Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903

Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 –

October 14, 1977) was an American singer and
Bing Crosby
actor.[1][2][3] The first multimedia star, he was one
of the most popular and influential musical artists of
the 20th century worldwide.[4] He was a leader in
record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture
grosses from 1930 to 1954. He made over 70
feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs.
His early career coincided with recording

innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate
singing style that influenced many male singers who
followed, such as Perry Como,[5] Frank Sinatra,[6]
Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley,[6] and
John Lennon.[6]
Yank magazine said that he was "the person who

had done the most for the morale of overseas Crosby in 1951
servicemen" during World War II.[7] In 1948, Born Harry Lillis Crosby Jr.
American polls declared him the "most admired May 3, 1903
man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Pius XII.[1]: 6 [8] In 1948, Music Digest estimated
Died October 14, 1977 (aged 74)
that his recordings filled more than half of the
Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio
music.[8] Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver
City, California
Crosby won the Academy Award for Best Actor for
Alma mater Gonzaga University
his performance in Going My Way (1944) and was
nominated for its sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's Occupation Singer · actor
(1945), opposite Ingrid Bergman, becoming the first Years active 1922–1977
of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the
same character. In 1963, Crosby received the first Spouse(s) Dixie Lee
Grammy Global Achievement Award.[9] He is one (m. 1930; died 1952)
of 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Kathryn Grant (m. 1957)
Walk of Fame,[10] in the categories of motion
Children Gary, Dennis, Phillip, Lindsay
pictures, radio, and audio recording.[11] He was
(with Dixie)
also known for his collaborations with friend Bob
Hope, starring in the Road to... films from 1940 to Harry III, Mary, Nathaniel (with
1962. Kathryn)
Relatives Larry Crosby (brother)
Crosby influenced the development of the postwar
recording industry. After seeing a demonstration of Bob Crosby (brother)
a German broadcast quality reel-to-reel tape Denise Crosby (granddaughter)
recorder brought to America by John T. Mullin, he Chris Crosby (nephew)
invested $50,000 in California electronics company
Ampex to build copies. He then persuaded ABC to Musical career
allow him to tape his shows. He became the first Genres Traditional pop · easy listening ·
performer to prerecord his radio shows and master vocal jazz · country
his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape.
Labels Decca · Columbia · RCA Victor ·
Through the medium of recording, he constructed Brunswick · Reprise · Capitol ·
his radio programs with the same directorial tools Verve · United Artists
and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time Associated acts The Rhythm Boys · Paul
shifting) used in motion picture production, a Whiteman & His Orchestra · Al
practice that became industry standard.[12] In Jolson · Bob Hope · Ella
addition to his work with early audio tape
Fitzgerald · The Andrews
recording, he helped finance the development of
Sisters · Johnny Mercer · The
videotape, bought television stations, bred
racehorses, and co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates Rat Pack · Rosemary Clooney ·
baseball team, during which time the team won two Louis Armstrong · Count Basie ·
World Series (1960 and 1971). Dean Martin · Frank Sinatra ·
Fred Astaire · David Bowie ·
Connee Boswell · Sammy Davis
Jr.
Contents
Website bingcrosby.com (https://bingcro
Early life
sby.com/)
Performance career
Signature
Early years
The Rhythm Boys
Success as a solo singer
White Christmas
Motion pictures
Television
Singing style and vocal characteristics
Career achievements
Popularity and influence
Entrepreneurship
Role in early tape recording
Videotape development
Television station ownership
Thoroughbred horse racing
Sports
Personal life
Illness and death
Legacy
Compositions
Grammy Hall of Fame
Filmography
Discography
Television appearances
Radio
RIAA certification
Awards and nominations
References
Citations
Sources
Primary sources
Further reading
External links
Early life
Crosby was born on May 3, 1903[13][14] in Tacoma, Washington, in a
house his father built at 1112 North J Street.[15] In 1906, his family moved
to Spokane in Eastern Washington state, where he was raised.[16] In 1913,
his father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue.[17] The house sits on the
campus of his alma mater, Gonzaga University. It functions today as a
museum housing over 200 artifacts from his life and career, including his
Oscar.[18][19]
He was the fourth of seven children: brothers Laurence Earl "Larry"

(1895–1975), Everett Nathaniel (1896–1966), Edward John "Ted" (1900–
1973), and George Robert "Bob" (1913–1993); and two sisters, Catherine
Cordelia (1904–1974) and Mary Rose (1906–1990). His parents were Crosby aged nine
Harry Lowe Crosby[20] (1870–1950), a bookkeeper, and Catherine Helen
"Kate" (née Harrigan; 1873–1964). His mother was a second generation
Irish-American.[21][1] His father was of Scottish and English descent; an ancestor, Simon Crosby,
emigrated from England to New England in the 1630s during the Puritan migration to New
England.[22][23] Through another line, also on his father's side, Crosby is descended from Mayflower
passenger William Brewster (c. 1567 – April 10, 1644).[1]: 24 [24] On November 8, 1937, after Lux Radio
Theatre's adaptation of She Loves Me Not, Joan Blondell asked Crosby how he got his nickname:
Crosby: "Well, I'll tell you, back in the knee-britches day, when I was a wee little tyke, a mere broth of a
lad, as we say in Spokane, I used to totter around the streets, with a gun on each hip, my favorite after
school pastime was a game known as "Cops and Robbers", I didn't care which side I was on, when a cop
or robber came into view, I would haul out my trusty six-shooters, made of wood, and loudly exclaim bing!
bing!, as my luckless victim fell clutching his side, I would shout bing! bing!, and I would let him have it
again, and then as his friends came to his rescue, shooting as they came, I would shout bing! bing! bing!
bing! bing! bing! bing! bing!"
Blondell: "I'm surprised they didn't call you "Killer" Crosby! Now tell me another story, Grandpa!
Crosby: "No, so help me, it's the truth, ask Mister De Mille."
De Mille: "I'll vouch for it, Bing."[25][26][27]
As it happens, that story was pure whimsy for dramatic effect; the Associated Press had reported as early as
February 1932—as would later be confirmed by both Bing himself and his biographer Charles Thompson
—that it was in fact a neighbor—Valentine Hobart, circa 1910—who had named him "Bingo from
Bingville" after a comic feature in the local paper called The Bingville Bugle which the young Harry liked.
In time, Bingo got shortened to Bing.[28][29][30]
In 1917, Crosby took a summer job as property boy at Spokane's Auditorium, where he witnessed some of
the acts of the day, including Al Jolson, who held him spellbound with ad-libbing and parodies of
Hawaiian songs. He later described Jolson's delivery as "electric".[31]
Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School (today's Gonzaga Preparatory School) in 1920 and enrolled
at Gonzaga University. He attended Gonzaga for three years but did not earn a degree.[32] As a freshman,
he played on the university's baseball team.[33] The university granted him an honorary doctorate in
1937.[34] Today, Gonzaga University houses a large collection of photographs, correspondence, and other
material related to Crosby.[35]
Performance career
Early years
In 1923 Crosby was invited to join a new band composed of high-school students a few years younger than
himself. Al and Miles Rinker (brothers of singer Mildred Bailey), James Heaton, Claire Pritchard and
Robert Pritchard, along with drummer Crosby, formed the Musicaladers,[3] who performed at dances both
for high school students and club-goers. The group performed on Spokane radio station KHQ, but
disbanded after two years.[1]: 92–97 [36] Crosby and Al Rinker obtained work at the Clemmer Theatre in
Spokane (now known as the Bing Crosby Theater).
Crosby was initially a member of a vocal trio called The Three Harmony Aces with Al Rinker
accompanying on piano from the pit, to entertain between the films. Crosby and Al continued at the
Clemmer Theatre for several months often with three other men – Wee Georgie Crittenden, Frank McBride
and Lloyd Grinnell – and they were billed The Clemmer Trio or The Clemmer Entertainers depending who
performed.[37]
In October 1925, Crosby and Rinker decided to seek fame in California. They traveled to Los Angeles,
where Bailey introduced them to her show business contacts. The Fanchon and Marco Time Agency hired
them for thirteen weeks for the revue The Syncopation Idea starting at the Boulevard Theater in Los
Angeles and then on the Loew's circuit. They each earned $75 a week. As minor parts of The Syncopation
Idea Crosby and Rinker started to develop as entertainers. They had a lively style that was popular with
college students. After The Syncopation Idea closed, they worked in the Will Morrissey Music Hall Revue.
They honed their skills with Morrissey. When they got a chance to present an independent act, they were
spotted by a member of the Paul Whiteman organization.
Whiteman needed something different to break up his musical selections, and Crosby and Rinker filled this
requirement. After less than a year in show business, they were attached to one of the biggest names.[37]
Hired for $150 a week in 1926, they debuted with Whiteman on December 6 at the Tivoli Theatre in
Chicago. Their first recording, in October 1926, was "I've Got the Girl" with Don Clark's Orchestra, but
the Columbia-issued record was inadvertently recorded at a slow speed, which increased the singers' pitch
when played at 78 rpm. Throughout his career, Crosby often credited Bailey for getting him his first
important job in the entertainment business.[38]
The Rhythm Boys
Success with Whiteman was followed by disaster when they reached New York. Whiteman considered
letting them go. However, the addition of pianist and aspiring songwriter Harry Barris made the difference,
and The Rhythm Boys were born. The additional voice meant they could be heard more easily in large
New York theaters. Crosby gained valuable experience on tour for a year with Whiteman and performing
and recording with Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, and
Hoagy Carmichael. He matured as a performer and was in demand as a solo singer.[39]
Crosby became the star attraction of the Rhythm Boys. In 1928 he had his first number one hit, a jazz-
influenced rendition of "Ol' Man River". In 1929, the Rhythm Boys appeared in the film King of Jazz with
Whiteman, but Crosby's growing dissatisfaction with Whiteman led to the Rhythm Boys leaving his
organization. They joined the Gus Arnheim Orchestra, performing nightly in the Coconut Grove of the
Ambassador Hotel. Singing with the Arnheim Orchestra, Crosby's solos began to steal the show while the
Rhythm Boys' act gradually became redundant. Harry Barris wrote several of Crosby's hits, including "At
Your Command", "I Surrender Dear", and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams". When Mack Sennett signed
Crosby to a solo recording contract in 1931, a break with the Rhythm Boys became almost inevitable.
Crosby married Dixie Lee in September 1930. After a threat of divorce in March 1931, he applied himself
to his career.
Success as a solo singer
On September 2, 1931, Crosby made his nationwide solo radio debut.[40]

