DATE=7/28/03

TYPE=English Feature

NUMBER=7-37694

TITLE=OBIT: BOB HOPE (short version)

BYLINE=ROBIN RUPLI

TELEPHONE=401-7430

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=vicki swaney

CONTENT=

_

INTRO: One of the world's true superstars of entertainment is dead. Bob Hope, the internationally known comedian has died at the age of one hundred(BIRTHDATE: 5-29-03). VOA's Robin Rupli has more about the man who spent his lifetime bringing laughs to millions of people everywhere.

TAPE A CUT ONE: MUSIC: "THANKS FOR THE MEMORY" IN FULL TO :31, UNDER AND SLOWLY FADE UNDER TEXT

TEXT: "Thanks For the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938." It became Bob Hope's theme song, played -- at least in part -- every time he made one of his numerous guest appearances on television, on stages throughout the world or on radio broadcasts. But Bob Hope was best known for his rapid-fire delivery and encyclopedic knowledge of jokes. . . .

TAPE A CUT ONE: HOPE :15 (LAUGHTER FADES AT :23)

"Well, here we are at the U-Army air base. This base is located on a Mesa. Mesa -- that's an Arizona goose pimple (LAUGHTER) But Yuma is really the old west. I started to drag the skeleton of an old cow off the sidewalk in Yuma, and the manager of the Western Union Office came out and told me to get my own bicycle rack." (LAUGHTER)

TEXT: Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England on May 29, 1903 in Eltham, England and moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio when Bob was four years old. He says he never wanted to be anything but a comedian and, as a young man, got his start in vaudeville, which led to the Broadway stage and a radio and film career. In 1941, when the United States entered World War II, Bob Hope attempted to enlist in the armed services. But he was told he could serve better as an entertainer to build morale. It was the beginning of a tradition that would extend throughout six decades and five wars.

TAPE B CUT TWO: HOPE :23 (LAUGHTER OUT AT :25)

"Then the sponsor came in and saw how (successfully) commercial it was and he said, 'Hey, I'll pay for anywhere you want to go.' And we went for five years. We went to a different (military) base every week doing our radio show. And then we started going overseas. We got hooked on it -- the excitement, the dramatics and the whole thing."

(SEGUES TO PORTION OF RADIO SHOW)

HOPE: "You look familiar, what were you in civilian life?'

SOLDIER: "Happy!" (LAUGHTER)

TEXT: Few show business personalities in history knew so much fame, fortune and popularity as Bob Hope. He was a friend of every U.S. President from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton; was awarded honorary degrees from universities and citations from every U.S. military service; given four honorary Academy Awards; and, made an honorary knight by Queen Elizabeth. When Congress honored Hope in 1997, making him an "honorary veteran," he said, "To be numbered among the men and women I admire the most is the greatest honor I have ever received." (OPT) Bob Hope continued to perform, to make people laugh, and take his act around the world into his nineties. He said all his activities kept him going.

TAPE A CUT THREE: HOPE :29

"I think that you've got to just get out and enjoy. I think the kick is that I'd rather do what we're doing now -- play dates (performances), where you're with a great audience that laughs -- and if I happen to have a routine that they're laughing at. And then play golf all day and meet all your friends -- and I think that's the secret of it. I don't think there's anything else. I think excitement is what life is all about -- excitement; keep that adrenalin punching, you know, all the way." (END OPT)

TEXT: Bob Hope's most recent tribute is now a permanent exhibition at the Library of Congress. On May 9, 2000, the Library opened it's "Bob Hope Gallery of American Entertainment," including Hope's legendary "joke file" of more than 88,000 pages of jokes. Bob Hope's wife of sixty-six years, Dolores Hope, accompanied him to the exhibition opening.

TAPE A CUT FOUR: DOLORES HOPE

"I really think he is the star of the 20th century. That's my personal opinion and I think a few other people's too."

TEXT: Comedian Bob Hope, dead at the age of 100. SIGNED

TAPE B CUT TWO: MUSIC, SNEAK FOR :08 UP FULL TO CONCLUSION, (AT END OF SONG, HOPE SAYS, "THANK YOU SO MUCH.")