Bing Crosby

May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977

Kevin kindly submitted this story for all of us. My comments are in parenthesis. Thanks so much, Kevin. You are a Findadeath.com star!

Next to Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby is considered one of the greatest voices (and biggest pricks) of the twentieth century. He is also most commonly associated with the season of Christmas. Alternatively, he is well known for the abuse he gave towards the children of his first marriage.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903. He had no birth certificate, and his real birthday was not disclosed until after his death. Bing himself celebrated May 2, 1904 as his birthday. (That makes him a liar too.)

In 1906, the Crosby family moved to Spokane, Washington. There, Bing became a friend of a neighbor boy, Valentine Hobart. The two had a favorite comic strip, the Bingville Bugle, who had a leading character named Bingo, with big ears. As Crosby himself had big ears, Hobart started calling him Bingo. Soon all of Bing’s other friends were calling him Bingo. Eventually, Bingo became Bing, and he carried that name for the rest of his life.

Bing entered Gonzaga College in Spokane in 1920, intending to become a lawyer. While attending Gonzaga, he bought a set of bass drums through mail order. He became so good playing drums that he was invited to join a local band known as the Musicaladers. The band was managed by Al Rinker. Bing dropped out of college in his senior year to pursue a career as a musician. The band eventually broke up, and Bing and Al headed to Los Angeles to break into show business.

With the help of Al’s sister, Bing and Al were soon singing in movie theatres throughout California. Paul Whiteman, the most popular band leader at the time, heard Bing and Al when they were appearing at the Metropolitan Theatre in Los Angeles and invited them to join his band. They made their debut with the Whiteman Orchestra in Chicago in 1926.

While waiting to join the Whiteman band, Bing and Al recorded their first record, I’ve Got The Girl, in Los Angeles. When Bing and Al appeared with the Whiteman Orchestra at the Paramount Theatre in New York, the audiences were not kind. Whiteman removed them from the group. A violinist within the orchestra, Matty Malneck, teamed Bing and Al with a third vocalist, Harry Barris, and the Rhythm Boys were born. Bing was arrested for drunk driving, and Whiteman released the Rhythm Boys, again. Bing became the frontman for the group, and as his popularity grew, the group took a back seat.

Mack Sennett spotted Bing, and signed him for the musical comedy, I Surrender Dear. It was so successful that Sennett signed Bing for five more features. This happened at the same time as Bing was involved with the Rhythm Boys, and his movie success made him want to start a solo career even more. The Rhythm Boys broke up soon after.

Paramount Pictures signed Bing to star in a series of motion pictures. The first was The Big Broadcast, which co-starred George Burns and Gracie Allen. The last of the series, The Big Broadcast of 1938, was the vehicle that launched Bob Hope’s career. (Ugh.)

And that was the start of a long and successful career for Bing. Everyone has heard White Christmas. It was his most successful recording, and the number one selling single for many years, until Elton John’s (ruined a beautiful tribute to Marilyn, and made it a) tribute song for Princess Diana, Candle in the Wind. Bing recorded more than 1700 songs for commercial release from 1926 to 1977. He would also go on to be successful in movies as well, most notably his “Road” movies with Bob Hope (Ugh) and Dorothy Lamour. He also won an Academy award for Going my Way.

Bing married twice in his lifetime. His first marriage was to actress Dixie Lee, in 1930. They had four sons, Gary, Lindsay, and twins Phillip and Dennis. Dixie was an alcoholic, and died of ovarian cancer in 1952. Bing himself had a drinking problem, and that, along with his constantly being away from the family, led to Dixie’s alcohol abuse. Bing remarried in 1957 to Kathryn Grant, a woman he’d met at the Paramount lot. Kathryn was thirty years younger than Bing, and they had three children, Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel. Here is their home.

The marriage lasted until Bing’s death, after which Kathryn wrote a book about her life with Bing.

Bing Crosby was one of the wealthiest entertainers in Hollywood. He had property in Florida, as well as music holdings, and interests in different ventures. He was also a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. His net worth ranged from $80 to $100 million.

