_______________________________
The Elder Statesman, 1960–1974
At
the outset of the sixties, Bing appeared to lose weight, and he did not look at
all well. In fact, he was probably in constant pain with kidney stone problems.
Major surgery was necessary again in 1962 and in 1963, and even then, the
problems continued. As always though, Bing maintained his usual public face and
as the years passed his reputation as an elder statesman of show business grew.
His distinctive speaking voice was often in demand as was his ability as a
raconteur. The occasional television specials continued and drew good
audiences. The frequency of Bing’s film work declined, although he enjoyed
considerable commercial success with his last Road film and some
critical acclaim as the drunken doctor in the remake of Stagecoach.
Recordings became less frequent as well although he did manage to make 
commercial recordings in each year. Bing remained very
faithful to his fans and was always willing to give time to meet them and reply
to their correspondence.
He gradually reduced his
work schedule to about ninety days a year, which gave him plenty of time for
his various sporting activities and for his family. Bing had always felt that
he had not given enough time to the children of his first marriage, and he
tried to make sure that he did not repeat that mistake with the three children
of his second family. Religion became even more important to him as he got
older. While his public persona was perpetuated, in his private life it
appeared that he had tired of being “Bing” Crosby and was quietly slipping back
into being ordinary Harry Crosby. As a result, it was as hard to track his
movements during this period as it was in his early years in Spokane. He
traveled constantly and spent much time at his new home in Las Cruces in Baja
California. After several years of indifferent health, Bing amazed almost
everyone in 1964 when he agreed to appear in a weekly situation comedy series
on television. The series was pleasant, although not a great success and Bing
then picked up a steady job as one of the regular hosts of the Hollywood
Palace, which gave him very useful exposure. His televised Christmas shows
frequently attracted record audiences, but it seemed that Bing was content to
gradually fade into semiretirement. Then in 1974, he became very seriously ill
and after a major operation, part of one lung was removed. There were doubts
about him ever singing again, and it was probably with some trepidation that he
returned to the recording studios to work with British producer Ken Barnes.
Equivalents of $100 in year 2000 terms– 1960: $580, 1974: $348.
January 6, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn throw a party for Lindsay
Crosby’s birthday. Thirty of his friends attend.
January 10, Sunday. Bing arranges for Leo Lynn to pick up Perry
Como as he arrives at Los Angeles Airport and drive him to his hotel bungalow
where Bing calls in to see him. Perry and Bing have dinner together.
January 11-15, Monday-Friday. Tapes The Bing Crosby Show with
Perry Como, the Crosby Brothers, Elaine Dunn, and Sandy Stewart. The show is
transmitted by ABC-TV on February 29. Bing takes the place of Gary Crosby in
the Crosby Brothers song “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”
When Variety Was King: Memoir of a
TV Pioneer chronicles the exploits of veteran television writer/producer
Frank Peppiatt who, with partner John Aylesworth, wrote and produced shows for
such stars as Judy Garland, Julie Andrews and Andy Williams and Sonny and Cher.
They also created Hee Haw and Hullabaloo.
Peppiatt was once asked to create a
special for Jackie Gleason which would include a golf match between The
Great One and Arnold Palmer. It was envisioned that Bing would announce the
game and banter with Gleason. Alas, the show never materialized. Peppiatt,
however, did succeed in working with Bing on one memorable occasion.
Just after Christmas, 1959 TV icon Nick Vanoff called. “I need your help. I’m producing and directing a big special with Bing Crosby and Perry Como.” Peppiatt eagerly replied, “That is big.”
Although Peppiatt and Aylesworth were busy in New York working on a series named Music ’60, the team could not resist the blandishments of plane tickets, a suite in Beverly Hills and five thousand dollars each. Vanoff met them upon arrival in Los Angeles, and accompanied them in a small prop plane to Bing’s country club in Palm Springs. Once there, a clerk summoned them to a large closed circuit TV set. There was Bing on the screen. “Mr. Crosby is just teeing off on 18. He should be here in twenty minutes.” The star-struck writers anxiously waited in a spacious dining room, noticing Ray Milland at the next table. Soon, Nick whispered, “Here comes Bing.”
Peppiatt remembered Bing’s “soft, singsong voice” as he greeted them. “Well, well, well. Nick and the scriveners are here.” As they became acquainted over lunch Bing insisted on some ground rules. “My last two specials had themes like glass and wood and I was sort of the second banana. I’m a crooner, not a carpenter or a glass blower, so let’s keep things straight ahead and simple.”
Aylesworth piped in. “And we must remember that the pairing of Crosby and Como is very special, like Ethel Merman and Mary Martin. People have never heard you sing together.” Peppiatt was inspired. “Music lovers all over the world will literally want to stick their microphones into the proceedings.” Vanoff ran with the ball. “And we will see to that! Fifty or more microphones will pop in over your and Perry’s heads and we go on from there, okeydokey?” Bing was thumbs – up. “Okey – damn - dokey!”
Emboldened by Bing’s enthusiasm, Peppiatt brought it to the next level. “It’ll be a Crosby – Como crooning contest!” Bing modestly added, “I’ll bring my pipes along and proudly participate.” As he escorted them back to the Palm Springs airport, Nick exclaimed, “We got the old man geared up. Good job, guys. Now you can start working on some patter to get us into the medley and start putting a medley together. Okeydokey?”
The duo was invited to a lavish New Year’s Eve party hosted by Frank Sinatra, but missed this golden opportunity because they overslept in their hotel room. They consoled themselves by working for three straight days as the new decade dawned. “We finished a good first draft of the medley scene with the fifty microphones. Nick was thrilled with the spot, suggested a couple of changes and it was ready to take to the musical director [Vic Schoen]. Perry Como arrived, and he and Bing hit it off right away. They both loved the medley, and John and I started filling in the rest of the show.” Peppiatt was called back to work on Music ’60 so he didn’t see the final show. “John said the taping had gone well and he brought thanks from Bing, Perry and Nick.”
This special, The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile, would be aired on Leap Day, 1960. Perry was so pleased with the “scriveners two” that he asked them, along with Vanoff, to take charge of Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall the following fall. One can just imagine their answer. “Okey – damn – dokey.”