Before the end of the year, he signed with both Brunswick and CBS
Radio. Doing a weekly 15-minute radio broadcast, Crosby became a
hit.[41] "Out of Nowhere", "Just One More Chance", "At Your
Command" and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent
Store)" were among the best selling songs of 1931.[41]
Ten of the top 50 songs of 1931 included Crosby with others or as a solo
act. A "Battle of the Baritones" with singer Russ Columbo proved short-
lived, replaced with the slogan "Bing Was King". Crosby played the lead
in a series of musical comedy short films for Mack Sennett, signed with
Paramount, and starred in his first full-length film 1932's The Big
Crosby in 1932
Broadcast (1932), the first of 55 films in which he received top billing. He
would appear in 79 pictures. He signed a contract with Jack Kapp's new
record company, Decca, in late 1934.
His first commercial sponsor on radio was Cremo Cigars and his fame spread nationwide. After a long run
in New York, he went back to Hollywood to film The Big Broadcast. His appearances, records, and radio
work substantially increased his impact. The success of his first film brought him a contract with
Paramount, and he began a pattern of making three films a year. He led his radio show for Woodbury Soap
for two seasons while his live appearances dwindled. His records produced hits during the Depression
when sales were down. Audio engineer Steve Hoffman stated,
By the way, Bing actually saved the record business in 1934 when he agreed to support Decca
founder Jack Kapp's crazy idea of lowering the price of singles from a dollar to 35 cents and
getting a royalty for records sold instead of a flat fee. Bing's name and his artistry saved the
recording industry. All the other artists signed to Decca after Bing did. Without him, Jack
Kapp wouldn't have had a chance in hell of making Decca work and the Great Depression
would have wiped out phonograph records for good.[42]
His social life was frantic. His first son Gary was born in 1933 with twin boys following in 1934. By 1936,
he replaced his former boss, Paul Whiteman, as host of the weekly NBC radio program Kraft Music Hall,
where he remained for the next ten years. "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)", with
his trademark whistling, became his theme song and signature tune.
Crosby's vocal style helped take popular singing beyond the "belting"
associated with Al Jolson and Billy Murray, who had been obligated to
reach the back seats in New York theaters without the aid of the
microphone. As music critic Henry Pleasants noted in The Great American
Popular Singers, something new had entered American music, a style that
might be called "singing in American" with conversational ease. This new
sound led to the popular epithet crooner.
Crosby admired Louis Armstrong for his musical ability, and the trumpet
maestro was a formative influence on Crosby's singing style. When the
two met, they became friends. In 1936, Crosby exercised an option in his
Paramount contract to regularly star in an out-of-house film. Signing an
agreement with Columbia for a single motion picture, Crosby wanted
Armstrong to appear in a screen adaptation of The Peacock Feather that
eventually became Pennies from Heaven. Crosby asked Harry Cohn, but
Cohn had no desire to pay for the flight or to meet Armstrong's "crude,
mob-linked but devoted manager, Joe Glaser". Crosby threatened to leave
the film and refused to discuss the matter. Cohn gave in; Armstrong's
musical scenes and comic dialogue extended his influence to the silver
screen, creating more opportunities for him and other African Americans
Crosby in 1931 to appear in future films. Crosby also ensured behind the scenes that
Armstrong received equal billing with his white co-stars. Armstrong
appreciated Crosby's progressive attitudes on race, and often expressed
gratitude for the role in later years.[43]
During World War II, Crosby made live appearances before American troops who had been fighting in the
European Theater. He learned how to pronounce German from written scripts and read propaganda
broadcasts intended for German forces. The nickname "Der Bingle" was common among Crosby's
German listeners and came to be used by his English-speaking fans. In a poll of U.S. troops at the close of
World War II, Crosby topped the list as the person who had done the most for G.I. morale, ahead of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Dwight Eisenhower, and Bob Hope.
The June 18, 1945 issue of Life magazine stated, "America's number one star, Bing Crosby, has won more
fans, made more money than any entertainer in history. Today he is a kind of national institution."[44] "In
all, 60,000,000 Crosby discs have been marketed since he made his first record in 1931. His biggest best
seller is "White Christmas" 2,000,000 impressions of which have been sold in the U.S. and 250,000 in
Great Britain."[44] "Nine out of ten singers and bandleaders listen to Crosby's broadcasts each Thursday
night and follow his lead. The day after he sings a song over the air – any song – some 50,000 copies of it
are sold throughout the U.S. Time and again Crosby has taken some new or unknown ballad, has given it
what is known in trade circles as the 'big goose' and made it a hit single-handed and overnight... Precisely
what the future holds for Crosby neither his family nor his friends can conjecture. He has achieved greater
popularity, made more money, attracted vaster audiences than any other entertainer in history. And his star
is still in the ascendant. His contract with Decca runs until 1955. His contract with Paramount runs until
1954. Records which he made ten years ago are selling better than ever before. The nation's appetite for
Crosby's voice and personality appears insatiable. To soldiers overseas and to foreigners he has become a
kind of symbol of America, of the amiable, humorous citizen of a free land. Crosby, however, seldom
bothers to contemplate his future. For one thing, he enjoys hearing himself sing, and if ever a day should
dawn when the public wearies of him, he will complacently go right on singing—to himself."[44][45]
White Christmas
The biggest hit song of Crosby's career was his recording of Irving
Berlin's "White Christmas", which he introduced on a Christmas
Day radio broadcast in 1941. A copy of the recording from the
radio program is owned by the estate of Bing Crosby and was
loaned to CBS Sunday Morning for their December 25, 2011,
program. The song appeared in his film Holiday Inn (1942). His
record hit the charts on October 3, 1942, and rose to No. 1 on
October 31, where it stayed for 11 weeks. A holiday perennial, the White Christmas (1954)
song was repeatedly re-released by Decca, charting another sixteen
times. It topped the charts again in 1945 and a third time in January
1947. The song remains the bestselling single of all time.[41] According to Guinness World Records, his
recording of "White Christmas", has sold over 50 million copies around the world.[46] His recording was
so popular that he was obliged to re-record it in 1947 using the same musicians and backup singers; the
original 1942 master had become damaged due to its frequent use in pressing additional singles. In 1977,
after Crosby died, the song was re-released and reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart.[47] Crosby was
dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it
successfully".[48]
Motion pictures
In the wake of a solid decade of headlining mainly smash hit

