Bob Hope - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 33.113 W 097° 34.952
14S E 628476 N 3935171
Bob Hope always had a special place in his heart for Oklahoma, saying it "felt like home" to him.
Waymark Code: WMM1NF
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/03/2014
Views: 5
During his career, Bob Hope came to Oklahoma City numerous times to entertain and fund raise. His efforts were influential in raising money to build Stars and Stripes Park. As a result, the Oklahoma City Association of Broadcasters placed this bronze bust in the park, and dedicated it on July 4, 1970. It stands on a concrete and pebble base on the lake side of the Bob Hope Pavilion. It is located behind the iron fence around the pavilion, but is easily seen.
The life-sized bronze bust, created by artist Mary Fiegel, shows him in a suit and bow tie, with a carnation on his lapel. The tapered base has a plaque which quotes Hope: "...Good citizens built America the Beautiful. Great Americans fought to keep it that way..."
Born in Britain on May 29, 1903, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Bob Hope's career began in the 1930s in Vaudeville with singing, dancing and comedy. A popular radio show of his ran from 1938 to the mid-1950s. He later broke into movies and television, and received over 50 honorary degrees in his lifetime, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985 at Kennedy Center, the Presidential Medal of Arts in 1995 and a British knighthood in 1998.
Amid his tremendous entertainment career on the stage and in movies, his work as an entertainer with the USO brought enjoyment and encouragement to untold numbers of the military on foreign fields. Beginning in World War II, he continued through the years, visiting Vietnam nine times, and entertaining in the 1990s in the Gulf War arena.
Bob Hope lived to be 100, passing away from pneumonia on July 27, 2003.
TITLE: Bob Hope
ARTIST(S): Mary Fiegel
DATE: 7/4/1970
MEDIUM: Bronze
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS OK000093
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
Bob Hope Pavilion
Stars and Stripes Park
3701 S. Lake Hefner Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73116
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
None noted
|
Visit Instructions:
Please give the date of your visit, your impressions of the sculpture, and at least ONE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH. Add any additional information you may have, particularly any personal observations about the condition of the sculpture.