BOB HOPE and JERRY COLONNA
Signatures of both on a slip affixed to a page with a printed ad featuring Hope's endorsement of the Disabled American Veterans
Signatures: "Bob Hope", "Jerry Colonna", 4½x2½ affixed to an 8½x11 page with typed caption and a printed ad in which Hope calls for support of the Disabled American Veterans organization. Signature slip bears ink stamp date: Oct. 29, 1946". BOB HOPE (1903-2003) was born in England, moving with his family to the U.S. when he was four. A popular vaudeville performer from the 1920s, he starred in Broadway musicals of the 1930s, including Roberta and Red, Hot and Blue. Among the most popular of his 53 films were the "Road to ..." movies with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, beginning with The Road to Singapore (1940). He won three honorary awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures (1940, 1944, and 1965). Seven months before Pearl Harbor, he appeared in the first of his shows for American servicemen, a tradition he would continue through a Persian Gulf tour in 1991. His success as a comedian continued unabated from radio to television with the long-running Bob Hope Show (1950-1967) and with guest appearances continuing through 1992. A well known philanthropist, friend to Presidents, and avid golfer with his own tournament (the Bob Hope Desert - later Chrysler - Classic, begun in 1960), Hope made an enduring contribution to American culture. JERRY COLONNA (1904-1986) was a talented trombonist and comedian who sported a large handlebar mustache. He made several films, beginning with 52nd St (1937), joined Bob Hope on many USO tours, and was a frequent TV guest star in the 1950s and 1960s. He published a novel, The Loves of Tullio (1970). Ralph Errington Ward (1926-2009) a fighter pilot and squadron commander in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II, went on to become President and CEO of Cheseborough-Ponds, Inc., transforming the cosmetics firm into a major home product conglomerate. Worn and toned. Show through from adhesive residue on verso. Corners worn and chipped. Signatures lightly smeared but legible. Otherwise, fine condition.