European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 16, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Bing Crosby s acting style was an embellish ment in a sense of his own personality As performer relaxed Low key and quietly charming. Crosby who died Friday in Spain almost never played a heavy even As the spine less alcoholic husband opposite Grace Kelly in the film of Clifford Odets s the country girl released in 1954, in which Crosby gave one of his most compelling perform in 1966, he played an alcoholic sort this time the Sodden unshaven doctor in a remake of the classic West Ern and again it seemed to reviewers that his innate liability came across to produce a performance of subtlety and depth. Indeed Crosby once recognized his own screen personality when he told an interviewer How he had recently turned Down the role of Scrooge for a Hollywood film. I Don t think i would have been believable As Scrooge for a minute he said. Everybody knows i m just a big Good natured Crosby won a movie Oscar in 1944 As the year s Best actor for his role As a priest in going my among the most popular of his half a Hundred films were the Road comedies the Road to Singapore the Road to Zanzibar and others with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Harry Lillis Crosby of the Blue eyes and Brown hair made no secret of having to Wear a Toupee in pictures. Off screen he usually wore a hat to cover his baldness. He told in his autobiography How motion picture make up men used to glue Back his Jug handle ears until he rebelled at the discomfort. The easy going humor and the bizarrely loud sport shirts that were his trademarks through the years were in evidence off stage As Well As before the cameras or microphones. But they did not encompass the whole Man who knew trouble and anguish too. The first marriage had much Heartbreak. Some of the unhappiness Between him and Dixie Lee stemmed from his Iron handed disciplining of their sons Gary the twins Philip and Dennis and Lindsay who got into More than a modicum of trouble As Young men and one of whom was estranged from his father until a later reconciliation. Crosby acquired the nickname Bing when he was 7 or 8 years old because of his fondness for a comic strip called the Bingville As a boy he was called Bingo but the of got lost along the Way. Another version of the name s origin however involved Young Crosby annoying one of his Grade school teachers with a wooden gun which he would fire shout ing Bing Bing she started calling him Bing Bing this version went and the name stuck. He became a regular on the the Columbia broadcast ing system s radio network in 1932. He resisted Many Blandishments to appear on television until june 1952, when he made his to debut on a telethon with Bob Hope to raise Money for the United states olympic fund. This appearance made the Public want More. Jack Gould re viewing his debut in the new York times wrote Bing s relaxed style and easy going ways were made to order for Home Crosby made occasional spot appearances on television but continued to shy away from a regular to spot until 1958, when he signed a five year radio and television contract with the american broadcasting co. Of More than a score of his recordings that sold above the million disk Mark the most popular was silent night with White Christmas second. It has been said that there was not a moment during the year that the Crosby voice was not being heard somewhere in the world on radio phonograph or Jukebox. Crosby made Wise investments of most of the earnings his Talent for entertainment brought him. Even his stable of race horses of whose slowness audiences were often reminded paid off in the form of gags concocted by his script writers. He also bred horses and in the mid-1930s he helped to establish and became president of the Del mar race track in California. He sold his interest in the track in 1946 for nearly half a million dollars. His exhibition Golf matches with Bob Hope his great Friend with whom he also engaged in bantering sex entertainer Bing Crosby innate ii ability. Changes of insults raised thousands of dollars for Chari ties. Some of the crooner s earnings after enormous taxes were invested in Oil Wells Frozen Orange juice real estate a West coast television station and the operation of Large cattle ranches. In his later years Crosby led the lifestyle of a Man of wealth without much flamboyance. He continued his favorite hobbies Golf fishing and Hunting and travelled frequently with his family on safaris in Africa. In 1957, then 53 years old Crosby married 23-year-old Kathryn Grant an actress from Texas and later had two sons and a daughter. Although he sold his interest in minute maid Orange juice Crosby continued to appear on commercials that featured his family. And he spent time at his ranch in Baja California and his rambling Home in Hiu Borough a Well to do suburb South of san Francisco. In interviews he belittled the notion that his personal Worth was More than a few million dollars but because of his Active philanthropy and Well publicized investments reports of a As priest in going my Way in 1945. Hamming it up in 1947 with Bob Hope. Crosby gets the heave to in an Early 1930s Mack Sennett film. Major personal Fortune persisted. Crosby emerged from Semi retirement last year to Mark his 50 years in show business with a series of con certs and shows to benefits for various charities. He appeared at the los Angeles music Center in March and in june and july made a successful tour that included the palladium in London other Heaters in Ireland and Scot land and More appearances in the United states singing medleys of his oldies. Last March 3 Crosby suffered a ruptured disk in his lower Back when he fell 20 feet from a stage into an or Chestra pit theater in Pasadena calif., where he was video taping a television special. He lost his footing while acknowledging a standing ovation from the audience the injury left him hospitalized for More than a month. The Golden voiced crooner sold More than 300 Mil lion records and serenaded three generations of lovers. With White Christmas and adeste Fidelis and silent night Crosby s voice for years was almost synonymous with Christmas. During a december in Europe in world War ii Crosby s voice was broadcast to the German troops and they dubbed him Der Crosby s running gag feud with Hope and the pictures in which Crosby always won Dorothy Lamour in the finale was one of the trademarks of his career along with his flamboyant dress which was due in part to the fact he was color Blind. Born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma Washington May 2, 1904, Bing was the son of or. And mrs. Harry Lowe Crosby. Among his Brothers were Bob who became a Well known Singer and bandleader in his own right and Everett and Larry who helped manage Bing s career. His father was a bookkeeper for a Pickle Plant and a brewery. The Crosby family was never Replete with funds and Crosby went to work at an Early age at jobs that varied