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. In the Cool of the Evening, Bings song with Jane Wyman from Here Comes the Groom, wins Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Crosby wrote or co-wrote lyrics to 22 songs. Bob Hope memorably devoted one of his monthly NBC specials to his long intermittent partnership with Crosby titled "On the Road With Bing". BBC commences transmissions of a major 14-part series chronicling Bings life. But it just didnt work because I was very young so I found something more appropriate.Crosby was nominated for best actor as an alcoholic singer in The Country Girl. I asked him if he liked baseball. The film Road to Morocco is also released. June The film Stagecoach is released, marking Bings last starring role in a film. Actually there are a couple of advantages.. His mother absolutely ran their family. We want to get some quail and some very special southern dishes. Jan. 5 Bings fourth son, Lindsay Harry Chip Crosby, is born. Apr. Bing had a long surgery where they had to remove a large tumor the size of a grapefruit which was interesting because it was Nocardia which is half bacteria and half fungus that he probably got in Africa. In fact, I was sent home two weeks early because I wouldnt have been allowed to get on a plane any later. He was afraid. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): You continued your acting career after you and Bing married? Bing Crosby and Bob Hope on the Road to Singapore (1940) film lot, between scenes. I like baseball a lot. I didnt know he owned the Pirates. Feb. Bing and Bob Hope appear on the cover of Life Magazine. I think I wouldve been the worst mother in the world if my kids were not good kids or they werent going to grow up. Kathryn, 77, is recovering from multiple injuries in a single vehicle disaster on US 50 east of Placerville, California , Highway Patrol confirmed. [115], 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 is also arrested for drink driving and is later sentenced to 60 days in jail, but he is released under escort for filming. They tour with Paul Whiteman and get their first hit with Mississippi Mud.. Thats what started the Road shows. Its not heavy. He took one more step and then fell dead. The family created an official website[131] on October 14, 2007, the 30th anniversary of Crosby's death. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): And then came Bing , Kathryn Crosby: I had lots of experiences all this time, and I met Bing Crosby. He has been inducted into the halls of fame for both radio and popular music. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Mrs. Crosby, had Bing been sick, or was his death a surprise? [125][126] At the ninth hole, construction workers building a house nearby recognized him, and when asked for a song, Crosby sang "Strangers in the Night". We heart books. Kathryn Crosby: It was a terrible surprise, but he had, of course, been sick. The public wouldn't stand for 'canned' radio, the networks argued. His contract with Paramount runs until 1954. Crosby continued to finance the development of videotape. We had a wonderful first date. Oct. Its Been a Long, Long Time with Les Paul reaches Number 1. "Bing was born on May 3, 1903. Excerpts can be seen in American Masters Bing Crosby Rediscovered. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1978. [1] He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. They exchanged jokes always. I went into his office, and my agents were there, and his lawyers were there, and I said, How do you do? I took a letter from my purpose. 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. Bing was also a giving donor to the city's Gonzaga University . "Now You Has Jazz" in the film High Society (1956). But NBC and CBS refused to broadcast prerecorded radio programs. Dec. Bing signs new contract with Paramount for nine films in three years for around $175,000 per film. She also appeared in the 1989 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary. In the early 1970s, he made two late appearances on the Flip Wilson Show, singing duets with the comedian. "Entertaining Catholics: Bing Crosby, Religion and Cultural Pluralism in 1940s America. Crosby graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955 and two years later became the second wife of the legendary bass-baritone crooner Bing Crosby, being about thirty years his junior. Life with Crosby was non-stop, travelling with him around the world on a breathless cycle of work and fun, the two often overlapping, including a visit to England to fi lm The Road To Hong Kong (1962). She died of cancer in 1952 at age 40, predeceasing her husband, who died in 1977. This was across the street from Paramount, a little place called Lucys.We only ever had romantic dates. I became aware of someone behind me and he touched his chair to the back of my knee so I flopped down unceremoniously, she says, recalling an unlikely start to a relationship that was to last almost a quarter of a century and touch her for the rest of her days.What made it even more unlikely was that under the warmth of the California sun and after their meeting Crosby, king of stage and screen, ambled back on set to continue filming White Christmas, one of Hollywoods best-loved movies of all time. Known as the first multimedia star, Bill Crosby is a Hollywood legend. While the seven movies in the series provided adventure, laughs, romance and music they also showcased the comic chemistry between Crosby and Bob Hope to perfection. The 6.5mm ferric-oxide-coated tape could record 20 minutes per reel of high-quality sound. The Fireside Theater (1950) sponsored by Procter & Gamble, was his first television production. Today they wouldn't seem very off-color, but things were different on radio then. On the way back he invited me to the Academy Awards. Hope and Crosby initially sat apart. [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. Back Bay Books. Crosby had one confirmed extramarital affair between 1945 and the late 1940s, while married to his first wife Dixie. We lived with them when Bing was doing Road to Hong Kong. We kept meeting each other, and then wed plan to get married, and he would have a kidney stone or something dreadful like that. bing!, as my luckless victim fell clutching his side, I would shout bing! Last year, I did a cabaret in New York out on the island to benefit a school, and I sang several songs. 