Entertainer Bob Hope Dies at 100
LOS ANGELES - Bob Hope, ski jump-nosed master of the one-liner and favorite comedian of servicemen and presidents alike, has died, just two months after turning 100.
Hope died late Sunday of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake, with his family at his bedside, longtime publicist Ward Grant said Monday.
The nation's most-honored comedian, Hope was a star in every category open to him — vaudeville, radio, television and film, most notably a string of "Road" movies with longtime friend Bing Crosby. For decades, he took his show on the road to bases around the world, boosting the morale of servicemen from World War II to the Gulf War.
President Bush said Monday that "the nation lost a great citizen" with Hope's death.
"Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations," the president said. "We extend our prayers to his family. God bless his soul."
Hope perfected the one-liner, peppering audiences with a fusillade of brief, topical gags.
"I bumped into Gerald Ford the other day. I said, `Pardon me.' He said, `I don't do that anymore.'"
He poked fun gently, without malice, and made himself the butt of many jokes. His golf scores and physical attributes, including his celebrated ski-jump nose, were frequent subjects:
"I want to tell you, I was built like an athlete once — big chest, hard stomach. Of course, that's all behind me now."
When Hope went into one of his monologues, it was almost as though the world was conditioned to respond. No matter that the joke was old or flat; he was Bob Hope and he got laughs.
"Audiences are my best friends," he liked to say. "You never tire of talking with your best friends."
He was admired by his peers, and generations of younger comedians. Woody Allen called Hope "the most influential comedian for me."
Hope earned a fortune, gave lavishly to charity and was showered with awards, so many that he had to rent a warehouse to store them.
Through he said he was afraid of flying, Hope traveled countless miles to entertain servicemen in field hospitals, jungles and aircraft carriers from France to Berlin to Vietnam to the Persian Gulf. His Christmas tours became tradition.
He headlined in so many war zones that he had a standard joke for the times he was interrupted by gunfire: "I wonder which one of my pictures they saw?"
So often was Hope away entertaining, and so little did he see his wife, Dolores, and their four adopted children, that he once remarked, "When I get home these days, my kids think I've been booked on a personal appearance tour."
Hope had a reputation as an ad-libber, but he kept a stable of writers and had filing cabinets full of jokes. He never let a good joke die — if it got a laugh in Vietnam, it would get a laugh in Saudi Arabia.
On his 100th birthday, he was too frail to take part in public celebrations, but was said to be alert and happy — and overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection. The fabled intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street was renamed Bob Hope Square, and President Bush established the Bob Hope American Patriot Award.
"He can't believe that this is happening and that he's made it to his Big 100," son Kelly Hope said at the time.
He was born Leslie Townes Hope on May 29, 1903, in Eltham, England, the fifth of seven sons of a British stonemason and a Welsh singer of light opera. The Hopes emigrated to the United States when he was 4 and settled in Cleveland. They found themselves in the backwash of the 1907 depression.
The boy helped out by selling newspapers and working in a shoe store, a drug store and a meat market. He also worked as a caddy and developed a lifelong fondness for golf. A highly competitive golfer, he later shot in the 70s and sponsored the Bob Hope Golf Classic, one of the nation's biggest tournaments.
Hope changed his name to Bob when classmates ridiculed his English schoolboy name.
He boxed for a time under the name Packy East — "I was on more canvases than Picasso" — and also tried a semester in college before devoting himself to show business. He quickly veered from song and dance to comedy patter, and his monologue routine was born.
By 1930, he had reached vaudeville's pinnacle — The Palace — and in the '30s he played leading parts in such Broadway musicals as "Roberta," "Ziegfeld Follies" and "Red, Hot and Blue," with Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante. During "Roberta," he met nightclub singer Dolores Reade and invited her to the show. They married in 1934.
After a few guest radio spots, Hope began working regularly on a Bromo Seltzer radio program. In 1938, he was hired by Pepsodent to create his own show, and that led him to Hollywood.
Paramount signed him for "The Big Broadcast of 1938," in which he introduced the song that became his trademark: "Thanks for the Memory."
Soon he was teaming with Crosby in the seven "Road" pictures — "Road to Bali," "Road to Morocco," "Road to Zanzibar" and so on — playing best friends who lie, cheat and make fun of each other in comedic competition for glory and Dorothy Lamour.
