English-born comic Bob Hope was knighted by Britain's ambassador to the United States on Sunday, prompting the popular entertainer to gasp, "Oh my God."
Hope, who celebrates his 95th birthday May 29, appeared frail and a bit overwhelmed by the ceremony but still managed to crack a joke when his wife, Dolores, prodded him to make a speech.His response - "Why?" - prompted laughter throughout the posh hall at the British embassy where Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer carefully draped a red-ribboned medal over Hope's neck during the knighthood ceremony.
The king of wisecracks, Hope had said in February that he was rendered speechless by the honorary knighthood when Queen Elizabeth informed him of her plans.
"What an honor and what a surprise for a boy who was born in England, raised in Cleveland and schooled in vaudeville," Hope's publicist Ward Grant quoted him as saying at the time.
Hope was born Leslie Hope in Eltham, on May 29, 1903, the fifth of seven sons of a stonemason. His father moved his family to Cleveland when Hope was 4 to work on a church. Hope first showed a flair for comedy when he won a Charlie Chaplin imitation contest at the age of 10.
Granddaughter Miranda Hope attended Sunday's knighthood ceremony and called it a "deep honor" for the entertainer.
"He started out in the most humble beginnings. Here, 95 year later, he's in America, he's an American legend, an icon and a treasure. And to be recognized by the British government . . . is just a deep honor," she said.
She said Hope had always considered England his home and an important part of his heritage.
With his trademark ski-slope nose, Hope was one of the first entertainment superstars in a career that began before the World War II and continued unrelenting until recently when poor health slowed him down.
He is renowned for entertaining America's fighting men and women overseas. In the World War II, Korea, Vietnam, right up to the 1991 gulf war, Hope cheered troops with up-to-the-minute jokes and strings of beautiful girls.