Thanks, Bob: All the memories stir accolades and affection

LOS ANGELES — Bob Hope's one-liners gently poked fun at presidents, blunted the sting of combat for American soldiers from World War II to the Gulf War, and ultimately made him the most revered of American comics.

Hope, who turned 100 on May 29, rode a genial wave of success in movies, radio and television to a position unique among entertainers. He died Sunday of pneumonia at his Toluca Lake home, publicist Ward Grant said Monday. His family was at his bedside.

As the 20th century's good-humor deliveryman for U.S. troops, Hope took his show on the road to bases, field hospitals, jungles and aircraft carriers around the world, peppering audiences with a fusillade of brief, topical gags. One of them centered on former President Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

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

Hope's humor lacked malice, and he 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."

"It's hard for me to imagine a world without Bob Hope in it," said Woody Allen, who cited Hope's 1942 film "Road to Morocco" for pointing him toward comedy.

"The nation lost a great citizen," President Bush said Monday. "Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations. We extend our prayers to his family. God bless his soul." The president decreed that flags be flown at half-staff on the day of Hope's interment, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

He was "the best-loved, most admired and most successful entertainer in all of history. He is quite simply, irreplaceable," longtime "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson said.

Steve Collins, an Army helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam, met the comedian when he ferried troops to one of Hope's 1968 Christmas shows at an Air Force base.

"You knew where the guy's heart was. He really felt for us," said Collins, 56, of San Diego.

The English-born Hope began in vaudeville and ended up conquering every medium. When Hope went into a monologue, 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."