Thanks, David. I've just voted that I "love" his work.
I fully appreciate in a professional career lasting over seven decades, not everything of Mr Hope's has aged well.
The work of his I love the most are his feature films from around 1938 to the middle 1950's.
I think vocal delivery/timing wise (during these years), he was up there with WC Fields and Groucho.

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (20/10/2026 2:26 am)

Yes, I agree - there was a definite, magical and unique spark between Bob and Bing in their Road films.

I just so wish in their later television appearances that they (along with so many other performers) learned their lines instead of clearly looking past each other's shoulders at the cue cards. It really hampers the timing of almost any comedy performer and this is where the future trouble of Bob's performing abilities rested. Ultimately this reliance stilted his delivery even before old age became evident and also in his films from the early 1960's onwards.

Thankfully when I saw him in concert a year after the Don Lane interview (which I really enjoyed, thank you) there were no cue cards. Even though at eighty-one he was not in the full flight of youth, his delivery was very smooth and not at all robotic. I think it was Hope's reliance on his cue cards and own lack of depth which made him not easy to interview. I know it left Johnny Carson frustrated for decades and credit to Don Lane for him picking up Bob over one or two of his shorter answers. I thought Don was a very pleasing presence and a very good communicator. Hope also voiced similar fears he'd had over Bert Newton to UK comedian Bob Monkhouse after appearing later that year on Monkhouse's show. Monkhouse had written for Hope in the 1950's and so knew his guest well. He decided to slip in a few unplanned lines during their "interview" and Hope later remarked to Monkhouse he'd had him concerned. Bert had good taste in his favourite singer and actor. 

As Hope aged, his hearing also became a problem. The year after Don Lane and the year I saw him "live", he gave a number of promotional interviews and it was obvious he couldn't sometimes hear the questions and so would answer with such things as non-committal "Sures" and "Right". Unlike George Burns who sailed past his seventies, eighties and most of his nineties with his timing intact, Hope just became worse. It's such a pity that decades wore on where both his shows and performing abilities gradually became a shadow of what they once were. 

A friend and I disagree on this but as I've stated elsewhere on this forum, although not for the sad reason it didn't go before the cameras, I am so relieved that the final "Road" (" ... to the Fountain of Youth") remained unmade. I cannot imagine the unedifying sight of two septuagenarians chasing someone such as Farrah Fawcett Majors in her youthful prime and with Hope having reluctantly learning his antiquated lines and speaking them as if he'd just exited the eighteenth green. The irony is that Bing's comedic timing and delivery remained natural and unforced but it takes two to tango and I believe the film would have been one hell of a non-co-ordinated dance and a surefire contender for a chapter in "The Golden Turkey Awards". 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (22/10/2026 10:16 am)

I am definitely in the minority here. I voted that I only like Bob Hope when he was with Bing. I feel Bing made him funny. When I listen to his radio shows, Bob is not bad, but I don't laugh out loud like I do with Jack Benny or Jackie Gleason.

Aaron Tickner wrote:

If I can convert you to Bert Newton, Ian...try this compilation that Channel 9 put together the week Bert passed away. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q1JRuoR3lY
Bert spent most of his TV career on Channel 9. He was on TV from the very beginning - 1956. He will always remain a great loss to Australian television. 
However from about 1994 to 2007 (I'd have to double check the dates), Bert hosted his own morning show on Channel 10. I remember Michael Feinstein appearing and the two of them got onto the topic of Bing. Bert had to be strong and steer the conversation back to other things, but you could tell both men were enjoying the chat about Bing. They both were gushing over Bing's renaissance years. Unfortunately I don't have this footage and nobody as yet has posted it on YouTube.

Bert most certainly comes across as an almost omnipresent figure for many decades on Australian television. A very strong personality and clearly beloved. Rather as Terry Wogan and Des O'Connor were in the UK. I would love to have seen his chat with Michael Feinstein, surely now one of the strongest musical and verbally articulate proponents of Bing's era. 
 

I love Bob Hope. He was much funnier than many of the comedians around now. I love the way he delivered his jokes and the faces he made. His political jokes were funny unlike comedians in America these days who just attack politicians they hate instead of being funny. Bob Hope was the best host ever of the Academy Awards. If I had to pick which comedian from the past that I did not like, it would be Jerry Lewis. I found him very annoying and a glory hog.