musical comedy films in the 1930s, Crosby starred with Bob Hope
and Dorothy Lamour in six of the seven Road to musical comedies
between 1940 and 1962 (Lamour was replaced with Joan Collins
in The Road to Hong Kong and limited to a lengthy cameo),
cementing Crosby and Hope as an on-and-off duo, despite never
declaring themselves a "team" in the sense that Laurel and Hardy
or Martin and Lewis (Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis) were teams.
The series consists of Road to Singapore (1940), Road to Zanzibar
(1941), Road to Morocco (1942), Road to Utopia (1946), Road to
Rio (1947), Road to Bali (1952), and The Road to Hong Kong
(1962). When they appeared solo, Crosby and Hope frequently
made note of the other in a comically insulting fashion. They
performed together countless times on stage, radio, film, and
television, and made numerous brief and not so brief appearances
Bob Hope, Marquita Rivera and Bing together in movies aside from the "Road" pictures, Variety Girl
Crosby in 1947 (1947) being an example of lengthy scenes and songs together
along with billing.
In the 1949 Disney animated film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Crosby provided the narration
and song vocals for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow segment. In 1960, he starred in High Time, a collegiate
comedy with Fabian Forte and Tuesday Weld that predicted the emerging gap between him and the new
young generation of musicians and actors who had begun their careers after World War II. The following
year, Crosby and Hope reunited for one more Road movie, The Road to Hong Kong, which teamed them
up with the much younger Joan Collins and Peter Sellers. Collins was used in place of their longtime
partner Dorothy Lamour, whom Crosby felt was getting too old for the role, though Hope refused to do the
film without her, and she instead made a lengthy and elaborate cameo appearance.[41] Shortly before his
death in 1977, he had planned another Road film in which he, Hope, and Lamour search for the Fountain
of Youth.
He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way in 1944 and was nominated for the 1945
sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. He received critical acclaim for his performance as an alcoholic entertainer
in The Country Girl and received his third Academy Award nomination.[49]
Television
The Fireside Theater (1950) was his first television production.

The series of 26-minute shows was filmed at Hal Roach Studios
rather than performed live on the air. The "telefilms" were
syndicated to individual television stations. He was a frequent
guest on the musical variety shows of the 1950s and 1960s,
appearing on various variety shows as well as numerous late-night
talk shows and his own highly rated specials. Bob Hope
memorably devoted one of his monthly NBC specials to his long
intermittent partnership with Crosby titled "On the Road With Crosby and his family in a Christmas
Bing". Crosby was associated with ABC's The Hollywood Palace special, 1974
as the show's first and most frequent guest host and appeared
annually on its Christmas edition with his wife Kathryn and his
younger children, and continued after The Hollywood Palace was eventually canceled. In the early 1970s,
he made two late appearances on the Flip Wilson Show, singing duets with the comedian. His last TV
appearance was a Christmas special, Merrie Olde Christmas, taped in London in September 1977 and aired
weeks after his death.[50] It was on this special that he recorded a duet of "The Little Drummer Boy" and
"Peace on Earth" with rock musician David Bowie. Their duet was released in 1982 as a single 45-rpm
record and reached No. 3 in the UK singles charts.[47] It has since become a staple of holiday radio and the
final popular hit of Crosby's career. At the end of the 20th century, TV Guide listed the Crosby-Bowie duet
one of the 25 most memorable musical moments of 20th-century television.
Bing Crosby Productions, affiliated with Desilu Studios and later CBS Television Studios, produced a
number of television series, including Crosby's own unsuccessful ABC sitcom The Bing Crosby Show in
the 1964–1965 season (with co-stars Beverly Garland and Frank McHugh). The company produced two
ABC medical dramas, Ben Casey (1961–1966) and Breaking Point (1963–1964), the popular Hogan's
Heroes (1965–1971) military comedy on CBS, as well as the lesser-known show Slattery's People (1964–
1965).
Singing style and vocal characteristics

Crosby was one of the first singers to exploit the intimacy of the
microphone rather than use the deep, loud vaudeville style associated with
Al Jolson.[51] He was, by his own definition, a "phraser", a singer who
placed equal emphasis on both the lyrics and the music.[52] Paul
Whiteman's hiring of Crosby, with phrasing that echoed jazz, particularly
his bandmate Bix Beiderbecke's trumpet, helped bring the genre to a wider
audience.[51] In the framework of the novelty-singing style of the Rhythm
Boys, he bent notes and added off-tune phrasing, an approach that was
rooted in jazz.[53] He had already been introduced to Louis Armstrong and
Bessie Smith before his first appearance on record. Crosby and Armstrong
remained warm acquaintances for decades, occasionally singing together
Crosby in the 1930s in later years, e.g. "Now You Has Jazz" in the film High Society (1956).
During the early portion of his solo career (about 1931–1934), Crosby's emotional, often pleading style of
crooning was popular. But Jack Kapp, manager of Brunswick and later Decca, talked him into dropping
many of his jazzier mannerisms in favor of a clear vocal style. Crosby credited Kapp for choosing hit
songs, working with many other musicians, and most important, diversifying his repertoire into several
styles and genres. Kapp helped Crosby have number one hits in Christmas music, Hawaiian music, and
country music, and top-thirty hits in Irish music, French music, rhythm and blues, and ballads.[5][54]
Crosby elaborated on an idea of Al Jolson's: phrasing, or the art of making a song's lyric ring true. "I used
to tell Sinatra over and over," said Tommy Dorsey, "there's only one singer you ought to listen to and his
name is Crosby. All that matters to him is the words, and that's the only thing that ought to for you, too."[55]
Critic Henry Pleasants wrote:
[While] the octave B flat to B flat in Bing's voice at that time [1930s] is, to my ears, one of the
loveliest I have heard in forty-five years of listening to baritones, both classical and popular, it
dropped conspicuously in later years. From the mid-1950s, Bing was more comfortable in a
bass range while maintaining a baritone quality, with the best octave being G to G, or even F
to F. In a recording he made of 'Dardanella' with Louis Armstrong in 1960, he attacks lightly
and easily on a low E flat. This is lower than most opera basses care to venture, and they tend
to sound as if they were in the cellar when they get there.[56]
Career achievements
Crosby's was among the most popular and successful musical acts of the 20th century. Billboard magazine
used different methodologies during his career. But his chart success remains impressive: 396 chart singles,
including roughly 41 No. 1 hits. Crosby had separate charting singles every year between 1931 and 1954;
the annual re-release of "White Christmas" extended that streak to 1957. He had 24 separate popular
singles in 1939 alone. Statistician Joel Whitburn at Billboard determined that Crosby was America's most
successful recording act of the 1930s and again in the 1940s.[57] In 1960 Crosby was honored as "First
Citzen of Record Industry" based on having sold 200 million discs.[58] According to different sources He
sold 500 million or even 1 billion worldwide.[59][60][61][62] The single "White Christmas" sold over 50
million copies according to Guinness World Records.[1]: 8
For fifteen years (1934, 1937, 1940, 1943–1954), Crosby was among the top ten acts in box-office sales,
and for five of those years (1944–1948) he topped the world.[41] He sang four Academy Award-winning
songs – "Sweet Leilani" (1937), "White Christmas" (1942), "Swinging on a Star" (1944), "In the Cool,
Cool, Cool of the Evening" (1951) – and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Going My
Way (1944).
A survey in 2000 found that with 1,077,900,000 movie tickets sold, Crosby was the third most popular
actor of all time, behind Clark Gable (1,168,300,000) and John Wayne (1,114,000,000).[63] The
International Motion Picture Almanac lists him in a tie for second-most years at number one on the All
Time Number One Stars List with Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, and Burt Reynolds.[64] His most popular
film, White Christmas, grossed $30 million in 1954 ($289 million in current value).[65]
He received 23 gold and platinum records, according to the book Million Selling Records. The Recording
Industry Association of America did not institute its gold record certification program until 1958 when
Crosby's record sales were low. Before 1958, gold records were awarded by record companies.[66] Crosby
charted 23 Billboard hits from 47 recorded songs with the Andrews Sisters, whose Decca record sales were
second only to Crosby's throughout the 1940s. They were his most frequent collaborators on disc from
1939 to 1952, a partnership that produced four million-selling singles: "Pistol Packin' Mama", "Jingle
Bells", "Don't Fence Me In", and "South America, Take it Away". They made one film appearance
together in Road to Rio singing "You Don't Have to Know the Language", and sang together on radio
throughout the 1940s and 1950s. They appeared as guests on each other's shows and on Armed Forces
Radio Service during and after World War II. The quartet's Top-10 Billboard hits from 1943 to 1945
include "The Vict'ry Polka", "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin (When the Yanks Go Marching
In)", and "Is You Is or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby?)" and helped morale of the American public.[67]
In 1962, Crosby was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been inducted into the halls
of fame for both radio and popular music. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame and in
2008 the Western Music Hall of Fame.[68]
Popularity and influence