(Martin McQuade, writing in BING magazine, summer 2013)
HOLLYWOOD
(UPI) — The ushers will be passing out stay-awake pills Monday night Feb. 29 when
the sleepy-time twins—Bing Crosby and Perry Como—join forces on TV to cure the
nation’s insomniacs. The ABC-TV studios will be Relaxville, U.S.A., as the two
senior crooners put on a musical display of togetherness.
Neither
Bing nor Perry has a solo. All their songs will be duets except for a few
quartet numbers with a pair of pretty newcomers, Elaine Dunn and Sandy Stewart.
At
rehearsal this week Como and Crosby played it cool and casual without the usual
frantic last-minute preparations. A ricky-tick piano clanked out the chords
while the boys blended their smooth voices into a bonanza of old favorites and
recent hits they’ve recorded. Among the melodies were “Getting to Know You,” “Bye
Bye Blackbird,” “Scarlet Ribbons” and “Zing Zing Zing.”
When
the spirit moved them, on occasion the two old pros broke into spontaneous
little jigs that drew approval from set-siders.
During
a break der Bingle, dressed casually in baggy sweater and slacks, went over the
script with. Perry, equally casual in baggy slacks and sweater. For a moment it
appeared they might doze off, but a riffle on the piano brought them to.
“‘Okay,”
Bing said, adjusting the golf cap atop his head, “Let’s have the three chaps in
here now. Come on, come on,” he motioned to his three sons. Lindsay, and twins
Dennis and Philip who are appearing with him.
The
younger Crosbys, taking a note from papa Bing’s book, shuffled lazily,
alongside their dad for a soft-shoe shuffle while Perry retired to the
sidelines.
“Those
boys look pretty good to me,” Perry yawned. “Talented.”
Como
scratched his head contentedly and added, “always been a big fan of Bing’s. We
worked together on a couple of radio shows about 10 years back. This is the
first time we’ve ever appeared on television.”
Perry’s
appearance on the Feb. 29 special marks his first guest shot from Hollywood.
But he didn’t “make the trip just out of friendship.
“Bing’s
coming to New York for my March 16 show,” he smiled sleepily, before returning
to do another song with Bing.
“How relaxed can you get,” Lindsay observed, “They have to wake those guys up for rehearsal. There’d better be a lot of applause on this show to keep them both awake.”
(Vernon Scott, Around Hollywood, Anaheim Bulletin, January 18, 1960)
January 12, Tuesday. Bing and his four sons hold a press conference.
Hollywood
(AP) – Bing likes Gary, Gary likes Bing. Nobody’s sore at anybody. To prove it,
Bing Crosby and his four sons staged a togetherness session for reporters
Tuesday.
The
ice did appear to be thinner as the crooner and his eldest son, Gary, exchanged
greetings in the casual Crosby manner. They have been on coolish terms.
“Bing
invited Gary up to the house for Christmas, and Gary came,” brother Phillip explained.
“Then Gary invited Bing to his house Christmas night, and Bing went. Everybody
was full of Christmas booze and cheer, with lots of good will all around.”
The
meeting took place at a rehearsal for Bing’s Feb 29 tv spectacular with Perry
Como. The four boys originally were to appear, but Gary backed out.
“The
medics say that I won’t be able to sing for two and a half months because of my
throat,” Gary said. “One of the vocal cords is enlarged.”
Why
not do a walk-on?
“It
would require a lot of explaining,” Gary said, “and there wasn’t time in the
script for it.”
(The Independent, January 13, 1960)
Hollywood
(UPI) - …None of the other boys, the twins, Phillip and Dennis, and young
Lindsay, exchanged any conversation with their older brother with whom they
were rumored to have quarrelled late last year in Montreal, Canada. Since that
publicized fraternal fight, the boys have disbanded their nightclub act.
“It
will have to stay disbanded until my throat gets better.” Gary said in a voice
that sounded normal. “Even the boys may have to go out as a trio, Shep, Moe and
Curley,” Gary added, referring to the Three Stooges.
The
pictures taken, Bing and the three other boys went back to rehearsal while Gary
watched indifferently on the sidelines.
The
Crosby family hassle is reported to have begun on Christmas Day, 1958, when
Kathy Crosby, Bing’s young wife, and the boys’ stepmother, slighted Lindsay
over the Christmas presents he had given her. The story is that Lindsay had
delivered the presents early, then joined brother Gary in Las Vegas for the
holidays.
According
to reports Kathy returned the gifts unopened, offending Lindsay and enraging Gary…
(The Times-Herald, January 13, 1960)
January 21-24,
Thursday–Sunday. The nineteenth National Pro-Am
Championship at Pebble Beach is played in very bad weather. The winner
is Ken Venturi.
Bing and Jimmy Demaret act as commentators during the television
coverage which
starts at 2:30 p.m. on ABC-TV on the final day. Celebrities playing
include Bob
Hope, Desi Arnaz, Ernie Ford, Fred MacMurray, Ray
Milland, George Gobel, Burt Lancaster, Randolph Scott, Guy Madison,
Johnny Weissmuller, William Boyd, Don Cherry, Bob Crosby, Gordon
MacRae, Ty Hardin, Dennis Morgan, John Raitt, Phil Harris, and James
Garner. Phil and Lindsay Crosby also play, as does Moe Dalitz (see
January 16,
1959). Bing and his three younger sons from his first family entertain
at the
dinner after the tournament.
An impromptu
song-and-dance routine by the Crosby Clan highlighted last night’s Victory
Dinner and Clambake winding up the 19th annual National Pro-Amateur Golf
Tournament.
Host
Bing Crosby “subbed” for son Gary Crosby as he joined Phil, Lindsay and Dennis
for “The Battle of Jericho” and a subsequent soft-shoe number.
Earlier,
Phil, Lindsay and Dennis had warbled two folk songs – “Scarlet Ribbons” and
“Town-Oh!” – for the 700 or so golfers, tournament
officials, volunteer workers and press representatives.
The
“Bing and His Friends” portion of the program also included a rendition of
“Mack the Knife” by comedian Phil Harris, again an amateur entrant in the
tournament. And, there was a sedate jam-session involving amateur golfers
George Gobel (guitar) and Curt Massey (piano) as
accompanists for some New Orleans cornet work by pro-golfer Lionel Herbert.