In 1973, Bing was suffering from chest pains and fever. On New Year’s Eve, he was hospitalized, and a tumor the size of a small orange (why do they always associate tumors with food? Yuck.) was removed from his left lung. After he recovered, he began recording and doing live performances with a vengeance. He had stopped recording as the sixties came to a close, and he hadn’t toured in decades. In March 1977, during a televised concert to celebrate his fifty years in show business, he fell backwards into an orchestra pit headfirst. He ruptured a disc in his back, and was hospitalized for a month. After recovering yet again, he made appearances all over the world, from Norway, to England to tape a Christmas special, which featured David Bowie. After taping the special, he recorded his final album, Seasons.

Bing’s next stop was the London Palladium for a two-week engagement. Then he and his band went to Brighton where they performed their final performance on October 10. The next day Bing was a guest on the Alan Dell radio show, where he sang eight songs with the Gordon Rose Orchestra. Later that day he posed for photos for the Seasons album. The next day Bing headed for Spain to play golf. (and die)

On the afternoon of October 14, 1977, Bing was playing at the La Morajela golf course near Madrid, Spain. This is one of the last pictures taken of him.

He finished 18 holes with a score of 85, and with a partner, defeated two Spanish golf pros. After his last putt, Bing bowed to applause and said, “It was a great game.” He was about 20 yards from the clubhouse, when he collapsed from a massive heart attack. His 3 golfing companions remarked that he did not look tired and was even singing around the course, though he seemed to be favoring his left arm near the end of the game. They thought he had slipped. They carried him to the clubhouse, where a physician attempted to revive him, to no avail. Bing Crosby was dead on arrival, at the Red Cross hospital. He was 74.

Findadeath.com friend Kieran Smith sent me this a while back, “Sometime before his death, a doctor in England had told Bing to play just 9 holes of golf, because of his ill health. On the day he died however, Bing decided to do the Full Monty and play 18.” Thanks Kieran.

A few hours after learning of her husband’s death, Kathryn issued a statement, “I can’t think of any better way for a golfer who sings for a living to finish the round.” (Psh.) Their son Harry, 19, and the family’s former butler, Alan Fisher, flew to Spain to accompany Bing’s body back to LA. She also said she had a phone call from one of the golfers Bing was with. “He told me that Bing had a very good round. I’d like that to be said.” (Psh.)

Bing’s funeral was held on October 18, at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Bing’s will had specified only family to be present at his funeral, but Kathryn invited his other family members, as well as Bob Hope and Rosemary Clooney (hey Mambo!). Geraldo Rivera (hey dirt ball!- says The Pot) covered the funeral for ABC.

Thanks to Kevin Hogan.

Six years later, Bing’s son Gary wrote the book Going my Own Way. It shocked the world. Gary detailed the years of physical and emotional abuse from his father, from his nickname of “Bucket Butt”, weekly weigh-ins, and beatings that drew blood. Gary said in his book that to endure the pain, he would dream up ways to kill his father. Gary’s brother Lindsay supported the charges in the book, stating, “I hope it clears up a lot of the old lies.” Bing’s second family was outraged at the book, but Gary said he wanted the truth to be told. It was a completely different view of Father O’Malley. It is a great book, if you are able to find a copy. I do not intend to disrespect Bing’s memory, but I am going by what the book said. (Very kind of you Kevin, but I will. Bing was a nasty, mean man. There, I said it.) Bing left money for all of his children, with a catch. It was left in a blind trust, until they turned 65. Reminds me of an old joke. How do you know Bing Crosby was uncircumcised? There was just no end to that prick.

Gary Crosby died of lung cancer at 62, on August 24th, 1995. Dennis and Lindsay both died by suicide from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Lindsay in 1989, and Dennis in 1991. Phillip is a nightclub owner, living in Woodland Hills now, and vehemently denies that Bing was a bad man. I don’t believe him.

August 2000 – Findadeath.com friend Tara Akinlose writes in:  “One of the kids from Bing Crosby’s second family is named Mary Crosby and she was on the TV show, Dallas, as Sue Ellen’s younger sister (as I recall). It was her that shot JR and she ended getting killed off soon after. She’s really gorgeous. I don’t think she’s done a lot of acting since then (I guess when you’re family is that rich, you don’t have to do too much to survive). She’s really good looking, she must look like her mom. I saw her on Entertainment Tonight after that book about Bing written by his son came out. She denied all the allegations and said he was a great father.”  Thanks Tara!

