thedrifter
02-04-06, 06:27 AM
Thanks for the memories
Ex-butler recalls time with Hope
By PETER DUFFY
The Chronicle Herald
FOR FOUR YEARS, Peter and Maia Primgaard of Upper Tantallon lived in the California mansion owned by Bob Hope. Peter was the movie star’s butler and remembers the experience fondly.
Even when Hope was in his 90s and his health was failing, the Hollywood icon strove to please his fans.
Each evening after supper, Primgaard would follow the same procedure.
"Between 9:30 and 10 o’clock, he’d say, ‘Peter, is it time?’ And I’d say, ‘Yes, Mr. Hope.’ "
Primgaard would help his boss into the limousine and drive him down to the airport at nearby Palm Springs.
The comedian would walk in through the main doors and stroll right through the terminal and back again. Partly, it was a chance for some last-minute exercise. But mostly, he did it because he loved to chat with ordinary folk and sign autographs.
"He’d always say, ‘Without my fans, I wouldn’t be me!’ "
There was a third reason. The U.S. Marines had a large base nearby, and the airport was alive with military personnel. Hope loved to mix with them.
He called them "his boys," his former butler remembers with a smile.
By the mid-1990s, Danish-born Primgaard, 68, and his Swedish wife, Maia, 67, had had enough of living other people’s lives. Ready for semi-retirement, they began to cast around for new challenges and quieter pastures.
Which is how they come to be living in Upper Tantallon, 15 minutes south of Halifax.
Initially, the two naturalized Canadians had considered returning to British Columbia, where they once worked in real estate. Memories of the rainy climate, however, convinced them to search elsewhere.
A travel article on Nova Scotia piqued their interest and, well, here they are, eager to put down roots and explore new business opportunities.
They arrived in November, bringing with them albums bursting with photos of Mr. Hope, as Primgaard still calls him, and a phalanx of business leaders, sports stars, entertainment icons like Jimmy Stewart, Don Rickles, Charlton Heston and Merv Griffin and a bevy of former U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
One of Primgaard’s favourites is a shot of himself with ageless movie beauty Sophia Loren.
"I took her breakfast in bed," he remembers. "It took three weeks to wipe the smile off my face."
Primgaard landed the butlering job by chance. He was working as a condominium leasing agent when a friend in the catering business asked him to be a temporary bartender at a Bob Hope bash. That brief encounter led to a permanent job taking care of the star each winter, from October to May.
Even though she and her husband lived in Hope’s mansion, Maia didn’t actually work for him. She had a good job at a spa in a swanky hotel in nearby Palm Desert, meeting her own share of stars including Stevie Wonder and O.J. Simpson and his doomed wife, Nicole.
It was Bob Hope, however, who filled the couple’s horizon, especially when his health began to deteriorate.
"Mr. Hope was legally blind," says Primgaard.
As well, his short-term memory was fading. More than once, the star would be deep in conversation with someone, another famous actor or perhaps a former U.S. president, and he’d mutter out of the corner of his mouth to Primgaard, "Who am I talking to?"
Primgaard also used to assist Hope with his daily golf games.
"He was very serious about his golfing. If he didn’t have friends with him, I’d sit the ball on the tee for him. He’d ask me if he was hitting to right or left. He couldn’t see it."
His handicap notwithstanding, Hope once hit a hole-in-one.
Each morning, Primgaard would wake his boss at 8 o’clock with fresh fruit and decaf coffee. While Hope ate, his butler would read him the day’s headlines.
And no, Hope never asked Primgaard to read him the comics. That was just understood.
"He was the comic! I never told him a joke. He was very competitive."
Competitive is an understatement. Even Hope’s wife, Dolores, wasn’t safe.
One day, Primgaard accompanied the couple to a medical centre where Mrs. Hope was having a routine checkup. They were waiting in a special wing of the centre named after Dolores.
"There was a bust of her and one of him, but his was half a foot behind hers."
Hope studied the busts for a few moments, and then leaned over to his butler. "He said, ‘We must come back one evening and move mine forward. I don’t like to be second.’ "
He wasn’t kidding, says Primgaard.
Hope died in 2003 at the ripe old age of 100. Primgaard mourns his passing and is thankful for the memories, especially of those evening walkabouts at the Palm Springs airport.
"He was so approachable."
Tuesday:
( pduffy@herald.ca)
He was very serious about his golfing. If he didn’t have friends with him, I’d sit the ball on the tee for him. He’d ask me if he was hitting to right or left. He couldn’t see it.’