Award
ceremonies were run off with dispatch as Bing doled out the checks to the
winning pros and the trophies to the contributing amateurs.
Bing
also served as master-of-ceremonies for the regular Victory Dinner show. He
introduced Buddy Cole and his Orchestra, dancer Jim Slade, jugglers Ursula and
Gus, magician Del Rey, ventriloquist Rickey Lane and Velvel, singer Sandy Stewart and comedian Paul Gilbert.
Gilbert
was a last-minute substitution for comic Joey Bishop.
Finally,
Bing sang his traditional “Now Is the Hour” and the 19th annual Bing Crosby
Golf Tournament was rather water-logged history.
(Monterey Peninsula, January 25, 1960)
January 21, Thursday. Bing is elected as chairman of the board of
the First National Bank of Holbrook, Arizona.
January 28, Thursday. Records four songs with Bob Thompson
and
his Orchestra for RCA Victor Records in Los Angeles. Two are released,
but the
other two songs remain unissued until 1967 when they appear on an
Australian
extended-play record. The Federal Commnications Commision approves Bing
and other KCOP (TV) shareholders requet to swap their stock forstock in
Nafi Corp. Nafi operates statio KPTV-TV in Portland, Oregon.
The Music of Home – It’s a Good Day
“The Music of Home” is a lovely ballad from Frank
Loesser’s Greenwillow. Crosby renders the pretty tune warmly over a lush
orchestra backing. He reads “It’s a Good Day” smartly over a bright orchestra
assist. Both are fine sides that should please.
(Billboard, February 8, 1960)
February (undated). Bing and Rosemary Clooney record two advertising
jingles for Eastern Products for use on their forthcoming radio show. Bing also
records songs with Buddy Cole & His Trio for radio use at the CBS Studio in
Hollywood.
February 1–June. Films High Time for Bing Crosby Productions
with Fabian, Tuesday Weld, and Nicole Maurey. The director is Blake Edwards
with Henry Mancini looking after the musical score. Initial location filming
takes place at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Completion
of the film is delayed due to an actors’ strike. As part of his contract, Bing
is released for the period from March 12 to March 17 inclusive so that he can
take part in a TV show with Perry Como.
February 6, Saturday. (11:30 a.m.) Bing arrives back by plane from Stockton where he is filming High Time. In the afternoon, Lindsay Crosby marries Barbara Frederickson
at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood. Phillip Crosby acts as best man and Gary and Dennis are ushers. About 150 attend at the church. The reception is held at Bing’s
Holmby Hills house with 200 present. The press is not invited.
February 7, Sunday. Bing’s mother’s “ninetieth” birthday party
(she was really only eighty-seven). All of her seven children, including Ted,
who has apparently been regarded as the “black sheep” of the family attend, as does
Father Peyton. The whole family goes to the 11 o’clock mass prior to the party.
Kathryn later writes to her parents.
…Well,
Barbara and Lindsay were married on Saturday and all went well. There wasn’t
one fistfight in the whole reception. I was pleased beyond words because Bing
for the first time got to see one of his children marry and in church – the
reception was here and my angel husband let me know he was happy, which of
course always pleases me.
Florence
and Everett came out from New York for the wedding and for mother’s birthday
party which was Sunday, February 7. We had for the first time in about fifteen
years the whole family together – all seven children and their maids. It was a
pretty big bite for me to chew off but it came off beautifully. Larry and
Elaine were so very helpful – they kept Mary Rose and Catherine and Ed Mullin
at their home. Then Bob and June were also delightful, they brought Ted and
Margaret from the train on Glendale and kept them at their home. So with
Everett and Florence here we were all together most of Sunday. Mother behaved
like a 20 year old. She was perky and cute and enjoyed herself all day. She was
bright from about 7 o’clock in the morning when she rose and grandly descended
to breakfast in her robe until about 9 o’clock that night when Florence topped
off a beautifully exciting day with a wonderful concert…
February 10, Wednesday. (8:30-9:30 p.m.) Bing is one of many stars participating in Marsha Hunt's documentary "A Call from the Stars" shown on Channel 13 about UN World Refugee Year.
February 19-21/26-28. Kathryn plays the leading role of “Cordelia” in
Shakespeare’s King Lear at Immaculate Heart College.
February 19-20, Friday–Saturday. Bing is at Squaw Valley, Idaho, with
Buster and Stevie Collier for the Winter Olympics. They watch the skating and the hockey. Gives an interview for Radio
Moscow about athletics and other matters which is broadcast on April 3 and
noted in the FBI files.
London,
April 3 (UPI)—Bing Crosby sang “How Deep Is the Ocean” and then plunged into a
discussion of world affairs and vodka on a Radio Moscow broadcast today.
The
broadcast monitored here began with a record of Crosby singing the song. He was
described as “the world-famous singer and movie actor.”
The
radio said the interview with Crosby was obtained in Squaw Valley, Cal. Crosby
was quoted as saying he thought Soviet Premier Khrushchev “made a very good
impression” during his American tour last October.
“He’s
got a wonderful humor,” Crosby was quoted. “He’s got a twinkle in his eye.”
The
crooner also was quoted as saying that there should be more cultural exchanges with
Russia. This was because of “their wonderful music, their wonderful dancing,
not to overlook, of course, the food and the vodka, which is nice, too, on
occasion.”
(The Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1960)
February 23, Tuesday. Bing returns to the High Time set.
On Tuesday Bing returned to the set of High
Time, and Blake Edwards took him to task in front of the assembled company.
“That’s the least professional thing I can imagine. We were all waiting to work
on Saturday. You have wasted three days for the entire cast and crew. Why
didn’t you at least come back so we could shoot on Monday?”
Bing’s innocent blue eyes gazed soulfully
back at his director: “But Blake, there I was trapped in a broom closet with
twenty-nine gypsies and a hot guitar. What could I do?” The star shrugged his
shoulders and slouched back to his canvas chair to await the next scene.
Blake confided, “I’ve been a writer all
my life, and that is the single funniest line I’ve ever heard. Imagine! ‘Trapped in a broom closet with twenty-nine gypsies and a hot
guitar.’ It defused me completely, and sent the whole company right back
to work.”
