[93] They had three children: Harry Lillis III (who played Bill in Friday the 13th), Mary Frances (best known for portraying Kristin Shepard on TV's Dallas), and Nathaniel (the 1981 U.S. Bing Crosby was married twice. Young Bing Crosby at age 14 took summer jobs at the Spokane Auditorium as a property boy. "Sail Away from Norway" (1977) Crosby wrote lyrics to go with a traditional song. 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. It was a happy childhood. Sadly, Lindsay wasn't the only one to take his own life. [64] His most popular film, White Christmas, grossed $30 million in 1954 ($303 million in current value). To soldiers overseas and to foreigners he has become a kind of symbol of America, of the amiable, humorous citizen of a free land. [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. 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 to appear in future films. We could also take out the songs that didn't sound good. "Entertaining Catholics: Bing Crosby, Religion and Cultural Pluralism in 1940s America. The success of his first film brought him a contract with Paramount, and he began a pattern of making three films a year. Gary Crosby died of lung cancer in 1995 at age 62, and Phillip Crosby died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 69.[120]. The 6.5mm ferric-oxide-coated tape could record 20 minutes per reel of high-quality sound. And what a voice. When they appeared solo, Crosby and Hope frequently made note of the other in a comically insulting fashion. Throughout that time, the versatile talent could be found on the golf course, in the studio, or acting, joking, singing, and dancing alongside other entertainers like Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, and Rosemary Clooney. 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. He signed a contract with Jack Kapp's new record company, Decca, in late 1934. [42] Shortly before his death in 1977, he had planned another Road film in which he, Hope, and Lamour search for the Fountain of Youth. [24][25] Through another line, also on his father's side, Crosby is descended from Mayflower passenger William Brewster (c.1567 1644). 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 younger generation of musicians and actors who had begun their careers after World War II. The man was listening to Bing Crosby sing, "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive". They've been living in their Holmby Hills home for ten years that's a lot of memories. He could do four shows a week, if he chose, and then take a month off. Jack Mullin: The man and his Machines. 56 . In 1999, the parties settled for approximately $1.5 million. (1928), with Harry Barris and, "Ev'rything's Agreed Upon" (1930), with Harry Barris, "Believe Me" (1931), with James Cavanaugh and, "You Taught Me How to Love" (1931), with H. C. LeBlang and Don Herman, "My Woman" (1932), with Irving Wallman and Max Wartell, "Cutesie Pie" (1932), with Red Standex and, "I Was So Alone, Suddenly You Were There (1932), with, "Love Me Tonight" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. The Crosbys lived here with much laughter, and many dreams, and a gracious ease. The Clemmer Theatre, as the Bing Crosby Theater was originally called, opened in 1915. The nickname "Der Bingle" was common among Crosby's German listeners and came to be used by his English-speaking fans. Gary's first wife of 19 years, Barbara Cosentino, of whom Gary wrote in his book, "I could confide in her about Mom and Dad and my childhood",[114] and with whom Gary stayed friendly after the divorce, stated: I do not know if what's in the book is true but he never said anything to me about whippings. ISBN 978-0316886451; Grudens . His Legendary Years How's the sound? Crosby's insistence eventually factored into the further development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio industry's widespread adoption of it. After the war, the event resumed play in 1947 on golf courses in Pebble Beach, where it has been played ever since. Exact. 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. This house went up for sale by its current owners in 2021 for $13.75 million. 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. 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. [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. [85] The Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack is named in his honor. 4 Beds. They got enormous laughs, which just went on and on. morale, ahead of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Dwight Eisenhower, and Bob Hope. [3]:8. Harry Lillis Crosby (Der Bingle, The old groaner) was born on 2 May, 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, USA, is a Soundtrack, Actor, Producer. 25 Nov 1933) were married in 1957 and had 3 children.1. 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. As American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered revealed, the twin Crosby brothers "were victims of fetal alcohol syndrome." Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bing Crosby And The Columbus Boychoir Sing Family Christmas Favorites LP EX at the best online prices at eBay! NEW YORK -- Bing Crosby was an abusive father who beat his sons until he drew blood and whose progeny endured the pain by dreaming up ways of murdering him, his children recalled Sunday. Both Dennis and Lindsay died due to suicide. Ft. 1740 Larry Hinson Pl, El Paso, TX 79936. However, Crosby had already sold his Elko ranch a year earlier, in 1958, and it is doubtful how much he was really involved in that meeting. In 1957 Crosby married actress-starlet Kathryn Grant who was some 30 years younger than him. Dave Crosby Popularity Most Popular #18311 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. Family Life He married his college sweetheart Ashley. The California Court of Appeal reversed, however, holding that the 1999 settlement barred the claim. [42] His recording of "White Christmas", has sold over 50 million copies around the world. The comments made by FBI investigators in the memos discredited the claims made in the letters. [84] In 1943, Binglin's horse Don Bingo won the Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. At his death in 1977 at age 73, he left his money in a blind trust, which none of the sons--whose youthful escapades were well . Schofield, Mary Anne. He was one of the first global cultural icons. Gender. "Now You Has Jazz" in the film High Society (1956). Actress Patricia Neal (who herself at the time was having an affair with the married Gary Cooper) wrote in her 1988 autobiography As I Am about a trip on a cruise ship to England with actress Joan Caulfield in 1948: She [Joan Caulfield] was a lovely girl and we had some good talks. 