#William kelly hope son of bob hope plus#

From there, his career took off - soon including radio, film, and eventually TV, his first special debuting Easter Sunday 1950. “‘Would $25 be all right?’ (the booker asked)… I just managed to say, ‘I’ll take it,’ without bursting into tears,” Hope wrote.īy 1929, now renamed “Bob Hope,” he was becoming a well-known and liked comedian and landing more small parts on Broadway, leading up to a large Broadway role in Jerome Kerns’ hit “Roberta” (November 1933 to July 1934). On the verge of giving up, by chance, he bumped into a Cleveland pal, who introduced him to a theater booker friend, who gave him a Decoration Day (i.e., Memorial Day) gig. But, after running up a $400 tab for donuts and coffee-and perhaps some Prohibition-era medicinal spirits-he wasn’t making it. In New Castle, Pa., Hope got his solo break and, at the conclusion of a three-day engagement, telling well-received Scotch jokes, became a “single” and soon headed for mob-ruled Chicago to make it on his own without his partner. “I was making $40 a week and sending $20 home to my mother to help out,” he recalled. He started in vaudeville as “Lester,” scandal-tainted Fatty Arbuckle intervening in 1925 to get him and his partner steady work in Hurley’s Jolly Follies. After winning a Charlie Chaplin contest in 1914, Leslie set his cap - later his trademark brown derby hat - for the theater, convinced that being “on stage” was his true calling.

The Hopes’ son Anthony died in 2004.ĭolores is survived by her daughter Linda Hope son William Kelly Hope three grandchildren and a great-grandson.But he was ultimately saved by his mother, who, a singer herself, encouraged her young son’s theatrical talent early on. Dolores was featured on the “Today” show on the occasion of her own 100th birthday in 2009. She was honored with six honorary degrees and many awards for her humanitarian efforts.ĭolores DeFina was born in Harlem to an Italian and Irish family and grew up in the Bronx.īob Hope died in 2003 a few months after his 100th birthday. She served as president of its board from 1968-76, as chair beginning in 1977 and as chairman emeritus beginning in the 1990s.ĭolores was named honorary mayor of Palm Springs five times and named woman of the year by the Los Angeles Times. Dolores was also devoted to Catholic causes benefiting the poor.ĭolores was founding president of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert. The couple adopted four children, and Dolores became an advocate for adoption, serving on the board of Holy Family Adoption Services in Los Angeles.

#William kelly hope son of bob hope plus#

“I thought I’d better stay at home and take care of Bob.” She did, however, accompany him on many of his USO trips to entertain the troops over a period of more than 50 years and usually closed the show with a rendition of “Silent Night.”Īt age 83 she returned to the role of professional singer, recording the album “Dolores Hope: Now and Then.” She subsequently recorded three more solo efforts plus a Christmas album with Bob, “Hopes for the Holidays” at 88 she performed with Rosemary Clooney at New York’s Rainbow and Stars for several weeks.ĭolores made her last USO trip during Operation Desert Storm, performing “White Christmas” from the back of a truck in the middle of the Saudi desert when she was 84.ĭolores had her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, next to Bob’s.

Dolores largely put her singing career on hold to support Bob’s career and raise their children - “Bob was the hot thing in New York back then,” she told the AP in 1997.