In between, there were such pictures as "Cat and the Canary," "The Paleface," "Louisiana Purchase," "My Favorite Blonde," "That Certain Feeling," "I'll Take Sweden" and "Boy, Did I get a Wrong Number." He made 53 films from 1938 to 1972.
In 1950, he entered television, and his successes continued. Even 40 years later, he could be counted on to pull in respectable ratings. He also appeared more than 20 times at the Academy Awards, first on radio and than on television, as presenter, cohost or host between 1939 and 1978.
Hope started playing to troops well before the United States entered World War II.
He tried to enlist, but was told he could be of more use as an entertainer. He played his first camp show at California's March Field on May 6, 1941, seven months before Pearl Harbor.
His traditional Christmas tours began in 1948, when he went to Berlin to entertain GIs involved in the airlift.
"It's as if every one of them was his kid brother," Mrs. Hope once said.
His 1966 Vietnam Christmas show, when televised, was watched by an estimated 65 million people, the largest audience of his career. But his initially hawkish views on Vietnam opened a gap between the comedian and young Americans opposed to the war, who sometimes heckled him.
Later, Hope said he was "just praying they get an honorable peace so our guys don't have to fight. I've seen too many wars."
In 1990, he traveled to the Persian Gulf to entertain troops preparing for war with Iraq. Because Saudi Arabia bars female entertainers, he had to leave Marie Osmond and the Pointer Sisters behind in Bahrain.
Hope never had a regular straight man, but he worked often with crooner Crosby, first in radio, where they developed a routine of insulting each other merrily. Crosby helped make Hope's nose famous as a "droop snoot" and a "ski run." For his part, Hope replied: "Only in Hollywood could a meatball make so much gravy."
Hope's awards included scores of honorary degrees; special Oscars for humanitarianism and service to the film industry; the George Peabody Award; the National Conference of Christians and Jews Award; and the Medal of Freedom from President Johnson. He received honorary knighthood from Britain in 1998.
He was the author or co-author of 10 books, including his 1990 autobiography, "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me."
Hope's 85-year-old nephew, Milton Hope, said Monday he hopes his uncle is remembered not just for his jokes, but also for donating his money and time to charities.
"All I can say is he sure made a lot of people happy," Milton Hope said from his home in Aurora, Ohio.
In the mid-'90s, Hope played charity dates around the nation, but he seemed to slow his schedule. What was billed as his last NBC special, "Laughing with the Presidents," focusing on his long friendships with many occupants of the White House, appeared in late 1996. His more than 60-year association with the network was said to be a record.
In recent years, his hearing eroded, although he refused to wear a hearing aid. He suffered recurring eye problems, once remarking: "I've got a hemorrhage in the right eye now, and I used to have one in the left eye. I'm a walking hemorrhage."
Until increasing frailty slowed him down, Hope repeatedly pledged never to quit entertaining.
"I'm not retiring until they carry me away," he said. "And I'll have a few routines on the way to the big divot."
Congratulations To Dave and Mags! Well Done!!!
Grace Chant
Born July 27th 2003 @ 0930
Weight 6 lb / 2888 g
Apgars 9+9
Mom and Baby are doing great.
Dido Dishes On 'White Flag'
It's been an emotionally difficult year for Dido, and the music on her forthcoming Life For Rent album will reflect some of that pain. The set's first single "White Flag" deals with Dido calling off her engagement with long time boyfriend Bob Page.
Dido tells the London Sun the song is an apology to Page for breaking his heart. "It was a big decision not to get married...," says Dido. “We're still friends, we still get along amazingly well and he's still the love of my life."
Dido called off the wedding due to a chaotic touring schedule, and the demands of her career.
Life For Rent is due out in the U.S. on September 30.
The album is the follow-up to No Angel, which was certified four-times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) with worldwide sales of more than 12 million copies.
'Nemo' floats DVD, outswims the rest
Finding Nemo is expected to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time today, the same day Disney announces plans for the Nemo DVD.
Since opening May 30, Nemo has grossed $312.7 million.
Since opening May 30, Nemo has grossed $312.7 million, just shy of Disney's 1994 hit The Lion King, which made $312.9 million. Nemo is already the biggest film of 2003.
"Who would have thought? It's pretty wild and we're all pinching ourselves," Nemo writer/director Andrew Stanton says. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker co-wrote all four previous Disney/Pixar films including Toy Story and Monsters, Inc.
