Bob Hope

Personal life

According to biographer Arthur Marx (son of long-time friend and rival, Groucho Marx), Hope married his first wife, Grace Louise Troxell, his vaudeville partner since 1928, on January 25, 1933, although when the marriage record was uncovered some years ago, Hope denied that they had actually wed; they were quickly divorced, but it was rumoured that he had fathered a child with Troxell, and that, despite a reputation for frugality, he sent generous checks to her daughter. He married his second wife on or about February 19, 1934, one Dolores DeFina, a devoutly Roman Catholic Bronx, New York-born nightclub singer of Irish and Italian extraction who was professionally known as Dolores Reade. They had met two months previously, at The Vogue, a Manhattan nightclub where Reade was performing. Dolores and Bob Hope had four children - all adopted from the same Evanston, Illinois, orphanage - and remained together until his death. Theirs was the longest marriage is Hollywood history - 69 years of wedlock.

Related Topics:
January 25 - 1933 - February 19 - 1934 - Bronx, New York - Manhattan - Evanston, Illinois - Hollywood

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