Bob Hope

British-American entertainer who was the most celebrated entertainer of American servicemen during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War — his USO tours bringing comedy to over a million soldiers — and one of the most successful entertainers in the history of American comedy, film, and television.

Embodied the archetype of the entertainer as moral support in wartime — 50 years of USO tours demonstrated that laughter and entertainment are not frivolous in combat conditions but genuinely sustaining — and his radio and television persona established the conventions of the American comedian as self-deprecating everyman.