from picking pickles to delivering newspapers. Dad was in Hock most of the time he recalled sever Al years ago. As soon As he finished paying for a sewing machine he d buy a Victrola or Lawn Mower or one of us would need new clothes. We soon found out there was t a lot of Money on hand for baseball bats or sodas whatever we got we he attended Gonzaga High school and then studied Law at Gonzaga University. He was a member of the fresh Man football team the varsity baseball squad and the glee club. Bing also worked As a clerk for a Legal firm in off hours until one Day he met Al Rinker pianist and Leader of a Small dance band in need of a drummer. Crosby bought a set of trap Drums on the instalment plan quit school and went on the Road. The band broke up in 1925 and Rinker and Crosby went into vaudeville billed As two boys and a piano sing ing songs their own one of their biggest boosters was Rinker s sister Mildred who went on to become one of the greatest of the blues singers Mildred Bailey. If it had t been for Mildred said Bing Al and i probably would have starved to death in less time than it takes to Tell. She not Only fed us but hammered at her friends until they gave us at one matinee in san Francisco bandleader Paul Whiteman caught their act and signed them. A third Singer Harry barns made it the Paul Whiteman rhythm boys a Trio which toured with Whit Manfor three years including a movie the King of it was during this visit to Hollywood that Crosby met actress Dixie Lee who was already a celebrity in the film capital. Against the advice of her friends she married the Little known Bing Coveny As one paper called him in its Story. Their four sons tried show business themselves but never 4-proached their father s Success. Crosby s first movie in which he starred was a Short produced by Mack Sennett. In 1931 he signed a contract to sing on the radio for the Columbia broadcasting system several nights a week and was an instant Success. He broke House records for 20 consecutive weeks sing ing on the stage of the Paramount theater in new York where Sinatra years later was to Nave girls swooning in the aisles. His big break in movies came with the big broadcast of 1932" and during the. Depression Yea she was As much a part of the America scene As the Pep sickle. Bing recalled that Leo Mccarey an old Racetrack and football pal talked him into playing the part of the new priest opposite Barry Fitzgerald in going my i told him the Church simply would t stand for that kind of casting. But Leo said it would. He told me his idea and when he was finished there was t a dry Eye in the not up up crooner Crosby in his 1930s broadcasting Days. By John Rockwell new York times Oung americans Are used to pop stars who Are angry sexy and rebellious. Bing Crosby an swered different needs for a Dif Ferent age. He did so with a Grace that was typical of his entire career and in his own Subtle and unassuming Way he left a Mark on american popular music that t Many More flashy performers would find hard to match. Crosby came to prominence in the Early 1930s, and his Success was clearly related to radio and to the depression. Radio helped him to define his style the de pression provided the context in which his music and his personality could be Best appreciated. Before the introduction of the electrical recording process in 1925, both classical i and popular singers had to rely largely on v Luns Power to reach Large audiences. Elec i tronic amplification provided the Opp Ortu roofing with daughter Mary Frances in trial for 1977 european tour. Nity to sing conversationally to an audience of millions and Crosby was a particularly dramatic example of someone who profited by this technological innovation. His Early jazz records above All those with Paul Whiteman and the rhythm boys show a Singer who was still working to develop a personal style from a welter of influences. The Basic idiom is far jazzier and More flexible than the Ballad style for which he is Best known and shows pronounced influences of singers such As Al Jolson Mildred Bailey Ethel Waters and Louis Arm Strong. By the time of his first burst of Solo popularity however he had turned into some thing different and More familiar to us today. Henry Pleasants who has written with great critical perception of the Crosby style discounts the Singer s own frequent disparagement of his own vocal gifts. It is True that he lacked the stentorian top of some of the singers who immediately preceded him Jolson above All. To broaden his Range Crosby worked out a Light Semi falsetto head tone then Light ened up the rest of his voice to allow for an even scale throughout his Range. He could have done this Only with amplification to raise his volume and in any event his top was never his Strong suit. But the result was the evolution of the crooner that won him his Fame. The kind of music he Sang was essentially White pop ballads although certain slurs his Groaner image and ornaments he appropriated from Black jazz singers. More crucially however it was the very in pretentiousness of Bis manner that had fan influence paving the Way not Only for a Host of other adult pop crooners but also for the whole Vogue of naturalness in style and per Sona that has characterized the Rock Era and especially soft Rock. It would be hard to imagine James Taylor without Bing Crosby. The depression furthered Crosby s Suc Cess in that it was a time when americans actively sought a Singer who reinforced nostalgic memories for the past in a comfortable comforting Way. His image was prematurely paternal he was the Norman Rockwell of music. If he was sexy it was the sort of sexiness that made women want to cuddle. The 1940s and world War ii provided him one of his greatest hits White Christ Mas in 1942. Irving Berlin s song perfectly caught the strength of his Appeal reinforcing his already potent projection of Homey Virtues with the homesickness of soldiers at War. White Christmas came from a film called Holiday Crosby s film career had begun in 1933, a year after he started As a nationwide Solo radio Singer. In a time before television his movies Only strength ened his already huge aural Appeal. With the Onset of Rock and Roll in the mid-1950s, Crosby s career began to fade gracefully although he continued working and his by then considerable wealth rather obviated the need for gainful employment. And right up to the end As his Broadway run at the Uris theater last december and recent television talk show appearances indicated he retained his wonderfully warm natural Ness and his Broadway engagement earned him rave reviews for his sing ing. Above All there was that Sweet sureness of personality. Pop stars today Are not always so Nice or so natural. Perhaps they dig deeper into All our emotions and hence Are truer to today s realities than Crosby s gentler assurances. But for Many older american especially his Calm will be missed. Page 12 the stars and stripes sunday october 16, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13
