Show Business Paid Green Fees

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 17, 2008) — Born in the United Kingdom, Bob Hope immigrated to the United States during his childhood and immediately fell in love with American baseball and football. At 16, he briefly boxed as a lightweight under the name Packy East when his friend Whitey had taken Packy West.

However, it was golf that was Hope’s ultimate passion, so much so that he often said, "Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees."

The 200-plus lots of signed footballs, basketballs, baseballs, putters, markers, tees, shoes and hats (some that would make Elton John blush), clothing and fishing equipment in session two of the Hope estate auction, plus clubs and mounted fish in session four, reveal Hope as a lifelong avid sportsman.

The vast majority of clubs in the sale are putters, mostly gifts from friends such as Ted Weiner and Bob Goldwater, or pros who were also club makers, such a Toney Penna and Otey Crisman or as thank yous from fundraising organizations such as Cornell’s Phi Delta Epsilon medical fraternity.

Raised in Cleveland and after he became a star, Hope bought part of the Cleveland Indians from 1947-58, just in time to see them win the championship in 1948 and make it back to the World Series in 1954.

Hope's four decades of NBC Christmas specials were highlighted by his introductions of the Associated Press All-America college football players. Hope would meet each of the players on the stage, introduce them individually, and tell a joke about them. He also made time to see games during his travels, especially during his college campus tours from the 1960s-80s.

But golf was the ultimate obsession.

In 1930, when Hope first started playing golf, clubs were still hickory shafted and called colorful names as “brassie,” “mashie,” and “niblick.” There were no pro-ams.

In six decades of playing, Hope estimated that he “had three-putted on more than 2,000 courses worldwide.” At his best, coached by pro legend Ben Hogan, his handicap was down to a 4 and over the years Hope scored five holes-in-one, one of which may be lot 220; unfortunately the ink has faded so that the writing is illegible.

The course was his personal playground, where he played with 11 presidents, royalty, as well athletes from all sports, celebrities and the wealthy.

"It's wonderful how you can start out with three strangers in the morning, play 18 holes, and by the time the day is over you have three solid enemies," Hope once quipped.

Among his favorites (besides Crosby, with whom he played many rounds in fundraisers) were Arnold Palmer and Jerry Ford, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in Confessions of a Hooker – My Lifelong Love Affair with Golf, calling President Ford, "the man who made golf a contact sport" with his frequent errant shots into the gallery at the Desert Classic.

In 1965, Hope found a way to get all of his friends together when he lent his name to Bob Hope Chrysler (Desert) Classic. Held every January, the unique five-day, 90-hole event was played over five golf courses. The $5 million purse draws the tour's largest field with 136 pros and three times as many amateurs, including names like Michael Bolton, Mark Wahlberg and Samuel L. Jackson.

"The Classic is the only event in the world where guys can get money out of the desert without drilling for oil," he once said. It has also raised more than $35 million for the Eisenhower Medical Center and 70 other area charities.

Hope was honored repeatedly for his humanitarian work related to golf, including a plaque featuring a profile of Hope at the World Golf Hall of Fame, which reads: "Known by his nose, applauded for his humor, envied for his wit and loved by millions for his unselfish concern for all beings, Bob Hope is truly a one-of-a-kind. He popularized golf to the unknowing, sponsored it for charity and played it for fun. Not a golf champion, but a great champion of golf."

Behind the Byline: Through her auctions at Sotheby's and her own business, collectibles specialist Leila Dunbar has rumaged through the closets, attics and cellars of some of the most famous entertainers and athletes ever, including Katharine Hepburn, Johhny Cash, Cher, Wilt Chamberlain and Billy Martin selling more than $75 million in memorabilia. Currently Leila, when she is not doing color commentary for Auction Network, handles appraisals, consults with private clients and institutions, and offers management and auctioneering services for all types of collectibles. Like Hope, Leila grew up a sports fan, rooting for her native Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins. Also, like Hope, Leila fell in love with golf, and has three-putted at historic courses such as Merion and Pinehurst. Leila can be reached at leiladunbar@aol.com.

Bob Hope Estate Auction: Collector and museum quality items from the life, career and estate of the legendary Bob Hope will be sold during a live televised and real-time online auction presented by the Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) on Oct. 18-19, 2008 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Proceeds from this auction will benefit the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation. Hope's extraordinary career spanned Vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television and film, and his numerous USO tours to entertain U.S. military troops earned him the admiration of generations of fans around the world.

Highlights include: a one page letter dated October 23, 1943 from Bette Davis to Hope; a red and white feathered Indian headdress worn by Hope on the cover of Life Magazine on May 11, 1962; a Movado watch inscribed "To Bob Hope in sincere appreciation — The Cleveland Press Christmas Show 1944"; and a turquoise western suit made by Nudies of North Hollywood and worn by Hope on several television shows including Barbara Mandrell, Mandrell Sisters Show and Ann Margaret Rhinestone Special.  

To register for this auction, click here.