Where the blue of the night Meets the gold of the day Someone waits for me
'The Blue of the Night' (Turk/Crosby/Ahlert) - Bing's signature tune
On May 3, 1903 on Washington State, Kate Crosby gave birth to her fourth (of seven) child with her husband Harry. They gave him the name Harry Lillis, but he soon became better known as Bing-- a nickname derived from a popular comic strip, The Bingville Bugle.
Even as a child, it can be said that Bing really had a great interest in performing. In school, he always joined choir recitals and plays. He had his first band when he was in high school, called The Musicaladers, where he was the drummer, since during that time, he didn't know how to read music yet.
After high school, Bing moved to his parents’ hometown of Spokane, located also in the Washington State. He went on to attend the Gonzaga University, where he studied law. His parents, naturally, very much wanted him to finish his law degree and qualify as a lawyer, but Bing wanted otherwise. He was more interested in pursuing his career as a musician, particularly as a singer and drummer. Together with Al Rinker, the band’s pianist, Bing dropped out from the University in 1925 to go to Hollywood.
The Early Days
Just a year later, in 1926, Bing and AI fortunately got the break that they wanted. They were recruited by a famous bandleader named Paul Whiteman. The three of them, together with pianist Harry Barris, formed the band called The Rhythm Boys. Their first record, I’ve Got the Girl, was released that same year
While he was in the band, Bing also made his first movie appearance in the film The King of Jazz. He was supposed to do a solo in that movie, but was arrested the night before due to drink-driving. Whiteman, who was increasingly becoming annoyed with Bing’s behaviour, decided to fire The Rhythm Boys soon after the film was finished.
The band then went on to work with a new leader, Gus Arnheim, who started to push Bing into launching his solo career. In 1931, Bing had his first solo record, entitled I Surrender, Dear. Having problems with his private life, he started to miss several performances, causing him to be fired again. Although he said that he would take his band with him, the involvement of the union of local musicians cause The Rhythm Boys to be unwillingly disbanded.
Luckily for Bing Crosby, his unique vocal style had earned him some important followers. Mack Sennett, a producer, hired him to make a series of short comedy films. With his older brother Everett serving as his agent, Bing’s career started to flourish. In 1932, Everett sent a copy of Bing’s I Surrender, Dear to CBS Radio’s president. This caused Bing to land on a very successful radio career that was meant to last for more than two decades.
Bing Sings
In his entire career, Bing was able to record approximately 2,600 songs, making him the most successful musical artist of all time, and the world record holder for the solo artist with the most number of hits. He had more than 300 hits before crooning was rendered unfashionable by rock and roll. Out of these, 38 landed number.
Radio played a major role in Bing’s immense success. For more than three decades, he made around 4,000 broadcasts, most of which were from his own program. He was also the host of the first-ever recorded show that aired in 1946.
At the time of World War II, Bing toured across the United States and Europe, enabling him to raise around $14 million via the sale of war bonds. On a poll conducted by the Yank magazine, Bing was the person who have contributed the most in boosting the morale of the US troops.
Bing on Film
May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white
- from 'White Christmas' (Berlin)
Bing’s appearances on the radio resulted to a contract with Paramount Pictures for the movie The Big Broadcast, which was released in 1932. From then on, until the 1940s, he was offered to star in many movies, some of which were very high quality in terms of production. Most of the songs used for his movie were award winning, like Sweet Leilani (written by Harry Owens) for instance, which was used in the film Waikiki Wedding (1937). The song was hailed as Best Original Song by the Academy Awards, and also got a nomination for Best Dance Direction. A few of Bing’s films, nevertheless, were done merely to get him singing on screen.
In 1940, Bing was offered to do the comedy film Road to Singapore with Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope. The film was such a huge success that five more films of the same story were developed, resulting to a hugely popular film series called Road to...
Two years later, in 1942, Bing was partnered with another movie legend, actor Fred Astaire, in the film Holiday Inn. In this film, Bing performed the song White Christmas, which became the best-selling Christmas song ever written. It is considered record-breaking, topping the US charts for the most number of non-consecutive weeks. The song’s success even led to the creation of a movie with the same title, in which Danny Kaye was cast as Bing’s co-star.
