Christopher Hitchens dared say what he thought re Bob Hope

Heresy? No way. I never thought he was funny. He made a career out of the blonde, brunette, redhead leering thing. Totally boring. And he had no sex appeal, just a sanitized white guy who portrayed himself as hapless.

I agree - but then how on earth did Bing Crosby get to be famous????? i can't stand his singing or his songs and he is nothing in the looks/sex appeal/charm department so what did he have???? there were a few strange choices for stars in that era.

Keynote speaker. Just very good at it, and very persistent.

I remember seeing him on a talk show sometime during the last 10 years. It changed my opinion of him completely. He was whining about his California neighbors & property board opposing some sort of development he had in mind. He took this "poor, put-upon" stance, assuming everyone would be on his side...as though "Bob Hope" could do nothing wrong. I thought it showed him at his worst.

Wrapped himself in the flag, Hope did, or perhaps it would be fairer to surmise that he allowed himself to be wrapped therein.

He had a lot of pictures of him taken with service men, lived a long time, and told a lot of lowest common denominator jokes.

Maybe he's the joke we're telling on ourselves when we make a big deal out of him.

I never thought he was funny.

But, I thought his life was nothing short of a benevolent public service, because he took movie stars and entertainment to our troops overseas. He didn't forget them, and because of him--more of us didn't forget them, either.

I think he was a memorable public servant, who told very lame jokes.

Yes, but when you compare him with someone like Ed McMahon, you realize the guy should get a statue or something

I'm with the others in saying that I never thought he was funny.

So he had some warts. Most of us do. I don't recall ever laughing at his jokes, but people loved something in his personality and the way he was there for the troops overseas. He made a lot of guys away from home happy for a few minutes. I also think it's wrong to confuse the public star with the private portion of their life. If the happy go lucky actor is a grumpy fart in private, so what? There are plenty of stars I would not like in private, but whom I like to see work their craft.

How could I forget Ed MacMahon's incredible body of work!

Edgar's right... he did what he did well. He was prime time... america's favorite corny uncle.

I'm not sure he ever made me laugh, but he probably made me smile at least once.

sofia, how will we mourn his passing?

"you may have just won a trip to heaven!"

Hey.
While we're at it--none of those cornballs made me laugh.
Milton Berle? (Only laughed at how he looked in drag.)
Red Skelton? Nah.
George Burns? Maybe a smile or two.
Were any of those guys REALLY funny?

sofia, how will we mourn his passing?

"you may have just won a trip to heaven!"
----------------
Hey-oooooooooooooooooo...
Tip a bottle of vodka. :wink:

You're right, edgarblythe. We all have our faults. Hopefully we will be remembered for our best qualities, though. Hope certainly deserves to be remembered for his service to our troops.

I notice you started another thread on this. And again, you're right. We're not being very charitable to the dead. Speaking for myself, it's just a backlash against the over-the-top eulogizing. I will stop now, and I'm sorry if I offended.

Bob Hope was about as funny as cardboard, but compare him to Jerry Lewis and you find a comedic genius.

No, I never thought that Bob Hope was particularly hilarious, but he was a man of his time. What he DID do was put his ass on the line by going overseas to cheer up the troops.

How many of today's stars would give up their cushy existence, even for a little while, to cheer up weary, dirty, depressed troops, who might be killed on a moment's notice? For that service to America, I believe that Hope is a hero, funny or not!

phoenix

Bob Hope's overseas shows were obviously scripted and, most likely, written by others. Maybe I'm different, but I found a lot of his one-liners to be very funny. I also found an equal number (at least) to be very corny. But what made me really smile was to see the soldiers having a chance to relax, do something different, laugh at the jokes (funny or corny) and just be able to forget their real world for a couple of hours.

Bob Hope might not have been a true comedian, but he was an unselfish, caring person. Those are qualities we don't often see in celebrities of any genre.

Hope's humor was topical and very much of the moment, and his moment was the 30's and 40's. Unlike Mark Twain, who's humor still resonates, Hope's does not. But for the time, it was considered funny and for Hope, that was good enough.