{"id":5712,"date":"2021-04-01T10:30:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T17:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5712"},"modified":"2021-04-01T10:10:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T17:10:11","slug":"republicans-in-history-bing-crosby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5712","title":{"rendered":"Republicans in History: Bing Crosby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Lillis Crosby Jr. was born in 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, the fourth son in a large family of seven children.\u00a0 His family soon moved to Spokane, Washington where he grew up.\u00a0 He studied law at Gonzaga University although he never graduated.\u00a0 When he was seven years old, a neighbor boy nicknamed him \u201cBingo from Bingville\u201d after a humorous weekly cartoon in the local newspaper. \u00a0 Eventually the last vowel fell off but the name stuck with him for the rest of his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1923 after Bing had left Gonzaga University, Bing joined a band made up of high school boys called the Musicaladers.\u00a0 The band played at high school dances, club dances and on the local radio station.\u00a0 The group disbanded after two years but Bing and fellow band member Al Rinker found work at the local Clemmer Theater.\u00a0 Bing sang as part of a trio while Al Rinker played piano from the pit as the entertainment between films.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After several months, Bing and Al Rinker decided to seek their fortunes in California.\u00a0 Al Rinker\u2019s sister, Mildred Bailey had made it big as a singer.\u00a0 Once in California, Mildred Bailey introduced them to her show business contacts.\u00a0 The Fanchon and Marco Time Agency signed the two of them for thirteen weeks to play in the revue \u201cThe Syncopation Idea\u201d making $75 a week.\u00a0 Although they had minor parts, it was here that they started to develop as entertainers.\u00a0 They went on to play in other revues further developing their entertainment skills.\u00a0 Within a year of their arrival in California, they were brought on board by Paul Whiteman and his jazz band to become a part of one of the biggest names in the entertainment world at the time.\u00a0 The duo later formed the trio \u201cRhythm Boys\u201d with Harry Barris and continued to perform with the jazz band.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1930 \u201cThe Rhythm Boys\u201d released a few singles and appeared together in one of Bing\u2019s first films \u201cThe King of Jazz\u201d.\u00a0 It was soon after this that Bing Crosby launched his solo radio career.\u00a0 His radio show was a huge success attracting 50 million listeners at its peak and was heard on the air for nearly 30 years.\u00a0 The same year Bing recorded \u201cI Found a Milion-Dollar Baby\u201d and \u201cJust One More Chance\u201d which were the year\u2019s biggest hits.\u00a0 In 1930 Bing Crosby also married Dixie Lee, an actress and nightclub singer.\u00a0 They were married until her death in 1952 and had four sons.\u00a0 In 1957 he married actress Kathyrn Grant with whom he had three more children.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing Crosby soon became the foremost singer in America.\u00a0 10 of the top 50 songs in 1931 featured Bing. He launched his film career starring in a series of musical film shorts which lead him to sign with Paramount in 1932 starring in his first feature film \u201cThe Big Broadcast\u201d.\u00a0 He went on to star as the lead in 55 films and appeared in a total of 79 movies.\u00a0 In 1934 he signed a record deal with record company Decca.\u00a0 He soon established a long time pattern of making three movies a year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing\u2019s impact on the entertainment industry increased as his radio show, personal appearances, hit records and his successful movie \u201cThe Big Broadcast\u201d increased his fame worldwide.\u00a0 He is credited with saving the recording industry during the depression as he agreed to support Decca Records\u2019 founder Jack Kapp\u2019s pioneering idea to change the payout from a flat fee to a royalty fee for records sold and lowered the price of a single from $1 to 35 cents.\u00a0 Many recording artists then signed with Decca Records following Bing\u2019s lead.\u00a0 Bing Crosby\u2019s popularity and talent kept the recording industry alive throughout the depression years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1936, Bing Crosby exercised a contractual option signing with Columbia Pictures to make a movie outside of Paramount. He dreamed of making the screen adaptation of a story in the book \u201cThe Peacock Feather\u201d with his friend Louis Armstrong.\u00a0 The movie \u201cPennies in Heaven\u201d was a huge hit.\u00a0 Armstrong\u2019s musical scenes as well as some comical dialogue enhanced his musical career.