September 2000 – Findadeath.com friend Glen Ivory writes in:  “In regards to the children from the second marriage of Bing Crosby, his son Harry took up acting and appeared in the original Friday the 13th film, in 1980. His character copped an arrow in the eye. Also The Private History of a Campaign that Failed and Hollow Venus; Diary of a Go-Go Dancer. He later became an investment banker and was working at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York City.”  Thanks, Glen.

October 1, 2000 from Findadeath.com friend Donna Leaf:  Nathaniel, the third of Bing’s kids with second wife Kathryn Grant, filled Bing’s golf shoes after Bing passed on. For several years, while still in his teens, Nathaniel ran the Pebble Beach tournament founded by his dad. He was the 1981 U.S. Amateur champion, traveled on the European golf tour for 3 years, and most recently (1998) joined the Orlimar Golf Company as executive vice president.  Thanks Donna.

September 2000 – Got this from C.L.Vaden:

You give two birth dates, May 2, 1903 and May 3, 1904. Bing was not born on either of those two dates. Like many entertainers in his day, he (or his press agents) thought it would be a good idea to make him younger than he actually was, so after a certain point, they changed the date of his birth to May 2, 1903, then to 1904, and once even to 1907. The fact of the matter is that Bing was born on May 2, 1901.

Also, Bing was not the prick you make him out to be. I met him in person on two occasions, and he was very nice to me.

He was taught to be a stern disciplinarian with children, and so he was so, with his first family. The way he decided to raise his boys was his own business, not ours.

No one gave Bing his fortune. He earned it. And, he was not under any obligation to leave his boys everything he had accumulated during his entire lifetime. Most of us would feel very fortunate indeed, if we were left the amount of money that Bing DID leave to his family members. He owed them no more than that. (Okey Dokey – Scott)

Read on:  Updated October 1, 2000 from Findadeath.com friend Bob Siler – “I was just reading your piece on Bing Crosby. If you wanna read about what a prick Der Bingle was, read “The Hollow Man” by Donald Shepherd and Robert F. Slatzer, (who claimed to have been married to Marilyn Monroe). Also, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Bing sing Hey Jude.”  (yer scarin me, Bob.)

From Findadeath.com friend Jim Mueller:  “You were correct to go on the muscle with Der Bingle. He was a monster.

I know, because I was one of the dancing orphans in Robin and the 7 Hoods, and he was a jagoff to all of us. Go find Manuel Padilla and ask him. He was the little Mexican kid in the scene who actually had lines. We were instructed “not to speak directly to Mr. Crosby.” Sinatra would come in and watch, and give you a rub on the head and say, “Hiya Butch. How’s it goin’?” Bing? Fuck him!”  (Fantastic, Jim.  Thanks.)

Updated April 2001 thanks to Findadeath.com friend Nutty Nut Buster:  Yes.

When Dixie Lee died, she left money to her 4 sons. It was paid out from the time she died, until it ran out in I believe 1984 or there abouts.  Once the money ran out, the boys started killing themselves.  I always read Daily Variety and when one of the boys killed himself in the early 80’s, they did a story on it.  The wife of one the second one who killed himself (can’t remember which one) was on the Phil Donahue Show talking about the book Gary wrote.  She talked about Gary’s drinking and her husband’s as well.  Soon after her visit to the show, her husband killed himself.  Why Phillip is sticking to his guns (pun intended) that Bing was as sweet as apple pie is beyond me.  Maybe he was not cruel to Kathryn and her kids but he was not kind to his boys by Dixie.

May 2001 – By Donna McClish:  In the last few months I’ve been on a “Grace Kelly kick” and started
reading her biographies. [One of these days I plan on giving you a provocative write-up on the good Princess of Monaco.]

Anyway, it was well-known to Hollywood insiders in the 1950’s that the “Miss Prim and Proper Fire and Ice Blonde” liked to sleep with her leading men. Around 1953, as Dixie Lee Crosby [Bing’s first wife] lay dying, she and Bing found immense carnal satisfaction in one another.

High Society, completed in 1956 with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, was Kelly’s last film. She would turn her back on a Hollywood acting career to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

In 1956, Crosby was between wives at the time and seemed to be gravitating towards Grace again. Supposedly, now knowing she was no longer emotionally available to him, he carried a torch for her until his death in 1977. Gee, I wonder if his second wife, Kathryn Grant, knew about this!

