Page 2 In 1941 she started appearing regularly on the Bob Hope show and when he began to entertain the troops during World War II she joined him on his tours. The tours began stateside but soon expanded to Great Britain followed by Africa and then Italy. In 1944 she toured the Pacific Theater with Hope and in February 1944 on Guadalcanal she met "Westy" Westbrook. While celebrity fighter flights were forbidden, Westbrook managed to fit this tiny (5 foot) lady into the rear of the cockpit of his P-38 Lightning and took her for a ride. A photo she signed for him can be seen on the Westy page. She devoted a great deal of her time to entertaining the troops and was very popular everywhere she went.	The very lovely, Miss Frances Langford
	In February of 1944 while touring the Pacific theater with Bob Hope's USO show Frances Langford met up with Bob Westbrook and joined him for a ride in his P-38 Lightning. Patty Thomas, a dancer with the show, was a passenger in Leo Dusard's P-38. As they flew in formation the ladies waved to each other. The fighter's then proceeded to strafe a derelict Japanese ship that was beached nearby. Patty Thomas and Frances Langford have remained close friends since the War.

South West Pacific, 1944 - Entertaining the troops, with Bob Hope.   Photograph courtesy of Vicky Valentine (used with permission).

After the war she was a regular guest on the Spike Jones Show from 1945 to 1947 and briefly co-hosted a television show in 1951-1952 with Don Ameche The Frances Langford-Don Ameche Show. She also had her own variety show on NBC-TV in 1959, Frances Langford Presents and in 1960, The Frances Langford Show. Her most recent appearance was on a TV special in 1989 called Entertaining The Troops about the Bob Hope USO tours.

Some people may recognize her name more for her radio comedy than her singing. She teamed with Don Ameche on radio as The Bickersons which is still very popular. She was and is someone who exemplifies the word "class". I have included a page for her primarily because of her association with "Westy" Westbrook but also as representative of all the talented performers who sacrificed so much of their time to travel around the world entertaining troops. These people and the USO deserve all the recognition they get. A compilation of her most popular recordings is available from Living Era Records produced by ASV LTD., 1 Beaumont Avenue, London W149LP. Click here for a newspaper article about a forced landing in the South Pacific. Click here for a more detailed biography and some additional information and pictures. For a complete list of her film appearances click here. Check out this very interesting page about the USO in World War II. Click on the Langford family crest to visit their website.

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