 1903 - 1977 (74 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 48 ancestors and 7 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Harry Lillis Crosby |
| Suffix |
Jr |
| Nickname |
Bing |
| Birth |
3 May 1903 |
Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, United States  |
| Christening |
31 May 1904 |
Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, United States |
| Gender |
Male |
| FamilySearch ID |
LC5W-JTT |
| Death |
14 Oct 1977 |
Alcobendas, Madrid, Madrid, España |
| Burial |
18 Oct 1977 |
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I167729 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Harry Lowe Crosby, b. 28 Nov 1870, Olympia, Thurston, Washington, United States d. 4 Oct 1950, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 79 years) |
| Mother |
Catherine Helen "Kate" Harrigan, b. 7 Feb 1873, Stillwater, Washington, Minnesota, United States d. 9 Jan 1964, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 90 years) |
| Marriage |
4 Jan 1894 |
Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, United States |
| Family ID |
F42283 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Wilma Winifred "Dixie Lee" Wyatt, b. 4 Nov 1911, Harriman, Roane, Tennessee, United States d. 1 Nov 1952, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 40 years) |
| Marriage |
29 Sep 1930 |
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Children |
| | 1. Gary Evan Crosby, b. 27 Jun 1933, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States d. 24 Aug 1995, Burbank, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 62 years) |
| | 2. Phillip Lang Crosby, b. 13 Jul 1934, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States d. 13 Jan 2004, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 69 years) |
| | 3. Dennis Michael Crosby, b. 13 Jul 1934, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States d. 7 May 1991, Novato, Marin, California, United States (Age 56 years) |
| | 4. Lindsay Howard Crosby, b. 5 Jan 1938, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States d. 11 Dec 1989, Calabasas, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 51 years) |
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| Family ID |
F42285 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
21 Apr 2024 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 3 May 1903 - Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, United States |
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| Christening - 31 May 1904 - Tacoma, Pierce, Washington, United States |
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 | Marriage - 29 Sep 1930 - Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States |
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 | Death - 14 Oct 1977 - Alcobendas, Madrid, Madrid, España |
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 | Burial - 18 Oct 1977 - Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles, California, United States |
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| Notes |
- Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an A m erican singer and actor. Crosby's trademark warm bass-baritone voice ma d e him the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century, having so l d over one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital download s ar ound the world.
The first multimedia star, from 1931 to 1954 Crosby was a leader in reco r d sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. His early career co in cided with technical recording innovations such as the microphone. Thi s a llowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influe nce d many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perr y Como , Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine sai d that h e was the person who had done the most for American soldiers' mo rale duri ng World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "mos t admired m an alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also i n 1948, Musi c Digest estimated that his recordings filled more than hal f of the 80,00 0 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.
Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuc k O 'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way and was nominated fo r hi s reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary's opposite Ingrid Ber gma n the next year, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twi ce f or playing the same character. In 1963, Crosby received the first Gr amm y Global Achievement Award. He is one of 33 people to have three star s o n the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the categories of motion pictures, r adio , and audio recording.
Crosby influenced the development of the postwar recording industry. H e b ecame the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master hi s co mmercial recordings onto magnetic tape. Through the medium of record ing , he constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools a nd c raftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) used in m otio n picture production, a practice that became an industry standard. I n add ition to his work with early tape recording, he helped to finance t he dev elopment of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses , and c o-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. On October 14, 1977 , he die d from a heart attack while playing golf in Alcobendas, Spain.
Crosby was born on May 3, 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, in a house his fat h er built at 1112 North J Street. In 1906, his family moved to Spokane , an d in 1913, his father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. The hous e sit s on the campus of Gonzaga University, his alma mater.
He was the fourth of seven children: brothers Larry (1895–1975), Evere t t (1896–1966), Ted (1900–1973), and Bob (1913–1993); and two sisters, C at herine (1904–1974) and Mary Rose (1906–1990). His parents were Harry L ow e Crosby Sr. (1870–1950), a bookkeeper, and Catherine Helen "Kate" (né e H arrigan; 1873–1964). His mother was a second generation Irish-America n. H is father was of English descent; an ancestor, Simon Crosby, emigrat ed t o America in the 17th century, and one of his descendants marrie d a desce ndant of Mayflower passenger William Brewster (c. 1567 – Apri l 10, 1644).
In 1910, seven-year-old Harry Crosby Jr. was forever renamed. The Sund a y edition of the Spokesman-Review published a feature called "The Bingv il le Bugle." Written by humorist Newton Newkirk, The Bingville Bugle w a s a parody of a hillbilly newsletter, filled with gossip, minstrel quip s , creative spelling, and mock ads. A neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Ho ba rt, shared his enthusiasm for "The Bugle," and noting his laugh, too k a l iking to him and called him "Bingo from Bingville." Eventually, th e las t vowel was dropped and the nickname stuck.
In 1917, Crosby took a summer job as property boy at Spokane's "Auditori u m," where he witnessed some of the finest acts of the day, including A l J olson, who held him spellbound with ad libbing and parodies of Hawaii an s ongs. He later described Jolson's delivery as "electric."
Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School (today's Gonzaga Prep) in 19 2 0 and enrolled at Gonzaga University. He attended Gonzaga for three yea r s but did not earn a degree. As a freshman, he played on the university ' s baseball team. The university granted him an honorary doctorate in 19 37 .
