Bob Hope, R.I.P.

MSNBC

[leadpenny]

Just Breaking.

[El Gato]

The recent Gulf war was the first major conflict involving United States forces since the First World War to be fought without a morale-boosting front line appearance from the old master.

When you come right down to it, that is one heck of a record.

[El Gato]

The recent Gulf war was the first major conflict involving United States forces since the First World War to be fought without a morale-boosting front line appearance from the old master.

When you come right down to it, that is one heck of a record.

[BlessedBeGod]

Thank you so much for posting all the pics from the LOC. It's very much appreciated.

[Denver Ditdat]

In 1983 I was deployed in the East Med aboard the USS Independence. Our late December port call to Haifa, Israel that year holds two special memories for me - visiting Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and seeing Bob Hope's show on the Indy's hangar deck on Christmas Day.

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Hope.

[El Gato]

Skelton, Hope and the new guy, Carson (a school mate of my mother-in-law). You have to laugh just looking at the picture, I did anyway.

[bruinbirdman]

My dad (83) expects an encore of Bob Hope's performance, Marseille 1945.

R.I.P.

[jjbrouwer]

Amazing stuff. The guy was a real trooper who never lost his sense of humour.

[doug from upland]

TIME TO SING -- THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

[mafree]

You're right- how could I miss my guy Jack Benny! Loved him too.

[Ohioan]

A genuinely nice and very talented man, who brightened most of our lives over many years, and really did seem to care more for others than his own interests.

May God comfort his family, and Bless Bob forever.!

[El Gato]

In a late Sixties poll of American high schools’ favourite entertainers, he came second to the Beatles. By the time the war ended, he’d lost that generation forever.

Horse Pucky!

[Jay D. Dyson]

If Bob Hope had not existed, we would have needed to invent him. He was truly one in a million.

So long, Bob. Thanks for the memories.

-Jay

[EternalVigilance]

The real lyrics to 'Thanks for the Memory':

Lyrics:
-Words and Music by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger
-introduced in the film "Big Broadcast Of 1938" by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross
-adopted by Hope as his theme songThanks for the memory

Thanks for the memory
Of candlelight and wine, castles on the Rhine
The Parthenon and moments on the Hudson River Line
How lovely it was!

Thanks for the memory
Of rainy afternoons, swingy Harlem tunes
And motor trips and burning lips and burning toast and prunes
How lovely it was!

Many's the time that we feasted
And many's the time that we fasted
Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted
We did have fun and no harm done

And thanks for the memory
Of sunburns at the shore, nights in Singapore
You might have been a headache but you never were a bore
So thank you so much.

Thanks for the memory
Of sentimental verse, nothing in my purse
And chuckles when the preacher said "For better or for worse"
How lovely it was

Thanks for the memory
Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the case
And how I jumped the day you trumped my one-and-only ace
How lovely it was!

We said goodbye with a highball
Then I got as "high" as a steeple
But we were intelligent people
No tears, no fuss, Hooray! For us

So, thanks for the memory
And strictly entre-nous, darling how are you?
And how are all the little dreams that never did come true?
Aw'flly glad I met you, cheerio, and toodle-oo
And thank you so much

[NCC-1701]

"...There aren't many left from the era. We've lost a bunch this year: Hope, Ebsen, Hepburn to name a few..."

Don't forget Gregory Peck. Another class act.

[Soaring Feather]

Thanks so much EV for posting this. We shall miss BOB HOPE, very much.

[RobbyS]

Thanks. No one, but no one will get closer to the truth than this.

[My back yard]

See, you did know of what you spoke. Thanks.

[xp38]

He never lost me (I enjoyed his tv specials throughout the post Vietnam years)but I think Mark Steyn is alluding to liberals from that era which for better or worse have come to be linked to that time.

[anniegetyourgun]

A great American.

[M. Peach]

He really died about 3 years ago, however, no one told him....

Hey - he would have liked that joke......