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Life
with Bing, page 153)
February 28, Sunday. Bing at home at Holmby Hills with most of his
sons and their wives. Then he and Kathryn go to Palm Springs for two days.
But now Sandy, Pat, and I began
organizing a new pattern of Crosby living, starting with Sundays at home. On
the first one after Bing’s return, Sandy and Phil arrived bright and early with
asparagus and beans. Pat and Dennis brought salad and French bread. I fixed a
ham. Harland Svare, a friend of the boys, joined us
with a date and a football. Gary brought the ice cream. Harry, Mary Frances,
Dennis Jr., and Phillip’s daughter Dixie Lee tumbled around in the sunny back
yard with half-a-dozen delighted Labradors.
Bing basked in one of the lawn chairs,
threw a few footballs, and seemed happy in his new role of resident patriarch,
demonstrating an easy rapport with all his children and grand-children. Thus I
was all the more surprised when my supposedly newly-domesticated spouse
suddenly announced that the party was over, and that he was leaving
immediately. While the clan scattered, I packed posthaste and shared the drive
to Palm Desert, where he practiced golf for two days and visited with Phil
Harris and Alice Faye.
(Kathryn
Crosby, writing in My Life with Bing, page 153)
February 29, Monday. (12:40–1:00 p.m.) The Crosby–Clooney
Show, a twenty-minute daily radio show premieres on CBS. It
continues until September 28, 1962, and uses items from a library of songs
recorded with Buddy Cole and his Trio. Bing and Rosemary Clooney record new
linking dialogue periodically.
BING CROSBY-ROSEMARY CLOONEY
CBS is forever trying to revive the good old days of
radio, and this time, by some magic of economics or persuasiveness, they’ve got
a highly respected pair of performers to help them. Rosemary Clooney and Bing
Crosby, aided by Ken Carpenter (a strong trio if ever there was one), began
their daily turn for the network on Monday (29). Program was not inspired but
it was fun, and might just attract a respectable audience. Format was simple:
Miss Clooney and Crosby sang and exchanged a few glib rehearsed “ad libs.” They
were aided by the small Buddy Cole group, whose sound included an organ and an
electric guitar, which may have been tinny but was nonetheless competent.
(Variety, March 2, 1960)
I started with Rosemary Clooney in 1953. She was on
another network (NBC) but eventually she came over to CBS and we put Crosby and
Clooney together and that’s the way it is today. I’m so thankful for this
Crosby show that got started and I would break my back to stay on it all of my life.
I wish I could be assured of that, I might have a little more hair than I have
right now—but it’s a wonderful show to do. I go into a studio to record a basic
track with Bing, or with Rosemary or both if they are doing duets. Now what I
mean by that is just the rhythm, just the bass, guitar and drums and I’ll play
piano or celeste or as little as I have to put in to give them some background.
We do maybe 4, 6, 8, 10—I’ve done as many as 20 songs in a day with Bing. A lot
of these were head arrangements, not written. I write every one that I possibly
can, you have to for things that are concerted, because then we come back at
our leisure the next day or two or three days later. We play these things back
through a speaker or on a headset and then set about adding instruments and
other sounds. We can add—we can multiple all the electric guitar, organ, kettle
drums, shot guns, chimes, whatever you want to add, sometimes we even sing!
That’s why we are able to maintain a pretty good balance on the show. I have a pretty good control over it . . . But anyway, that is the way we do the show and at this point I would say we have between 250 and 300 tunes in the can with Bing and about 200-odd with Rosemary plus about forty duets. These can be drawn upon at any time and Murdo Mackenzie puts the shows together. He gets the dialogue, and every word that Bing has ever uttered into the tape recorder microphones is filed away where he knows right where to get it. If he needs a “Yes” or a “No” or a “Thank You” or a “Go to Hell,” he’s got it catalogued. Then we’ll take these tunes other times and we’ll edit them, make them one chorus or change the introduction or sometimes fill in a thing instrumentally or run underneath the dialogue.
(Buddy Cole, in a tape recorded message to Crosby fan Stan White, as reproduced in Crosby Post, August 1962)
(8:30–9:30
p.m.) The taped Bing Crosby Show
is transmitted by ABC-TV with Perry
Como as the principal guest. Vic Schoen is the music director and
William O.
Harbach is producer-director. The writers are Bill Morrow, John
Aylesworth and Frank Peppiatt. The Trendex ratings go to an incredible
thirty-three.
Pairing Perry Como with Bing Crosby may not be change
of pace casting but the two stars are masters of the song craft and joined
together for a consistently pleasing and of course, always relaxing musical
session. It was the first that they had worked together and now, Crosby is
slated to play the Como show March 16 on NBC-TV on a home-and-home guest
arrangement.
It was, perhaps,
inevitable that the Como-Crosby tandem would invite a script that laid on both
performers’ easy-going, if not somnolent, style. A couple of nifty laughs were
extracted from this angle but it was accented somewhat too heavily through the
hour. Overall, however, the scripting team, headed by Crosby’s veteran
phrasemaker, Bill Morrow, turned out some typically smooth-riding persiflage
for Der Bingle and his guest.
In their song stints,
done mostly in duet, C & C delivered with their trademarked casualness,
with no effort to bowl over the viewer. The backgrounds were minimal, with some
chorus boys used as occasional transitions as the baritone crooners worked
through several long standard medleys. Included were a collection of ‘lazy’
songs, a Maurice Chevalier wrap-up midway and a random sample of oldies for the
finale.
Also part of the guest
line-up were three of Crosby’s four sons who contributed a couple of nifty folk
songs, ‘Scarlet Ribbons’ and ‘A Fox Went A’Hunting’, joining with their pere in
a slick version of ‘Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho’. They bowed off after
engaging in an amusing display of way-back hoofing.
The guest line-up was
completed by a couple of good-looking talents, singer-dancer, Elaine Dunn and
songstress, Sandy Stewart. Their intro routine via some cross talk between
Crosby and Como was slightly too cute but the girls handled their assignments
expertly.