Crosby was married twice. His first wife was actress/nightclub singer Di x ie Lee, to whom he was married from 1930 until her death from ovarian c an cer in 1952; they had four sons: Gary, twins Dennis and Phillip, and L ind say. The 1947 Susan Hayward film, Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman, i s indi rectly based on Lee's life. Bing and Dixie along with their childr en live d at 10500 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood for over five year s. Afte r her death, Crosby had relationships with model/Goldwyn Girl Pa t Sheeha n (who married his son Dennis in 1958) and actresses Inger Steve ns and Gr ace Kelly before marrying the actress Kathryn Grant, who conver ted to Cat holicism, in 1957.
They had three children: Harry Lillis III (who played Bill in Friday t h e 13th), Mary (best known for portraying Kristin Shepard, who shot J . R . Ewing on TV's Dallas), and Nathaniel (the 1981 U.S. Amateur champio n i n golf).
Crosby was a registered Republican, and actively campaigned for Wendel l W illkie in 1940 against President Roosevelt, arguing that no man shoul d se rve more than two terms in the White House. After Willkie lost, Cros by de creed that he would never again make any open political contributio ns.
Crosby reportedly had an alcohol problem in his youth, and may have be e n dismissed from Paul Whiteman's orchestra because of it, but he late r go t a handle on his drinking. According to Giddins, Crosby told his so n Gar y to stay away from alcohol, adding, "It killed your mother."
After Crosby's death, his eldest son, Gary, wrote a highly critical memo i r, Going My Own Way, depicting his father as cruel, cold, remote, and b ot h physically and psychologically abusive. Gary Crosby wrote:
We had to keep a close watch on our actions... When one of us left a sne a ker or pair of underpants lying around, he had to tie the offending obj ec t on a string and wear it around his neck until he went off to bed tha t n ight. Dad called it "the Crosby lavalier". At the time the humor of t he n ame escaped me...
"Satchel Ass" or "Bucket Butt" or "My Fat-assed Kid". That's how he intr o duced me to his cronies when he dragged me along to the studio or racet ra ck... By the time I was ten or eleven he had stepped up his campaign b y a dding lickings to the regimen.
Each Tuesday afternoon he weighed me in, and if the scale read more th a n it should have, he ordered me into his office and had me drop my trou se rs... I dropped my pants, pulled down my undershorts and bent over. Th e n he went at it with the belt dotted with metal studs he kept reserve d fo r the occasion. Quite dispassionately, without the least display o f emoti on or loss of self-control, he whacked away until he drew the fir st dro p of blood, and then he stopped. It normally took between twelve a nd fift een strokes. As they came down I counted them off one by one an d hope d I would bleed early...
When I saw Going My Way I was as moved as they were by the character h e p layed. Father O'Malley handled that gang of young hooligans in his pa ris h with such kindness and wisdom that I thought he was wonderful too . Inst ead of coming down hard on the kids and withdrawing his affection , he for gave them their misdeeds, took them to the ball game and pictur e show, ta ught them how to sing. By the last reel, the sheer persistenc e of his goo dness had transformed even the worst of them into solid citi zens. Then th e lights came on and the movie was over. All the way back t o the hous e I thought about the difference between the person up there o n the scree n and the one I knew at home.
Younger son Phillip vociferously disputed his brother Gary's claims abo u t their father. Around the time Gary made his claim, Phillip stated t o th e press that "Gary is a whining... crybaby, walking around with a 2- by- 4 and just daring people to nudge it off." However, Phillip did not d en y that Crosby believed in corporal punishment. In an interview with Pe opl e, Phillip stated that "we never got an extra whack or a cuff we didn 't d eserve." During a later interview conducted in 1999 by the Globe, Ph illi p said:
My dad was not the monster my lying brother said he was; he was strict , b ut my father never beat us black and blue, and my brother Gary wa s a vici ous, no-good liar for saying so. I have nothing but fond memorie s of Dad , going to studios with him, family vacations at our cabin in Id aho, boat ing and fishing with him. To my dying day, I'll hate Gary for d ragging Da d's name through the mud. He wrote Going My Own Way out of gre ed. He want ed to make money and knew that humiliating our father and bla ckening hi s name was the only way he could do it. He knew it would gener ate a lot o f publicity. That was the only way he could get his ugly, no- talent fac e on television and in the newspapers. My dad was my hero. I l oved him ve ry much. He loved all of us too, including Gary. He was a gre at father.
However, Dennis and Lindsay Crosby confirmed that their father was physi c ally abusive. Lindsay added, "I'm glad [Gary] did it. I hope it clear s u p a lot of the old lies and rumors." Unlike Gary, however, Lindsay sa id t hat he preferred to remember "all the good things I did with my da d and f orget the times that were rough." Dennis asserted that the book w as "Gary 's business" and a result of his "anger," but would not deny th e book's c laims. Bing's younger brother, singer and jazz bandleader Bo b Crosby, rec alled at the time of Gary's revelations that Bing was a "di sciplinarian, " as their mother and father had been. He added, "We were b rought up tha t way." In an interview for the same article, Gary clarifie d that Bing wa s abusive as a means of administering punishment: "He wa s not out to be v icious, to beat children for his kicks."
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Has 48 ancestors and 7 descendants in this family tree.
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