PRIVATE HOPE MEMORIALS TAKE PLACE.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - Hundreds of Hollywood entertainers and other friends of Bob Hope will be on hand to memorialize the late film legend at two separate events today, but Hope's public send-off is still weeks away.

After originally scheduling a public tribute for this week, Hope's family and business managers scaled back the memorials to two invitation-only events today, said Ward Grant, Hope's longtime publicist.

The public event will be rescheduled for a date to be determined, he said.

Hope died of pneumonia July 27 at age 100. The longtime resident of Toluca Lake was laid to rest three days later at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills.

Grant said Hope's family and associates were kept busy organizing both a memorial Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood and a memorial tribute for friends at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood, and so were unable to arrange a public event for this week.

When it happens, the public tribute will include a flyover and parachutists over Hollywood Boulevard, said Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood and a longtime Hope friend. A public memorial service is being planned for the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, he said.

``This is the biggest and most ambitious memorial I've seen since I've been here, and I've been here a long time,'' said Grant, who has assisted with organizing the event. ``It's amazing - everybody wants to be a part of it.''

The Bob Hope Hollywood USO at Los Angeles International Airport plans to break ground next month on its expanded building, which will include a small museum with Hope artifacts, said Michael Teilmann, director of the chapter. The museum, which will be free to the public, will be dedicated in a ceremony planned for November with members of Hope's family and show business acquaintances on hand, Teilmann said.

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com