Robert L. Mills
Bob Mills, Comedy Writer & Author
A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy after high school.
1962: B.A. San Francisco State University
1965: J.D. University of California, Hastings Law
1965-1975: Practicing attorney
1972: Married Shelley P. Mills
1976: Staff writer "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts"
1977-92: Staff writer "Bob Hope Specials"
1992-96: Co-write "Laugh Lines" column for L.A. Times
1999-2005: Cruise lecturer with Crystal, Celebrity, Princess
2009: Book "THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers" published by Bear Manor Media. Chosen
"Top 20 Year End Pick" by Leonard Maltin.
1999-present: Host "Inside Television" for LA Radio Reading Service for the Blind.
Memberships: Writer's Guild of America (Emeritus)
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters
Home: Studio City, CA
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A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy after high school.
1962: B.A. San Francisco State University
1965: J.D. University of California, Hastings Law
1965-1975: Practicing attorney
1972: Married Shelley P. Mills
1976: Staff writer "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts"
1977-92: Staff writer "Bob Hope Specials"
1992-96: Co-write "Laugh Lines" column for L.A. Times
1999-2005: Cruise lecturer with Crystal, Celebrity, Princess
2009: Book "THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers" published by Bear Manor Media. Chosen
"Top 20 Year End Pick" by Leonard Maltin.
1999-present: Host "Inside Television" for LA Radio Reading Service for the Blind.
Memberships: Writer's Guild of America (Emeritus)
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters
Home: Studio City, CA
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Displaying Results 1 - 49 (of 49) for All Content
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Bob Mills' FUNNY SIDE UP Weekly (June 14-18)Social satirist, author and former network TV comedy writer Bob Mills delivers his take on the headlines. -
Bob Mills' FUNNY SIDE UP Weekly (June 7 to June 11)A satirical look at the week's headlines from June 7 to June 11.
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Bob Hope in London: Why Would Richard Burton Refuse to Kiss Racquel Welch?In London to tape a special, just hours before the special was to be taped, guest star Richard Burton asked to be excused from a sketch-parody of the PBS series, "Upstairs, Downstairs." In this article, you'll learn how the problem was solved. -
Bob Mills' FUNNY SIDE UP Weekly (May 28 to June 4)Former television writer ("Dean Martin Roasts,"" Bob Hope Show")gives us his satirical slant on the week's news. -
Bob Mills' WOULD I KID YOU?Return with us to the exciting days of yesteryear when a popular radio adventure was "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" who appeared weekly with his dog "King." This political parody is dedicated the brave members of the Northwest Mounted Police.
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Bob Mills' WOULD I KID YOU?Author and satirist Bob Mills parodies the long-running PBS series (and a movie) "A Prairie Hope Companion" with apologies to Garrison Keillor.
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Unless You're a Pedophile Priest or a Disgraced Politician, Being Interviewed by Larry King is FunPart of my job as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 1970s and 1980s was being interviewed by newspaper columnists and radio hosts all across the country. One of them was Larry King.
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Acting in Sketches is More Difficult Than it LooksIn a variety show sketch, the actors have a very short time to sell the story they're telling -- there's little room for development and nuance. But the best sketch players, many of them singers, manage to pull it off. -
Bob Hope Welcomes Steve MartinIn the midst of planning a 1978 special on the World Series, Bob Hope got a call from longtime baseball fan Steve Martin who offered his services as a guest. Moreover, he offered to provide his own material.
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Bob Mills' WOULD I KID YOU?Social Satirist Bob Mills Discovers Stories and Legends That Somehow Escaped the History Books
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Bob Hope Welcomes Barbara EdenIn the 1970s and 1980s, Barbara Eden was a Bob Hope favorite and guested with us many times. Here are some of the highlights. -
Bob Hope in China: "With #6, You Get Eggroll!"In 1979, McDonald's and other fast food meccas had yet to invade the People's Republic, but going hungry was never a problem since the Chinese traditionally demonstrate their hospitality through copious gifts of calories. -
Bob Hope in China: Scouring Ancient Hutongs for AntiquesOne afternoon, my writing partner Gig Henry and I, along with Hope's longtime makeup man, Don Marando, slipped away from our guide and discovered a small antique shop obviously not intended for foreigners. -
Bob Mills' FUNNY SIDE UP WeeklyNoted TV Comedy Writer ("Dean Martin Roasts," "Bob Hope Show") Bob Mills Delivers His Satirical Take on Daily News Items From All Over the World
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Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Glenn Ford and Tony Geary in "General Hospital"Casting Bob Hope Specials a challenge since, often, the guest we wanted wasn't available. Once, though, a major star landed right in our laps. Would you believe that Richard Burton just stopped by for lunch?
