that time I was an exchange student for a week at the high school at Subic and was staying with the base commanders family. He woke me in the middle of the night and showed me a bay full of lit up ships off loading stuff. He said “those ships are going to Vietnam for the evacuation. May be your Dad will get on one”. It was surreal.
Next thing I know he put me on a plane for the states where my mom had gone.
I’ll tell you about my bus ride from Manila to Olongapo and walking through that place at dusk to the front gate of subic. Quite an eye opener for a 15 year old!
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