This book would not have been possible without the generous help and cooperation of Linda Hope, Bob Hope’s daughter. She sat for several hours of interviews; allowed me access to her father’s papers, both at the Library of Congress and at the Hope home in Toluca Lake; and in general made sure all doors were open to me during the researching of the book. I am enormously grateful and honored that she placed her confidence in me to tell the story of her father’s extraordinary life and career. For someone as dedicated as she is to her father’s legacy, it must have been difficult at times to relinquish control and trust a journalist to tell that story fairly and honestly. I sincerely hope the finished product justifies her trust.
I am grateful also to the many other members of the Hope family who shared their recollections and insights with me, especially Bob’s surviving son, Kelly Hope, and grandchildren Miranda and Zachary Hope. I also want to thank Jim Hardy, Jan Morrill, and all the staff members of Hope Enterprises for their help during my reporting and research.
I am appreciative and touched that so many former colleagues and friends of Bob Hope’s were generous enough to spend time with a strange reporter, ransacking their memories to help me piece together my story. Many of them were, understandably, quite old, and it saddens me that so many have passed away since our interviews. I feel privileged to have been able to record some of the last reminiscences of a vanishing show-business generation.
Much of my time was spent in libraries, and I want to thank all the people who facilitated my work. Mike Mashon, head of the Library of Congress’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, in Culpeper, Virginia, was a gracious host for my many days of research there. Sam Brylawski and Alan Gevinson, curators of the two Hope exhibits assembled for the Library of Congress, were invaluable in guiding me through the mountain of material. Rebecca Jones was an always-congenial minder while I was in Culpeper, and Karen Fishman kept me focused while I was at the main library in Washington, DC.
At the Paley Center for Media in New York City, where I spent many long hours watching and listening to Hope TV and radio programs, I’m grateful to Richard Holbrooke for making the process so pleasant and efficient, and to Carrie Oman, for always opening the doors. For research help, I would also like to thank Bill Hooper, custodian of the magazine archives at Time Inc.; Angela Thornton and Susan Weill, in the Time magazine research library; Karen Pedersen, at the Writers Guild of America library; Ann Sindelar at the Western Reserve Historical Society library; Jim Ciesla, who tracked down some key Cuyahoga County court records for me; and the entire staff of the Motion Picture Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, for making sure I always wrote in pencil.
I’m a writer who likes doing my own research, but I could not have done as thorough a job without the help of three people: Caroline Stevens, who supplemented my work at the Library of Congress, both in Culpeper and Washington; Konni Corriere, who prowled some of the back shelves at the Margaret Herrick Library; and Nona Yates, who was an expert guide through the California court and real estate records.
Alan Blackmore, a retired schoolmaster in Weston-super-Mare, England, has done more work on the Hope genealogy than anyone else, and he was an invaluable resource in sorting through the family’s history in England. He also provided me with a copy of Jim Hope’s unpublished memoir, “Mother Had Hopes,” with its fascinating chronicle of the family’s early years in England and later in Cleveland.
I am indebted to Meg and Kay Liberman, who gave me a copy of their father Frank Liberman’s unpublished memoir, with its thoughtful and candid reminiscences of Hope and his world. Elizabeth Frank was kind enough to transcribe for me some key passages from the journal of her father, Melvin Frank. I spent an entertaining afternoon in Los Angeles with Miles Krueger, Broadway archivist extraordinaire, who showed me the only surviving footage of Hope’s appearances on Broadway. Richard Behar, my former Time magazine colleague, excavated his notes and tape-recorded interviews for the article he wrote on Hope’s finances for Forbes magazine. Michael Feinstein supplied me with rare early recordings of “Thanks for the Memory” by Al Jolson and the songwriters Robin and Rainger. And my brother Paul Zoglin helped me navigate the genealogical archives and locate many key census and immigration documents.
Jim Shepherd, of the Bob Hope Theatre in Eltham, England, and local historian John Kennett were welcoming hosts and tour guides on my visit to the town where Hope was born. In Cleveland, Mike Gavin was most helpful in showing me the neighborhoods where Bob grew up, providing me with family photos, and in many other ways.
Jeff Abraham, one of the great students of old-time comedy, was an irreplaceable resource throughout, leading me to countless new finds, recordings, and sources. Stephen Silverman, of People magazine, provided me with insights into the Hope family and introductions to several relatives who became valuable sources. Dick Burgheim, the great Time Inc. editor, my former boss at TV-Cable Week and author of a 1967 Time cover story on Hope, was an inspiration and sounding board for me throughout. And Bill Faith, author of the most definitive Hope biography to date, was most generous in giving his time and help to a fellow biographer.
In addition to the people quoted in the book, many others were important in connecting me with sources, providing background, and helping me develop my ideas. Among them I would especially like to thank Mary Altman, Robert Bader, Gary Giddins, Gloria Greer, Joanne Kaufman, Dennis Klein, Kristiina Laakso, Robert Morton, Richard Niles, Robert Osbourne, Marvin Paige, Hermine Rhodes, Jeff Ross, Richard Schickel, Marion Solomon, Maureen Solomon, and Bill Zehme.
At Simon & Schuster, I am forever indebted to David Rosenthal, who commissioned this book and shared my conviction that a major biography of Hope was overdue, and to his successor, Jonathan Karp, who showed such enthusiasm for a project he inherited. I was incredibly lucky to have an editor, Priscilla Painton, who is also a great friend and a longtime colleague from Time. She was an astute and constructive critic of the book, a godsend during some of the tough times I endured during its writing, and an absolute pleasure to work with from beginning to end. Her assistants, Sydney Tanigawa and Sophia Jimenez, along with the entire production staff at Simon & Schuster, made the process as easy as I could imagine.
My agent, Kris Dahl, was, as always, a great rock of support and dedicated friend every step of the way. I will always be grateful for her advice and unshakable faith in me, both on this book and over the years.
Finally, I must thank the most important person in my life, my wife, Charla Krupp, who died of breast cancer during the writing of this book. We were married for nineteen years, and she was my greatest editor, adviser, cheerleader, and life inspiration. She read early drafts of the first few chapters of this book, and her tough criticism inspired me to keep striving to meet her high standards, even in her absence. I cannot express the sorrow I feel that she is not here with me to share what she helped produce. I only hope that it carries some of her spirit, as I do every moment of every day.