Bing Crosby Lives Again!

Bing Crosby’s dulcet tones made him the most influential and loved singer and entertainer throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s and into the 1950’s and beyond until he died on Oct. 14, 1977 after completing one last round at a golf course in Spain. Now, after more than 30 years since he left us, Bing lives again.

Bing (image right) lives through his songs that still reach large audiences. Those audiences also see him perform, this time on youtube.com videos. They hear that melodic voice not only on their CDs and albums but also on a number of radio stations around the world and on their ipods.

They listen on Sirius XM Satellite radio, too. In fact, Sirius devoted an entire channel to Bing during the 2008 Christmas season in which Regis Philbin and Crosby family members shared memories of Der Bingle. Bing’s decades-long monopoly on Christmas music, led by the largest selling single record in history, “White Christmas,” remains unchallenged.

Bing continues to be remembered as well through many of his movies, which are shown year-round on a number of television channels. He’s especially prominent during the Christmas holiday season when his Oscar-winning role as Father O’Malley in “Going My Way” and also in “The Bells of St. Mary’s” reaches millions. Many look forward every Christmas season to watch "White Christmas" on television with their families.

Starbucks and WalMart have taken Bing’s singing and acting talents to many old and new fans through the sale of a colorized version of Bing’s black and white movie, “Holiday Inn,” co-starring Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds. The song, “White Christmas,” introduced in that 1942 movie, won the Oscar that year for Best Song.

Bing isn’t forgotten on the Internet, either. Many of his more than 2,000 discs, including 22 gold records, and most of his albums are available for sale on a number of Internet sites.

While Elvis Presley’s memory is kept alive at Graceland and Frank Sinatra stays in the limelight through his family’s Website, Bing Crosby (image left) lives through his fans on many Websites.

Fans can even keep up with Bing’s current exploits on Yahoo Alerts, which offers daily emails showing the frequent media mentions of the world's most famous crooner.

Bing stays alive also at bingcrosby.com, a relatively new site where his family has shown a renewed interest in his legacy. He lives, too, in "Bing" an International Club Crosby glossy magazine. The club has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest running fan club. Its magazine is published three times a year, keeping fans up-to-date on Crosbyana. He's also remembered on a site called "The Immortal Talents of Bing Crosby." If you don’t think Bing is making it big with the Internet world,        take another look. He not only appears on dozens of sites devoted to him and his career, he’s even on Facebook! How cool is that? See:  http://profile.ak.facebook.com/object3/1705/76/n33833806461_7472.jpg

A number of books written about Bing over the years have kept Bing in the public eye. Most notoriously was “Going My Own Way” by his son, Gary, which unfairly stained Bing’s reputation. That book has been panned by many, including many of Bing’s relatives.

But Bing’s life has been competently and fairly documented in Gary Giddins' "Pocketful of Dreams" (2001), which tells his story from his birth in 1903 to 1940 – “The Early Years.” Giddins’ second and final volume, eagerly awaited by Crosby fans, is on the drawing board and expected to be published this year.

On top of all that, Bing remains alive on the fairways and greens of the exclusive Crosby Club at Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County and in the newsletter published regularly by Bing’s Friends and Collectors Society. A chain of five upscale Bing Crosby restaurants in California closed after the owners -- not connected to the Crosby family -- ran into debt and cited the poor economy for its action.

The old Clemmer Theater in Spokane, Wash., where Bing, Al Rinker and Harry Barris performed as the Rhythm Boys, had been operating as the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center, was renamed the Crosby Theater in 2006.

Bing’s widow, Kathryn Crosby, has kept Bing alive in books she penned about her life with Bing, including her latest, "My Last Years With Bing" and in performances she occasionally makes in a stage show memorializing Bing. Also, an entertainer named Bob Pasch has been presenting a "Tribute to Bing" show featuring musical selections reminiscent of Bing for more than 25 years. Bing’s niece, Carolyn Schneider, recorded her memories of Bing in her first book, “Me and Uncle Bing” and has since published a follow up about her famous uncle, "Bing: On the Road to Elko." The newer book captures the old groaner during his years (1943-58) as owner-operator of a large cattle spread in Elko, Nevada, where Bing was "Honorary Mayor."

Crosby, of course, remains alive and well at his alma mater, Gonzaga University, in Spokane, Wash., where Bing grew up. He moved there from Tacoma, where he was born on May 3, 1903. Gonzaga has been the beneficiary of Bing’s largesse throughout his life and from the proceeds of his estate as well. He had financed the construction of the university’s library, later converted to the Crosby Student Center, which houses Bing’s memorabilia in its Crosbyana Room.