Great stuff Donna.  Thank you!

More Trivia from Kevin Hassell (the good guy):

Bing was offered the lead in the TV series Columbo, but passed, supposedly because it would get in the way of his golf game. I have also heard that he felt that the character would ruin his neat image. I am not sure which is true.

November 2001: Findadeath.com friend Nutty NutBuster sends this in:  It appears as though “the heirs”, I guess that means Katherine Grant (Mrs Bing #2), the kiddies and some lawyers want at least $16 million in back payments of royalties on Bing’s Decca recordings.  They say the Crosby Estate was “cheated” by Universal (Now Decca/UMG – Deca/Universal Music Group). The shit hits the fan in court come Nov 5, 2001. As Jack Lord would say: Be there, Aloha!

UPDATED! Thanks to Nutty NutBuster again!

As of Mon 01-14-2002, since the Lorretta Lynn and the heirs of Buddy Holly and Bing Crosby sued Decca Records (separately) and not UMG (which now owns Decca), they were excluded from the proposed $4.75 million settlement. Lawyers for those plaintiffs locked out of the settlement (Lynn/Holly/Crosby) have until 03-08-2002 to decide if they want to join the class action filed by Peggy Lee & Company and a hearing in May 2002 will determine the final settlement amount. Bing’s reach from beyond the grave to keep his family out of the money is still a force to be reckoned with.

January 2002 – Findadeath.com friend Dave sends this trivia:  There is a statue of Bing at Gonzaga University, as well as gold records for White Christmas and his Oscar for Going My Way. The pipe that he smokes has to be removed from the statue every night due to theft.

Tumors and Food, March 2002:  Findadeath.com friend Kay Daver sends us this:  Back in the early days of medicine, pioneers in pathology like Giovanni Morgagni in the 1600’s and 1700’s, didn’t use a lot of the latin-based medical terms that are used today. Most of the doctors practicing at that time didn’t know these big high-falutin’ words, so it became standard practice to use descriptives that had a common reference that everyone would understand…food. This practice continues today but alas is becoming largely only used by older physicians. Most of the younger ones don’t use the colorful albeit descriptive terms.

The term “strawberry polyp” describes a type of polyp found in the colon. This does not mean it is a strawberry or caused by a strawberry, but rather what it looks like, large and red and sometime dimpled. The liver has a normal “nutmeg” appearance on cut section. A normal spleen is described as “beefy red”. The skin can take on an “onion skin” appearance, and people that die of carbon monoxide poisoning have a “cherry red” discoloration of their musculature and internal organs.

Many of our internal parts look suspiciously like stuff you see in the meat department at your local grocer. A formalin-fixed brain cut into sections looks amazingly like cut cauliflower.

Mmm.  lish.  Thanks for that.

March 2002: Just in, from Findadeath.com friend Mark L. Childrev:  Thanks to Bing Crosby, the honorary Ph.D degree that was once given in America to prominent citizens, was abolished.

According to Dr. John Bear’s book on obtaining your college degree non-traditionally, he says;

“Until well into the 20th century, the Ph.D was also given as an honorary degree. But in the late 1930’s, Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington, spoiled the whole thing by handing out an honorary Ph.D to one Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby, to thank him for donating some equipment to the football team. Crosby made great sport about being a Doctor on his popular radio program that week. The academic world rose in distressed anger and that, effectively, was the end of the honorary Ph.D.”

So thanks to Bing, the honorary Ph.D wasn’t worth the parchment that it was written on!

Just thought I would share!  Thanks Mark!

UPDATE February 2003, from Findadeath friend Gregg Moeller:

Hey, Great Site!

I’ve really “enjoyed” your site (if such a term can be used in reference to death)…and found a bit of info that you could use–

Bing Crosby’s last words (if you have them and I missed it, then mea culpa) were,

“That was a great game of golf, fellers.”

Then he dropped like the proverbial stone.

Best wishes,

Gregg Moeller

Thanks for the info, Gregg!