Ian, Did not know about Jack Benny not attending an event because Jerry Lewis was there.  I guess Jack felt the same way as me, Bing and Dean. Lol!

... and to be fair I'm sure for all of his faults, I couldn't imagine that Jerry wouldn't have done such a thing deliberately ... but accidents can happen ... 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (25/10/2026 4:36 am)

Ian, I liked Jerry when I was a kid, I still like certain things he did like the Telethon, Cinderfella and The Nutty Professor. About Jerry and Bing. Did he jump on Bing and pull his toupee off or did he just say he was going to do it? I forgot the story. Bob Hope, I did not like some of the things mentioned about his personal life. They may be true and may not be but I liked him as an entertainer. I watched all his special back in the 70's and enjoyed them. Better than the stuff on TV in the USA these days. I watch sports, Antiques Roadshow, old movies, YouTube and a few others things . But TV shows were way better back then and I remember looking foward to anything with Bob Hope, Don Adams, Don Rickles and so on. Dean Martin's Roasts were Great too!

Aaron Tickner wrote:

I did vote that I love his work. Quite happy to watch certain films - My Favourite Brunette, The Paleface, Sorrowful Jones, The Facts of Life, Beau James, The Seven Little Foys, The Princess and the Pirate to name some. Also don't mind his radio work. 

However, he is at his best with Bing.

Compared to the likes of Groucho, however, Hope was quite script dependent. He may have done the occasional ad-lib, but it was not where he was comfortable.

Hope came out to Australia a couple of times. In the mid-80s he appeared on a night-time show, The Don Lane Show. Don was an ex-pat American who came out here and worked the variety circuits before making his way into TV. I believe he had worked early on in Vegas before coming out to Australia. Don was given his own show in the mid 70s lasting until the mid-80s. When the format was being discussed Don insisted that one man had to be his regular sidekick...Bert Newton.

Melbourne-born Bert remains a legend of Australian TV. He passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 83. His domain was live TV. Although he could work from a script, Bert was at his best, off the cuff. He was brilliant when things went wrong on live TV. In fact, if a show was a bit sluggish, Bert would impishly set things awry just so he could start ad-libbing and make the whole thing much livelier. 

Such was his reputation that when Bob Hope was slated to appear on The Don Lane Show he was reluctant to appear with Bert for fear of not keeping up. Legend has it that Don spoke to Hope directly and said it would be okay because Bert was such a fan that he would not attempt to upstage him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDDDay6OgDI

Bert is quite tame here, so please don't judge him from this clip. 

Just to explain something - Don and Bert speak about the Logies - this is Australia's TV industry awards like the Emmy in the US and the TV BAFTAS in the UK.

I don't know who Bert's favourite comedian was. There was a similarity to Hope but Bert really was his own man.

However, Bert often said his favourite singer was Bing, and his favourite actor was Spencer Tracy.

When Kathryn had the auction after Bing's passing, Bert had a friend in the US who was able to successfully bid on two items for him. One item was a pipe. The second item was a plaque given to Bing by our wartime Prime Minister John Curtain for his work in entertaining the allied troops. It is fitting that the plaque made its way back to Australia. As far as I know Bert's widow, Patti would still have it.

If Patti isn't sure what to do with the plaque - there's a chap up in Queensland who would happily look after it. Just a suggestion.

Hi Aaron,
Reading your account about Don Lane brought back old memories me for me. I was lucky enough to work with Don in the early 1990s when I was promotions manager at a Sydney radio station and Don was doing the Morning show. He was a lovely guy and I’m happy to say that we became good work friends. I used to go out and do comedy reports and interviews for him and also jump behind the mic from time to time to have some friendly banter. It was fun and got me away from my desk. Don mentioned to me in private once that Bert could be difficult sometimes to work with. Don might suggest something to do on the show and Bert would just shrug and say “no” and walk off. They were of course close friends but it wasn’t always “roses”! I also have Don to thank for meeting Dean Martin when I was in Beverly Hills back in 1992. He gave me Dean’s managers phone number and I was able to set up a meeting at a local LA restaurant which was wonderful. Thanks for the memories!

