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Bob Hope: King of the Oscars

March 19, 2013 12:35PM
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The producers at BIO.com review hundreds of photos of famous figures each week, from award-winning actors and popular singers, to headliners and scandal makers. While we're digging through these archives, we often come across amazing photos that we're just dying to share. So, without further ado, here's the one image that stands out to us this week:

 

Bob Hope seen wrestling with Best Actor winner, Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront at the 27th Annual Academy Awards. Three guesses who took home the trophy. (Getty)

 

Is it any wonder that Bob Hope has hosted the Academy Awards 19 times between 1939 and 1977? He ranks as the #1 used host on the show with Billy Crystal in second place at just nine times as MC. Hope began his tenure when the Oscars weren't even being televised, and he ended it with the show's 50th anniversary. In between the TV host captured another milestone: He became the master of ceremonies when the 25th Annual Academy Awards hit the small screen on March 19th, 1953.

That year he shared the stage with silent film star Conrad Nagel, and the two gave the Best Picture award to Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, which featured Jimmy Stewart and Charlton Heston.

Nowadays we shuttle back and forth between hosts, from single stand-up comedians to dynamic and some not-so-dynamic duos (although we have our fingers crossed for an Amy Poehler-Tina Fey Oscars 2014). Perhaps in our era of 24/7 restlessness, we've seen the last of Hope's kind of reign, though, hopefully not in the quality of the act.

also in this article

Bob Hope

Film Actor, Television Actor, Television Personality / 1903 - 2003

Bob Hope was a entertainer and comic actor, known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and for his success in virtually all entertainment media.

Marlon Brando

Film Actor / 1924 - 2004

Legendary screen presence Marlon Brando performed for more than 50 years and is famous for such films as A Streetcar Named Desire and The Godfather.

Cecil B. DeMille

Actor, Filmmaker, Screenwriter / 1881 - 1959

Cecil B. DeMille was an actor, director and producer who became a giant of the 20th century film industry, known for epics like The Ten Commandments.

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