Bob Hope

By George Grow
Broadcast: September 14, 2003
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Richard Rael with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell the story of Bob Hope. He was one of the world's most famous comedians². His life in show business lasted for more than seventy years.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Bob Hope was born in Eltham, England in nineteen-oh-three. His parents named him Leslie Townes Hope. Many years later, he began calling himself Bob.
Leslie was the fifth of seven sons. He and his family moved to the United States in nineteen-oh-seven. They settled in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Leslie's mother taught him how to sing. As a child, he had a good singing voice. Later in life, Bob Hope often said he never wanted to be anything but a funnyman.
Leslie attended Cleveland public schools. He sold newspapers and worked for a meat market and a shoe store. After high school, he learned how to dance. He also showed an interest in the sport of boxing.
VOICE TWO:
When Bob Hope was eighteen years old, he asked his girlfriend to become his dance partner. They began appearing at local 1)vaudeville³ theaters. Vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment in the United States in the early nineteen-hundreds. Vaudeville shows presented short plays, singers, dancers, comedians telling jokes and other acts.
Bob Hope's dance act with his girlfriend did not last long. A short time later, he heard that a Cleveland theater needed performers for a show with the famous actor Fatty Arbuckle. Hope developed a dance act with another friend, and they were chosen for the show. The team performed briefly⁴ as part of Arbuckle's traveling vaudeville show.
VOICE ONE:
Later, Hope formed a song and dance team with George Byrne. They performed at theaters across the United States. The two men were offered work in a show on Broadway in New York City. But they did not stay very long. They left New York to change their act and start over again.
They performed at a small theater in Pennsylvania. On opening night, Hope was asked to tell the crowd about future shows at the theater. The people liked the way he sounded. So did the supervisor⁵ of the theater. Hope then expanded his announcement to five minutes.
Bob Hope started to perform by himself. He became skilled at standing⁶ in front of crowds and telling jokes, often very quickly. He collected jokes and told them during his performances. Hope did not wear special clothing or use 2)tricks when performing. But he made funny expressions with his face to make people laugh.
VOICE TWO:
Bob Hope returned to Broadway in the nineteen-thirties. Theater critics and the public liked his performance in the musical “Roberta.” The show changed his life in more than one way. One day, another performer took Hope to meet a young singer who was also working in New York. Her name was Dolores Reade. She and Hope married in nineteen-thirty-four. They would stay together as husband and wife for the next sixty-nine years.
After the musical “Roberta,” Bob Hope performed in a number of other Broadway shows. They included “Ziegfield Follies⁷” and “Red, Hot and Blue.” Hope's acting⁸ success led to his first major film, “The Big Broadcast of Nineteen-Thirty-Eight.” In the film, he and Shirley Ross sang a song called “Thanks for the Memory.” Many people think of Bob Hope when they hear this song.
(TAPE CUT ONE: “Thanks for the Memory”)
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-thirty-seven, Bob Hope agreed to do a series of radio programs called the “Woodbury Soap Show.” The next year, he agreed to do a radio show for another company that made Pepsodent toothpaste. His Tuesday night radio show soon became popular. Hope continued doing radio shows for almost twenty years.
His success in radio led to a long-term relationship with a major film company, Paramount⁹ Pictures. The actors who worked in Hope's films also made appearances on his radio shows.
In all, Hope was the lead actor in more than fifty films. He also had small parts in fifteen others. Bob Hope never won an Academy Award for his acting. However, the American film industry did honor him five times. His series of films with actress Dorothy Lamour and singer Bing Crosby became world famous. Hope and Crosby were close friends. Here they sing a song from the movie “The Road to Morocco.”
(TAPE CUT TWO: “Road to Morocco”)
VOICE TWO:
Bob Hope began performing on television in nineteen-fifty. He made a special program for N-B-C television. His show included a famous personality, a singer and a beautiful, young woman. Hope used this successful combination again and again. He decided¹⁰ to avoid all the work involved with a weekly television show. However, he continued making television specials every year until nineteen-ninety-five.
VOICE ONE:
For more than fifty years, Bob Hope traveled around the world, giving shows for members of America's armed forces. It started in nineteen-forty-one when he and several other performers went to an air base in California. Later that year, the United States entered World War Two after Japanese forces attacked the American naval¹¹ base at Pearl¹² Harbor, Hawaii. Hope attempted to join the armed forces. He was told he could better serve his country as a performer, building support for the war effort. So he took a team of performers to bases around the country to perform his radio show.
VOICE TWO:
Hope and his team performed for millions of soldiers during World War Two. He performed almost all of his shows at bases across the United States, Europe and the South Pacific. Listen now to part of a show broadcast to soldiers after the war had ended.
(TAPE CUT THREE:“The Bob Hope Radio Show” )
Hope began what was to become a Christmas tradition in nineteen-forty-eight. That is when he and his wife went to Germany to perform for troops involved in the Berlin Airlift. Later, he performed for American soldiers serving in South Korea, Vietnam and Lebanon. In nineteen-ninety, Hope and his wife performed for troops in Saudi Arabia. At the time, he was eighty-seven years old.
VOICE ONE:
Bob Hope was a friend to many American Presidents. He played golf with Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford¹³, and George Bush. Several presidents also honored the famous comedian¹. President John Kennedy gave Hope the Congressional Gold Medal. President Lyndon Johnson presented him with the Medal of Freedom.
United States Congress honored Hope four times. In nineteen-ninety-seven, Congress made him an honorary veteran of the armed forces. He was the first individual so honored in American history. The following year, Britain's Queen Elizabeth made Hope an honorary knight¹⁴. She recognized his work in films and his service to allied¹⁵ forces during World War Two.
VOICE TWO:
People in many countries celebrated¹⁶ Bob Hope's birthday on May twenty-ninth, two-thousand-three. He was one-hundred years old. The celebrations included the naming of a famous area in Hollywood, California as Bob Hope Square.
Sadly, Hope was too weak to attend. Two months later, he became sick and developed 3)pneumonia¹⁷. Bob Hope died at his California home on July twenty-seventh, two-thousand-three.
(TAPE CUT FOUR: “Thanks for the Memory” INSTEAD OF CLOSING THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by George Grow. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Richard Rael. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

注释：
1) vaudeville [5vEudEvil, -vi:l] n.歌舞杂耍
2) trick [trik] n.戏法，把戏
3) pneumonia [nju(:)5mEunjE] n.肺炎

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

3 vaudeville   

n.歌舞杂耍表演

参考例句：

• The standard length of a vaudeville act was 12 minutes.一个杂耍节目的标准长度是12分钟。
• The mayor talk like a vaudeville comedian in his public address.在公共演讲中，这位市长讲起话来像个歌舞杂耍演员。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 follies   

罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He has given up youthful follies. 他不再做年轻人的荒唐事了。
• The writings of Swift mocked the follies of his age. 斯威夫特的作品嘲弄了他那个时代的愚人。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

12 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

13 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

14 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

15 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

16 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

17 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。