Bing Crosby
Singer, actor and all round entertainer, Harry “Bing” Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington on the 3rd May 1903 and was the fourth of seven children.
He enrolled in university in 1920 with plans to become a lawyer however it was then that he ordered a set of drums and upon finding he earned a good living playing for a group called the Musicaladers he dropped out of his education for a career in show business.
He had to wait until 1926 for his big break when Crosby and singing partner, Al Rinker were discovered by bandleader, Paul Whiteman and made their first recording I’ve Got this Girl with Don Clark’s Orchestra. Whiteman added member, Harry Barris and the group worked with a number of musicians under the name The Rhythm Boys with Crosby soon distinguishing himself as the group’s main attraction.They scored their first number one hit in 1928 with Ol’ Man River. By 1931 the group had split up propelling Crosby into a solo career.
The 1930s saw him absolutely dominate the music industry, signing a long term contract with Decca and making the move into acting. In 1936 he took over the job as host of radio programme Kraft Music Hall a role which lasted for a decade.
His conversational vocal style coined the phrase crooning for the first time. During the Second World War his work was considered to have done more to lift the morale of the troops than any other entertainer. In 1942 Crosby had what was his biggest ever hit when he released White Christmas estimated to have sold 100 million copies worldwide.
In terms of ticket sales Bing Crosby can be considered the third most popular actor of all time behind only Clark Gable and John Wayne. He received a Best Actor Oscar in 1944 for his role in Going My Way; his biggest selling film was White Christmas ten years later. Like many of the artists of the era that followed, Crosby indulged in a televised musical variety show, guest hosting The Hollywood Palace as well as an unsuccessful sitcom called the Bing Crosby show.