June 2003, a different point of view on Bing from Findadeath friend Henry Zecher:

Mr. Hassell,

I found your website very interesting, and unlike many such websites on a number of stars your biographical information is mostly correct.  But it seems to be more of a forum for demonizing Crosby than examining him, and it seems that you and your correspondents delight in doing just that.

I would, for example, point out one glaring error, however, and that regards Dixie’s drinking. You need to read, or re-read, Gary Giddins’ biography of Bing. He makes it clear that Dixie drank before she ever met Bing. I don’t doubt that his frequent absences made it worse, and I do know (though I lack details) that their marriage was in serious trouble in the 1940s, but Bing alone is not to blame for Dixie’s drinking, and he wasn’t the reason she started.

Also, Bing alone is not to blame for how their children turned out.  Dixie was an insecure, reclusive alcoholic. And it was she who made Bing tough on the boys.

Fathering was not one of Bing’s talents. He was unable to empathize, or to nurture.  He was not demonstrative with affection. He was way overprotective (Gary came along in the wake of the Lindbergh tragedy, and Bing received threats the boys knew nothing about).   And he did not believe in sparing the rod.

However, biographer Giddins stated recently that, while he personally does not believe in spanking, there is a difference between spanking and beating, and Bing did not beat the boys. He probably spanked them often, because by all accounts they were wild, misbehaved, rebellious troubled boys. And Gary was the worse, from the very beginning, so he got most of the spankings.

Crosby family members, including nephew Howard Crosby, niece Carolyn (Rose Mary’s daughter), and brother Bob Crosby; friends like Phil Harris, Bob Hope, and jazz musician Buddy Bregman, who was Gary’s best friend in the early 1950s and knew the family; and various others who knew them, unanimously protested Gary’s book, both then and now. According to Phillip (who never said Bing was as sweet as apple pie), Bing was strict but fair. That may be white-washing it a bit, and then again it might not be; but Gary was a pathological liar and trouble-maker whose singing career and most of his acting career was cut short by his appalling behavior and drunkenness; and, he was at a very low point in his life and needed money when he wrote Going My Own Way.

As for the book, The Hollow Man, that was a hatchet job.  As one writer put it, you can collect dust and call it dirt, but it’s still dust.  There was truth in it, and lot of lies, and caricature.  It should be trashed.

Bing was not a loving and nurturing husband, either.  This we know.  But, as Giddins put it, Bing Crosby was neither a saint nor a monster.  He had his hangups, and his limitations.  He grew up in an old world Irish working class home, dominated by a tyrannical punitive mother and an easy-going father.

I will await Volume 2 of the Giddins biography to read the rest of the story.  You should, too.  You are very obvious and blatant in your prejudice against Crosby.  So were those who jumped on the bandwagon to lynch Clarence Thomas.  If you listened to the testimony of the Thomas hearings, you had to think he didn’t do it.   Same with Crosby.  Look at the preponderance of testimony.  Most of it favors Bing over Gary and The Hollow Man.

As for the Grace Kelly affair, one of your correspondents stated that, “Around 1953, as Dixie Lee Crosby [Bing’s first wife] lay dying, she and Bing found immense carnal satisfaction in one another.”

Dixie died on November 1, 1952.  According to the Bing Crosby Internet Museum, Crosby met Grace Kelly on the set of The Country Girl in 1954.  You do the math.

Finally, if Bing’s making sport of his doctorate caused academics to ban future honorary PhDs, well, don’t demonize Crosby for that. Even if he had, indeed, “made great sport about being a Doctor,” he was, after all, an entertainer.  And, if “the academic world rose in distressed anger,” well, academics are horrible snobs and elitists.

I’m on Bing’s side on this.  Academics detest athletes, but name me one academic who ever drew thousands of fans into a stadium to watch him be an academic?  Off the top of your correspondent’s head, have him name just one of those academics who rose in distressed anger over Crosby.
Tell him to take his time.

Then add up the good Bing Crosby accomplished, both for Gonzaga University and for the nation and the world.

Henry Zecher

Thanks for sharing your opinions, Henry. Check out that book, people!

