Kirk Watson: “Mr. Speaker, the son of a stonemason and an aspiring concert singer, Bob Hope had a career that stretched across the…”

“Mr. Speaker, the son of a stonemason and an aspiring concert singer, Bob Hope had a career that stretched across the decades. His casual careers included a butcher's delivery boy, a soda clerk, shoe salesman, pool hustler and boxer, but it was the stage where he was most at home. Bob Hope began performing in vaudeville in the 1920s, performing what he called songs, patter, and eccentric dancing. He made his Broadway debut in 1933 with the musical Roberta. He appeared in the 1935 production of the Ziegfeld Follies and starred with the legendary Ethel Merman in a production of Cole Porter's Red Hot and Blue. In addition to his work on the stage, Hope landed a profitable stint hosting the popular Pepsodent show on NBC Radio. His program would air in some form or another from 1938 until the 1950s. Bob Hope's radio fame led him to Hollywood, where he appeared in his first film, The Big Broadcast of 1938. He starred in more than 50 films, but he is best known for the road movies with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Though Bob Hope never won a Best Actor Oscar, he has been awarded two honorary Academy Awards and a humanitarian award. He made his first appearance on television in 1947 when he headlined the inaugural broadcast of KTLA, the first TV station on the West Coast.”