(Variety, March 2, 1960)
The show received a
massive boost early in 1960 when Como and his singing idol, Bing Crosby, agreed
to a guest swap. It was Como’s only “trade” of the season and in January 1960,
Como flew to Los Angeles to deliver the first part of the deal as a guest on
Crosby’s show. Crosby was there to meet him at the airport and over two days,
11–12 January 1960, the two singers plus three of Crosby’s four sons taped a
one-hour Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile.
The show aired on
February 29. Crosby was by now the elder statesman of the music business, but a
succession of singers who guested on his shows,
including Sinatra and Dean Martin, all paid respectful homage to the man who,
in Sinatra’s words, was “the father of their careers.” Crosby’s writers came up
with some clever dialogue that enabled Como to pay his dues while also having
fun with his comatose image. As Crosby greeted him on a bare set, Como asked
why there were no stools or chairs.
Bing: Anyway, I think
you’ll sing much better standing up.
Perry: You want me to
sing much better?
Bing: Well, no, not too
much—I trust you’re not gonna be a show-off here tonight
and sing much better than me.
Perry: Oh, I wouldn’t do that—even if I could.
Finally, the pair moved
into a medley of “Lazy” songs, hanging from a pair of subway straps. “Pairing
Bing Crosby and Perry Como may not be change of pace casting,” said Variety,
“but the two stars are masters of the song craft and joined together for a
consistently pleasing and of course, always relaxing musical session.”
(Malcolm Macfarlane and Ken Crossland, Perry Como –
A Biography and Complete Career Record, pages 109-111)
March (undated). Nicole Maurey comes to the Holmby Hills house for
dinner with Bing and Kathryn.
March 2, Wednesday. Bing writes to Club Crosby representative,
Priscilla Koernig.
Sorry
to hear of your illness. Hope by the time you receive this that you will be
back at work and in fine shape.
Glad
you liked the single record of “Music of Home”. It’s a pretty tune. They tell
me the show’s quite good too, and looks like a definite hit.
I
have no other new albums coming out except the big one called “How the West Was
Won”, with Rosie Clooney, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other artists. This
is quite an ambitious project, and I hope you like it when you hear it.
I
made a couple of other singles too. One is an Hawaiian song, rather pretty. The
name eludes me just now, and it’s rather nice.
We’re
just finishing our location work at Stockton. Go back to the studio where I
believe we’re going to run into a strike, so don’t know what will happen after
that.
Nice
hearing from you again.
All
best good wishes, Bing
March 7, Monday. The Screen Actors Guild strike starts. Ronald
Reagan is the president of the Guild.
March 8, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn are at the Golden Globes dinner at the Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. Bing receives the 1959 Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for “outstanding contributions to the entertainment field throughout the world.”
It
took an award to do it, but Bing Crosby showed up last night at the Cocaonut
Grove for the first time since he was booted out 30 years ago. The old groaner
sat at a ringside table with his wife. Kathy.
“I
don’t believe it’s him,” said one old-time captain.
The
Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. staged its annual Golden Globes awards – and Bing
got one as the most popular international entertainer over the years. Rock Hudson
and Doris day were named the world’s favorite actor and actress.
“It’s
the first award I’ve gotten since I was voted ‘Mr Raised Doughnut of 1939’”
Bing quipped. Then he took his award and his pretty wife and went home. “My
bedtime’s 10 o’clock,” he told his tablemates.
(James Bacon, Los Angeles Citizen Evening News, March 9, 1960)
March 13, Sunday. (2:00–4:00 p.m.) Bing is in New York and rehearses for a forthcoming Perry Como show at Dance Players, 1233 Sixth Avenue. He signs a contract dated March 11 indicating that he will be paid $7500 for his appearance on the Como show, the rate probably being low to reflect the swap with Como who had recently appeared on Bing’s show.
March 14, Monday. (2:00–4:00 p.m.) Further rehearsals for his appearance
with Perry Como this time at Carroll Drum, 157 West 49th. St.
March 15, Tuesday. (12 noon). Bing reports to the Ziegfeld Theatre at 1347 6th Avenue for a further rehearsal with Perry Como. (1:30–2:30 p.m.) The entire company has a dry run through for the Como show. (4:00–7:00 p.m.) Bing and Perry continue to rehearse while the camera blocking takes place.
…The
show I saw in rehearsal was a £100,000 production and looked it too. Except,
perhaps, for guest star Bing Crosby. No pretence about Bing. He sported old
slacks, a red woollen pullover. His flat cap stayed put until the show went on
the air—and then it was changed for his toupee.
Producer
Clark Jones gave his directions from the control room over the loudspeakers. Como
took his place on the set and an announcer introduced the show.
“Perry
Como’s Kraft Music Hall,” he proclaimed dramatically. “And now meet Mr. C…” But
instead of Como it was Crosby who appeared on the screen. Two electric signs,
spelling out “APPLAUSE,” flashed on and off above the empty stalls.
“Buzz
. . . buzz,” called the producer over the speakers. “Applause, applause....” A
girl secretary, stopwatch in hand, counted a few seconds and then the producer
gave Crosby the go-ahead to sing—on his own.
Then
came the moment for Como to appear.
“Can
I do something for you? Are you in Show Business?” asked Bing.
“Not
for the past five minutes,” laughed Como.
“Ah,
well,” replied Crosby, “it’s a great pleasure having you on your programme.”
At
the close, Crosby did a soft shoe dance, finished with a jump in the air.
“Say,”
said Como, “that’s great . . . what kind of vitamin pills do you take?”
It
was an impromptu joke and everyone in the studio laughed. But
when it came to the actual transmission — that gag was out.
IT
JUST WASN’T WRITTEN ON THOSE CUE CARDS.
(Clifford
Davis, Daily Mirror, April 16, 1960)
March 16, Wednesday. Tapes a tribute to Paul Whiteman to be
used on March 24. (4:00–7:30 p.m.) Run through and dress rehearsal for the Como
show at the Ziegfeld Theatre. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Appears live on Perry Como’s Kraft
Music Hall show on NBC-TV. Other guests are Genevieve and Peter Gennaro.
Mitchell Ayres conducts the orchestra and the Ray Charles Singers provide
support.
