American actor and singer Bing Crosby was famous for his bass-baritone voice that made him one of the best selling artists in the 20th century with over half a billion records in circulation. He was born as Harry Lillis Crosby on May 13, 1903 in Tacoma, WA to an American father, Harry Lowe and Irish-American mother, Kate Harrigan. The family moved to Spokane, Washington in 1906. He was the fourth among the seven children with brothers Larry, Everett, Ted, and Bob and sisters Catherine and Mary Rose. He went to Gonzaga University in Spokane and took up law. However, he was more interested in drums and singing with the local band. He and the band’s piano player, Al Rinker, left Spokane and moved to Los Angeles in 1925.
In the early 1930s, his brother Everett sent a record while Bing is singing I Surrender, Dear to the president of CBS. His live performances in New York were carried over in the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932. His success on the radio led the Paramount Pictures to include him in the film The Big Broadcast (1932) that features radio favorites. During the Great Depression, his song about not needing a bundle of money to make life happy was the right message. Along with his pal Bob Hope, the made in the series of Road comedies. He won the Best Actor in Oscar for his performance as the easy-going priest in Going My Way (1944).
Bing Crosby is married to Dixi Lee (September 29, 1930 – her death in November 1, 1952) and they had four children. He then married Kathryn Grant on October 24, 1957 and they had three children. He liked to play golf. He died on October 14, 1977 at the age of 74 due to heart attack while playing golf at a course outside Madrid in Spain after he completed a tour of England that included a sold-out engagement at the London Palladium.