Bing Crosby

His father was of English descent, with many family lines tracing back to New England of the 1600s. His mother's family, which was from New Brunswick, Canada, was of Irish descent.

Between 1915 and 1980 he was the only motion-picture star to rank as the #1 box-office attraction five times (1944-1948). Between 1934 and 1954 he scored in the top ten 15 times.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby, Jr. in Tacoma, Washington, the fourth of seven children of Catherine Helen "Kate" (Harrigan) and Harry Lowe Crosby, a brewery bookkeeper. He was of English and Irish descent. Crosby studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but was more interested in playing the drums and singing with a local band. Bing and the band's piano player, Al Rinker, left Spokane for Los Angeles in 1925.

In the early 1930s Bing's brother Everett sent a record of Bing singing "I Surrender, Dear" to the president of CBS.

Sang on radio at least once a week from 1931 to 1962.

His live performances from New York were carried over the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932.

His radio success led Paramount Pictures to include him in The Big Broadcast (1932), a film featuring radio favorites. His songs about not needing a bundle of money to make life happy was the right message for the decade of the Great Depression. His relaxed, low-key style carried over into the series of "Road" comedies he made with pal Bob Hope.

His large ears were pinned back during his early films, until partway through She Loves Me Not (1934).

Star of NBC Radio's "Kraft Music Hall" (1935-1946).

Bing In a partnership which included Gary Cooper, and Oliver Hardy had the Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California built in 1937 and he collected tickets at the turnstile on opening day. Before the start of the first and last races on every day of racing his song "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" is played. This song was written for Del Mar and never sold commercially. The complete song goes - "Down at the old Del Mar, Take a plane, take a train, take a car, There's a smile on every face, And a winner in every race, Where the Turf Meets the Surf,".

From the 1940s to the 1960s he owned 15% of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. His cameo in Angels in the Outfield (1951) was as part-owner of the team.

He won the best actor Oscar for playing an easygoing priest in Going My Way (1944).

Star of ABC Radio's "Philco Radio Time" (1946-1949).

Star of CBS Radio's "The Bing Crosby Chesterfield Show" (1949-1952). When Chesterfield left, General Electric took over as sponsor for 1953 and 1954.

In a great many of his films, he played lighthearted comedy and musical roles as a singer or songwriter. His usual casual approach belied the fact that Crosby was a fine dramatic actor, as witnessed by his portrayals in Little Boy Lost (1953), The Country Girl (1954), Man on Fire (1957), and his last major film Stagecoach (1966). He also starred in the television movie Dr. Cook's Garden (1971) and won much critical acclaim for his performance.

Star of CBS Radio's "The Bing Crosby Show" (1954-1956).

He received 23 gold records and was awarded platinum discs for his two biggest selling singles, "White Christmas" in 1960 and "Silent Night" in 1970.

Until the late 1970s he had been listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as having sold more recordings than any other entertainer.

Became seriously ill around Christmas 1973, with chest pains and respiratory problems. Both Bing and wife Kathryn Grant thought he had lung cancer. In January 1974 he felt so ill he consented to be hospitalized, and a large tumor was found in his left lung. The tumor and three-fifths of the lung were removed, and over the next months he slowly recovered. Since the tumor was benign, it was believed his illness was caused by a fungal infection from a recent safari in Africa.

On October 13, 1977, the day before Crosby's death, independent producer Lew Grade announced that he was reuniting Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour onscreen for the film "Road to the Fountain of Youth," ending several years of speculation at to whether the trio would reunite professionally or not.

His eldest son Gary Crosby was vocal in criticizing Bing's violent ways as a father. He wrote a sensationalist tell-all biography titled "Going My Own Way" in 1983 which was touted as a "Daddy Dearest" about Bing. Though Lindsay Crosby and Dennis Crosby fluctuated between agreeing and disagreeing with Gary's criticisms of their father, Phillip Crosby defended Bing after the book was published. Two of the sons suffered bouts of depression, much as their mother Dixie Lee had, throughout their lives and committed suicide(Lindsay and Dennis, in 1989 and 1991, respectively). Gary died of lung cancer in 1995. Phillip died of a heart attack in 2004, having defended his father to the end. Bing's children from his second marriage, including daughter and actress Mary Crosby, praised him as a kind and loving father in later life.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 122-124. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Pictured on a 29 cent U.S. commemorative postage stamp in the "Legends of American Music" series, issued September 1st 1994.

"White Christmas" became the bestselling single for more than 50 years until overtaken in 1997 by "Candle in the Wind", Elton John's tribute to the late Princess Diana.

On the day of his death he played a full 18 holes of golf, where he scored a respectable 85 and won the match. Walking off the 18th green of the La Moraleja Golf Club, in a suburb of Madrid, Spain, he suffered a massive heart attack. His last words were reported as, "That was a great game of golf, fellas." However, according to the Summer 2001 issue of Club Crosby's BINGANG magazine, he then said, "Let's go have a Coca-Cola." According to his biographer Gary Giddens, Crosby's last words were, "Let's go get a Coke.".