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Interview With Bob Hope's Granddaughter

Aired July 28, 2003 - 09:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Miranda Hope is the granddaughter of Bob Hope and saw him just a couple of months at his 100th birthday party. Miranda joins us by phone. Miranda, are you there?
MIRANDA HOPE, BOB HOPE'S GRANDDAUGHTER: I am.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for joining us and of course our condolences to you and to your entire family for the loss of your grandfather. And I have to think it's fair to say a loss for all of us, your grandfather, as well.

HOPE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You saw him just a few months ago. We know he'd been in failing health for a while. How was he at that party?

HOPE: Well, he was -- he was weak and -- but he was, you know, he was able too say, you know, how about that? And hey. You know, he was still with us.

O'BRIEN: He continued to have a good sense of humor, up until his last few months?

HOPE: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: What was it like growing up with Bob Hope as your grandfather? I mean was he -- is there one thing that was the most important special thing to him? Was that his family? Was that some of the stuff he did with troops overseas?

HOPE: Well, you know, I just caught the last of what Mr. Palmer said, but I think making people laugh, making people happy, bringing joy to whatever room he came into, I think that that was his goal in life and he shared that with his family as much as he shared that with the world.

O'BRIEN: How do you think about his legacy now? Everyone you know looks back and will point to one or two things. I mean you look at list of his accomplishments. I mean truly amazing. Some 2,000 prizes won over his lifetime. Is there one award, one thing that was most important to him?

HOPE: Not that I know of. I know that the troops were his -- were where his heart was at. He just felt so strongly that those troops needed a bit of home to come to them on their darkest hour.

And I had the opportunity to go to the Persian Gulf with him in 1987. And he was a man who, if my math is correct, was 84 years old at the time, and he was working harder than anybody else on that plane.

He was up -- we had seven days. We went around the world. With were on two aircraft carriers and a battleship, we did seven shows from the Philippines to the Azores. And he was, at 84, he was really just dedicated to those troops and to that mission and to bringing happiness and a little piece of America to those soldiers.

O'BRIEN: I've read reports that said that the family was by his bedside when he passed. Can you tell me a little bit about that and how the last day and hours were?

HOPE: Well, unfortunately, I cannot because I wasn't there. I'm here in Virginia now. We're leaving tomorrow to go out to California. But I do know that the family was there, and that he passed peacefully with his wife by his side.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Miranda Hope, the granddaughter, one of many for Bob Hope. Thank you for sharing your story with us today.

HOPE: It's my pleasure. Thank you.

HEMMER: And good luck to you and the family this week. Remember the good stuff, too. And there's a lot of good stuff to remember in the life of this man. You have made America proud.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 28, 2003 - 09:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Miranda Hope is the granddaughter of Bob Hope and saw him just a couple of months at his 100th birthday party. Miranda joins us by phone. Miranda, are you there?
MIRANDA HOPE, BOB HOPE'S GRANDDAUGHTER: I am.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for joining us and of course our condolences to you and to your entire family for the loss of your grandfather. And I have to think it's fair to say a loss for all of us, your grandfather, as well.

HOPE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You saw him just a few months ago. We know he'd been in failing health for a while. How was he at that party?

HOPE: Well, he was -- he was weak and -- but he was, you know, he was able too say, you know, how about that? And hey. You know, he was still with us.

O'BRIEN: He continued to have a good sense of humor, up until his last few months?

HOPE: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: What was it like growing up with Bob Hope as your grandfather? I mean was he -- is there one thing that was the most important special thing to him? Was that his family? Was that some of the stuff he did with troops overseas?

HOPE: Well, you know, I just caught the last of what Mr. Palmer said, but I think making people laugh, making people happy, bringing joy to whatever room he came into, I think that that was his goal in life and he shared that with his family as much as he shared that with the world.

O'BRIEN: How do you think about his legacy now? Everyone you know looks back and will point to one or two things. I mean you look at list of his accomplishments. I mean truly amazing. Some 2,000 prizes won over his lifetime. Is there one award, one thing that was most important to him?

HOPE: Not that I know of. I know that the troops were his -- were where his heart was at. He just felt so strongly that those troops needed a bit of home to come to them on their darkest hour.

And I had the opportunity to go to the Persian Gulf with him in 1987. And he was a man who, if my math is correct, was 84 years old at the time, and he was working harder than anybody else on that plane.

He was up -- we had seven days. We went around the world. With were on two aircraft carriers and a battleship, we did seven shows from the Philippines to the Azores. And he was, at 84, he was really just dedicated to those troops and to that mission and to bringing happiness and a little piece of America to those soldiers.

O'BRIEN: I've read reports that said that the family was by his bedside when he passed. Can you tell me a little bit about that and how the last day and hours were?

HOPE: Well, unfortunately, I cannot because I wasn't there. I'm here in Virginia now. We're leaving tomorrow to go out to California. But I do know that the family was there, and that he passed peacefully with his wife by his side.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Miranda Hope, the granddaughter, one of many for Bob Hope. Thank you for sharing your story with us today.

HOPE: It's my pleasure. Thank you.

HEMMER: And good luck to you and the family this week. Remember the good stuff, too. And there's a lot of good stuff to remember in the life of this man. You have made America proud.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com