Olive Kathryn Crosby (née Grandstaff; November 25, 1933 – September 20, 2024) was an American actress and singer who performed in films under the stage names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff.[1]
Kathryn Crosby | |
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 Crosby in 1976 | |
| Born | Olive Kathryn Grandstaff November 25, 1933 West Columbia, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | September 20, 2024 (aged 90) Hillsborough, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery |
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| Education | University of Texas at Austin (BFA) |
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Early life and education
editBorn Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on November 25, 1933, in West Columbia, Texas, to Delbert Emery Grandstaff Sr. and Olive Catherine Grandstaff (née Stokely).[2] Kathryn had four siblings. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955. Two years later, she married widower Bing Crosby, 30 years her senior. The couple had three children: Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel.[3]
Career
editKathryn's film career began in 1953.[4] She had featured roles such as Princess Parisa in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and in the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (1959). She also played the part of Mama Bear with her husband and children in Goldilocks, and she co-starred with Jack Lemmon in the comedy Operation Mad Ball (1957), with Tony Curtis in the drama Mister Cory (1957), and as a trapeze artist in The Big Circus (1959). However, Crosby largely retired from acting by the 1960s.
On June 16, 1963, Crosby became a registered nurse after studying at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles.[5][6]
Crosby appeared as a guest star on her husband's 1964–1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show.
In the mid-1970s, she hosted The Kathryn Crosby Show, a 30-minute local talk show on KPIX-TV in San Francisco. Husband Bing appeared as a guest occasionally. After Bing Crosby's death in 1977, she took on a few smaller roles and the lead in the short-lived 1996 Broadway musical State Fair.
From 1985-2001, Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. A nearby bridge carrying U.S. Route 158 over the Yadkin River is named for Kathryn Crosby.[7]
On November 4, 2010, Crosby was seriously injured in an automobile accident in the Sierra Nevada that killed her second husband, 85-year-old Maurice William Sullivan, whom she had married in 2000.[8]
On June 1, 2014, Crosby sang in a Rodgers and Hart tribute.[9]
Death
editCrosby died on September 20, 2024, at the age of 90.[10] She is interred in the family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Filmography
edit- So This Is Love (1953) – Showgirl (uncredited)
- Arrowhead (1953) – Miss Mason (uncredited)
- Forever Female (1953) – Young Hopeful (uncredited)
- Casanova's Big Night (1954) – Girl on Bridge (uncredited)
- Living It Up (1954) – Manicurist (uncredited)
- Rear Window (1954) – Girl at Songwriter's Party (uncredited)
- Unchained (1955) – Sally Haskins (uncredited)
- Tight Spot (1955) – Girl Honeymooner (uncredited)
- Cell 2455 Death Row (1955) – Jo-Anne
- 5 Against the House (1955) – Jean, Young Woman in Nightclub (uncredited)
- The Phenix City Story (1955) – Ellie Rhodes
- My Sister Eileen (1955) – Young Hopeful (uncredited)
- Storm Center (1956) – Hazel Levering
- Reprisal! (1956) – Taini
- The Wild Party (1956) – Honey
- Mister Cory (1957) – Jen Vollard
- The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) – Anne Martin
- The Night the World Exploded (1957) – Laura Hutchinson
- Operation Mad Ball (1957) – Lt. Betty Bixby
- The Brothers Rico (1957) – Norah Malaks Rico
- Gunman's Walk (1958) – Clee Chouard
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) – Princess Parisa
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – Mary Pilant
- The Big Circus (1959) – Jeannie Whirling
- 1001 Arabian Nights (1959) – Princess Yasminda (voice)
- The Bing Crosby Show (1965) – Stephanie
- Great Performances (1971) – Lise
- The Initiation of Sarah (1978) – Mrs. Goodwin
- This Is the Life (1979) – Joyce Williams
- Queen of the Lot (2010) – Elizabeth Lambert
References
edit- ^ "Kathryn Grant". Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "Kathryn Grant". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
- ^ "Bing Crosby's Former California Estate Is for Sale for $13.8 Million". People. March 29, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
- ^ Harris, Beth (September 21, 2024). "Kathryn Crosby, actor and widow of famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, dies at 90". Associated Press. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
- ^ "1963 Press Photo Kathryn Crosby wife Bing Crosby nurse cap Queen Angels School". Historic Images. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ^ West, Richard; Thackrey, Ted Jr. (October 15, 1977). "From the Archives: Bing Crosby Dies at 73 on Golf Course". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Jim Sparks, "Crews to Start Work on Bridge," Winston-Salem Journal, November 21, 2007.
- ^ Martin Griffith (December 2, 2010). "Bing Crosby's widow recovering from accident". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ "Saratoga: Kathryn Crosby to sing in Rodgers and Hart tribute". The Mercury News. May 21, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Buenahora, Andrés (September 21, 2024). "Kathryn Crosby, Actor and Widow of Bing Crosby, Dies at 90". Variety. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
External links
edit- Kathryn Crosby at IMDb
- Kathryn Crosby at the Internet Broadway Database
- "biography". All Movie.
- Kathryn Crosby discography at Discogs