Crosby's popularity around the world was such that in an
interview with Dorothy Masuka, the best-selling African
recording artist in Africa, she stated "Only Bing Crosby the
famous American crooner sold more records than me in
Africa." His great popularity throughout Africa led other
African singers to emulate him, including Dolly Rathebe,
Masuka, and Míriam Makeba, known locally as "The Bing
Crosby of Africa" though she is female.[69]
Crosby in 1945
Presenter Mike Douglas commented in a 1975 interview,
"During my days in the navy in World War II, I remember
walking the streets of Calcutta, India, on the coast, it was a lonely night, so far from my home and from my
new wife, Gen. I needed something to lift my spirits. As I passed a Hindu sitting on the corner of a street, I
heard something surprisingly familiar, I came back to see the man playing one of those old Vitrolas, like
those of RCA with the horn speaker, the man was listening to Bing Crosby sing "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The
Positive". I stopped and smiled in grateful acknowledgment. The Hindu nodded and smiled back. The
whole world knew and loved Bing Crosby."[70] His popularity in India led many Hindu singers to imitate
and emulate him, notably Kishore Kumar, considered the "Bing Crosby of India".[71]
Entrepreneurship
According to Shoshana Klebanoff, Crosby became one of the richest men in the history of show business.
He had investments in real estate, mines, oil wells, cattle ranches, race horses, music publishing, baseball
teams, and television. He made a fortune from the Minute Maid Orange Juice Corporation, in which he was
a principal stockholder.[72]
Role in early tape recording
During the Golden Age of Radio, performers had to create their shows live, sometimes even redoing the
program a second time for the West Coast time zone. Crosby had to do two live radio shows on the same
day, three hours apart, for the East and West Coasts.[73] Crosby's radio career took a significant turn in
1945, when he clashed with NBC over his insistence that he be allowed to pre-record his radio shows.
(The live production of radio shows was also reinforced by the musicians' union and ASCAP, which
wanted to ensure continued work for their members.) In On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio,
John Dunning wrote about German engineers having developed a tape recorder with a near-professional
broadcast quality standard:
[Crosby saw] an enormous advantage in prerecording
his radio shows. The scheduling could now be done
at the star's convenience. He could do four shows a
week, if he chose, and then take a month off. But the
networks and sponsors were adamantly opposed. The
public wouldn't stand for 'canned' radio, the networks
argued. There was something magic for listeners in
the fact that what they were hearing was being
performed and heard everywhere, at that precise
instant. Some of the best moments in comedy came
when a line was blown and the star had to rely on wit
to rescue a bad situation. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Phil
Harris, and also Crosby were masters at this, and the
networks weren't about to give it up easily.
Crosby in 1943
Crosby's insistence eventually factored into the further
development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio
industry's widespread adoption of it.[74][75][76] He used his clout,
both professional and financial, for innovations in audio. But NBC and CBS refused to broadcast
prerecorded radio programs. Crosby left the network and remained off the air for seven months, creating a
legal battle with his sponsor Kraft that was settled out of court. He returned to broadcasting for the last 13
weeks of the 1945–1946 season.
The Mutual network, on the other hand, pre-recorded some of its programs as early as 1938 for The
Shadow with Orson Welles. ABC was formed from the sale of the NBC Blue Network in 1943 after a
federal antitrust suit and was willing to join Mutual in breaking the tradition. ABC offered Crosby $30,000
per week to produce a recorded show every Wednesday that would be sponsored by Philco. He would get
an additional $40,000 from 400 independent stations for the rights to broadcast the 30-minute show, which
was sent to them every Monday on three 16-inch (40-cm) lacquer discs that played ten minutes per side at
33 13 rpm.
Murdo MacKenzie of Bing Crosby Enterprises had seen a