UPDATES JULY 2005:

Findadeath friend EJ Fleming writes:

I’m pretty sure that the picture of the house in the listing is not the Beverly Hills house where he lived.  I’ve played Pebble Beach a number of times, and his house there is on the 11th…or 13th…doesn’t matter, hole.  He used to have a big clambake in the backyard there between the house and the golf course during his tournament, which is why the Bing Crosby Pro-Am used to be known as “The Clambake.”  The house is the picture is identical to the house at Pebble, in Monterey.  The Beverly Hills house was not the same style, and was torn down to make way for the Spelling Chateau de Cindy.  I have a friend that used to work for Aaron Spelling; Spelling used to put his home TV Guide on his expense accounts, to save $12.

Also, Bing was a far bigger dick than even your description.  For years – and particularly during the time his wife Dixie was dying of cancer – he would sneak next door to his neighbor Alan Ladd’s house to have sex with his girlfriends.  His favorite was Grace (the biggest whore in the history of Hollywood, but that’s another story) Kelly.  Ladd left the gate to his pool area open for Bing; he and Grace hung out, as it were, by the pool and cabana.  He started publicly dating within two weeks of her death.  He must have been a very fast mourner.

Just for detail, and because people want to know…Lindsey Crosby put a shotgun in his mouth on December 11, 1989 at his house at at 5460 Round Meadow Drive in Sherman Oaks.  He pissed away all of his money and went through three marriages (I love a love story), and was basically kind of a loser.  He said later in life that, “I hate Christmas because of Pop and I always will.  It brings back the pain and fear I suffered as a child.  And if I ever do myself in, it will be at Christmas time.  That will show the world what I think of Bing Crosby and White Christmas.”  He particularly hated the song “White Christmas,” and the movie.  So it’s weird that he watched it on the night of December 11 and then ate a bullet.

His brother did the same thing, without the movie and popcorn, on May 4, 1991.  Dennis Crosby put a shotgun in his mouth on May 4, 1991 in a cheap boarding house apartment thing in Novato, California, in Marin County north of San Francisco.  Same reasons, no movie.  The other one, Gary, died at his house at 1856 Loma Vista in Beverly Hills on August 24, 1995.  Lung cancer.  Maybe Bing made him smoke.

See Bings Grandson here.

Findadeath.com friend Mark adds:

Could you please update your page on Bing Crosby to say that his son Philip died in January 2004, from a heart attack at the age of 69. As is often in cases of physical abuse, one child defends the parent even though Lindsay & Dennis (who both shot themselves) confirmed what Gary wrote. All four of Crosby’s children from his marriage to Dixie Lee are now dead.

Richard adds: If there is any question about Bing’s date of birth, the SSDI should resolve the question. Even Hollywood stars had to produce some proof of date of birth… but it is rather sad to think that Der Bingle was drawing max social security while people starved on the streets of California
Name:    Harry Crosby
SSN:    563-12-5928
Last Residence:    90211  Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Born:    3 May 1903
Died:    Oct 1977
State (Year) SSN issued:    California (Before 1951 )

Lisa adds:

I remember watching Mary Crosby on “Entertaiment Tonight” when Gary’s book on Bing came out. She blasted it, yet admitted that Bing hit her, but only once (as opposed to, I guess, Gary’s claim that Der Bingaroo was always going berserk on his boys!) I remember the way she sounded when she said it, as if she was trying to either hide something or convince herself she deserved that smack across the face. i found it weird, to say the least.

Says Jeff:  I understand that Bing was somehow related to Robin Crosby of the Rock n Roll band called  RATT.  In Ratt’s first pro music video Milton Berle appears in drag in quite a large part of the video.  I understand Berle’s son was a promoter who helped manage RATT and get them a record deal.

Henway sends this:

This is very telling about the relationship between Bing and second wife Kathryn Grant Crosby.  Somehow holy roller Kathryn, without telling Bingle, committed $1 million of Bing’s money to the Catholic Church.  It was then that Bing decided to give her and the kids the shaft and set up trusts and administrators, causing them to scratch out on a budget.

Kathryn got a swell idea after Bing died.  I was bombarded while living in San Francisco with TV commercials and print ads featuring Kathryn, as spokesperson for Coit Drapery Cleaners.  You could even get a tour of her (and Bing’s) house in ultra-rich Hillsborough, California through Coit.  It seems that not only did it provide Kathryn with money and showed the world what a skinflint Bing was, but also she may well have liked the idea of tours of total strangers traipsing through the living quarters of Bing, an intensely private and unfriendly man.  The unflattering and privacy-shattering photo of dead Bing on Findadeath also gives a clue as to Kathryn’s real feelings.

