- published: 19 Aug 2011
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Shirley Ross (January 7, 1913 — March 9, 1975) was an American actress and singer.
Ross was born Bernice Gaunt in Omaha, Nebraska but her family relocated to California when she was a child. She studied at Hollywood High School and the University of California, Berkeley and auditioned successfully for Gus Arnheim's band during her second year at university. She made her first recordings at the age of 20 with Arnheim in 1933.
Her film career began in 1933 and the following year she introduced the melody of the song "Blue Moon" for the Clark Gable movie Manhattan Melodrama, only with different lyrics. Ross first achieved prominence appearing opposite Bing Crosby in the 1937 film Waikiki Wedding, in which she and Crosby sang "Blue Hawaii". In The Big Broadcast of 1938 she sang "Thanks for the Memory" with Bob Hope. She again teamed with Hope the following year to sing "Two Sleepy People" in the 1938 film Thanks for the Memory.
Ross also introduced "The Lady's in Love with You" in the 1939 film Some Like It Hot featuring Bob Hope, which is not the 1959 comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, although both films share the same name.
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS (born Leslie Townes Hope; May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an English-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel. Throughout his long career, he was honored for his humanitarian work. In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Hope by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces." Bob Hope appeared in or hosted 199 known USO shows.
Hope was born in Eltham, London, England, the fifth of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer from Barry who later worked as a cleaning woman. She married William Hope in April 1891 and the couple set up home at 12 Greenwood Street in the town, then moved to Whitehall and St George in Bristol, before eventually moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1908. The family emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Philadelphia, and passed inspection at Ellis Island on March 30, 1908. Hope became a U.S. citizen in 1920 at the age of 17. In a 1942 legal document, Hope's legal name is given as Lester Townes Hope. His name on the Social Security Index is also listed as Lester T. Hope. His name as registered at birth was Leslie Towns [sic] Hope.
Actors: May McAvoy (actress), Lionel Barrymore (actor), William Collier Jr. (actor), Lloyd Bacon (director), Alec B. Francis (actor), Robert Lord (writer), Jack Ackroyd (actor), James A. Starr (writer), Audrey Ferris (actress), Charles Klein (writer), Emmett Corrigan (actor), Harold McCord (editor),
Plot: Judge Ross, on the Federal Bench, rules in favor of a large company in litigation before him, unaware that a smaller company in which he owns considerable stock has been subsumed by the larger firm, thus creating appearance of a conflict of interests. When one of the Judge's enemies plots to ruin the Judge over this apparent improper behavior, Judge Ross's daughter Shirley sets out to prove her father's innocence.
Keywords: based-on-play, early-sound-film, part-talkie