Bob Hope is Dead. Again.
Published July 28, 2003
Bob Hope, the comedian whose daring personality and ski-sloped nose made him an icon of 20th-century entertainment, has died. He was 100.
Hope died at 9:28 p.m. Sunday (12:28 a.m. Monday ET) at his home in Toluca Lake, north of Hollywood, his publicist, Ward Grant, said. His death came less than two months after his 100th birthday, which was celebrated May 29.
This is the second time in the last few years in which Hope's death has been reported.
In 1998, news of Hope's death was prematurely reported. The story broke late in the afternoon and many news outlets carried it early the next morning. It was quickly retracted after Hope made a public appearance, to demonstrate he was still moving and could speak, saying, "See, I'm not dead!"
He then tossed off a few forgettable quips about 'not being dead', which the gathered journalists politely laughed at, mostly because - quite honestly - they were just relieved to see Hope wasn't dead.
As it turned out that last time, it was only his tired one-liners that had died.
Like that was news to anybody.
But Hope himself was still very much alive at the time.
According to his publicist, Hope plans to stay dead this time.
Reportedly, Hope's corpse - along with the recently expired comedian Buddy Hackett, singer June Carter Cash, and actors Buddy Ebsen and Katherine Hepburn - will soon headline a new stage tour in the Middle East, reaffirming his title as "Mr. Entertainment" even in death, to bring laughter to military personnel in the region.
"This new tour will be great for the troops," a U.S. military spokesman was quoted as saying, "since so many of them have been dying lately too. So they certainly understand the loss of Hope."
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THIS JUST IN... Bob Hope is STILL dead. Check back for the latest updates in this continuing story!
- Bob Hope is Dead. Again.
- Published: July 28, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Culture
- Writer: Pete Petrisko
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Sure, this may have been in poor taste, particularly within 24 hours of the man's passing, but it's satire. And I'll admit, when I first heard the news about Hope's death (an occurrence I find sad, even as I note how fortunate we were to have him for five-score years), I had to wonder whether the news was true. I recall the previous reporting of the man's demise all too well.
In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco, too, is still dead.
I found it a bit, ah, jarring as well, but very few of us strive to be satirically creative on an ongoing basis as does Peter. Sometimes it will work better than others.
And I love Bob Hope, always have.
This is always a source of mystery for me: who is dead and alive?
I just read in another post that Don Adams died. I really thought he had died before.
Here is my list of uncertainties. Please clear up if possible:
-Red Buttons
-Red Skeleton
-Red Auerbach
(any other "Red" guy)
-Art Carney
-Fish (the guy from Barney Miller)
-Dick Cheney
-Six Flags Dancing Guy
-Frank Gifford (okay, I know being married to Kathy Lee is living death)
-Gerald Ford
-Lady Bird Johnson
-Kitty Carlisle
-J.D. Salinger
-various ex cast members of SNL
There are more, but I can't think now with my daughter wanting Cheerios.
Yes, it can often be difficult to know whether your favorite (or not-favorite) celebrity is dead or not. You can ask this site: http://www.didtheydie.com Didtheydie as it seems to have some helpful info. Seems some of the public think Bob Hope is alive - how amusing!
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A smug and ungracious article about a man who brought joy into more lives than a pretentious prick like Peter Petrisko ever will.