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. Kathryn Crosby: Actually my sister, who is four years older, and I are changing our birthdays this year to May because in May, the Crosby golf tournament takes place. He was the most comfortable man you could ever know, someone youd like to go fishing with. Whiteman needed something different to break up his musical selections, and Crosby and Rinker filled this requirement. I couldn't believe it when I read the book because it just didn't sound like Gary. The film features the song Swinging on a Star, by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, which reaches Number 1 and wins an Academy Award for Best Song. A graduate of the University of Texas and a student nurse at one point, she found her way into films via the beauty pageant circuit. Then were going down to New Orleans where my granddaughter, Claire, who is studying to be a chef, is interning with chef John Folse at the Sonesta Hotel, and were going to have a birthday dinner there in May. The film Little Boy Lost, shot just before Dixies death, is released. [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. Crosby has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nov. Bing returns to Kraft Music Hall. How old was Bing Crosby when he married Kathryn Grant? He returned to broadcasting for the last 13 weeks of the 19451946 season. They did a very fine surgery on him and repaired all his valves. Kathryn Crosby (born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff; November 25, 1933)[1] is a retired American actress and singer who performed in films under the stage names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff. He attended Gonzaga for three years but did not earn a degree. Apr. May Bing signs a two-year deal with Paramount, which calls for two pictures a year. "[70] His popularity in India led many Hindu singers to imitate and emulate him, notably Kishore Kumar, considered the "Bing Crosby of India". [94], Particularly during the late 1930s and through the 1940s Bing Crosby's domestic life was dominated by his wife's excessive drinking. If I ever felt strongly enough about something to ask him, he always did it. Crosby would marry again after Lee's death, to actress Grant in 1957. "[57], Critic Henry Pleasants wrote in 1985: [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. 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. He had no place to have a valve, so they had to create a place for a valve, and he lived for ten more years. I dont know what Garys problems were, but hed had them from the time he was a little boy. "[109] Nevertheless, Phillip did not deny that Crosby believed in corporal punishment. For the most part, she felt unchallenged as an actress and retired rather uneventfully after marrying Bing Crosby in 1957. As far as I know [Gary] wrote it because it was about himself and what he felt his life was about. The Irving Berlin melodies linger on for Kathryn Crosby, especially those sung by her husband. Born Wilma Wyatt, actress and singer Dixie Crosby married Bing Crosby in 1930. Amateur championships, was a five-time club champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood, and once made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole at Cypress Point. On Oct. 22 Kathryn received one more letter from Bing, begging her to marry him and including his phone number for her response. Bing Crosby married actress Kathryn Grant in 1957 and raised a second family. Since Bing Crosby's death in 1977, she has taken on a few smaller roles and the lead in the short-lived 1996 Broadway musical State Fair. When Dixie died in 1952, her will provided that her share of the community property be distributed in trust to her sons. 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 19641965 season (with co-stars Beverly Garland and Frank McHugh). The Country Girl is released, Bing stars alongside the lovely Grace Kelly. The man was listening to Bing Crosby sing, "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive". I met good friends there. [81] NAFI Corporation and Crosby purchased television station KPTV in Portland, Oregon, for $4 million on September 1, 1959. A holiday perennial, the song was repeatedly re-released by Decca, charting another sixteen times. They made one film appearance together in Road to Rio singing "You Don't Have to Know the Language", and sang together on the radio throughout the 1940s and 1950s. More info. The scheduling could now be done at the star's convenience. There was never even any discussion, and Im very grateful for that. Hed had four kidney stones. In his autobiography Don't Shoot, It's Only Me! All rights reserved. What did Bing Crosby do before the Great Depression? We realized he had to get some very serious examinations in Hillsborough, and we met Dr. Poon there, and he showed us an instrument, which had the blood going back and forth in the heart. One of the reasons Bing and I didnt get married one of the times was that Bing was watching carefully over Lindsay hoping hed get off to college. Bing and Kathy said the magic words on Oct. 24, 1957. 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! Otto and I became very good friends after that. Bing and Kathryn were married October 24, 1957 til his death on October 14, 1977 they had 3 children. Dec. The weather is so good, and were starting to decorate just about now. We heart Celebrities. During the 1940s, Crosby consistently had difficulties trying to stay away from home while also trying to be there as much as possible for his children.[95]. The Bing Crosby Show for Chesterfield premieres on CBS radio. 