demonstration of the German Magnetophon in June 1947—the
same device that Jack Mullin had brought back from Radio
Frankfurt with 50 reels of tape, at the end of the war. It was one of
the magnetic tape recorders that BASF and AEG had built in
Germany starting in 1935. The 6.5mm ferric-oxide-coated tape
could record 20 minutes per reel of high-quality sound. Alexander
M. Poniatoff ordered Ampex, which he founded in 1944, to
manufacture an improved version of the Magnetophone.
With Perry Como and Arthur Godfrey Crosby hired Mullin to start recording his Philco Radio Time show
in 1950 on his German-made machine in August 1947 using the same
50 reels of I.G. Farben magnetic tape that Mullin had found at a
radio station at Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt while working for the
U.S. Army Signal Corps. The advantage was editing. As Crosby wrote in his autobiography:
By using tape, I could do a thirty-five or forty-minute show, then edit it down to the twenty-six
or twenty-seven minutes the program ran. In that way, we could take out jokes, gags, or
situations that didn't play well and finish with only the prime meat of the show; the solid stuff
that played big. We could also take out the songs that didn't sound good. It gave us a chance to
first try a recording of the songs in the afternoon without an audience, then another one in front
of a studio audience. We'd dub the one that came off best into the final transcription. It gave us
a chance to ad-lib as much as we wanted, knowing that excess ad-libbing could be sliced from
the final product. If I made a mistake in singing a song or in the script, I could have some fun
with it, then retain any of the fun that sounded amusing.
Mullin's 1976 memoir of these early days of experimental recording agrees with Crosby's account:
In the evening, Crosby did the whole show before an audience. If he muffed a song then, the
audience loved it—thought it was very funny—but we would have to take out the show
version and put in one of the rehearsal takes. Sometimes, if Crosby was having fun with a
song and not really working at it, we had to make it up out of two or three parts. This ad-lib
way of working is commonplace in the recording studios today, but it was all new to us.
Crosby invested US$50,000 in Ampex with the intent to produce more machines.[77] In 1948, the second
season of Philco shows was recorded with the Ampex Model 200A and Scotch 111 tape from 3M.[73]
Mullin explained how one new broadcasting technique was invented on the Crosby show with these
machines:
One time Bob Burns, the hillbilly comic, was on the show, and he threw in a few of his folksy
farm stories, which of course were not in Bill Morrow's script. Today they wouldn't seem very
off-color, but things were different on radio then. They got enormous laughs, which just went
on and on. We couldn't use the jokes, but Bill asked us to save the laughs. A couple of weeks
later he had a show that wasn't very funny, and he insisted that we put in the salvaged laughs.
Thus the laugh-track was born.
Crosby started the tape recorder revolution in America. In his 1950 film Mr. Music, he is seen singing into
an Ampex tape recorder that reproduced his voice better than anything else. Also quick to adopt tape
recording was his friend Bob Hope. He gave one of the first Ampex Model 300 recorders to his friend,
guitarist Les Paul, which led to Paul's invention of multitrack recording. His organization, the Crosby
Research Foundation, held tape recording patents and developed equipment and recording techniques such
as the laugh track that are still in use today.[77]
With Frank Sinatra, Crosby was one of the principal backers for the United Western Recorders studio
complex in Los Angeles.[78]
Videotape development
Mullin continued to work for Crosby to develop a videotape recorder (VTR). Television production was
mostly live television in its early years, but Crosby wanted the same ability to record that he had achieved
in radio. The Fireside Theater (1950) sponsored by Procter & Gamble, was his first television production.
Mullin had not yet succeeded with videotape, so Crosby filmed the series of 26-minute shows at the Hal
Roach Studios, and the "telefilms" were syndicated to individual television stations.
Crosby continued to finance the development of videotape. Bing Crosby Enterprises gave the world's first
demonstration of videotape recording in Los Angeles on November 11, 1951. Developed by John T.
Mullin and Wayne R. Johnson since 1950, the device aired what were described as "blurred and indistinct"
images, using a modified Ampex 200 tape recorder and standard quarter-inch (6.3 mm) audio tape moving
at 360 inches (9.1 m) per second.[79]
Television station ownership
A Crosby-led group purchased station KCOP-TV, in Los Angeles, California, in 1954.[80] NAFI
Corporation and Crosby purchased television station KPTV in Portland, Oregon, for $4 million on
September 1, 1959.[81] In 1960, NAFI purchased KCOP from Crosby's group.[80] In the early 1950s,
Crosby helped establish the CBS television affiliate in his hometown of Spokane, Washington. He
partnered with Ed Craney, who owned the CBS radio affiliate KXLY (AM) and built a television studio
west of Crosby's alma mater, Gonzaga University. After it began broadcasting, the station was sold within a
year to Northern Pacific Radio and Television Corporation.[82]
Thoroughbred horse racing
Crosby was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing and bought his first racehorse in 1935. In 1937, he became
a founding partner of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and a member of its board of directors.[83][84]
Operating from the Del Mar Racetrack at Del Mar, California, the group included millionaire businessman
Charles S. Howard, who owned a successful racing stable that included Seabiscuit.[83] Charles' son,
Lindsay C. Howard, became one of Crosby's closest friends; Crosby named his son Lindsay after him, and
would purchase his 40-room Hillsborough, California estate from Lindsay in 1965.
Crosby and Lindsay Howard formed Binglin Stable to race and breed thoroughbred horses at a ranch in
Moorpark in Ventura County, California.[83] They also established the Binglin stock farm in Argentina,
where they raced horses at Hipódromo de Palermo in Palermo, Buenos Aires. A number of Argentine-bred
horses were purchased and shipped to race in the United States. On August 12, 1938, the Del Mar
Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race won by Charles S. Howard's Seabiscuit
over Binglin's horse Ligaroti.[84] In 1943, Binglin's horse Don Bingo won the Suburban Handicap at
Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
The Binglin Stable partnership came to an end in 1953 as a result of a liquidation of assets by Crosby, who
needed to raise enough funds to pay the hefty federal and state inheritance taxes on his deceased wife's
estate.[85] The Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack is named in his honor.
Sports
Crosby had an interest in sports. In the 1930s, his friend and former college classmate, Gonzaga head coach
Mike Pecarovich appointed Crosby as an assistant football coach.[86] From 1946 until his death, he owned
a 25% share of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he was passionate about the team, he was too nervous to
watch the deciding Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, choosing to go to Paris with Kathryn and listen to its
radio broadcast. Crosby had arranged for Ampex, another of his financial investments, to record the NBC
telecast on kinescope. The game was one of the most famous in baseball history, capped off by Bill
Mazeroski's walk-off home run that won the game for Pittsburgh. He apparently viewed the complete film
just once, and then stored it in his wine cellar, where it remained undisturbed until it was discovered in
December 2009.[87][88] The restored broadcast was shown on MLB Network in December 2010.
Crosby was also an avid golfer, and in 1978, he and Bob Hope were voted the Bob Jones Award, the
highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship.
He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1978.[89] In 1937, Crosby hosted
the first 'Crosby Clambake' as it was popularly known, at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe,
California, the event's location prior to World War II. Sam Snead won the first tournament, in which the
first place check was for $500. After the war, the event resumed play in 1947 on golf courses in Pebble
Beach, where it has been played ever since. Now the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, it has been a leading
event in the world of professional golf. In 1950, he became the third person to win the William D.
Richardson award, which is given to a non-professional golfer "who has consistently made an outstanding
contribution to golf".[90]
Crosby first took up golf at 12 as a caddy, dropped it, and started again in 1930 with some fellow cast
members in Hollywood during the filming of The King of Jazz. Crosby was accomplished at the sport, with
a two handicap. He competed in both the British and U.S. Amateur championships, was a five-time club
champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood, and once made a hole-in-one on the 16th at Cypress Point.
Crosby was a keen fisherman especially in his younger days but it was a pastime that he enjoyed
throughout his life. In the summer of 1966 he spent a week as the guest of Lord Egremont, staying in
Cockermouth and fishing on the River Derwent. His trip was filmed for The American Sportsman on
ABC, although all did not go well at first as the salmon were not running. He did make up for it at the end
of the week by catching a number of sea trout.[91]
Personal life
Crosby was married twice. His first wife was actress and nightclub
singer Dixie Lee to whom he was married from 1930 until her
death from ovarian cancer in 1952. They had four sons: Gary,
twins Dennis and Phillip, and Lindsay. Smash-Up: The Story of a
Woman (1947) is based on Lee's life. The Crosby family lived at
10500 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood for more than five
years.[92] After his wife died, Crosby had relationships with model
Pat Sheehan (who married his son Dennis in 1958) and actresses
Inger Stevens and Grace Kelly before marrying actress Kathryn
Grant, who converted to Catholicism, in 1957.[93] They had three
children: Harry Lillis III (who played Bill in Friday the 13th),
Mary (best known for portraying Kristin Shepard on TV's Dallas), Crosby's sons from his first
and Nathaniel (the 1981 U.S. Amateur champion in golf).[94] marriage. From left: The four Crosby
brothers – Dennis, Gary, Lindsay and
Crosby had numerous affairs with other women.[95][96] Actress Phillip in 1959.
Patricia Neal stated in her 1988 autobiography As I Am that
Crosby's Blue Skies co-star Joan Caulfield was in fact one of his
mistresses and that she and her then-lover Gary Cooper shared a ship with Crosby and Caulfield in
1948.[97] In his 1993 book The Secret Life of Bob Hope, Groucho Marx's son Arthur stated that Crosby
and Hope would trade girlfriends.[98]
Crosby reportedly had an alcohol problem in his youth, and may have been dismissed from Paul
Whiteman's orchestra because of it, but he later got a handle on his drinking. According to Giddins, Crosby
told his son Gary to stay away from alcohol, adding "It killed your mother" and suggesting he smoke
marijuana instead.[1]: 181 Crosby told Barbara Walters in a 1977 televised interview that he thought
marijuana should be legalized.[99]
In later years, it was revealed that Crosby had ties with figures in the Mafia since his youth.[100][101]
Unlike Frank Sinatra, however, Crosby was less willing to hint at his Mafia ties publicly.[100][101][102] FBI
documents which were made public in December 1999 revealed that FBI deputy director Clyde Tolson
discovered that Crosby liked to gamble at gambling dens which were operating illegally.[100][102] As early
as 1930, Crosby had a gambling addiction which resulted in him at times owing mobsters thousands in
gambling debts.[100][102] In retaliation for not paying his gambling
debts, Crosby received death threats and was forced to ask people,
including Sinatra, for money so he could avoid being
killed.[100][102] The FBI documents also revealed that Jack
"Machine Gun" McGurn, an alleged gunman in the St. Valentine's
Day Massacre, was one of Crosby's golfing partners and that
Crosby was friends with high-profile mobsters such as Bugsy
Siegel and Frank Nitti as well.[102]
Irish Independent journalist George Gordon stated that Crosby

