Dolores Hope

Dolores Hope, DC*SG (née DeFina; May 27, 1909 – September 19, 2011) was an American singer, entertainer, philanthropist and wife/widow of American actor and comedian Bob Hope.\n', 'She was born Dolores L. DeFina on May 27, 1909, in Manhattan\'s Harlem neighborhood of Italian and Irish descent, and was raised in The Bronx. After the death of her bartender father, Jack DeFina, in 1925, she and her younger sister, Mildred, were raised in the Bronx by their mother, Theresa DeFina (1890–1977), who worked as a saleslady in a drygoods store.\n', 'During the 1930s, after working as a model, DeFina began her professional singing career, adopting the name Dolores Reade on the advice of her agent. On October 26, 1933, she appeared as vocalist on two Joe Venuti & his Orchestra recordings of \'Heat Wave" and "Easter Parade". (It was issued on Banner 32879, Melotone M-12828, Canadian Melotone 91649,…