H.R. No. 1548
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, World-renowned actor, comedian, entertainer, and
humanitarian Bob Hope has brought smiles and laughter to
generations of fans around the world and will be celebrating his
100th birthday on May 29, 2003; and
WHEREAS, Born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England, on May
29, 1903, Mr. Hope moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, four
years later; although he held jobs as a soda jerk, shoe salesman,
and newspaper vendor, he was determined to pursue his dream of
becoming an entertainer, and took dancing lessons from
professionals King Rastus Brown and Johnny Root after high school;
and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope broke into vaudeville as a dancer partnered
with Mildred Rosequist and later worked with Lloyd Durbin and
George Byrne, but he gained his greatest success after becoming a
solo act; his prolific Broadway career, which began with Sidewalks
of New York, enabled Mr. Hope to share the stage with such other
greats as Ruby Keeler, Fanny Brice, Ethel Merman, and Jimmy
Durante; and
WHEREAS, In the early 1930s, Mr. Hope was introduced to
Dolores DeFina Reade after she had performed in a show at the Vogue
Club on 57th Street in New York City; the two married in February
1934 and have four children and four grandchildren that they
continue to cherish; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope has appeared innumerable times throughout
the great State of Texas not only in our finest entertainment
venues, but also in countless charitable events and activities that
raised millions of dollars for the benefit of others; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope was honored by Southern Methodist
University in Dallas with the naming of the Bob Hope Theater, which
continues today to feature creative artists and world-famous
personalities from year to year; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope has appeared in all of the major cities of
Texas over the years, including the city of Abilene, where he was
the featured entertainer in 1979 and 1980 for the Joint Venture for
Crippled Children, which benefited the West Texas Rehabilitation
Center, and also was willing to appear in taped charitable
promotions for a period of five years in order to assist needy
children and adults with free rehabilitation services; and
WHEREAS, In 1970 Bob Hope invited 20 Abilenians, including
the Honorable Bob Hunter, Abilene city councilman at the time, to be
his special guests at the Honor America Day Ceremonies on the
Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument Mall with evangelist Billy
Graham as the cohost; there was a great cast of performers,
including Andy Williams, Kate Smith, Pat Boone, Dinah Shore, Jack
Benny, and many others, with thousands of citizens attending from
throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope has given legendary support to the world of
golf, including the great golf courses and golfing events in the
State of Texas, and was instrumental in creating the Bob Hope
Chrysler Classic pro-am golf tournament, an event that has raised
more than $35 million for the Eisenhower Medical Center and other
deserving charities; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope will be honored through The Bob Hope 100th
Birthday Tribute Collection released in April with 12 DVDs
featuring 17 of his movies; and New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and
London have scheduled Bob Hope film festivals this summer; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope will be featured on the 100 years of Hope
and Humor two-hour special by the National Broadcasting Company on
Sunday at 7 p.m., which drew 12.6 million viewers when it originally
aired on Easter Sunday of this year; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope was saluted at a Library of Congress Gala,
and on Sunday his daughter, Linda, and his son, Anthony, will be
present at a tribute aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid as part of the
Navy's Fleet Week ceremonies; and
WHEREAS, The exhibit Bob Hope: American Patriot is presently
on view through June 8 at the Ronald Reagan Library in California
and will travel to the Eisenhower, Johnson, and Ford libraries; and
WHEREAS, The Bob Hope Joke File is preserved to this day in a
climate-controlled vault in North Hollywood, California, and
includes more than 85,000 pages, which are a part of the Bob Hope
Gallery of Entertainment in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope, more than any other person, has
entertained our United States military forces through the U.S.O. in
all parts of the world in peacetime and in battle, and in 1997
became the first person in the history of this nation to be named an
Honorary Veteran by the United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, The famous corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine
Street has been renamed "Bob Hope Square" in recognition of his
contributions to the motion picture industry and starring in over
50 films, including the massively popular Road pictures with Bing
Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, on the way to becoming Tinseltown's
number one box-office draw; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hope has been named one of the world's greatest
ambassadors of goodwill by traveling and serving in hundreds of
nations across our globe; and
WHEREAS, The extraordinary achievement of this great
American has won a place in our hearts that is as singular as his
distinctive profile, and his star continues to shine ever brighter
with each passing year as succeeding generations discover the
enduring gifts he has bestowed on us all; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature hereby congratulate Bob Hope on the momentous occasion
of his 100th birthday and extend to him a very sincere "thanks for
the memories" from his legions of fans in Texas; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Mr. Hope and his wife of 69 years, Dolores, as an
expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.
Hilderbran
Hunter
Craddick Geren Mercer
Allen Giddings Merritt
Alonzo Goodman Miller
Bailey Goolsby Moreno of Harris
Baxter Griggs Moreno of El Paso
Berman Grusendorf Morrison
Bohac Guillen Mowery
Bonnen Gutierrez Naishtat
Branch Haggerty Nixon
Brown of Kaufman Hamilton Noriega
Brown of Brazos Hamric Oliveira
Burnam Hardcastle Olivo
Callegari Harper-Brown Paxton
Campbell Hartnett Pena
Canales Heflin Phillips
Capelo Hegar Pickett
Casteel Hilderbran Pitts
Castro Hill Puente
Chavez Hochberg Quintanilla
Chisum Hodge Raymond
Christian Homer Reyna
Coleman Hope Riddle
Cook of Navarro Hopson Ritter
Cook of Colorado Howard Rodriguez
Corte Hughes Rose
Crabb Hunter Seaman
Crownover Hupp Smith of Tarrant
Davis of Harris Isett Smith of Harris
Davis of Dallas Jones of Lubbock Smithee
Dawson Jones of Bexar Solis
Delisi Jones of Dallas Solomons
Denny Keel Stick
Deshotel Keffer of Dallas Swinford
Driver Keffer of Eastland Talton
Dukes King Taylor
Dunnam Kolkhorst Telford
Dutton Krusee Thompson
Edwards Kuempel Truitt
Eiland Laney Turner
Eissler Laubenberg Uresti
Elkins Lewis Van Arsdale
Ellis Luna Villarreal
Escobar Mabry West
Farabee Madden Wilson
Farrar Marchant Wise
Flores Martinez Fischer Wohlgemuth
Flynn McCall Wolens
Gallego McClendon Wong
Garza McReynolds Woolley
Gattis Menendez Zedler
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1548 was adopted by the House on May
29, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House