"was so addicted to gambling and golf that he did not care who he
consorted with".[102]
Crosby and his family lived in the San Francisco area for many
years. In 1963, he and his wife Kathryn moved with their 3 young
children from Los Angeles to a $175,000 10-bedroom Tudor estate
in Hillsborough because they didn't want to raise their children in
Hollywood, according to son Nathaniel. This house went up for
sale by its current owners in 2021 for $13.75 million.[103][104] In Bing Crosby and Kathryn Grant in
1965, the Crosbys moved to a larger, 40-room French-chateau 1960
style house on nearby Jackling Drive, where Kathryn Crosby
continued to reside after Bing's death.[105] This house served as a
setting for some of the family's Minute Maid orange juice
television commercials.[103]
After Crosby's death, his eldest son, Gary, wrote a highly critical
memoir, Going My Own Way (1983), depicting his father as cruel,
cold, remote, and physically and psychologically abusive.[106]
We had to keep a close watch on our actions ... When

Bing, Harry and Nathan Crosby
one of us left a sneaker or pair of underpants lying
(1975)
around, he had to tie the offending object on a string
and wear it around his neck until he went off to bed
that night. Dad called it "the Crosby lavalier". At the
time the humor of the name escaped me ...
"Satchel Ass" or "Bucket Butt" or "My Fat-assed

Kid". That's how he introduced me to his cronies
when he dragged me along to the studio or
racetrack ... By the time I was ten or eleven he had
stepped up his campaign by adding lickings to the
regimen. Each Tuesday afternoon he weighed me in,
and if the scale read more than it should have, he
ordered me into his office and had me drop my
trousers ... I dropped my pants, pulled down my
undershorts and bent over. Then he went at it with the
belt dotted with metal studs he kept reserved for the
occasion. Quite dispassionately, without the least
display of emotion or loss of self-control, he whacked
away until he drew the first drop of blood, and then
he stopped. It normally took between twelve and
fifteen strokes. As they came down I counted them off
one by one and hoped I would bleed early ...
When I saw Going My Way I was as moved as they

were by the character he played. Father O'Malley
handled that gang of young hooligans in his parish
with such kindness and wisdom that I thought he was
wonderful too. Instead of coming down hard on the
kids and withdrawing his affection, he forgave them
their misdeeds, took them to the ball game and picture
show, taught them how to sing. By the last reel, the
sheer persistence of his goodness had transformed
even the worst of them into solid citizens. Then the
lights came on and the movie was over. All the way
back to the house I thought about the difference
between the person up there on the screen and the one
I knew at home.[107]
However, Bing Crosby's daughter Mary Crosby said in an interview that Gary Crosby told her the
publishers had encouraged him to exaggerate his claims and he had written the book just for money.[108]
Crosby's younger son Phillip vociferously disputed his brother Gary's claims about their father. Around the
time Gary published his claims, Phillip stated to the press that "Gary is a whining, bitching crybaby,
walking around with a two-by-four on his shoulder and just daring people to nudge it off."[109]
Nevertheless, Phillip did not deny that Crosby believed in corporal punishment.[109] In an interview with
People magazine, Phillip stated that "we never got an extra whack or a cuff we didn't deserve".[109] During
an interview in 1999 by the Globe, Phillip said:
My dad was not the monster my lying brother said he was; he was strict, but my father never
beat us black and blue, and my brother Gary was a vicious, no-good liar for saying so. I have
nothing but fond memories of Dad, going to studios with him, family vacations at our cabin in
Idaho, boating and fishing with him. To my dying day, I'll hate Gary for dragging Dad's name
through the mud. He wrote Going My Own Way out of greed. He wanted to make money and
knew that humiliating our father and blackening his name was the only way he could do it. He
knew it would generate a lot of publicity. That was the only way he could get his ugly, no-
talent face on television and in the newspapers. My dad was my hero. I loved him very much.
He loved all of us too, including Gary. He was a great father.[110]
However, Dennis and Lindsay Crosby confirmed that Bing sometimes subjected his sons to harsh physical
discipline and verbal put-downs. Regarding the writing of Gary's memoir, Lindsay said, "I'm glad [Gary]
did it. I hope it clears up a lot of the old lies and rumors."[109] Unlike Gary, though, Lindsay stated that he
preferred to remember "all the good things I did with my dad and forget the times that were rough".[109]
When the book was published, Dennis distanced himself by calling it "Gary's business" but did not
publicly deny its claims.[109] Bing's younger brother, singer and jazz bandleader Bob Crosby, recalled at
the time of Gary's revelations that Bing was a "disciplinarian", as their mother and father had been. He
added, "We were brought up that way."[109] In an interview for the same article, Gary clarified that Bing
"was like a lot of fathers of that time. He was not out to be vicious, to beat children for his kicks."[109]
Crosby's will established a blind trust in which none of the sons received an inheritance until they reached
the age of 65.[111]
Lindsay Crosby died in 1989 at age 51, and Dennis Crosby died in 1991 at age 56, both by suicide from
self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Gary Crosby died of lung cancer in 1995 at age 62, and Phillip Crosby died
of a heart attack in 2004 at age 69.[112]
Widow Kathryn Crosby dabbled in local theater productions intermittently and appeared in television
tributes to her late husband.
Nathaniel Crosby, Crosby's younger son from his second marriage, is a former high-level golfer who won
the U.S. Amateur in 1981 at age 19, becoming the youngest winner in the history of that event at the time.
Harry Crosby is an investment banker who occasionally makes singing appearances.
Denise Crosby, Dennis Crosby's daughter, is also an actress and is known for her role as Tasha Yar on Star
Trek: The Next Generation and for the recurring role of the Romulan Sela after her withdrawal from the
series as a regular cast member. She also appeared in the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel Pet
Sematary.
In 2006, Crosby's niece through his sister Mary Rose, Carolyn Schneider, published the laudatory book Me
and Uncle Bing.
There have been disputes between Crosby's two families beginning in the late 1990s. When Dixie died in
1952, her will provided that her share of the community property be distributed in trust to her sons. After
Crosby's death in 1977, he left the residue of his estate to a marital trust for the benefit of his widow,
Kathryn, and HLC Properties, Ltd., was formed for the purpose of managing his interests, including his
right of publicity. In 1996, Dixie's trust sued HLC and Kathryn for declaratory relief as to the trust's
entitlement to interest, dividends, royalties, and other income derived from the community property of
Crosby and Dixie. In 1999, the parties settled for approximately $1.5 million. Relying on a retroactive
amendment to the California Civil Code, Dixie's trust brought suit again, in 2010, alleging that Crosby's
right of publicity was community property, and that Dixie's trust was entitled to a share of the revenue it
produced. The trial court granted Dixie's trust's claim. The California Court of Appeal reversed, however,
holding that the 1999 settlement barred the claim. In light of the court's ruling, it was unnecessary for the
court to decide whether a right of publicity can be characterized as community property under California
law.[113]
Illness and death

