Born Leslie Townes Hope (1903-2003) on this day in Eltham, England, beloved comedian Bob Hope, was a master at making you feel good.

"I have seen what a laugh can do," he said. "It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful."

Always, his dream was to entertain-- in Vaudeville, radio, television, and Hollywood... On the road with Bing Crosby, as host of the Academy Awards, or telling jokes on his NBC television show... Timing, punch lines, and laughter. That is the legacy of Bob Hope.

"You know you’re getting older when the candles cost more than the cake," he said.

The comic entertained with charity glowing passionately in his heart. For nearly six decades, from World War II through the Gulf War, through combat and times of peace, "G.I. Bob" traveled the world giving legendary performance for soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Risking gunfire, using humor to soften the hardships of battle.

Writer John Steinbeck said of Hope, "This man drives himself and is driven. It is impossible to see how he can do so much, can cover so much ground, can work so hard and be so effective. There's a man. There is really a man!"

"They say I do so much for the GIs," Hope once told reporters, "but they don't know what it does for me."

More BOB HOPE Quotations

Thanks for the memories...