Time magazine theater critic Richard Zoglin grew up watching Bob Hope’s movies and followed the comedian’s rise to multimedia superstardom and tireless work for U.S. troops and charities. “Then I watched as he alienated himself from an entire generation during the Vietnam War,” Zoglin says, recalling the heat Hope took for supporting American involvement, “and that made him even more interesting to me.”

Zoglin, a Kansas City native who has been with Time since 1983, discusses the gifted but flawed subject of his book Hope: Entertainer of the Century. Hope, the star, was a dogged worker, gracious with fans, and generous with friends. He also could be cold and self-centered, was an indiscriminate womanizer, and regrettably stayed in show business too long, becoming a cue card-reading antique.