Following his recovery from a life-threatening fungal infection of
his right lung in January 1974, Crosby emerged from semi-
retirement to start a new spate of albums and concerts. In March
1977, after videotaping a concert at the Ambassador Auditorium in
Pasadena for CBS to commemorate his 50th anniversary in show
business, and with Bob Hope looking on, Crosby fell off the stage
into an orchestra pit, rupturing a disc in his back requiring a month
in the hospital.[114] His first performance after the accident was his
Commemorative plaque in the
last American concert, on August 16, 1977 at the Concord
Brighton Centre foyer
Pavilion in Concord, California. When the electric power failed
during his performance, he continued singing without
amplification.[115]
In September, Crosby, his family and singer Rosemary Clooney began a concert tour of Britain that
included two weeks at the London Palladium. While in the UK, Crosby recorded his final album, Seasons,
and his final TV Christmas special with guest David Bowie on September 11 (which aired a little over a
month after Crosby's death). His last concert was in the Brighton Centre on October 10, four days before
his death, with British entertainer Gracie Fields in attendance. The following day he made his final
appearance in a recording studio and sang eight songs at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios for a radio
program, which also included an interview with Alan Dell.[116] Accompanied by the Gordon Rose
Orchestra, Crosby's last recorded performance was of the song "Once in a While". Later that afternoon, he
met with Chris Harding to take photographs for the Seasons album jacket.[116]
On October 13, 1977, Crosby flew alone to Spain to play golf and
hunt partridge.[117] On October 14, at the La Moraleja Golf
Course near Madrid, Crosby played 18 holes of golf. His partner
was World Cup champion Manuel Piñero; their opponents were
club president César de Zulueta and Valentín Barrios.[117]
According to Barrios, Crosby was in good spirits throughout the
day, and was photographed several times during the
round.[117][118] At the ninth hole, construction workers building a
house nearby recognized him, and when asked for a song, Crosby
sang "Strangers in the Night".[117] Crosby, who had a 13 Crosby's grave at Holy Cross
handicap, lost to his partner by one stroke.[117] At about 6:30 pm, Cemetery in Culver City, California
as Crosby and his party headed back to the clubhouse, Crosby (incorrect birth year)
said, "That was a great game of golf, fellas. Let’s go have a Coca-
Cola." Those were his last words.[117][119] About 20 yards from
the clubhouse entrance, Crosby collapsed and died instantly from a massive heart attack.[120] At the
clubhouse and later in the ambulance, house physician Dr. Laiseca tried to revive him, but was
unsuccessful. At Reina Victoria Hospital he was administered the last rites of the Catholic Church and was
pronounced dead.[117] On October 18, following a private funeral Mass at St. Paul's Catholic Church in
Westwood,[121] Crosby was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California;[122] his tombstone
incorrectly identified his year of birth as 1904 instead of 1903. A plaque was placed at the golf course in his
memory.
Legacy
He is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall
of Fame in the radio division.[123]
The family created an official website[124] on October 14, 2007,

the 30th anniversary of Crosby's death.
In his autobiography Don't Shoot, It's Only Me! (1990), Bob Hope
wrote, "Dear old Bing. As we called him, the Economy-sized
Sinatra. And what a voice. God I miss that voice. I can't even turn
on the radio around Christmas time without crying anymore."[125]
Calypso musician Roaring Lion wrote a tribute song in 1939 titled One of three stars on the Hollywood
"Bing Crosby", in which he wrote: "Bing has a way of singing Walk of Fame at 6769 Hollywood
with his very heart and soul / Which captivates the world / His Blvd.
millions of listeners never fail to rejoice / At his golden voice ..."[1]
Bing Crosby Stadium in Front Royal, Virginia, was named after Crosby in honor of his fundraising and
cash contributions for its construction from 1948 to 1950.[126]
In 2006, the former Metropolitan Theater of Performing Arts ('The Met') in Spokane, Washington, was
renamed to The Bing Crosby Theater.[127]
Bing Crosby was among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal
fire.[128]
Compositions
Crosby wrote or co-wrote lyrics to 22 songs. His composition "At Your Command" was no. 1 for three
weeks on the U.S. pop singles chart beginning on August 8, 1931. "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance
With You" was his most successful composition, recorded by Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Thelonious
Monk, Billie Holiday, and Mildred Bailey, among others. Songs co-written by Crosby include:
1. "That's Grandma" (1927), with Harry Barris and James Cavanaugh

2. "From Monday On" (1928), with Harry Barris and recorded with the Paul Whiteman
Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, no. 14 on US pop singles charts
3. "What Price Lyrics?" (1928), with Harry Barris and Matty Malneck
4. "Ev'rything's Agreed Upon" (1930), with Harry Barris[129]
5. "At Your Command" (1931), with Harry Barris and Harry Tobias, US, no. 1 (3 weeks)
6. "Believe Me" (1931), with James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon[129]
7. "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" (1931), with Roy Turk and Fred
Ahlert, US, no. 4; US, 1940 re-recording, no. 27
8. "You Taught Me How to Love" (1931), with H. C. LeBlang and Don Herman[129]
9. "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned
Washington, US, no. 5
10. "My Woman" (1932), with Irving Wallman and Max Wartell
11. "Cutesie Pie" (1932), with Red Standex and Chummy MacGregor[129]
12. "I Was So Alone, Suddenly You Were There (1932), with Leigh Harline, Jack Stern and
George Hamilton[129]
13. "Love Me Tonight" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. 4
14. "Waltzing in a Dream" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no.6
15. "You're Just a Beautiful Melody of Love" (1932), lyrics by Bing Crosby, music by Babe
Goldberg
16. "Where Are You, Girl of My Dreams?"[130] (1932), written by Bing Crosby, Irving Bibo, and
Paul McVey, featured in the 1932 Universal film The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
17. "I Would If I Could But I Can't" (1933), with Mitchell Parish and Alan Grey
18. "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" (1941) with Johnny Burke and James V. Monaco.
19. "Tenderfoot" (1953) with Bob Bowen and Perry Botkin, originally issued using the
pseudonym of "Bill Brill" for Bing Crosby.
20. "Domenica" (1961) with Pietro Garinei / Gorni Kramer / Sandro Giovannini
21. "That's What Life is All About" (1975), with Ken Barnes, Peter Dacre, and Les Reed, US, AC
chart, no. 35; UK, no. 41
22. "Sail Away from Norway" (1977) – Crosby wrote lyrics to go with a traditional song.
Grammy Hall of Fame

Four performances by Bing Crosby have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special
Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have
"qualitative or historical significance".
Bing Crosby: Grammy Hall of Fame[131]