The flip side of the C & C songalog is just as
good as the original. Which means that Bing Crosby and Perry Como, in taking up
last Wed. (16) on Kraft Music Hall just about where they left off a couple
weeks previous on the Bingo ABC special, had themselves another ball as they
cavorted through a mile-wide repertory. Practically half of the full-hour
showcase was strictly from duet—and a more engaging earful would be hard to
come by. They ranged all over the lot, from the “crazy songs” of the ’20s as
their forepart contribution, to an updated 15-minute roundelay as the closer.
All told it was a melodic and a tasteful production, geared for sight values
and dressed up in NBC’s finest compatible hues, with an appropriate
genuflecting to St. Pat as Crosby, Como and guest star Genevieve frolicked on
the tinted green. Genevieve’s Gallic tempoed tunes and charm, whether she was
working solo or in concert with Crosby and/or Como, framed themselves favorably
around the display. It was an infectious kind of fun with some supplementary
contributions by Peter Gennaro in the terp department and fine choraling by the
Ray Charles mixed group. Basically this was Bank Night for C & C. fans.
(Variety, March 23, 1960)
Two weeks later, Crosby
turned up as the guest on Como’s Kraft Show in New York. Once more, the
camaraderie between the two was apparent, Crosby opening the show instead of
Como and singing Como’s “Dream Along with Me” theme. When Como appeared at his
side, Crosby enquired, “Are you in show business?” “Not for the past five
minutes,” said Como in reply. “The pair,” said Variety, “had another
ball as they cavorted through a repertoire a mile-wide.”
A feature of both shows
was the making of a would-be Crosby-Como LP. Some viewers thought that the
album was for real and eagerly awaited its appearance in stores. Copyright and
permission issues precluded any such release, but the ruse made good television.
It also gave Como the chance of a lifetime to sit on a stool and watch Crosby
up close. At one point, as Bing launched into his familiar mannerisms while
singing “Gigi,” Como sat transfixed. “Now you can see
why I took that style,” he said to the camera, before picking up his own part
of the medley. After the show, Crosby—never comfortable with any directly
expressed praise or emotion—chided him for the remark. “Don’t say those
things,” Crosby told him. Como continued to tell that story almost until he died
and despite the admonition, the two singers parted as the best of friends, the Crosbys heading to Florida to stay in the Como’s newly
acquired second home there.
Como never lost his
admiration for Bing. When he began working in Las Vegas in the seventies,
someone asked him how he killed the time between shows. “I put on some Crosby
records to see if I’m doing it right,” was his reply.
The shows captured the
two singers at the top of their form. By 1960, Crosby sometimes appeared bored,
with the geniality that had sustained his image coming across as a little
forced. With Como, he genuinely seemed to enjoy himself, displaying the
naturalness that was the hallmark of his peak years. The two medleys each
contained around 25 songs and ran over 10 minutes—two of the longest unbroken
medleys ever seen on TV. It was no surprise that the shows achieved high
ratings, the Crosby show capturing, remarkably, one viewer in three, according
to the definitive Trendex ratings.
(Malcolm Macfarlane and Ken Crossland, Perry Como –
A Biography and Complete Career Record, pages 109-111)
After
the show, Bing is guest of honor at a party given by Perry Como at Danny’s
Hideaway.
March 17, Thursday. Bing flies to Palm Beach in Florida. Kathryn is to join him later.
March 20,
Sunday. Bing golfs at the Seminole Club at Juno Beach
with George Coleman. Later, Kathryn and son Harry fly into Miami where
they are met by Bing. They go on to stay at Perry Como's house in
Jupiter.
March 21, Monday. Bing and Ben Hogan play a practice round against Dow Finsterwald and Chris Dunphy at the Seminole Club in very windy conditions. The match ends in a draw.
March 22, Tuesday. Teeing off at 12:21 p.m., Bing (handicap 6), Guilford Dudley (16) and professional Gardner
Dickinson with a best ball score of sixty-three are joint winners with two
other teams of the Latham Reed Amateur-Pro Tournament at the Seminole Golf
Club. Because the competing professionals had been delayed at St. Petersburg,
the tournament is restricted to one day instead of the usual two. Afterwards,
Bing sings for his golfing friends at the Celebrity Room of the Royal Poinciana Theater in Palm Beach during a party that
goes on to 6 a.m. the next day. Kathryn joins him in a duet of “Sometimes I’m
Happy”.
March 24,
Thursday. Bing, Kathryn and young Harry fly from Miami on a Pan-Am
flight to Montego Bay airport in Jamaica. They check into the Round Hill Hotel and that night dine with John Pringle (managing director of the hotel), Arthur Cowan (lawyer) and playwright Lillian Hellman. Back in the USA, Bing is seen in a guest appearance on the CBS-TV
program Revlon Revue honoring Paul Whiteman’s fiftieth anniversary in
show business and also his seventieth birthday. Bing’s spot was recorded during
his visit to New York to appear on the Perry Como show.
...Crosby opens
things with a walk-on bit – he enters singing Mississippi Mud – and then Mike
Wallace, the MC, tells the story of how Pops started.
(Bill Summers, Orlando Evening Star, March 24, 1960)
The stanza was strictly routine and a frequently
listless run-down of tunes associated with Whiteman. Bing Crosby, one of the
Rhythm Boys in the Whiteman band, during the late 1920’s, turned up on the
show, via a tape sequence, to do a fast ‘Happy Birthday’ chorus to the man who
launched him on his crooning career. Like the rest of the show, Crosby’s
accolade to Whiteman was devoid of real warmth…
(Variety, March 30, 1960)
March 25, Friday. Bing golfs at Tryall Golf Club in Hanover Parish, Jamaica with William Paley and others.
March 27, Sunday. Phillip, Dennis, and Lindsay Crosby open at the Chi Chi in Palm Springs with their new act, which omits Gary Crosby. In Jamaica, Bing and Kathryn are dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Little with broadcaster Cedric Adams and his wife.
Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Dinner
with the Bing Crosbys: our telephone rang the other afternoon. The voice on the
other end was that of Mrs. Arthur Little, Jr. She’s Harriet Smith Taylor Taylor
Netcher Little, former Minneapolitan. Her husband, Arthur, at one time was on
the news staff of the Star. Harriet said,
“We’d
like to have you and your wife come for dinner Sunday night. We’re also having
Bing and Kathryn Crosby. There’ll be just the six of us, and very informal.”
