Bob Hope: Hollywoods Brightest Star :: Essays Papers

Bob Hope: Hollywood's Brightest Star This PBS documentary of Bob Hope as an entertainer was well done. It looks at Bob's contributions as an actor, comedian, dancer and humanitarian. The film's footage, from the early 1900's to present, is revealing to the eras of Bob Hope's career. It takes you through Bob's career in vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies, television and live performances. As narrator Les Brown Jr. states " Bob Hope is an American icon and the only entertainer to be # 1 in all facets of the entertainment field". This documentary is proof that this statement is true. The narrator starts off with a biography of Bob Hope, while showing scenes of the early 1900's. Bob was born in 1903 in England, who migrated to the United States with his parents and six brothers in 1907 and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. By age six, Bob was already doing impersonations of Charlie Chaplin. Bob took dancing lessons from a vaudeville entertainer named John Root and was soon entering talent contests all over town. At age eighteen, Bob had started a dance act with his girl friend Millie Rosequest, but it did not last long. Bob soon teamed up with another dancer named George Burd. They took their act to New York and worked at a lot of vaudeville show houses. It was at one of these places where Bob was asked to do the announcing in between acts. Bob's comedic talent and acts took hold and lead to the beginning of his solo career. In less than five years Bob had become the most sought after talent and the # 1 hit in the vaudeville circuit. Bob's success in vaudeville caught the eye of many Broadway producers. He was soon signed to do a Broadway show called Roberta. This lead to many more offers and to Bob doing a year tour with the Ziegfield Follies. Bob was now considered to be the hottest act around and was being recruited by radio stations and movie studios. In 1937, Bob signed a twenty-six week contract with NBC radio to do the Woodbury Soap Show. Since Bob was such a big hit NBC gave him his own radio show, The Bob Hope Show. Bob would do a monologue to start the show, then bring out other actors and perform skits.