Bob Hope: The Forgotten King of Comedy
The Los Angeles Times calls him a “forgotten figure”, pointing out that despite major accomplishments in comedy, film, and celebrity, there are no retrospectives on his early films, and his name doesn’t get brought up in lists of the great awards show hosts, even though he hosted the Academy Awards 18 times. Bob Hope rose to the top of every format in comedy; vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies and TV. So why doesn’t his name pop up when listing the all time greats?
Was it because of VietfuckinNam?
The question of why is the foundation of Richard Zoglin’s, new biography, “Hope: Entertainer of the Century,” which makes the case that Bob Hope was the most important entertainer of the 20th Century. This first major biography of Hope contends that he invented modern stand up comedy and redefined what it meant to be a star.
Zoglin’s previous book “Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America” is considered by many to be the books on the comedy of that era. When Zoglin interviewed comedians for “Comedy at the Edge” and none of the great comics he talked to brought up Hope as an influence, he knew he needed to write this book. He told the Huffington Post in an interview:
“I talked to comedians, George Carlin, Richard Lewis, Robert Klein, Jerry Seinfeld, and others about the comedians who influenced them. They mentioned many people but no one mentioned Bob Hope and it struck me as a real injustice. He was the first guy on the radio to do topical monologues. The other radio comedians in 1938 were all vaudeville guys like Burns & Allen doing routines. Jack Benny had a character with his butler Rochester so they were in their own little worlds. Bob Hope did not have a character. The idea of a stand up comedian commenting on the state of the world and their own life is something Bob Hope invented.”
Zoglin told NPR that he believes it was Hope who started stand up comedy. “He told his writers to read the papers — come up with lines about what’s happening in the world or what’s happening in Bob Hope’s life” Zoglin said. At the time, the idea of creating comedy out of what was happening in the world, was new.
“Hope: Entertainer of the Century” is on sale now. Order Hope: Entertainer of the Century