dgmprod wrote:

In regards to the telethon I’ve seen it and Jerry jumped on Bob and grabbed his troupe and ripped it off his head. Bing immediately left the stage as he could have been the next target. Bob was upset about this and spoke to Jerry on a tv show he was guest hosting a few years later and said “you know what you did”. I believe Bing felt this type of behaviour was very unprofessional and insulting to a fellow performer and distanced himself from Jerry from that point on. I understand that with spontaneous humour mistakes and miscalculations can occur but it was selfish of Jerry and he was known to be egotistical. Anyway I was still a fan of his and got to speak to him briefly years ago at a show he did here in Sydney. Cheers, Dave Duncan.  

As far as I know, David, Bob Hope never wore a toupée. Just a wig, perhaps in a period costume film or television sketch. According to the authorised biography, he later had one made but never wore it, preferring a new hairdresser to expertly spread his thinning hairs atop of his scalp and then tint it a darker colour. In those years it may have given the appearance of a thinning toupée because his non-matching grey sideburns were clearly showing in the 1970's and 1980's. I once stood next to him in 1984 and made a study of his hair and it was indeed very noticeably balding at the top - and as he walked away, also at the back of his head. In the compilation clip of explanation from Jerry I've linked below, you do indeed see Jerry pull at Bob's receding hair and it appears from that as you say, that Bing wasn't going to take any risks. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0YdQLrR-0Q
 

STEPO wrote:

I like some of Bob Hope's films, but felt it was unfortunate that he had to resort to using cue cards for his gags on stage, Hope always had superb comic timing, and nobody could tell one better than Hope could when he was at his peak, I do agree that his film career went on too long some of his later films were truly awful, and sadly I'm pleased that "The Road To The Fountain Of Youth" never got made, but i once read that David Niven's last film "Better Late Than Never" was originally to be a film with Bing and Bob, but had to be recast after the tragic event in Madrid, Art Carney got Bob's part, but while the film was being edited, the film's director Bryan Forbes had to reedit tDvid Niven's voice track because his dialogue were all slurred due to his Motor Neroune Disease, seems like that film was jinxed, the late Dame Maggie Smith was also in the film.

Yes, Stepo, I completely agree. I think those cue cards on television really made him lazy and ruined his timing - even before extreme old age caused what remained of it to go. George Burns at ninety-seven pointed this out when he was asked to do a skit with Bob on his TV special, celebrating Bob's ninetieth birthday. Along with Hope's failing eye sight and hearing, it was eventually decided they would just exchange a few lines, with George having to take the lead. Such a shame because as you say, Bob's timing when he was at his peak, was superbly fast and effective.

I think "Road to Hong Kong" was his final half decent film and yes, I share your relief about "Road to the Fountain of Youth". I had indeed heard that "Better Late Than Never" (Niven's final starring film) was originally going to feature Bob in the Art Carney role. Poor old Niven's voice a year or so later was, due to his illness, completely unusable in two (post Sellers' death) later Pink Panther films. In post production it ended being dubbed by the comic impressionist  Rich Little.British actress and co-star Joanna Lumley remembered in a memoir how incredibly brave and pleasant "Niv" was on the set, really too ill to even be there, attempting to practice his fading enunciation off camera

I wonder why Hope didn't take the Carney role because at the time, he was still hustling for a feature film, even trying, still with Lew Grade on board, to get that final road film made with George Burns, instead! Plus another where (now in his eighties) he was wanting to star in a biopic, playing Walter Winchell, for goodness sake.

In Bob's final film, the 1986 television production, "A Masterpiece of Murder", he clearly decided to just sleepwalk through it, showing hardly any effort whatsoever. The script and pacing were terrible but at least co-star Don Ameche demonstrated some badly needed enthusiasm.
 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (27/10/2026 12:34 pm)

Personally i always found Jerry Lewis as funny as breaking a leg, I later read that he was a very unpleasant person, I remember trying to watch a film of his "It's Only Money" because that fine actor Zachary Scott was also in it, but had to switch it off cause Jerry egotistically had to hog the scene with Zachary Scott and poor Zachary Scott couldn't even get a look in, it demonstrated what an ungenerous performer he was no wonder Dean Martin got fed up of working with him.