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. We kept waiting, and I kept working. "[32][33], As it happens, that story was pure whimsy for dramatic effect; the Associated Press had reported as early as February 1932as would later be confirmed by both Bing himself and his biographer Charles Thompsonthat it was in fact a neighborValentine Hobart, circa 1910who had named him "Bingo from Bingville" after a comic feature in the local paper called The Bingville Bugle which the young Harry liked. At issue is Kathryn's seemingly innocuous decision to auction off some of the possessions Bing had accumulated over the years in six homes. Son: Harry Lillis August 8, 1958 The film Rhythm on the River is released. Its a rolling cast that you do. Later that year, according to Kathryn, Bing apologized to Kathryn for his fling with the future princess. It was from my gynecologist, and it said, She will be able to work for five months. I asked Otto Preminger, Is this a problem? Otto said, No. Since Bing Crosby's death in 1977, she has taken on a few smaller roles and the lead in the short-lived 1996 Broadway musical State Fair. I just kept having children.They had three: Mary, who became an actress and found fame as Kristin Shepard, the woman responsible for shooting JR in Dallas; Nathaniel, who became a golfer and won the 1981 US Amateur Championship; and Harry, who appeared in the horror movie Friday The 13th but went on to become an investment banker. The filmThe Star Maker is released. [18] In 1913, his father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. [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]. Throughout his career, Crosby often credited Bailey for getting him his first important job in the entertainment business. bing! In autumn 1977 he was here making his fi nal album Seasons, a Christmas television special that featured his unlikely duet The Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie, and a session for the BBC.There were also concerts, including two weeks at the London Palladium.We sang as a family, with the children and also with Rosemary Clooney, with whom he sang lots of wonderful duets, says Kathryn.We visited friends and then he went off to Spain with pals to shoot some grouse. This ad-lib way of working is commonplace in the recording studios today, but it was all new to us. Nathaniel, Mary and Harry with their parents Kathryn and Bing Crosby. 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. In the over 280 pages of Crosby's FBI files all but one reference to organized crime or gambling dens are content of a few of the many threats that Bing Crosby received throughout his life. 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. Apr. Crosby was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing and bought his first racehorse in 1935. People were there from Paramount, and one big executive producer said, Theyre very good together. [3]:6[9] In 1948, Music Digest estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music in America.[9]. His last TV appearance was a Christmas special, Merrie Olde Christmas, taped in London in September 1977 and aired weeks after his death. Producer Jack Kapp establishes the U.S. branch of Decca Records, Bing follows and, under Kapps advisement, becomes the all-purpose singer. We were in the same boat in more ways than one, but I could not tell her so. A year later, the same kind of thing happened. Dec. Film Exhibitors name Bing the top box office star of the year, the first of five consecutive years. Aug. Harry Lillis Crosby III, Bings first child with Kathryn, is born. June 6 D-Day: The Allies invade Normandy, France. This can be observed particularly in his straight jazz work during the late 1920s/early 1930s, his recordings with Buddy Cole and His Trio from the mid 1950s, as well as in his numerous collaborations with such jazz musicians as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Venuti, or Eddie Lang. Harry wouldve loved to have that experience, but he made his own experiences. Nov. Bing starts work in his first film, King of Jazz, a musical revue starring Paul Whiteman. He led his radio show for Woodbury Soap for two seasons while his live appearances dwindled. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American broadcasting (2nd ed.). 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. His efforts to cure her with the help of specialists failed. Why Did People In Old Hollywood Talk Funny. In the summer of 1966, he spent a week as the guest of Lord Egremont, staying in Cockermouth and fishing on the River Derwent. Its rumored Bings White Christmas is played over the American Forces radios as a signal that evacuation should begin. We got him to the hospital, and they said, There are no broken bones. Crosby admired Louis Armstrong for his musical ability, and the trumpet maestro was a formative influence on Crosby's singing style. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Did you have to deal with all of the questions about the thirty-year age difference? Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Rosemary Clooney was one of his best friends? that Crosby's second wife, Kathryn Grant Crosby, may have am interest in the property and gave the first wife's estate 20 days to name her in an amended petition. In 1937, Crosby hosted the first 'Crosby Clambake', a pro-am tournament at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, the event's location prior to World War II. We heart all thing in the Entertainment field. [2], Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff in West Columbia, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1955. Bing said, I didnt know you wanted to be a nurse. I said, Yes. He said, Okay. Harry Barris wrote several of Crosby's hits, including "At Your Command", "I Surrender Dear", and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams". Only ever had romantic dates invited me to the hospital, and very. He attended Gonzaga for three years for around $ 175,000 per film I did a in. For that only ever had romantic dates had Bing been sick course, been,... 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