Regarding the beating/spanking issue raised earlier, if you believe Gary’s Going My OwnWay (I have my own hardcover copy), and I do believe it, the punishment was administered by Bing after the zaftig Gary had to step nude on the scale and if he exceeded his weight limit.  Bing would work Gary over with a switch or belt until the kid got bigger than his old man and finally refused to drop his drawers and told Bing he’d beat the crap out of him.  Without a word, the beatings ended.

Findadeath.com friend Gerhard sends this:  I attended Gonzaga (92) and there was a legend about Crosby on campus:  that he was expelled for pushing a piano off of a fire escape at Desmet dorm.

No idea if it happened but it sounds good. There is a statue of Crosby located in front of the old library that used to have a pipe in its mouth.

Alum predating my time insist that students stole the original  pipe plus replacements and used them for whatever it was they smoked in Spokane.

Gerhard

Lorelei sends us this:
As promised, here are photos I took of Der Bingle’s birthplace in Tacoma, Washington.

I am sending along one juicy one I found somewhere of his second wife, Kathryn.

She used to be such a dish! Now, they outta wheel her off to keep her safe and out of public view until she at least springs for some decent faux hair! Jeesh! Ya know she’s gotta have some cash laying around. Anyhoo…I am attaching the pics. The one of the plaque is pretty sketchy…that’s my dysfunction with my little macro thingy.

But, I even got one of the mailbox! 🙂

The address is 1112 N. “J” Street, Tacoma WA 98403. As an architect, I have access to city building and historical records. I found that the land for the house was purchased on Dec. 14, 1902 by Crosby’s father from an Alex Hosmer (Hosmer was a developer in Tacoma at the time and there is still a major arterial named for him there). The house was subsequently built and occupied in Sept. of 1903. It is well documented that Bing was indeed born in this home. This would indicate that it would be impossible for him to have been born any year before 1904 as his birthday is May 2. Hope that clears up the year-he-was-born mystery.

A bronze plaque was placed on the front steps in 1989 by the Sons of the Pioneers indicating that the home was Bing’s birthplace.

The statue is one of Bing that is outside of the building dedicated to Bing on the Gonzaga campus – Crosby Hall.

Blessings and thanks to the  Honorary Queen Lorelei

Top Findadeath friend Dave in Spokane sends us these:

Here are some photos from the Crosby Library at Gonzaga University.
I thought you might get a kick out of them.

Here is Bing toothpaste,

Bing’s Oscar,

a Bing standee

and portrait.

P.S.  The “17” flag was taken from the hole where Der Bingle had his last “stroke.”

Carla sends this: On your Bing Crosby page, I saw where someone had input alot about how lovely his daughter was, Mary Crosby. So, of course, I looked it up, to see if she took after her less-than-sexy (IMHO) father in the looks department. I was surprised that she is quite lovely. However, the same person also mentioned that after her “Dallas” days, she hadn’t heard of any other shows that Mary had been involved with.

Apparently, though, and this is going under the google.com searches for images, and the name Mary Crosby, so I don’t know if it’s actually her; She played as one of “Warf’s” ex-lover’s, and also a movie called Cupid (Directed by Douglas Campbell). I haven’t seen the film, as I just stumbled over it, and I admittedly don’t know much about Bing Crosby. I just thought this would be something you could take a look at concerning one of his, obviously, more fotunate children. It is a shame that there is such controversy over his parenting skills, and that his children seem destined to off themselves in some cliche way.

Anyway, I’m including some of the links I found. I forgot to mention “The Ice Pirates”, which also includes Mary Crosby in the list of actors and actresses in the film. Again, I haven’t seen it. However, the page for this film that I include the link for at the bottom does have a link to her page/a mini bio on Mary, which boasts, and I quote; “As an adult actress, Mary seemed determined, either by accident or design, to go against the grain of the “wholesome” image perpetrated by her father.” – Which I find amusing. Then again, I find alot of rather superfluous things amusing.  Here are the links that I could find on her.

Thank you for the story, Kevin. I really appreciate your help.  I hope you forgive my bitterness.