Floridian: Thanks for the numerals

Thanks for the numerals

STEVE PERSALL
Published July 29, 2003

All the words written and spoken about Bob Hope's life are suitably reverent. Sometimes, however, the measure of American icons can be found in the numbers they leave behind.

Here's a list of some key numbers in the entertainer's century of life, revealing much about the man and why Hope's death Sunday at age 100 is mourned so deeply today.

More than 85,000 - Pages in the Bob Hope Joke File indexed by the Library of Congress.

More than 2,000 - Awards and citations for humanitarian and professional efforts, making Hope the most celebrated entertainer ever, according to Guinness Book of Records.

61 - Years Hope worked for NBC, the longest-running contract with a single network, according to Guinness Book of Records.
67 - Number of films and TV movies in which Hope appeared.
18 - Times Hope hosted the Academy Awards show.
0 - Academy Award nominations.
2 - Academy Award-winning songs he introduced in movies. (Thanks for the Memory from the Big Broadcast of 1938 and Buttons and Bows from The Paleface 10 years later.)
5 - Honorary awards presented to Hope by the Academy.
4 - Stars with Hope's name on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.
7 - Holes-in-one recorded by Hope, an avid golfer, in his lifetime.
90 - Hope's age when he made his final hole-in-one.
2,000 - Estimated number of golf courses Hope played in his lifetime.
53 - Weeks that Hope's golf memoir, Confessions of a Hooker, was on the New York Times bestseller list.
8 - U.S. presidents who played golf with Hope.
6-million - Estimated number of miles Hope traveled to entertain U.S. troops overseas.
10-million - Estimated number of U.S. troops entertained overseas by Hope.
135 - Radio episodes of Hope's The Pepsodent Show performed at military installations during World War II. Only nine were broadcast from NBC studios.
300 - Pounds of TNT that exploded in Hope's hotel in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, in 1964. Viet Cong documents later confirmed Hope was the target.
24 - Consecutive Christmas tours to entertain U.S. troops abroad, from 1948 to 1971.
5 - Times that Hope was officially honored by Congress.
54 - Honorary university degrees Hope accepted.
500 - Estimated number of "keys to the city" Hope received.
More than 2,000 - Birthday cards Hope received on the centennial birthday, May 29, 2003.
69 - Years that Hope was married to the former Dolores Reade.
4 - Number of children the Hopes adopted.
4 - Months Hope lived longer than his grandfather.
$2,500 - Hope's reported salary for his first movie, Going Spanish (1934).

Sources: bobhope.com, Internet Movie Database, USAToday.com, espn.com, oscars.org, veteranssearch.com, Guinness Book of Records, New York Times.