Bob Hope dead at 100

LOS ANGELES — Bob Hope, ski jump-nosed master of the one-liner and favorite comedian of servicemen and presidents alike, has died, just two months after turning 100.

Hope died late Sunday of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake, with his family at his bedside, longtime publicist Ward Grant said Monday.

The nation's most-honored comedian, Hope was a star in every category open to him — vaudeville, radio, television and film, most notably a string of "Road" movies with longtime friend Bing Crosby. For decades, he took his show on the road to bases around the world, boosting the morale of servicemen from World War II to the Gulf War.

"Bob Hope, like Mark Twain, had a sense of humor that was uniquely American and like Twain, we'll likely not see another like him," entertainer Dick Van Dyke said Monday.

President Bush said "the nation lost a great citizen" with Hope's death.

"Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations," the president said. "We extend our prayers to his family. God bless his soul."

Hope died with his family, caretakers and a priest at his side.

"I can't tell you how beautiful and serene and peaceful it was," daughter Linda Hope said at a news conference Monday. "He really left us with a smile on his face and no last words. ... He gave us each a kiss and that was it."

Hope perfected the one-liner, peppering audiences with a fusillade of brief, topical gags.

"I bumped into Gerald Ford the other day. I said, 'Pardon me.' He said, 'I don't do that anymore."'

He poked fun gently, without malice, and made himself the butt of many jokes. His golf scores and physical attributes, including his celebrated ski-jump nose, were frequent subjects:

"I want to tell you, I was built like an athlete once — big chest, hard stomach. Of course, that's all behind me now."

When Hope went into one of his monologues, it was almost as though the world was conditioned to respond. No matter that the joke was old or flat; he was Bob Hope and he got laughs.

"Audiences are my best friends," he liked to say. "You never tire of talking with your best friends."