The two-disc Nemo DVD will hit stores Nov. 4. Among the highlights: a Jean-Michel Cousteau documentary of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where the film is set; a fish encyclopedia; deleted scenes; a cool option that allows you to turn your TV into a virtual aquarium; and a sneak peek at the next Disney/Pixar film, The Incredibles, opening November 2004.
As for Nemo's future, there are no plans for a sequel — yet. "We're not going to let the hype influence us into making rash decisions," Stanton says. "If there is a sequel, it will happen when there's a story that's equal or better than the first."
ON TOP OF THE HEAP
Fox renewing King of the Hill for a ninth year, through 2004-05 season.
SPLITSVILLE
...After a year of wedded bliss, lawsuits and general kookiness, Liza Minnelli and David Gest have separated, according to her publicist. No immediate word on whether they plan to divorce.
PASSING
Director John Schlesinger, who won an Oscar for helming Midnight Cowboy, died Friday, a day after he was been taken off life support. He was 77. The director had been in ill health since suffering a massive stroke in December 2000.
WHAT A DRAG IT IS GETTING OLD
Mick Jagger celebrating his 60th birthday Saturday with a private party in Prague, where the Rolling Stones are midway through their 40 Licks tour. On Sunday, the dino-rockers will play a gig at the Prague National Stadium for 60,000 fans.
Cartoon 'Futurama' Ending After 4 Seasons
NEW YORK - A prediction: Viewers eons from now will give "Futurama" the credit it deserves today.
Oh, it may not make them laugh. But when the show's time finally comes, this shrewd cartoon series could well be endorsed as an accurate picture of life, circa A.D. 3000.
For now, however, we ancients of the 21st century who love it will continue to celebrate "Futurama" as unbeatable satire — even as its prime-time cycle nears an end.
Fortunately, "Futurama" reruns air on Cartoon Network at 11 p.m. EDT Sundays through Thursdays as part of that network's "Adult Swim" program block. Next month, the second "Futurama" season will be released on DVD by Fox Home Entertainment.
And on the Fox network, the final three new "Futurama" episodes can be seen Sundays at 7 p.m. through Aug. 10.
Granted, four seasons in prime time is nothing to sneeze at — unless compared to "The Simpsons," still going gangbusters on Fox after 14 years.
Matt Groening's big "Simpsons" follow-up, "Futurama" has always been overshadowed by his brilliant first-born.
Who knows why? The verbal humor, sight gags, wicked cultural jabs and general irreverence that make "The Simpsons" great are found full-strength on "Futurama," as is spectacular voice talent (including Billy West, John DiMaggio and Katey Sagal).
What's more, "Futurama" took a bold step beyond "The Simpsons" (based as it is in Homer Simpson's hometown of Springfield) to take on the entire universe from a vantage point a thousand years away.
Its odd little band includes Fry, a twentysomething slacker who, on the first episode, inadvertently time-traveled from 1999 to 2999. There, in the city rechristened New New York, he fell in with Bender, a sarcastic robot-reprobate and Leela, a sexy, kick-boxing alien with a single large eyeball.
They work as the delivery crew for Professor Farnsworth, who at 160 years old is both a genius and senile, and happens to be Fry's great-(times 30)-nephew. One other notable is Dr. Zoidberg, a lobsterlike alien who serves as staff physician for Farnsworth's intergalactic FedEx.
Just these details should make it clear: "Futurama" goes anywhere, anytime, with every manner of creature and cargo, to deliver the laughs. And to drive home the show's bleakly funny lesson: Life as we know it (whatever the millennium or galaxy) is an exercise in lowered expectations.
Item: In mid-flight, Fry spots a planet and, hungry, wonders if it might have a restaurant.
"Don't get your hopes up," says Bender. "We're a billion miles from nowhere."
"Yeah," agrees Leela, eyeing the planet. "It's probably only got a Howard Johnson's."
In the future, clone candidates square off in meaningless elections. Santa Claus is a huge, evil robot who bellows threats like "Your mistletoe is no match for my TOW missile!" And nature is out of control (although, happily, nuclear winter has canceled out global warming).
Even death is a muddled institution. The heads of famous people from the past spend eternity alive, displayed in jars in a Head Museum where Richard Nixon ("I am not a crook's head!") can consort with George Washington, TV pitchman Ron Popeil or even Matt Groening.
"Futurama" informs us that, a thousand years from now, advertisements will be beamed into a sleeping person's dreams.
"That's awful!" says Fry. "It's like brainwashing."
"Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?" asks Leela.
"Not in our dreams!" replies Fry. "Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ballgames. And on buses. And milk cartons. And t-shirts. And bananas. And written on the sky. But not in dreams! No sirree!"
Even when the "present day" of 3000 appears enlightened, any such sign of progress serves to underscore the follies of the "past."
For instance: Remember garbage, that signature of the 21st century? They don't in the future. No one knows what garbage is.
"We recycle EVERYTHING," Leela boasts to Fry. "Robots are made from old beer cans."
"Yeah," adds Bender, hoisting a brew, "and this beer can is made out of old robots!"
It falls to Fry to share long-lost techniques for littering. Just as, on another episode, he draws on 20th century logic to argue that TV should avoid all cleverness, since "clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared."
As viewers eons from now may discover, "Futurama" never bothered to take its own advice.
'Spy Kids' Outpaces 'Seabiscuit'
LOS ANGELES - The big story at the weekend box office was not which movie came in first — it was "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" with $32.5 million — but which of four possible contenders placed second.
Two new films — the Angelina Jolie adventure sequel "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life" and the true-life racehorse drama "Seabiscuit" — became locked in a virtual dead heat for the follow-up slot with the recent releases "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and the action-comedy "Bad Boys II."
Weekend earnings estimates Sunday placed all the films within $900,000 of each other. "There are four films here that could literally change places on Monday when we get the final figures," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Although No. 2 appeared too close to call, the prospective victor was "Pirates of the Caribbean," which estimates showed earning $22.4 million, followed by "Bad Boys II" with $22 million.
The "Tomb Raider" sequel ranked fourth with $21.8 million, less than half what the original film earned in its opening weekend June 2001, when it debuted with $47.7 million. Dergarabedian characterized the second "Tomb Raider" performance as further evidence of the unreliability of sequels this summer, comparing it with "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."
"Seabiscuit" came in fifth this weekend, with $21.5 million, although Universal Pictures argued the movie was running in a different race, since it showed on at least 1,200 fewer locations than each of its rivals.
Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution, characterized this weekend as a warm-up run for the movie, which will expand to more theaters next weekend. "This was to get the word of mouth to really sell the film," she said. "This picture is in for the long distance."
"Seabiscuit" was shown at about 1,989 sites, compared with "Spy Kids 3-D" at 3,344. The horse tale had the highest earnings per theater with $10,809 — compared with "Spy Kids 3-D," which had $9,719 and the other second-place competitors, which climbed no higher than $6,900.
"'Seabiscuit' was filling theaters," Dergarabedian said. "It was not in as many theaters as the others, but it filled more seats in those theaters."
"Spy Kids 3-D" nearly doubled the debut earnings of last summer's "Spy Kids 2." The film attracted a broader teenage audience with its paper blue-and-red tinted glasses, which made some images appear to pop off the screen, said Bob Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax Films, whose Dimension banner released the movie.
"Whatever they paid for those paper glasses was worth it," Dergarabedian said.
The top 12 movies earned $145.6 million, up about 10 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Austin Powers in Goldmember" was the top movie with $73 million. Weekend revenues this summer generally have trailed those of last year.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," $32.5 million
2. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," $22.4 million.
3. "Bad Boys II," $22 million.
4. "Lara Croft: Tomb raider — The Cradle of Life," $21.8 million.
5. "Seabiscuit," $21.5 million.
6. "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," $5 million
7. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," $4.9 million.
8. "Johnny English," $4.3 million.
9. "Finding Nemo," $4 million.
10. "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde," $2.7 million.
Sex Pistols Ready to Bring Anarchy to U.S.A.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Billboard) - Never mind the bollocks. Can the Sex Pistols sell tickets?
"That's a good question," says Jim Glancy, vice president for promoter Clear Channel Entertainment in New York. The answer will come soon enough; the punk pioneers embark on their first tour in seven years this summer.
The Pistols' John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon has no false illusions that tickets will fly out the window.
"They won't blow out," he says with a sneer. "We're just filling in between . And I don't care; I just do what I do. Bloody hell."
Despite punk's enduring popularity -- perhaps best exemplified by the consistently successful Vans Warped tour -- the Sex Pistols' drawing power remains somewhat of an enigma.
Not counting their ill-fated, seven-date 1978 fiasco, the band has only toured North America once, on 1996's Filthy Lucre reunion tour.
