Bob Hope hospitalized for pneumonia

Bob Hope

BURBANK, California (CNN) -- Comedian Bob Hope is responding well to treatment for pneumonia and could be released from the hospital "in a few days," his doctor said Wednesday.

Hope's physician, Dr. Lee Kagan, said the 98-year-old entertainer is receiving antibiotics and breathing treatments and was reported in stable condition. Hope's publicist, Ward Grant, said Hope called his doctor Sunday after experiencing difficulty breathing and, following the doctor's recommendation, checked into St. Joseph Medical Center that evening, accompanied by his wife of 67 years, Dolores.

"He was in serious condition when he was first admitted," Kagan said. "He was quite ill, but as I say, he has improved."

The entertainer was hospitalized in June 2000 for gastrointestinal bleeding. Grant said the current hospitalization has nothing to do with Hope's previous health problem.

VIDEO Entertainer Bob Hope checked into a Los Angeles hospital to receive treatment for pneumonia. CNN's Lauren Hunter reports (August 30) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Hope crafted a legacy of laughter in a 50-year career on stage, in the movies, on radio, television and in overseas war zones. A native of Eltham, England, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, after his parents moved to the United States.

He became an American citizen, had a brief amateur boxing career in the early 1920s under the name "Packy East" and performed in vaudeville and on Broadway before launching a film career in 1938 that included starring roles in 54 feature films, including his famous "Road" movies with Bing Crosby, which began in 1940 with "The Road to Singapore."

Kagan says Hope has improved since he was admitted to the hospital Wednesday.

But he is most proud of an association with the USO (United Services Organization) that began a year later and took him and an ever-changing troupe of performers known as "The Hope Gypsies" to the battlefronts of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East and Gulf War conflicts. He claimed to have traveled more than 9 million miles doing this.

He was a pioneer in television, signing with NBC for a series of specials that spanned decades and included special broadcasts from the Soviet Union and China, as well as his annual Christmas shows that drew some of the network's highest ratings.

He also hosted the Academy Awards for years, without ever winning one for a movie performance. But he did get five special Oscars for his humanitarian acts and contributions to the industry.

His last movie was in 1985, "Spies Like Us."

He and Dolores were married in 1934 and have four children.