Bob Hope

Over the course of a career that spanned more than 60 years, actor-comedian- humanitarian-noted golf enthusiast Bob Hope came to be regarded as not only a legendary entertainer, but a veritable American institution. Getting his start on the vaudeville circuit of the late 1920s, he eventually broke through on the Broadway stage in such productions as 1933's "Roberta" and 1936's "Red, Hot and Blue." He began hosting his own long-running radio program on NBC the following year and by 1938 had made the jump to Hollywood. Although he would eventually appear in more than 50 feature films, the funnyman with the ski-slope nose would be most remembered for his wise-cracking antics alongside his perfect foil Bing Crosby and their sarong-clad lust object Dorothy Lamour in "Road to Singapore" (1940) and the successful franchise it spawned. In addition to the seven highly popular "Road to " movies, Hope also proved to be a top box office draw as a solo act in comedies like "The Princess and the Pirate" (1944) and "The Paleface" (1948). Beginning in the early 1940s and continuing well into the 1990s, Hope - ever-present golf club in hand - was a welcome comic relief for troops stationed abroad in times of war and peace as he tirelessly toured with the USO during World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and beyond. By the time the venerable entertainer reached his 100th year, generations of fans could only express their gratitude with a refrain from Hope's most popular tune, "Thanks for the Memories."