Elko, Nevada's Mayor Dave Dotta presented Bing with the Key to the City and named him “Honorary Mayor” on Feb. 7, 1948 by virtue of his support of local causes. Bing was like "one of the boys" around Elko, where he enjoyed ranching. A Crosby Exhibit is maintained at Elko’s Northeastern Nevada Museum, but it was recently moved to a smaller area in the museum, drawing sharp criticism from Crosby fans and even some of Bing’s relatives. In 1951, Elko hosted the premier of Bing’s movie, “Here Comes the Groom,” which co-starred Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith and Franchot Tone.
Bing is not forgotten. Bing will never be forgotten. Bing lives! 

"American Popular Culture Began With Bing"

Bing Crosby Movies

Bing Crosby Discography

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? (1933)

I'm Hummin'-I'm Whistlin'-I'm Singin' (1934)

Brother Can You Spare a Dime (1932)

Bing Crosby 'The Day You Came Along' (1933)

Bing Crosby 'Sweet Georgia Brown' (1932)

Bowie Meets Crosby (1977)

My profile

William F. Torpey:

I'm a retired reporter and editor, a veteran of 32 years with The Hour, a daily newspaper in Norwalk, Connecticut. I was graduated from New York University's School of Commerce (now Stern School of Business) in 1964. My major was in journalism, and I minored in marketing under a Public Relations program (financed partially under the Korean G.I. Bill.)


I am a three-year U.S. Army veteran (1954-57) having served as a Public Information Specialist in Germany for some 19 months and at Fort Carson, Colorado, for 10 months. I received my initial public information training at the Army Information School, located at that time at Fort Slocum, on Davids Island off New Rochelle, N.Y.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nm09onB-el0


My major activity in the Army was writing news articles for the 9th Division News and filing reports with the Stars & Stripes and Army Times by teletype. I was particularly proud of a full-page spread I wrote for the Army Times reporting on the first ever speed limit in Germany. It was established only for roads within the Wharton Barracks military dependent area in Heilbronn. Upon returning to the U.S. under "Operation Gyroscope," I was given the additional duties of 60th Infantry Regiment photographer with a full photo lab that I established in a small cottage at Fort Carson with a lot of help from the 9th Division Photography Section.

In the business world, I spent an exciting year as Public Relations Assistant with the Commerce and Industry Association of New York, where one of my duties was as Executive Director of the Hundred Year Association of New York then located at Church Street in downtown New York City, 1965-66. I was in charge of the Association's 1965 New York Hilton dinner when we presented the Gold Medal to David Rockefeller as "Man of the Year. At the dinner, I received a telegram from Mayor John Lindsay, which I passed along to Barry Gottehrer, who won the Association's award for his New York Herald Tribune "City in Crisis" series, which was instrumental in Lindsay's election as mayor in 1965.

Previous recipients of the Gold Medal include John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1935), Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers (1950), New York Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani (1998) and Michael R. Bloomberg (2008.) I took the position of Executive Assistant at the Drug, Chemical and Allied Trades Asssociation, where I worked (in the Empire State Building) throughout 1967. Earlier, I worked as Inventory Supervisor for Peabody Engineering Corporation, then in Glenbrook, Conn., 1960-63.

I was born on May 29, 1935 on Ludlow Street in Yonkers, N.Y., which was dominated before and during World War II by the Alexander Smith carpet factory where my father and paternal grandfather worked for many years. As a young boy I lived for seven years with my maternal grandmother, who was the estranged wife of my famous grandfather, a longtime Irish prizefighter who fought more than 400 bouts under the alias Shamus O'Brien. (While his record was less than sterling, he was a good fighter and fought the revered lightweight champion Benny Leonard at least three times.)

I moved with my family to Norwalk, Connecticut, around 1951 and was graduated from Norwalk High School in 1954. I was married to Ruth Harriet Dugdale, 1938-2004, who was a registered nurse and later worked as Attendance Secretary at Darien High School. I have two grown children, Beth, a former Bluegrass Entertainer of the Year for the State of Maine, and Catherine, a graduate of the University of Chicago and Union Theological Seminary in New York, and the minister at the South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Freeport, N.Y. Catherine is presently (2017) executive director of the International Focusing Institute. I moved to Rockville Centre, N.Y., from Darien, Connecticut, in late 2005 and then to Valley Stream, N.Y. I am a member and former Adjutant of the Robert F. Garrison Post 3350, Veterans of Foreign Wars in East Rockaway, New York.

I am a lifelong fan of Bing Crosby, the greatest singer of the 20th Century. Bing has been cited by the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest single record sales ever for his recording of "White Christmas." He also was an Oscar-winning actor for one of his five dozen movies ("Going My Way" 1944.) I am a member of the International Club Crosby and was an occasional commenter on the forum pages of the former Bing Crosby Internet Museum.