Hope celebrates 98 candles

Comedian Bob Hope has celebrated his 98th birthday by watching his old movies with his wife Dolores.

The English-born wisecracker once joked: ‘‘You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.’’

Age may have slowed the master of the one-liner, but it has not dulled his wit.

His daughter, Linda Hope, informed him that the Los Angeles County supervisors had officially declared Tuesday ‘‘Bob Hope Day’’ to honour his birth.

‘‘When you get over 95, every day is your day,’’ he was said to have quipped.

The family held the small, private gathering at their Los Angeles home for the comedian whose eight-decade career ranged from vaudeville to television, movies and scores of trips to entertain US troops abroad.

Referring to the candles, Ward Grant, Hope’s publicist, said: ‘‘There are so many, we always laugh that you better keep the fire extinguisher standing by when you light them.’’

After the party, Hope watched some of his old movies with wife, Dolores Hope, Grant said.

Born Leslie Townes Hope on May 29, 1903, in Eltham, England, his family immigrated to the United States in 1907 and settled in Cleveland.

He began a career in vaudeville, playing ‘‘third billing to Siamese twins and trained seals’’, but soared to international fame with dozens of TV specials and films, most notably his ‘‘road movies’’ with Bing Crosby.

The comic made his last overseas visit to entertain US troops at age 87, stopping in Saudi Arabia in 1990 during Operation Desert Storm.

He went into hospital last summer with a bout of gastrointestinal bleeding but has since recovered.

Although frail from age, he remains in good spirits, Grant said.