Bing shined the greatest as an actor in Going My Way, a 1944 comedy movie where he played the role of young priest Chuck O’Malley, whose goal was to win over the small community where he moved into. The film got as much as ten Oscars nominations, including the Best Actor nomination for Bing, and also Best Original song for Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke’s Swinging on a Star. The following year, Bing starred in movie sequel The Bells of St. Mary’s, where he reprised his role of Father O’Malley. He was also nominated in Oscars for that film. Between the 1930s and early 1950s, Bing was considered to be among the top ten box-office attractions, having spent almost five years on the top, from 1944-1948.
Even at that point, Bing seemed to have the same type of character in all his films-- an easy-going, friendly guy with the habit of singing. In 1954, though, he accepted a new role for a change. In the movie The Country Girl, he took the character of an alcoholic singer for which, again, he received an Oscar Best Actor nomination. Although many thought that it was, by far, Bing’s greatest performance, he still lost to Marlon Brando who played Terry Malloy in the film On the Waterfront.
After that, Bing’s movie success started to wane. Except for his 1956 movie High Society where he co-starred with Grace Kelly, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra, almost all of his movies were like ordinary musical numbers with no particular distinction from each other. His final film appearance was said to be in the 1966 remake of the John Wayne’s movie Stagecoach, although he also appeared as host in the 1974 compilation of That’s Entertainment!
Bing on the Box
Apart from his film and radio careers, Bing was likewise a popular television personality of the 1960s. He was the host of the variety program Hollywood Place, which went on air from 1964 to 1970. Bing was also given his self-titled sitcom called The Bing Crosby Show.
Even though he refused to work in long-running television series, Bing was always welcome to accept guesting on his friends’ TV shows, such as those of Jack Benny and Bob Hope. He also had his own Christmas show, which was presented every year from 1961 to 1977. His final Christmas special, the one which was recorded just a few weeks before his death, produced another hit Christmas song. His duet with David Bowie of the song Little Drummer Boy wasn't released until 1982.
Bing’s most significant contribution to the television industry was one that’s behind the scenes. It was the research about the development of videotapes, which was funded by his company Bing Crosby Productions, helped revolutionize the industry.
Sporting Bing
Sports (fishing, horse racing, hunting, and golf in particular) played a very important role in Bing’s life. An avid golf player, he established The Crosby Clambake in 1937, the first pro-amateur golf tournament held in San Diego, at a golf club in Rancho Santa Fe. Bing served as the tournament’s host from its inception until 1977, the year he died. Also in 1937, he became a co-founder of California’s Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, although he had his stakes sold when he bought a baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1947.
Family Life
Bing was married twice, first to Dixie Lee in 1930, with whom he had four kids, and then to Kathryn Grant in 1955, with whom he had three. He and Dixie stayed together until her death in 1952. Three years later, he married Kathryn, and they remained together until Bing died of heart attack in 1977.
Following Bing’s death, Gary, his oldest son from his first wife authored a book called Going My Own Way, where he described Bing as a heartless, cruel father who would always abuse him physically and mentally. Although such accusations were vehemently denied by Kathryn and her kids, Bing’s children from his first wife, nonetheless, confirmed that Gary’s claims was indeed true. There were some who said that even if Bing believed in corporal punishment for his children, his “beatings” weren’t nothing like how Gary described them in Going My Own Way. It can also be argued that Bing was not that generous to his oldest children, as evidenced by the fact that when he died he left his money in a trust fund which the children can claim only after they reach 65 years of age. Unfortunately, four of his children with Dixie died early, with two of them committing suicide.
Death of Bing Crosby
That was a great game of golf, fellas
- Reportedly Bing's last words
Bing died of heart attack while enjoying his favorite sport-- golf. While on a golfing holiday in Madrid, Spain on October 14, 1977, Bing suddenly experienced heart attack after just completing a round on the golf course in La Moraleja. Sadly, he never survived it, causing the world to lose one of its most loved and most successful singers of all time. Luckily, though, Bing’s foresight in developing the videotape meant that his performances can be watched by the succeeding generations, and they will get to know that once, there was once an extremely talented actor and musician named Bing Crosby.
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