Ex-butler recalls time with Hope
By PETER DUFFY
The Chronicle Herald
FOR FOUR YEARS, Peter and Maia Primgaard of Upper Tantallon lived in the California mansion owned by Bob Hope. Peter was the movie star’s butler and remembers the experience fondly.
Even when Hope was in his 90s and his health was failing, the Hollywood icon strove to please his fans.
Each evening after supper, Primgaard would follow the same procedure.
"Between 9:30 and 10 o’clock, he’d say, ‘Peter, is it time?’ And I’d say, ‘Yes, Mr. Hope.’ "
Primgaard would help his boss into the limousine and drive him down to the airport at nearby Palm Springs.
The comedian would walk in through the main doors and stroll right through the terminal and back again. Partly, it was a chance for some last-minute exercise. But mostly, he did it because he loved to chat with ordinary folk and sign autographs.
"He’d always say, ‘Without my fans, I wouldn’t be me!’ "
There was a third reason. The U.S. Marines had a large base nearby, and the airport was alive with military personnel. Hope loved to mix with them.
He called them "his boys," his former butler remembers with a smile.
By the mid-1990s, Danish-born Primgaard, 68, and his Swedish wife, Maia, 67, had had enough of living other people’s lives. Ready for semi-retirement, they began to cast around for new challenges and quieter pastures.
Which is how they come to be living in Upper Tantallon, 15 minutes south of Halifax.
Initially, the two naturalized Canadians had considered returning to British Columbia, where they once worked in real estate. Memories of the rainy climate, however, convinced them to search elsewhere.
A travel article on Nova Scotia piqued their interest and, well, here they are, eager to put down roots and explore new business opportunities.
They arrived in November, bringing with them albums bursting with photos of Mr. Hope, as Primgaard still calls him, and a phalanx of business leaders, sports stars, entertainment icons like Jimmy Stewart, Don Rickles, Charlton Heston and Merv Griffin and a bevy of former U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
One of Primgaard’s favourites is a shot of himself with ageless movie beauty Sophia Loren.
"I took her breakfast in bed," he remembers. "It took three weeks to wipe the smile off my face."
Primgaard landed the butlering job by chance. He was working as a condominium leasing agent when a friend in the catering business asked him to be a temporary bartender at a Bob Hope bash. That brief encounter led to a permanent job taking care of the star each winter, from October to May.
Even though she and her husband lived in Hope’s mansion, Maia didn’t actually work for him. She had a good job at a spa in a swanky hotel in nearby Palm Desert, meeting her own share of stars including Stevie Wonder and O.J. Simpson and his doomed wife, Nicole.
It was Bob Hope, however, who filled the couple’s horizon, especially when his health began to deteriorate.
"Mr. Hope was legally blind," says Primgaard.
As well, his short-term memory was fading. More than once, the star would be deep in conversation with someone, another famous actor or perhaps a former U.S. president, and he’d mutter out of the corner of his mouth to Primgaard, "Who am I talking to?"
Primgaard also used to assist Hope with his daily golf games.
"He was very serious about his golfing. If he didn’t have friends with him, I’d sit the ball on the tee for him. He’d ask me if he was hitting to right or left. He couldn’t see it."
His handicap notwithstanding, Hope once hit a hole-in-one.
Each morning, Primgaard would wake his boss at 8 o’clock with fresh fruit and decaf coffee. While Hope ate, his butler would read him the day’s headlines.
And no, Hope never asked Primgaard to read him the comics. That was just understood.
"He was the comic! I never told him a joke. He was very competitive."
Competitive is an understatement. Even Hope’s wife, Dolores, wasn’t safe.
One day, Primgaard accompanied the couple to a medical centre where Mrs. Hope was having a routine checkup. They were waiting in a special wing of the centre named after Dolores.
"There was a bust of her and one of him, but his was half a foot behind hers."
Hope studied the busts for a few moments, and then leaned over to his butler. "He said, ‘We must come back one evening and move mine forward. I don’t like to be second.’ "
He wasn’t kidding, says Primgaard.
Hope died in 2003 at the ripe old age of 100. Primgaard mourns his passing and is thankful for the memories, especially of those evening walkabouts at the Palm Springs airport.
"He was so approachable."
Tuesday:
( pduffy@herald.ca)
He was very serious about his golfing. If he didn’t have friends with him, I’d sit the ball on the tee for him. He’d ask me if he was hitting to right or left. He couldn’t see it.’