Naturally, I accepted. In fact I would have broken almost any other engagement
we might have had for an occasion like the one she was suggesting. The time she
had specified was 8 p.m. and we arrived on the dot. The Crosbys were already
there.
Harriet
took care of the necessary introductions. Kathryn Crosby was in a California
cotton print. Her hair was pulled severely back into a tight bun with a wisp of
bangs over her right temple. She’s completely charming. Her voice is soft. Her
brown eyes are so big that she has almost a startled look. She obviously has
been avoiding the Jamaican sun because her face had that peaches-and-cream look
and her arms and legs were white. Her speech is slow, almost reflective. Bing
calls her “Sweetness.” And the appellation couldn’t be more fitting.
The
crooner wore a wide-striped seersucker suit, a sports shirt that was open at
the neck and out at the waist. He and host Arthur dined coatless. I told Harriet
I felt more comfortable with my coat on inasmuch as it served as a partial
cover-up for my massive front. Bing was without a toupee. He isn’t as bald as the
ribbers have made out. His hair is thin on top, but it is there. He watches his
weight, never lets it get over 165. He isn’t as thin as recent photographs show
him, either. He’s been playing golf down here every day since they arrived and
giving the new Tryall golf course (par 76) quite a workout. His score on this particular
Sunday, for instance, was 74.
It’s
exciting to observe the rapport that exists between the two Crosbys. They
frequently seek confirmation of statements from each other. You can see the feeling
of mutual pleasure and approval that exists. Theirs is obviously a complete
happiness. Two of the reasons, of course, are their offspring—their not quite two-year-old
son and their daughter who is six months old. Harry, the son, they brought with
them to Jamaica. He spent most of his
time on the plane wandering up down the aisle or exploring the drawers in the
galley or trying on the stewardess’ cap. I wouldn’t be surprised if the
stewardess has put that cap among her souvenirs under the label, “Harry Crosby
wore this cap.” In the six months since the daughter was born, Bing hasn’t yet learned
how to handle her. “I keep thinking she’s going to break,” says he. Bing’s
mother, now 90, lives with them in her own wing of the Crosby home in
California. The matriarch of the Crosby clan, however, maintains independence.
A whole week will elapse when she won’t see her son and daughter-in-law…
Harriet
served consomme with ripe olives, lobster mousse, roast lamb with potato balls
and asparagus tips, a salad and brown betty with a petite ball of hard sauce.
As we ate, Bing told us about one enterprise that he had to abandon, the one
where Crosby money was made available to inventors of gadgets or devices which
might aid humanity. “Never dealt with more crackpots in my life,” Bing said. “One
guy trailed me for weeks wanting to show me the model of his invention.
Finally, in desperation, I let him unpack a huge box. In it was a miniature
race track where the spectators moved around the track with the horses. Ah,
such dream cats” The screen actors’ strike gave Bing his Jamaican vacation. He’s
right in the middle of a picture. Bing and Kathryn were approached to play the
leads in Sheilah Graham’s “Beloved Infidel,” but Bing couldn’t see himself as F.
Scott Fitzgerald . . .
Promptly
at 11 Bing announced, “Must get back to the toddler. His nurse has a date
tonight and I don’t know what might happen if he’d awaken to find a strange
baby-sitter. He might very well slug her.” Harriet and Arthur and my wife and I
stood on the veranda as the Crosbys got into their car. As the car went down
the driveway we saw them silhouetted in the back window. Bing’s arm was around
her, their heads were snuggled together. “There,” said Arthur as the four of us
watched, “is love in bloom.”
(Cedric Adams, Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, April 3,
1960)
March 28, Monday. Golfs at Tryall again and has a seventy-seven with two lost balls. He also
considers buying a property on the beach. Kathryn flies to Dallas on March 29
April 3, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn arrive in Aiken, South
Carolina, and stay at a private cottage.
April 4/5,
Monday/Tuesday. Bing plays in the Devereux Milburn
Memorial Trophy Golf Tournament at Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken. The other
members
of his foursome are Bobby Knowles, George Coleman, and James C. Brady.
The team of Bing and George Coleman score a best-ball 146 (71 and 75)
which leaves them outside the prizes.
April 7-10, Thursday–Sunday. Takes Kathryn to the Masters Golf
Tournament at Augusta, Georgia. Arnold Palmer wins. Bob and June Crosby are
also there.
…On
the fourth tee yesterday, Hogan was all set to drive when he spotted an old
friend, Bing Crosby, in the gallery and went over to greet him. Hogan chatted
with the famous entertainer for a few seconds and even posed for a picture with
Bing and his actress wife, Kathy Grant.
(Ron Wenzell, The
Columbia Record, April 8, 1960)
Putting around….Bing
Crosby showed up for the second round. He stood near the ninth green unnoticed until
(Chandler) Harper went over and shook
hands with famous crooner. Harper’s wife, Essie, came over to say hello to Bing
and then the autograph hounds took over. Crosby signed and signed, and then
moved over to watch Hogan tee off on No. 10.
(Tom Ferguson, The Virginian Pilot, April 9, 1960)
…The little man
(Hogan) who plays in only three or four major tournaments a year reeled off
four pars before an ecstatic audience that included Bing Crosby and wife,
Kathy, and Randolph Scott.
(Tom Siler, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, April 10,
1960)
…When Dow and
Venturi stood over their putts at No. 13 for what seemed like two station breaks
and a commercial, spectator Bing Crosby turned to his lovely lady, Kathy Grant,
and commented “Nobody’s going to rush them. The championship is at stake right
there.” But it didn’t turn out to be exactly like that, and Bing dropped back a
few holes and followed the champion in.
(Smith Barrier, News and Record, April 11, 1960)
On Palm Sunday (April 10), Bing and his party went to
St. Mary’s Help of Christian’s Catholic Church for the 9 A.M. mass. They found the church so crowded, they
decided to go up to the choir loft to sit.
Sister Patricia Eileen, not recognizing Bing, told them they had to
leave as the choir for the 9 A.M. service consisted only of young people. Amused by the incident, Bing later told a
friend it was only the second time he had been refused a place in the
choir. He said the first time was when
he was a child and showed up to choir practice in a baseball uniform. After the service, Bing’s party met Father
George Lewis Smith in his study for coffee.
