Harry Lillis Crosby
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Awards
Bing Crosby’s recording of White Christmas remains the best-selling single of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father O’Malley in Going My Way 1944. Crosby also starred in the Road comedies with Bob Hope and was the most recorded voice in history.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Bing Crosby — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Bing Crosby by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Bing Crosby — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
The fourth of seven children, Crosby was born on May 3, 1903, in Tacoma, Washington. His father worked as a brewery bookkeeper, and his mother was of English and Irish descent. Crosby studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but gravitated toward music. He played drums and sang with a local band, the Musicaladers, and in 1925 he left for Los Angeles with pianist Al Rinker to pursue entertainment.
Crosby’s big break came in 1931 when his brother sent a record of him singing I Surrender, Dear to CBS. From New York, he broadcast live radio performances that went national for 20 weeks in 1932, leading to a Paramount Pictures contract. He starred in The Big Broadcast 1932 and later the Road comedies with Bob Hope. Crosby won the Best Actor Oscar for Going My Way 1944 and gave a dramatic performance opposite Grace Kelly in The Country Girl 1954. He pioneered audio and video tape recording, funding early developments for his radio and TV projects.
Crosby married actress Dixie Lee in 1930. They had four sons: Gary, Phillip, Dennis, and Lindsay. Lee retired from acting to raise the children. After Lee’s death in 1952, Crosby married Kathryn Grant in 1957, and they had three children: Harry, Mary, and Nathaniel. Crosby loved golf and owned part of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had an affair with Grace Kelly that delayed his marriage to Grant. His estate reached $150 million at his death.
Crosby’s relaxed baritone voice and innovative use of audio tape influenced generations. The World Golf Hall of Fame inducted him in 1978, and the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998. White Christmas remains the best-selling single worldwide. He left a legacy as the first multi-media star, with 38 No. 1 singles, an Oscar win, and the most recorded voice in history.
Browse the complete filmography of Bing Crosby — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Bing Crosby — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Bing Crosby's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Bing Crosby — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Think Popular Music in This Country Is One of the Few Things in the 20Th Century That Have Made Great Strides in Reverse.
Everyone Knows I’m Just a Big, Good Natured Slob.
Honestly, I Think I’ve Stretched a Talent Which Is so Thin It’s Almost Transparent Over a Quite Unbelievable Term of Years.
Once or Twice I’ve Been Described as a Light Comedian. I Consider This the Most Accurate Description of My Abilities I’ve Ever Seen.
Elvis Will Never Contribute a Damn Thing to Music.
Little-known facts about Bing Crosby — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
After Judy Garland was fired from MGM around 1950, Crosby offered her work on his radio show to help her financially. They had strong chemistry as a comedy duo, and many recordings survive.
Crosby delayed his marriage to Kathryn Grant until 1957 due to his long affair with Grace Kelly.
He was the first person to sing White Christmas.
He is the most electronically recorded voice in history.
Crosby left a clause in his will stating that his sons could not collect their inheritance until they were 65, though they were already provided for by a trust fund from their mother.
The balding actor hated wearing a toupee and sought scripts with hat or bed scenes.
He received 23 gold records and was awarded platinum discs for White Christmas in 1960 and Silent Night in 1970.
As a young adult he caroused and drank, earning the nickname Binge Crosby, and spent two months in jail weekends only for DUI after a minor car accident.
He and his second wife did TV commercials for Minute Maid orange juice, because he owned stock in the company.
His estate was valued at $150 million, making him one of Hollywood’s wealthiest entertainers along with Bob Hope and Fred MacMurray.
Louis Armstrong was an early inspiration, and Armstrong described Crosby’s voice as sounding like gold being poured out of a cup.
At the time of his death in 1977, he was the best-selling recording artist of all time.
Crosby began losing his hair in high school and was almost completely bald by his early thirties.
When he married Dixie Lee in 1930, her fame was greater; a headline read: Well Known Fox Movie Star Marries Bing Croveny.
From the 1940s to the 1960s he owned 15% of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and made a cameo in Angels in the Outfield 1951 as part-owner.
His last TV appearance was in Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas 1977, taped in London and broadcast after his death, featuring a duet with David Bowie.
On October 13, 1977, producer Lew Grade announced a reunion film Road to the Fountain of Youth with Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, but Crosby died the next day.
Crosby became seriously ill in 1973 with chest pains and respiratory problems, and a large benign tumor was removed from his left lung in January 1974.
Mary Carlisle noted that Crosby was self-conscious about his height and wore lifts; he claimed to be 5’9 but was actually about 5’7.
Three things joked about in Hollywood: his inability to father a daughter before Mary Crosby, his investment in losing racehorses, and his poor taste in casual clothes.
According to ticket sales, Crosby is the third most popular actor of all time after Clark Gable and John Wayne, with 1,077,900,000 tickets sold.
His eldest son Gary Crosby criticized his violent fathering in a tell-all biography Going My Own Way 1983; two sons later committed suicide, while others defended him.
Crosby named his first son Gary after friend Gary Cooper.
In 1962 Crosby was the first recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was the 20th century’s first multi-media entertainer, with 38 No. 1 singles, surpassing Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.
White Christmas sold over 100 million copies worldwide, per Guinness Book of Records.
He was the first choice to play Columbo but refused due to golf.
One of only five performers with a #1 single and an Oscar for Best Actor/Actress, alongside Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Cher and Jamie Foxx.
On the day of his death he shot an 85 at golf and said that was a great game of golf, fellas before collapsing; his last words were reportedly Let’s go get a Coke.
A longtime Republican, he campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940 but vowed to stay out of partisan politics after Roosevelt’s re-election.
In partnership with Gary Cooper and Oliver Hardy, Crosby built the Del Mar racetrack in 1937 and collected tickets on opening day.
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.
The Met Theater in Spokane was renamed the Bing Crosby Theater on December 8, 2006.
In 1948 a poll declared Crosby the most admired man in the world, ahead of President Truman and Pope Pius XII.
Larry Hovis thwarted a kidnapping attempt on one of Crosby’s children in 1965.
Father of four sons with Dixie Lee, all deceased; two sons died by suicide.
He heavily funded the development of audio and video tape recording in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Stagecoach 1966 was his last major film; his performance as the drunken doctor was praised.
In 1968 he considered a Road picture The Road to Christmas with Bob Hope and Hayley Mills.
Interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Five of his films are in the National Film Registry: King of Jazz 1930, Road to Morocco 1942, Going My Way 1944, White Christmas 1954, and High Society 1956.
He sang on radio at least once a week from 1931 to 1962.
White Christmas was the bestselling single for over 50 years until 1997.
He started as a drummer and singer with the Musicaladers, then joined The Rhythm Boys in Paul Whiteman’s band.
His large ears were pinned back during early films until 1934’s She Loves Me Not.
One of six performers nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role: Father O’Malley in Going My Way 1944 and The Bells of St. Mary’s 1945.
He sang on 4,000 radio shows from 1931 to 1962 and was top-rated for 18 years.
He nearly filed for divorce from Dixie Lee in 1948 to marry Joan Caulfield.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Bing Crosby.
Celebrities similar to Bing Crosby — same craft, ranked by reach.
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