Bob Hope

Acting

Bob Hope

Born 1903-05-29 · Eltham, London, England, UK

Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, and entertainer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films — 54 in which he starred. These included a series of seven Road to... musical comedy films with Bing Crosby as Hope's top-billed partner. In addition to hosting the Academy Awards show 19 times, more than any other host, Hope appeared in many stage productions and television roles and wrote 14 books. The song "Thanks for the Memory" was his signature tune. Hope was born in the Eltham district of southeast London. He arrived in the United States with his family at the age of four, and grew up near Cleveland, Ohio. After a brief stint in the late 1910s as a boxer, Hope began his career in show business in the early 1920s, initially as a comedian and dancer on the vaudeville circuit, before acting on Broadway. Hope began appearing on radio and in films starting in 1934. He was praised for his comedic timing, specializing in one-liners and rapid-fire delivery of jokes that were often self-deprecating. He helped establish modern American stand-up comedy. Between 1941 and 1991, Hope made 57 tours for the United Service Organizations (USO), entertaining active duty U.S. military personnel around the world. In 1997, the United States Congress passed a bill that made Hope an honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. Hope appeared in numerous television specials for NBC during his career and was one of the first users of cue cards. Hope retired from public life in 1998 and died on July 27, 2003, at the age of 100.

Acting credits

The Muppet Movie poster
7.2

The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp to pursue a career in Hollywood. On his way there, he meets a bear, a pig, a whatever (his future muppet crew), and some special celebrity guest stars, while being chased by the desperate owner of a frog-leg restaurant!

The Muppet Movie

1979

Spies Like Us poster
6.2

Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for nuclear war.

Spies Like Us

1985

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies poster
8.0

Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood, is the story told by its protagonists, actors and writers and other people who made life in this business, interspersing images of famous movies.

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

1995

The Greatest Show on Earth poster
6.4

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

The Greatest Show on Earth

1952

No artwork available
8.0

One way or another, the Hollywood police have been kept busy with murders on their ground. There are numerous theories about the killings of Thelma Todd, Jack Healy (Three Stooges), Elizabeth Short, alias The Black Dahlia, Bugsy Siegal and Johnny Stompano. The files of William Desmond Taylor, Raymond Navarro and Sal Mineo are also re-opened. Femmes fatales are often deadly for the man's wallet or reputation -- these ladies killed for real. From Calamity Jane, gang boss Ma Baker and New York madame Polly Adler to axe-murderess Winnie Ruth Judd and others, we look at the Black Widow Spider syndrome. Rare archival footage and many hitherto unseen interviews, film, video clip tapes, and photographs are included in this hour-long program.

Murderers, Mobsters, & Madmen: Volume 6: Hollywood Police Files

1992

Cancel My Reservation poster
5.6

Bob Hope is a stressed out talk show host who is sent on a vacation to Arizona on doctor's orders and has to play Sherlock Holmes with his wife, the lovely Eva Marie Saint, to solve a series of murders that has Bob as the prime suspect.

Cancel My Reservation

1972

Breakdown: 1975 poster
6.8

In 1975, as America faced social and political upheaval, filmmakers turned chaos into art.

Breakdown: 1975

2025

Breakdown: 1975 poster
6.8

In 1975, as America faced social and political upheaval, filmmakers turned chaos into art.

Breakdown: 1975

2025

Mitzi & 100 Guys poster
2.0

Mitzi Gaynor in a song and dance hour with an all-male, star-studded ensemble featuring her main guests Michael Landon (Little House on the Prairie) and Jack Albertson (Chico and the Man), plus 28 celebrities as her "Million Dollar Chorus." Songs performed include: "I Got the Music in Me," "The Most Beautiful Guy in the World," and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."

Mitzi & 100 Guys

1975

The Road to Hong Kong poster
5.8

When Chester accidentally memorises and destroys the only copy of a secret Russian formula for a new and improved rocket fuel, he and Harry are thrust into international intrigue, trying to stay alive while keeping the formula out of enemy hands.

The Road to Hong Kong

1962

Sorrowful Jones poster
6.6

A young girl is left with the notoriously cheap Sorrowful Jones as a marker for a bet. When her father doesn't return, he learns that taking care of a child interferes with his free-wheeling lifestyle. Sorrowful must also evade crooked gangsters and indulge in a bit of horse-thieving.

Sorrowful Jones

1949

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender poster
5.3

A film scrapbook, images, phrases from our past, hiding their meanings behind veils. Let's lift those veils, one by one, to find how images, at one time seeming innocent, have revealed, after decades, to have homosexual overtones.

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

1997

The Oscar poster
5.1

An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Hollywood stardom. But everyone on whom he steps on the way to the top remembers when he is nominated for an Oscar and he runs a dirty campaign in an attempt to win.

The Oscar

1966

The Fabulous Allan Carr poster
5.0

Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s. A producer, manager, and marketing genius, Carr built his bombastic reputation amid a series of successes including the mega-hit musical film "Grease," until it all came crashing down after he produced the 1989 Academy Awards, a notorious debacle.

The Fabulous Allan Carr

2017

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind poster
8.2

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

1988

Kids' TV: The Surprising Story poster
NR

Konnie Huq celebrates the very best of British children’s television, with a dazzling array of clips from some of the most treasured programmes ever made and revealing chats with some of TV’s most beloved stars. But Konnie also tells a perhaps more surprising story: of how kids’ TV has frequently been at the forefront of social change, in terms of the stories it tells and the people who get to tell them.

Kids' TV: The Surprising Story

2022

The Princess and the Pirate poster
6.9

Princess Margaret is travelling incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man her father has betrothed her to. On the high seas, her ship is attacked by pirates who know her identity and plan to kidnap her and hold her for a king's ransom.

The Princess and the Pirate

1944

Vaudeville poster
8.0

Vaudeville is a 1997 PBS documentary under its American Masters program. Using film clips and photos, the art and history of vaudeville (1890-1930s) is illustrated.

Vaudeville

1997

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers poster
2.0

William Shatner, Liz Taylor and many more stars blow lines, lose their pants and more in this hilarious collection of movie and TV bloopers.

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

1985

Louisiana Purchase poster
6.7

A bumbling senator investigating graft in Louisiana is the target of a scheme involving a Viennese beauty.

Louisiana Purchase

1941

My Favorite Brunette poster
6.7

Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.

My Favorite Brunette

1947

Howard poster
6.8

Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.

Howard

2018

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards poster
6.3

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

Hollywood: The Dream Factory poster
7.2

A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

1972

Behind the camera