Bob Hope, the son of a stonemason and an aspiring concert singer, is probably the most enduring comic, with a career that stretches across seventy years.
Born in Eltham, south London, Bob moved to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was just four, where, as a youth, he entered local talent shows.
His Jobs included a butcher's delivery boy, a shoe salesman, and boxer (under the name 'Packy East'), but it was the stage where he was most at home.
He worked variety theatres as a dancer, where he was signed up to fill the bill on the Fatty Arbuckle Show, before a stint on Broadway.
Bob Hope's break was in the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, during which time he met a young singer Dolores, who he married a year later. She has been his wife ever since.
In 1937, Bob signed a 26-week radio contract for the Woodbury Soap Show, and the next year was given his own show on radio, which became vey popular. He continued to host a regular show until 1956.
His radio fame led to Hollywood. Aside from one-reel comedy shorts, Bob's first film role was in The Big Broadcast of 1938.
Bob starred in more than 50 films, though is still most famous for the 'Road' movies with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. He only got the role after George Burns and Fred MacMurray refused.
Though he has never won a best actor Oscar, he has been awarded two honorary Oscars, two special awards and a humanitarian award.
Alongside his film work, Bob Hope also maintained a stong presence on TV.
Although he appeared on the first commercial television broadcast on the West Coast in 1947, and in several experimental broadcasts before the Second World War, he was late coming to TV, not convinced it would succeed, not hosting his first show until 1950 - and TV never became the mainstay of his career.
Over his lifetime, he has been awarded more honours than any other entertainer - which earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
He was given an honorary knighthood in 1998.
President Kennedy presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal,
President Johnson awarded him the Medal of Freedom and
Bill Clinton gave him a Medal of the Arts.
He has 58 honorary degrees and has even been declared
an 'honorary veteran' by the US congress for his commitment to the nation's armed forces.
He first appeared as "GI Bob" in May 1941, at a
Californian air base and all but two of his shows during World War II were broadcast from
military installations. He continued to perform for the forces right up to the Gulf War.
Bob's other great passion (as it is for many stars)
is golf, organising the annual Desert Classic in Palm Springs, California.
We saw Bob Hope in April 1951 (that's a long time ago) at The Hippodrome Theatre, Dudley.
We had to catch a local bus into Coventry, then a bus to Birmingham and then a bus to
Dudley, and the same on returning home. Not many people owned cars then. Who if anybody would do
that now.