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Bob Hope made many Minnesota appearances
July 28, 2003

Bob Hope met with Hubert and Muriel Humphrey (on left), and businessman Curt Carlson (right), in 1975. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society)

Minneapolis, Minn. — Bob Hope was a frequent visitor to Minnesota during his performing days.

Hope first came to the Twin Cities as a vaudeville performer. A reviewer who caught his act at St. Paul's Orpheum Theater in 1931 commented that it "includes jokes, gags and other bit of businesses." A monkey act got a better review than Hope did.

	Aquatennial 1949

But an extended engagement gave Hope the chance to take up what became his favorite avocation -- golf.

Hope told a Minneapolis Star interviewer that he played his first round of golf in the Twin Cities. Another act was headed to Meadowbrook Golf Course and persuaded him to tag along.

During a 1981 stand-up appearance, he joked: "I love Minnesota with its ten-thousand lakes. ... The way I play golf, I'm in all of them."

Hope served as grand marshal of the Minneapolis Aquatennial parade in 1964. His last local appearance was in 1992 when Hope -- then 89 years old -- filled in for fellow comedian Red Skelton at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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