Bob Hope's Scandalous Life Was Unsettling

People have called Bob Hope the “Entertainer of the 20th Century,” and he was no less than a titan of Old Hollywood. But behind the scenes of Hope’s family-friendly career is a life of rivalry, scandal, and very dirty little secrets.

[lestercombs]

Met him when I was in an orphanage. Sammy Davis and Mr Hope were very kind to us and performed a fantastic show I still remember vividly. Sammy was the best dancer I’ve ever seen in my life.

[apriladams]

My dad worked for a few years for Hope, he respected Mrs Hope, but did say Mr Hope always had a girlfriend that visited when Mrs Hope went to Palm Springs!

[marygoodson]

I catered Hollywood parties in my early 20's. I catered a huge party at Bob Hope's estate in Toluca Lake for his and Dolores's big 50th Wedding Anniversary. I spoke with their florist in a private butler's pantry during the party and he told me how Hope had cheated on Dolores so many times but she refused to divorce him. Then Hope made a speech about how great his wife was and he had to read it off of cue cards his minions held on the floor in front of him! I thought it was so weird that he couldn't think on his own of anything nice to say about her and neededcue cards in his own home!! The whole thing was bizarre.

[davenewton]

40 years ago the sister of a girl I was dating told me that a friend of hers went on one of those USO overseas tours with Bob Hope. She told me that Bob Hope pressured her friend to sleep with him or he threatened to leave her in Vietnam! I never quite believed this back then, but the more I hear about him the more it seems possible.

[mikehiers]

Back when I was a kid I looked up to guys like Hope and Jerry Lewis. Now I see them and many other actors as they are jerks.

[cherylmeri]

I'll hold off on my judgement of Bob Hope until I achieve perfection myself. He gave me great joy watching his movies, still does.

[kojikicklighter]

In the entertainment industry, it's more surprising to find someone who IS faithful. Being successful requires most performers to be single-minded, egomaniacal narcissists. Those types are not generally trustworthy or faithful.

[yeshuaservant]

When I was a student usher at IU in Bloomington--I was working at Assembly Hall, when Hope performed there in the early 1970's. My co-workers said old Bob couldn't keep his hands off the female ushers.

[georgeworthmore]

All Hope's mistresses met the same disturbing fate. They had to sleep with Bob Hope

[jameseroh]

Back in the 1970's I had a job making deliveries for a Toluca Lake area liquor store. Went to Bob Hope's, Joanne Worley, Johnathan Winters, Annette Funicello's houses among many others. The really interesting thing was some faded stars of old had interesting stories about Bob Hope. It seems he helped quite a few people develop income properties. And those properties were giving these people a good income after they were no longer performing. Bob Hope may have been famous as an entertainer. But he appears to have acquired more wealth by selling and developing real estate for people.

[nancystone]

IN JOAN RIVERS' AUTOBIO SHE SAID B.H. WAS THE MEANEST WHITE GUY SHE EVER KNEW/MET. I BELIEVE HER!

[davescrimshaw]

He was a high level Freemason - that should answer any questions

[kentstallard]

A good friend was around 10 when Hope attended an event featuring kids. He walked up to the comedian and very politely said 'It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hope. I'm a big fan.'

Immediately Hope reacted by yelling to his associates "Get this kid away from me!"

One of them escorted my friend off and apologized for Hope's behavior. 'Don't take it personally. That's just how he is.'

[Automedon]

I was a circus performer in the 70s. I worked with him at the Minnesota State Fair. I swear to God, his TV appearances must have involved heavy audience coaching and laugh tracks because for his entire run at the fair the large grandstand audiences just sat silent. Hardly a single laugh. Half his act was begging for applause, which got the only laughs. Personally, I have never seen the attraction.

[MrEdWeirdoShow]

There are still a lot of little "Bobs" (and grandson Bobs) running around out there.
A special on Bob Hope that I saw with friends just a few years ago had them asking me in an agitated way to replay an interview scene in the show. I soon got what they meant when I replayed it and saw sitting very near to Bob in some movie theater seats a so-called "adopted" relative of his, named Tony. Turns out that Tony was a younger but almost identical match for Bob. Now since when do adopted kids look practically the same as their adopted dad? Since never, that's when!

[faustlove]

I was a very young child in the 70`s and my grandmother's sister was a vaudeville dancer who had appeared in 9 movies between 1938-1944. Bit parts with only 1 or 2 lines in 6 of the movies but, 3 of them starred Bob Hope. She unfortunately died of a morphine overdose but not before telling my grandmother all about her affair with Bob Hope!!

[marktaylor]

Yet another example of how fame is nothing more than ethereal mist.

[benicio]

You would have to be insatiably hungry for fame and money to date that guy. He wasn’t funny, he wasn’t kind, warm or charming and he most certainly was NOT handsome.

[Danny-nmsn]

He reportedly had a special suite at the swanky hotel in our town, that had a special back door to let his mistresses out in case his wife showed up. This was reported in our paper when the hotel was torn down

[lorchid]

Look into what Cathy O’Brien had to say about Bob Hope. He wasn’t just a bad husband, he was an absolute monster.