Year Year
Title Genre Label Notes
Recorded Inducted
Traditional Pop
1942 "White Christmas" Decca 1974 With the Ken Darby Singers
(single)
"Swinging on a Traditional Pop With the Williams Brothers
1944 Decca 2002
Star" (single) Quartet
"Pennies from Traditional Pop With the Jimmy Dorsey
1936 Decca 2004
Heaven" (single) Orchestra
"Don't Fence Me Traditional Pop
1944 Decca 1998 With the Andrews Sisters
In" (single)
Filmography
Discography
Television appearances
Radio
15 Minutes with Bing Crosby[132] (1931, CBS), Unsponsored. 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.
The Cremo Singer (1931–1932, CBS),[133] 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.
15 Minutes with Bing Crosby (1932, CBS), initially 3 nights a week, then twice a week, 15
minutes.
Chesterfield Cigarettes Presents Music that Satisfies[134] (1933, CBS), broadcast two nights
a week, 15 minutes.
Bing Crosby Entertains[135] (1933–1935, CBS), weekly, 30 minutes.
Kraft Music Hall[136] (1935–1946, NBC), Thursday nights, 60 minutes until January 1943,
then 30 minutes.
Bing Crosby on Armed Forces Radio in World War II (1941–1945; World War II).[137]
Philco Radio Time[138] (1946–1949, ABC), 30 minutes weekly.
This Is Bing Crosby (The Minute Maid Show) (1948–1950, CBS), 15 minutes each weekday
morning; Bing as disc jockey.
The Bing Crosby – Chesterfield Show[139] (1949–1952, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.
The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric[140] (1952–1954, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.
The Bing Crosby Show (1954–1956)[141] (CBS), 15 minutes, 5 nights a week.
A Christmas Sing with Bing (1955–1962), (CBS, VOA and AFRS), 1 hour each year,
sponsored by the Insurance Company of North America.
The Ford Road Show Featuring Bing Crosby[142] (1957–1958, CBS), 5 minutes, 5 days a
week.
The Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show[143] (1960–1962, CBS), 20 minutes, 5
mornings a week, with Rosemary Clooney.
RIAA certification
Album RIAA[144]
Merry Christmas (1945) Gold
White Christmas (re-issue of album above) (1995) 4× Platinum
Bing Sings (1977) 2× Platinum
Awards and nominations

Year Award Category/Status Project/Team Result
New York Film Critics Circle
1944 Best Actor Going My Way Won
Awards
1944 Photoplay Awards Most Popular Male Star — Won
1945 Academy Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role Going My Way Won
1946 Academy Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role The Bells of St. Mary's Nominated
1952 Golden Globes Best Motion Picture Actor Here Comes the Groom Nominated
1954 National Board of Review Best Actor The Country Girl Won
1955 Academy Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role The Country Girl Nominated
1958 Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Top Male Star — Nominated
Golden Laurel Top Male
1960 Laurel Awards Say One for Me Nominated
Performance
Golden Globe Cecil B.
1960 Golden Globes — Won
DeMille Award
1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame Radio 6769 Hollywood Blvd. Inducted
1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame Recording 6751 Hollywood Blvd. Inducted
1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame Motion Picture 1611 Vine Street. Inducted
1960 1960 World Series Co-owner Pittsburgh Pirates Won
1962 Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Special Award — Won
Grammy Lifetime
1963 Won
Achievement Award
1970 Peabody Awards Personal Award — Won
1971 1971 World Series Co-owner Pittsburgh Pirates Won
References
Citations
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512224124/http://lakeprovidencegirl.com/finalround.html). Bingang. Club Crosby (Summer
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ps://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/667704/Bing-Crosby-Nathaniel-Crosby-book-18-Holes-
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128. Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were
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0578682822.
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ps://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNTML/browse/?start=0&fq=untl_collection%3AJ
GPC) (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/31611854). Crosby interviewed 1971 July 8 (https://findingaids.library.unt.edu/?p=collectio
ns/findingaid&id=959&q=&rootcontentid=204947).
Grudens, Richard (2002). Bing Crosby: Crooner of the Century (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=Mkz_w-WYiMAC). Celebrity Profiles Publishing Co. ISBN 1-57579-248-6.
Klebanoff, Shoshana. "Crosby, Bing" American National Biography (2000) online (https://do
i.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800262)
Macfarlane, Malcolm (2001). Bing Crosby: Day by Day (http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bing
magazine/1903-1935.htm). Scarecrow Press.
Osterholm, J. Roger. Bing Crosby: A Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1994.
Prigozy, R. & Raubicheck, W., ed. Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture. The
Boydell Press, 2007.
Thomas, Bob (1977). The One and Only Bing (https://archive.org/details/oneonlybing00tho
m). Grosset & Dunlap. ISBN 0-448-14670-3.
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Crosby, Bing. Call Me Lucky (1953)
Crosby, Bing. Bing: The Authorized Biography (1975), written with Charles Thompson.
Further reading
Bookbinder, Robert. The Films of Bing Crosby (Lyle Stuart, 1977)
Giddins, Gary. Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams-The Early Years 1903-1940 (Back Bay
Books, 2009) excerpt (https://www.amazon.com/Bing-Crosby-Pocketful-Dreams-1903-1940/
dp/0316881880/).
Giddins, Gary. Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940-1946 (Little,
Brown, 2018) excerpt (https://www.amazon.com/Bing-Crosby-Swinging-Years-1940-194
6/dp/0316887927/).
Gilbert, Roger. "Beloved and Notorious: A Theory of American Stardom, with Special
Reference to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra." Southwest Review 95.1/2 (2010): 167–184.
online (https://www.jstor.org/stable/43473045)
Morgereth, Timothy A. Bing Crosby: a discography, radio program list, and filmography
(McFarland & Co Inc Pub, 1987).
Pitts, Michael, et al. The Rise of the Crooners: Gene Austin, Russ Columbo, Bing Crosby,
Nick Lucas, Johnny Marvin and Rudy Vallee (Scarecrow Press, 2001).
Prigozy, Ruth, and Walter Raubicheck, eds. Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American
Culture (University of Rochester Press, 2007), essays by scholars.
Richliano, James (2002). Angels We Have Heard: The Christmas Song Stories. Chatham,
New York: Star of Bethlehem Books. ISBN 0-9718810-0-6. Includes a chapter on Crosby's
involvement in the making of "White Christmas" and an interview with record producer Ken
Barnes.
Schofield, Mary Anne. "Marketing Iron Pigs, Patriotism, and Peace: Bing Crosby and World
War II—A Discourse." Journal of Popular Culture 40.5 (2007): 867–881.
Smith, Anthony B. "Entertaining Catholics: Bing Crosby, Religion and Cultural Pluralism in
1940s America." American Catholic Studies (2003) 11#4: 1-19 online (https://www.jstor.org/s
table/44190902).
Teachout, Terry. "The Swinging Star: Why is Bing Crosby forgotten?' Commentary (Nov
2018), Vol. 146 Issue 4, pp 51–54.
Thomas, Nick (2011). Raised by the Stars: Interviews with 29 Children of Hollywood Actors.
McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6403-6. Includes an interview
External links
Bing Crosby (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001078/) at IMDb
Official website (https://bingcrosby.com/)
Bing Crosby (https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/41424/wp) at the TCM Movie Database
BING magazine (a publication of the ICC) (http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/)
Bing Crosby (https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1815/bing-crosby) at Virtual
History
Zoot Radio, free 'Bing Crosby Broadcasts' old time radio show downloads, over 360
episodes (https://zootradio.com/Bing_Crosby_Broadcasts.php)
Bravo, Bing - A Tribute to Bing Crosby (http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/BravoBi
ng.htm)
Bing Crosby recordings (https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/101942/C
rosby_Bing) at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bing_Crosby&oldid=1056022299"
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Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903

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Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903

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Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 –

His early career coincided with recording

Yank magazine said that he was "the person who

He was the fourth of seven children: brothers Laurence Earl "Larry"

The Rhythm Boys

Success as a solo singer

On September 2, 1931, Crosby made his nationwide solo radio debut.[40]

In the wake of a solid decade of headlining mainly smash hit

The Fireside Theater (1950) was his first television production.

Singing style and vocal characteristics

Critic Henry Pleasants wrote:

Popularity and influence

Role in early tape recording

Murdo MacKenzie of Bing Crosby Enterprises had seen a

Television station ownership

Thoroughbred horse racing

Irish Independent journalist George Gordon stated that Crosby

We had to keep a close watch on our actions ... When

"Satchel Ass" or "Bucket Butt" or "My Fat-assed

When I saw Going My Way I was as moved as they

Illness and death

The family created an official website[124] on October 14, 2007,

1. "That's Grandma" (1927), with Harry Barris and James Cavanaugh

Grammy Hall of Fame

Bing Crosby: Grammy Hall of Fame[131]

Awards and nominations

This page was last edited on 19 November 2021, at 07:14 (UTC).

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