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Learn How to Sell from the Most Successful Marketer of All Time: BOB HOPE!During my two decades on the road with Bob Hope I learned the major secret of his phenomenal success: HE KNEW HOW TO SELL BOB HOPE. Now you can learn those very same selling techniques to promote your product!
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Bob Hope, Betty White, Weeb Ewbank, Hank Stramm and George Allen in "Rest Home for Coaches"On a 1981 special honoring the N.F.L., we wrote a sketch starring three legendary coaches, Hank Stramm, Weeb Eubank and George Allen incarcerated for "mental breakdowns." Betty White played their nurse.
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The Bob Hope Show Tangles with Red China's Thought PoliceIf we had thought network censorship in the U.S. was too powerful, it was child's play compared to what we encountered in 1979 China.
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Bob Hope Could Rib Presidents Without Risking an IRS AuditBeginning with F.D.R., Bob Hope tossed jibes at Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I and Clinton. Here are a few of them.
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Remembering Bob Hope's Cue Card Man: Barney McNultyBob Hope and cue card wizard Barney McNulty had a relationship that dated to the 1950s. Here are some memories of their times together traveling.
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Bob Hope was British and Proud of ItThough Bob Hope didn't spend his childhood there, he was always proud to call Great Britain the country of his birth,
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Bob Hope Realized the Value of Sponsor LoyaltyFrom Bob Hope's very beginnings in radio, product association played an indispensable part in his career and he fostered it.
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Bob Hope Welcomes Perry ComoIn the fall of 1977 Perry Como guested on a Bob Hope Christmas special playing "Luke Sleepwalker" in a sketch parody of "Star Wars." The affable singer/TV host was a pure delight to work with.
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Bob Hope Launched Brooke Shields on TVFrom her first appearance as a 14-year old guest on the Bob Hope Show, Bob Hope taught her how to act convincingly on television. Later, she would conveniently overlook his mentoring.
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Bob Hope Welcomes George GobelOn a Bob Hope football special in 1980, George Gobel played an interpreter for place kicker Garo Yeupremian who pretended not to know English. Hope, Gobel and Garo then sang "You Don't Have to Know the Language."
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Bob Hope Jousts with Howard CosellA former trial lawyer, Howard Cosell carved himself a unique niche in the world of television sports. He grew into the image he believed the public had of him and was a frequent guest on Bob Hope's specials.
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Bob Hope, Barbara Eden, Linda Grey and Loni Anderson in "Son of Shogun"In 1981, ABC aired a mini-series called "Shogun," about an English seafarer (Richard Chamberlain) who becomes Japan's first foreign-born Samurai warrior. We wrote a parody of it we called "Son of Shogun."
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Bob Hope Welcomes Loni AndersonIn the 1970s and 1980s, Bob Hope, Hope called upon one of his favorite TV glamor queens often. Loni Anderson's total Hope guest appearances was rivaled only by those of Brooke Shields.
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Bob Hope Welcomes Don KnottsDon Knotts was one of Bob Hope's favorite guests and one of the most endearing and talented character actors ever to work in film and television. Here is a TV routine tailor-made to demonstrate Don's genius.
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Bob Hope Welcomes Glen CampbellBob Hope was partial to booking singers on his specials because his theory was that singers are story-tellers and have an inborn talent for acting. One of his favorites was Glen Campbell, as solid a sketch actor as ever was.
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Death Wasn't in the ScriptA perfectly innocent line in a sketch for a Bob Hope Halloween Special almost canceled the show when the subject of the joke, a character on "Cheers," died after the show had been edited.
