previous            A–Z            next        Leslie Townes Hope Pseudonym:        Bob Hope The American film comedian (actually British-born, although he left his native shores when he was four) was originally Leslie Townes Hope (1903–2003). It was ‘Leslie’ that really prompted the change: in the first place it was too ambiguous in gender, and secondly Hope was nicknamed ‘Hopeless’ at school. So ‘Bob’ came to the rescue. Source: Room, A. (1981), ‘Name Stories’, Naming Names, p.108 previous            A–Z            next