Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope, KBE, KC*SG, KSS (May 29, 1903 - July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete and author. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 54 feature films with Hope as star, including a series of seven "Road" musical comedy movies with Bing Crosby as Hope's top-billed partner. In addition to hosting the Academy Awards show nineteen times, more than any other host, he appeared in many stage productions and television roles, and was the author of 14 books.

In 1998, five years before his death, a prepared obituary written by the Associated Press inadvertently was released, resulting in Hope's death being announced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, Hope remained in relatively good health until late in his old age, though he became somewhat frail in his last few years. In June 2000, he spent nearly a week in a California hospital being treated for gastrointestinal bleeding. In August 2001, he spent close to two weeks in a hospital recovering from pneumonia.  On the morning of July 27, 2003, Hope died of pneumonia aged 100 at his home in Toluca Lake, California. His grandson Zach Hope told TV interviewer Soledad O'Brien that, when asked on his deathbed where he wanted to be buried, Hope told his wife, Dolores, "Surprise me." He was interred in the Bob Hope Memorial Garden at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, joined in 2011 by Dolores when she died--four months after her 102nd birthday. After his death, newspaper cartoonists worldwide paid tribute to his work for the USO, and some featured drawings of Bing Crosby, who had died in 1977, welcoming Hope to Heaven.  As a final honor and tribute to his life of service to the USO and to men and women of the United States Military, on July 30, 2003, the United States Congress passed the Bob Hope Arlington Honors Act of 2003, which "Directs the Secretary of the Army to permit the burial of Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope of California, an honorary veteran of the armed forces, in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, upon the request of his family." Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

What illness did Hope have?
gastrointestinal bleeding.