During the taping of a Bob Hope special in 1982, Danny Thomas, a guest on the show, revealed that he carried a small loaded Derringer for protection. In this article, you’ll learn what prompted him to brandish it in Hope’s dressing room.
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Excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.
FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS + Photos: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com
An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067
In his later years, Danny Thomas had grown paranoid about the rise in crime and general lawlessness that he believed was crippling the country. Concerned for his own safety, he wore a pistol in a holster strapped to his ankle.
In 1982, we were taping a special in Burbank called "NBC Investigates Bob Hope," a sendup on the Iran-Contra hearings on which Danny played a senator. One day, he stormed into Hope’s dressing room.
“Some son-of-a-bitch just tried to run me off the road!” he said.
Hope sympathized, in an attempt to calm him down.
“I hope you didn’t stop, for God’s sake.”
(There had recently been a rash of drive-by shootings.) Danny said he not only stopped, but confronted the offending driver on foot.
Hope said, “Jesus, Danny, you could have been killed.”
Danny said, “No, he could have been. I stuck this in the bastard’s face.”
He reached down and drew the pistol as Hope dove across the couch, leaning away from the waving Derringer. Hey, I wasn’t taking any chances, either, and slipped behind the door of the adjoining bathroom. I could see Hope’s face, and it was as white as milk-of-magnesia — and he was wearing makeup. Hope wasn’t happy with Danny. Not happy at all.
“Put that damn thing away,” he said sternly.
His color slowly returning, he asked, “It’s not loaded, is it?”
Danny said, “Why would I pack an empty gun?”
Danny couldn’t believe that Hope didn’t own a sidearm. Hope was partially deaf thanks to a prop pistol, feared all guns and wasn’t keen on facing a real one. He made Danny unload the pistol and promise never to bring it on the set. There was a noticeable coolness between the two for the remainder of the shoot. If Hope had to work near loaded guns, they’d better belong to Secret Service agents.
A native of San Francisco, Bob Mills served in the Navy from 1956 to 1959, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1962 and the University of California Hastings Law in 1965 and practiced in Palo Alto, California from 1966 until becoming a television writer in 1976, whereupon he ceased all contact with lawyers. He wrote for the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" 1976-77; "The Bob Hope Show" 1977-92 In 1973, he married his wife, Shelley, with whom he lives in Studio City, California.
He writes a daily topical blog entitled "Dr. Digit's Hollywood Memory Blog" online at www.bereftontheleft.blogspot.com. He is a volunteer reader at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in Hollywood and hosts a weekly program entitled "Inside Television" for Los Angeles Radio Reading Service for the Blind in Northridge, California, streamed online each Tuesday at 0820-0900 Pacific at www.larrs.org. Each New Years Day, he co-hosts a three-hour audio description of the Pasadena Rose Parade broadcast to 52 radio stations for the blind reaching 2.7 million listeners via NPR satellite. He's also a substitute co-host of "Access Unlimited" heard on Tuesdays 2:30 to 3:00 pm Pacific on KPFK, 90.7 fm Los Angeles, 98.7 fm Santa Barbara. Streamed live and archived at www.kpfk.org
In 2009, his book THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers was published by Bear Manor Media in both a print and an audio version read by the author. Sample chapters: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com An unabridged audio version read by the author is available at: http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Browse/Arts-and-Entertainment/Film_-Music_-Radio_-TV_-and-Pop-Culture/The-Laugh-Makers/33067 He is an emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America and holds memberships in two organizations: Yarmy’s Army, a group of veteran writers and entertainers who meet monthly for dinner and produce fund-raisers for worthy causes including the Motion Picture and Television House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and in The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, a social club made up of former radio and television professionals that meets bimonthly for lunch and a celebrity “roast.”
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Think Only Hoop Stars Pack Heat?Tuesday, 09 February 2010 During the taping of a Bob Hope special in 1982, Danny Thomas, a guest on the show, revealed that he carried a small loaded Derringer for protection. In this article, you’ll learn what...
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