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Bob Hope's 1983 College Tour: U.C.L.A. To Notre DameBob Hope's 1979 "Bob Hope on Campus" was such a success, Hope would re-enroll four years later for "Bob Hope Goes to College," visiting the University of Texas, Clemson University, Notre Dame, U.C.L.A. and Utah State.
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Bob Hope's 1979 College Tour: USC to HarvardDuring the Vietnam years, Hope's support of the war made college campuses un-hospitable, but by 1979, a new generation of students had arrived so he taped the first of two college tours he'd complete in the 1980s.
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Bob Hope's Christmas Specials Became an American Holiday TraditionEach December from the early 1950s to 1994, Bob Hope aired a Christmas special that adhered to a formula as set in stone as the story of the Nativity itself. Annually, the specials garnered Hope his highest Nielsen ratings.
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Bob Hope's 1978 Tribute to the World SeriesIn 1978, with the L.A. Dodgers in contention for the pennant, Bob Hope taped a two-hour salute to the World Series which was celebrating its 75th anniversary. Danny Kaye was his co-host.
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Bob Hope's 1981 Salute to the N.F.LIn 1981, Bob Hope hired Jane Upton Bell, daughter of Bert Bell, the founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, to produce a 2-hour TV special honoring the 60th anniversary of the National Football League.
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Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme in "Hamalot"In a 1978 special entitled "Bob Hope's Tribute to the Palace Theater," we cast Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme in a sketch playing Sir Lancelot and Lady Guinevere opposite Hope's King Arthur in a parody we called "Squares at the Round Table."
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Bob Hope, Sammy Davis, Jr., Pat Boone and Debbie Reynolds in "Superiorman"n 1979, the movie "Superman" had been leaping tall box-office grosses in a single bound-so, faster than a speeding bullet, we decided to parody it in a special entitled "Hope, Women & Song."
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Bob Hope Became the First American Entertainer Allowed to Tape a TV Special in ChinaIn 1979, Bob Hope was granted permission to tape a TV special in China, the first American entertainer allowed to do so since the PRC had been opened to the west five years before.
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Bob Hope Salutes the Military Academies: AnnapolisIn the early 1980s, Bob Hope produced TV specials at all three U.S. military academies. Annapolis, which we visited in 1982, was the third.
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Bob Hope Salutes the Military Academies: West PointIn the early 1980s, Bob Hope taped TV specials at all three U.S. military academies. West Point was the second, produced in 1981.
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Bob Hope Salutes the Military Academies: the Air Force AcademyIn the early 1980s, Bob Hope would tape specials at all three U.S. military academies -- peacetime military junkets during the lull between Vietnam and the war in the Gulf War.
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Bob Hope Down Under: Perth, AustraliaIn 1978, Bob Hope decided to take his television show Down Under -- to Australia and New Zealand to tape a two-hour special to open Perth's new Entertainment Center.
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Bob Hope Opens the Gerald R. Ford Presidential LibraryIn 1981, President Gerald R. Ford asked Bob Hope to host a black-gala commemorating the dedication of his Presidential Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The guest list read like the annual UN Christmas party.
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Translating Bob Hope's Jokes into Mandarin and CantoneseIn 1979, Bob Hope became the first American entertainer to perform for the Chinese people since Nixon and Mao had signed the trade agreement in 1974. For his monologue, Hope needed a translator, the only one he would use during his long career.
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Bob Hope & George Burns Bring Back VaudevilleIn 1978, on a special entitled A Tribute to the Palace Theater, Bob Hope and George Burns performed a number that was typical of acts often seen on the vaudeville stage.
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The One and Only Barbara MandrellCountry singer and actress Barbara Mandrell had everything Bob Hope sought in a guest -- she could sing and dance, she had impeccable comic timing and - perhaps most important of all, she was a good sport.
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Bob Hope in China: the Peking Opera Meets Gilbert & SullivanNear Beijing is a marble boat built by the Empress Dowager to appease the Chinese Navy for a fleet of ships she had promised them. While in China to tape his 1979 special, Bob Hope sang The Queen's Navy on her decks.
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Bob Hope was Only a Phone Call Away from the PresidentIn 1987, while taping a TV special at Pope Air Base in South Carolina, Bob Hope invited Ronald Reagan, en route to Washington aboard Air Force One, to drop in and guest on the show. He accepted and then the fun began!