Hope on stage in 1994

The president of its foundation arm, Thomas W Sarnoff, said: "It is a most fitting way for the academy to perpetuate the public's awareness of Bob Hope, his role in the entertainment industry and his contribution to both the archive and to the history of television."

Bob Hope, who turns 99 on 29 May, has been in poor health in recent years.

He spent 12 days in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia in August 2001, and also spent a week in hospital in 2000 after being suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding.

He was born in Eltham, south-east London, but his family emigrated to Ohio in 1907.

Hope worked as a butcher's delivery boy and a shoe salesman, before entering the entertainment world as a dancer.

He made his name in vaudeville theatre and radio, before embarking on the famous Road films with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamur, and he was awarded an honorary British knighthood in 1998 for his work in entertaining troops in several wars, including the 1990 Gulf conflict.