There is no question that Bob Hope entertained the troops all over the world and made them laugh.
It is also known that he syndicated the movies from these jaunts and benefited financially.
He was actively wheeling and dealing in real estate almost his entire life.
I would like to be enlightened by any of you as to what philanthropic events can be attributed to Bob Hope or his charitable foundation (i.e. the Getty Museum in southern California for about 5 billion dollars)
Back in December of 1976 Bob Hope came to Topeka, Kansas to do a benefit performance. A little over a year earlier an historic church, Grace Episcopal Catherdral, had burned(arson) and the beautiful old sanctuary had been destroyed, leaving only the walls standing. He waived his usual performance fee of $80000.
If you go to www.cjonline.com , the site for our newspaper, you can find links to that story, as well as related ones. They are up again since the news of his death, and I just saw the Grace story again on TV last night.
The Bob Hope Desert Classic golf tournament ran for many years, with the proceeds going to charity. He won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures in 1960; this award is given for outstanding philanthropic efforts in the film community.
He certainly contributed a lot of his time to USO tours as well. Sometimes that’s just as good as money, especially to the troops he is visiting.