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. 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 .mw-parser-output .sfrac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .sfrac.tion,.mw-parser-output .sfrac .tion{display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.5em;font-size:85%;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .sfrac .num,.mw-parser-output .sfrac .den{display:block;line-height:1em;margin:0 0.1em}.mw-parser-output .sfrac .den{border-top:1px solid}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}33+1/3 rpm. The three children from Bing Crosby's marriage to Kathryn are all alive - Harry, 54, Mary, 53, and Nathaniel, 51. [3], Crosby told Barbara Walters in a 1977 televised interview that he thought marijuana should be legalized because he figured it would make it much easier for the authorities to have a proper legal control over the market. [125] On October 14, at the La Moraleja Golf Course near Madrid, Crosby played 18 holes of golf. Today they wouldn't seem very off-color, but things were different on radio then. The Crosby Family home. And his star is still in the ascendant. Harry: 2. Sforza, John: "Swing It! 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. [3]:9297[37] Crosby and Al Rinker obtained work at the Clemmer Theatre in Spokane (now known as the Bing Crosby Theater). The song appeared in his films Holiday Inn (1942), anda decade laterin White Christmas (1954). Today he is a kind of national institution. "[109][110] Unlike Gary, Lindsay stated that he preferred to remember "all the good things I did with my dad and forget the times that were rough". [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]. Crosby's family, which includes his widow and two of Harry's siblings, have been interested in a documentary series to tell Bing's story. "Road to Spokane: Bing Crosby's Family History" is a free event taking place at Gonzaga University's Wolff Auditorium from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Let's go have a Coca-Cola." MADRID, Spain, Oct. 14Bing Crosby, whose crooning voice and relaxed humor entertained millions around the world for half a century, died of a heart attack today after a round of golf outside. The auditorium is in Jepson Center on the Gonzaga campus, 502 E. Boone Ave. To learn more about the event's program, go here. Bing's first wife, singer, danger Dixie Lee, died of ovarian cancer in 1952 at the age of 42, leaving him a widower with four sons. [47] It has since become a staple of holiday radio and the final popular hit of Crosby's career. (1990), Bob Hope wrote, "Dear old Bing, as we called him, the Economy-sized Sinatra. 15 Minutes with Bing Crosby, his nationwide solo radio debut, began broadcasting on September 2, 1931. Television production was mostly live television in its early years, but Crosby wanted the same ability to record that he had achieved in radio. Crosby was married twice, first to actress/nightclub singer Dixie Lee from 1930 until her death from ovarian cancer, brought on by alcoholism, in 1952. His contract with Decca runs until 1955. These were his last words. [118] They were instead receiving several thousand dollars per month from a trust left in 1952 by their mother, Dixie Lee. 'I never expected affection from my father so it didn't bother me,' he once told an interviewer.'" In an interview for the same article, Gary clarified that Bing "was like a lot of fathers of that time. 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! Murdo MacKenzie of Bing Crosby Enterprises had seen a demonstration of the German Magnetophon in June 1947the same device that Jack Mullin had brought back from Radio Frankfurt with 50 reels of tape, at the end of the war. He Had A Different Name The man we now know as Bing Crosby was actually born with a different name: Harry Lillis Crosby Jr. Keyword. "[69], 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. [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. Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903. [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]. 'Am I. Times have changed, and Spokane has grown, but you can still see a show at the historic theater in Washington . Crosby started the tape recorder revolution in America. [15] In addition to his work with early audio tape recording, he helped finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, and co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, during which time the team won two World Series (1960 and 1971). [38] Hired for $150 a week in 1926, they debuted with Whiteman on December 6 at the Tivoli Theatre in Chicago. [86] From 1946 until his death, he owned a 25% share of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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. As far as I know [Gary] wrote it because it was about himself and what he felt his life was about. [2] He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. His acting credits include "Friday the 13th" and "Double Trouble." Crosby was survived by his four sons from his first marriage, Gary, Lindsay, Phillip and Dennis; as well as by his second wife, Kathryn, and their three children, Nathaniel, Harry and Mary. Crosby won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Going My Way (1944) and was nominated for its sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), opposite Ingrid Bergman, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. [74] 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. "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.[42]. They performed together countless times on stage, radio, film, and television, and made numerous brief and not so brief appearances together in movies aside from the "Road" pictures, Variety Girl (1947) being an example of lengthy scenes and songs together along with billing. "Blondell: "I'm surprised they didn't call you "Killer" Crosby! A Crosby-led group purchased station KCOP-TV, in Los Angeles, California, in 1954. Stanley, Bob, Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music, Pegasus Books, 2022, pg 220, Grudens, 2002, p. 236. Race/Nationality. [125] Crosby, who had a 13 handicap, won with his partner by one stroke. Billboard magazine used different methodologies during his career. [42] Before the end of the year, he signed[clarification needed] with both Brunswick Records and CBS Radio. Exact. [107], While acknowledging that corporal punishments took place, there were reports of all of Gary's immediate siblings distancing themselves from the abuse claims, either in public or in private. "[45] "In all, 60,000,000 Crosby discs have been marketed since he made his first record in 1931.