The absence makes the band a bit of an unknown entity. "I have a pretty good idea about what I'm gonna do with something like classic rock, modern rock or country," Glancy says, "but with the Sex Pistols, I have nothing to compare it to."
The Pistols package includes Dropkick Murphys and the Reverend Horton Heat. The tour is just 13 dates, beginning Aug. 20 at FleetBoston Pavilion in Boston and wrapping Sept. 7 at the San Diego Street Scene festival.
The 1996 reunion tour did "solid business," according to Ron Opaleski, agent for the Sex Pistols at the William Morris Agency. Only 11 shows from that tour were reported to Billboard Boxscore, with an average gross of $96,578 and average attendance per show at 4,143.
Lydon considers the '96 tour "very successful, but not money-wise. How would it be? We're the Sex Pistols, nobody likes us and we don't care."
So why reunite now?
"Who says we reunited?" Lydon asks. "We never separated. We don't need a reason for anything. Let the copycats sit around and come up with reasons for things."
Still, Lydon seems to think the time is right to spread a little anarchy in North America. "There is a vast amount of disenfranchised in America," he says. "It's important to let them know we're still here."
BACK FOR MORE
Glancy would like to do better than the 1996 average on his Aug. 21 show at Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Performing Arts Center in Wantagh, N.Y.
Break-even is between 5,000 and 6,000, and Glancy says the curiosity factor alone ought to be enough to hit that number. "I'd be disappointed if we didn't do 6,000-7,000," he says. Tickets are $27.50 and $47.50 for the Jones Beach show.
Elliott Lefko, VP of artist development for House of Blues Concerts Canada, promoted the Pistols in '96 and is looking forward to HOB's Aug. 25 Pistols show at Toronto's Molson Amphitheater.
Lefko says ticket sales are "about what we thought they would be" in the early going, at between 3,000 and 4,000. He says they ended up at about 5,000 in 1996, but the show was even more successful on another level.
"This was one of the best shows we've ever done here, not in terms of sales, but how the joint was rocking," Lefko recalls. "It seemed like the whole amphitheater was pogo-ing."
Lefko believes the Pistols tour fills an underserved niche. "This audience doesn't have much out there anymore," he says. "It's a really cool audience, but they're not gonna go see Korn or a lot of what's on the radio."
Individual promoter deals were cut in each market, with buyers including CCE, HOB and independents. "Everyone's really excited," Opaleski says. "This is a band that shaped the scope of contemporary music."
Lydon is not surprised that promoters came to the table. "They always do, mate," he says. "We need them, and they need us."
Despite the tour's brevity, it is unlikely other dates will be added. "We wanted to hit the major majors and keep it short and sweet," Opaleski says.
"This is all we could get," Lydon counters. "If we can get more along the way, we will."
The Pistol's production will be predictably low-fi. "There will be no twaddling about playing with knobs and all that," he says. "We're the smallest-equipped band possible, but we kick up a ferocious sound."
BIG IN BAGHDAD?
Lydon says he is indeed serious when asked about published reports that the Pistols want to play Baghdad.
"We're very, very interested in playing Baghdad, and we're meeting all kinds of denials and red tape," Lydon says. "I'm slowly cutting my way through it."
He adds: "If you want to give them democracy, do it properly. Give them the Sex Pistols. Wake up, America."
Lydon says the band would promote the show "as an act of charity," adding, "I don't do these things as a joke or a prank, as strange as that may sound to those of lesser mental abilities that really don't get the point of being alive."
Dropkick Murphys, a Boston-based, Celtic-tinged punk band, will hook up with the Sex Pistols following a stint on Warped, bringing some box-office clout of their own to the tour, particularly in their hometown.
According to Somers, "The last time Dropkick Murphys played Boston over St. Patrick's Day, they sold out four nights at the Avalon in advance -- over 8,000 tickets."
Lydon calls Dropkick Murphys "a good bunch of lads." But he is mostly unimpressed with today's punk artists.
"Britney Spears is as punk as that silly Lavigne bird," he says. "I never, ever cared for Green Day, with their ice cream van and huge video productions. As far as I'm concerned, anything that's MTV-led I worry about. MTV is like a headless chicken."
Lydon feels young punk acts might be well-served to see the Pistols in action this summer.
"We can't find sponsors, we don't have a record company. But we're still here. That might be a bloody good little education for anyone out there that wants to be a pop star. They shouldn't want to be. They should want to be something more serious -- a la us."