\u00a0 Bing insisted on Armstrong having lead billing along side his white co-stars, a first for a wide release feature film.\u00a0 Armstrong went on to appear as himself in many Bing Crosby films and they remained lifelong friends.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During WWII Bing Crosby made numerous personal appearances before US troops in Europe.\u00a0 He also learned to read German from written scripts and broadcast propaganda messages to German troops.\u00a0 He was considered a key element in maintaining troop morale during the war ahead of FDR and Bob Hope.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing sang the biggest hit of his career Irving Berlin\u2019s \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d on his radio broadcast on Christmas morning in 1941.\u00a0 He then recorded it for his movie \u201cHoliday Inn\u201d the following year.\u00a0 This song hit #1 on the charts and remained there for 11 weeks.\u00a0 It has been rereleased by Decca Records hitting the charts again 16 times.\u00a0 This song has become the all time best selling single ever in history with sales of over 100 million worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing Crosby\u2019s movie career was no less spectacular.\u00a0 His on screen talent led to three Academy Award nominations and one Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in \u201cGoing My Way\u201d in 1944.\u00a0 He became involved in television production with \u201cFireside Theater\u201d. Bing Crosby Productions also produced favorite television series such as \u201cBen Casey\u201d and the popular \u201cHogan\u2019s Heroes\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crosby had a significant impact on the modern use of tape recording.\u00a0 Up until 1945 radio shows had been broadcast live.\u00a0 Some shows were reproduced live for the West Coast.\u00a0 Bing Crosby had a run in with NBC over his use of tape to pre-record his radio show.\u00a0 The musicians\u2019 union sided with NBC looking to protect musicians\u2019 jobs in the studio.\u00a0 Pre-recording his show allowed him to record a month\u2019s worth of radio shows at his convenience.\u00a0 German audio engineers had developed broadcast quality magnetic audio tape that eventually became the industry standard.\u00a0 Bing Crosby eventually walked away from his radio show and the network for seven months as NBC refused to air pre-recorded shows.\u00a0 This created a legal battle with his sponsor Kraft.\u00a0 Eventually he returned to finish the last 13 weeks of the 1945 season.\u00a0 He moved to ABC who had already adopted the pre-recorded format for Orson Welles \u201cThe Shadow\u201d.\u00a0 He pushed the industry to perfect sound and magnetic tape technology as well as the quality of microphones.\u00a0 He saw this as a means to bring better quality and control mistakes and content of his shows through editing.\u00a0 He also saw this as an opportunity to promote on the radio his newest investment in world\u2019s first frozen orange juice branded \u201cMinute Maid\u201d which gave him the possibility of making more money and not be taxed at the 77% tax rate.\u00a0 \u00a0 He was also instrumental in the future development and use of video tape technology.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing Crosby was also a horse racing fan.\u00a0 He was a founding member of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and a member of the board of directors.\u00a0 There he became fast friends with fellow horse enthusiast Lindsay Howard.\u00a0 Together they formed the Binglin Stables partnership to breed and race horses.\u00a0 The partnership was dissolved in 1953 when Crosby was forced to sell off his assets to settle hefty inheritance tax debts owed on his deceased wife\u2019s estate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bing Crosby passed away after a massive heart attack in 1977 on his way back to the club house at the Moraleja Golf Course near Madrid, Spain after a round of golf.\u00a0 Bing Crosby is held to be the most successful multimedia entertainer of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century.\u00a0 He reached the height of popularity and fame in radio, television, film and as a recording star.\u00a0 Bing Crosby was a Republican!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry Lillis Crosby Jr. was born in 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, the fourth son in a large family of seven children.\u00a0 His family soon moved to Spokane, Washington where he grew up.\u00a0 He studied law at Gonzaga University although he never graduated.\u00a0 When he was seven years old, a neighbor boy nicknamed him \u201cBingo from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublicans in History: Bing Crosby - San Diego News Desk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5712\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republicans in History: Bing Crosby - 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