GILROY
– Hope is gone, but many South County residents say his
contribution to their lives will never be lost.
GILROY – Hope is gone, but many South County residents say his contribution to their lives will never be lost.
As news about the passing of legendary entertainer Bob Hope spread through area senior centers, veterans’ halls and coffee shops Monday, grieving fans began telling stories and sharing memories about the “King of the One-Liner,” which usually ended in laughter.
Hope, who celebrated his 100th birthday in May, died late Sunday of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake.
“He was one of the funniest men I ever saw,” said U.S. Army veteran Paul Mendez of Gilroy, who as a young soldier watched Hope perform in 1953 in Seoul, Korea, during the Korean Conflict. “All of us troops were excited he was coming, but the thing we really looked forward to were the girls he brought with him for the shows. … That was a man who knew how to boost morale.”
Renowned for his diverse comic acting career that spanned more than seven decades, “G.I. Bob” won the most admirers by donating his talents to entertain U.S. troops overseas during World War II, the 1990 “Operation Desert Storm” and nearly every U.S. military operation between.
“People don’t realize how much a comedy show like that can raise the spirits of a soldier who is fighting a war and every day sees some of the worst stuff you can imagine,” said George Shebib, commander of the Morgan Hill American Legion and a Vietnam veteran. Although he never saw Hope’s act oversees, Shebib watched Hope perform in the state of Oklahoma in 1963.
“His shows gave troops another option besides getting drunk and smoking dope,” Shebib said. “He made you laugh and he brought good-looking women – what more could you want?”
A star that shined bright enough to infiltrate more than one American generation, Hope is probably most revered in Gilroy’s senior community.
Sitting around the lunch table at the Gilroy Senior Center Monday, friends Juanita Wallace, Rita Angelino, Margaret Piedmont, Ruth Evans and Betty Pappani each took turns sharing their favorite stories about Hope.
“He wasn’t a great actor,” Wallace said, “but he was cute and funny so I would go see his movies.”
“I remember seeing his variety show live in St. Louis,” Evans said. “It was the ’50s sometime and around Christmas, and my husband and I laughed the whole time. He was very talented, but also very humble.”
Outside of entertainment, the ski-jump nosed joker who was born in England and raised in Cleveland was best known for his love of golf.
“Golf is my profession,” Hope was often quoted as saying. “I tell jokes to pay my green fees.”
Since his first show for service men in 1941, Hope’s annual radio and television Christmas specials performed in front U.S. troops at home and abroad were broadcast to millions of people worldwide, becoming as much a part of the holiday season as singing Christmas carols or sipping eggnog, according to the many Hope fans eating lunch at the Gilroy Senior Center Monday.
Hope’s lifetime dedication to U.S. troops was so respected that in 1997 U.S. Congress unanimously made him an Honorary Veteran – the first and only time that title has been awarded.
“(Hope) was very important to our country, and especially my generation,” said Tony Chavez, who was eating lunch at the Gilroy Senior Center Monday. “I never saw him live, but I never missed one of his Christmas shows on TV.”
Pappani heard the news of Hope’s death on the radio when she woke up Monday morning.
“I was surprised,” she said. “But I’m not too sad. He was 100. He lived a very good life, and he made a lot of people laugh – that’s a very important thing.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