A few days
after the Crosby’s had left town, the local newspaper (The Aiken Standard) ran
an article about Bing being ejected from the choir and a young member of the
choir sent a copy of the article to Bing.
Bing actually received the article, read it and sent an autographed
picture to “Deborah” (Pawley) with the inscription “To Deborah, Please get me
in the choir! Bing Crosby”. The photo is now a part of the collection of
the Aiken Museum.
(Ron McBride, writing in BING magazine, summer, 2020)
April 8, Friday. The Screen Actors Guild strike ends.
April 11, Monday. (3:45 p.m.) Bing and Kathryn are seen off at Aiken Airport by their hosts Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Ruckelshaus. The Crosbys fly to Atlanta and then catch a plane to Fort Worth, Texas, where they stay overnight at Western Hills Hotel. They dine at the nearby Shady Oaks Country Club. Leo Lynn has also been in Aiken and he has to drive Bing’s station wagon back to California.
April 12,
Tuesday. Bing golfs with Ben Hogan and Jack Shields (the local pro) at
Shady Oaks Country Club. Thought to have visited the Ben Hogan golf
club factory before flying back to the West Coast from Carter Field.
Kathryn stops over
in Houston to pick up Harry and Mary Frances. Filming resumes on High Time after the strike.
April 19, Tuesday. The three Crosby Brothers open at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas. Phil Harris
is also on the bill. At some time during the next few weeks, Bing gives an
interview on the High Time set to Tony Thomas of the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation who broadcasts it on his radio program.
April (undated). Bing learns he has bursitis in both of his shoulders
(inflammation of the small fluid-filled sac that reduces friction between
joints). He goes to Palm Desert.
April 26, Tuesday. Bing writes to Red Nichols and refers to
Phil Harris as “Wonga”.
Went
down to Palm Springs the other day, and found a package awaiting me there from
you. I was dazzled when I opened it. Wait till Wonga sees this – he’s
going to be livid with envy. I’m going to save it for one of those really big
functions at Thunderbird, where I want to come on real strong. Thanks a lot,
Red, for thinking of me.
Wonga
opened at the Desert Inn a week ago, on the same bill with my three boys. I
haven’t seen the show yet but everyone says it’s a riot. We took Buddy Cole and
a small group up, and augmented them with the regular band there at the Desert
Inn. They say he was very nervous opening night, but is now in good form,
and is a tremendous success. Now if he could just stay away from those tables,
he might bring home some money. They’re paying him a fabulous salary.
Hope
to see you when you get back,
Warmest
regards, Bing
May 2, Monday. Bing returns to Holmby Hills from Palm Desert.
May 3, Tuesday. Bing returns to the High Time set and is presented with a birthday cake by co-star Fabian. In one scene he has to dress as a woman as part of a fraternity stunt
One evening Bing invited me to join him
on the set, observing enigmatically that I might find it colorful. I arrived in
blue jeans, only to discover that the cast was in evening gowns and tuxedos.
Feeling embarrassed amid all the elegance, I was stumbling about the
elaborately-decorated stage looking for an exit, when I chanced upon the moon
of my delight, supposedly involved in a fraternity initiation stunt. While I
watched he finished shooting, took his place in a camp chair, crossed his legs,
and lit his pipe.
A familiar scene, nicht
wahr? Nein, meine Herren, for the legs were clad in gorgeous nylons, the
derriere in the canvas seat was wearing a hoop skirt, the torso was half
covered with an off-the-shoulder, full-busted bodice, and the blue eyes peered
forth from under absurd false eyelashes and a long, blond wig. From time to
time America’s sweetheart absently waved the pipe smoke away with a perfectly
darling fan. The gays had queued up three ranks deep, but Bing seemed happily
oblivious of all but his own discomfort.
“How in hell do you stand these
waist-pincher things?” he offered in lieu of greeting.
“Cincher, dearest,” I corrected as I wiped the
tears from my eyes.
He waved an evening paper. “And this just
hit the streets. What will mother say?” He pointed-to a front-page study of la
belle Bing in full drag.
Personally I couldn’t wait to find out,
so I relieved him of the publication, lit out for home, and raced upstairs to
say good night to Mrs. Senior.
“Have you seen the evening paper?” was my
opening ploy.
“I never bother with the silly thing.”
“Well, here’s a picture that might
interest you. Take a good look.”
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Life with Bing, page 163)
May (undated). The three Crosby Brothers (excluding Gary) make an LP
for Project Records that is released in the fall. Two tracks are released as
a single.
The Crosby Brothers – Dennis – Philip – Lindsay Crosby (
(Variety, June 8, 1960)
May 12, Thursday. Elvis Presley guests on the Frank Sinatra TV
show to highlight his return from his service in the Army. The show gains a
41.5 Trendex rating representing a 67.7% audience share.
May 16, Monday. The call sheets for the film High Time
indicate that Bing films exterior shots at UCLA and on stages 8 (verandah) and
16 (exterior Helene’s house) at Twentieth Century studios today. This is the
54th day of shooting.
May 17, Tuesday.
Nafi Telecasting, Inc, for whom Bing acts as chairman, buys KFJZ-TV, a
television station serving the Fort Worth-Dallas area. The Nafi stock
has gone from $20 to $44 while Bing has been making High Time.
May 20, Friday. Press comment states that Gary Crosby is
preparing his own solo act with the help of Harry Crane and Sammy Cahn.
May 25, Wednesday. (9:00-10:00 p.m.) The three Crosby Brothers guest on Perry Como’s television show.
May 27, Friday. Bing goes to Santa Barbara for a
practice round at the Valley Club of Montecito.
May 28-29, Saturday-Sunday. Starting at 11.30 a.m. on the Saturday, Bing takes part in a member-guest golf tournament at the Valley Club of Montecito but he and his partner are unplaced. Bing and Kathryn dance at the club on the Saturday night. Bing presents the trophy to the winners, Albert and Tom Belshe, on the Sunday.
June (undated).
Bing and Rosemary Clooney record seven duets for use on their radio show.
June 4, Saturday. Bing golfs in Palm
Springs with the Marx Brothers, Gummo, Zeppo, Harpo and Groucho. They are
photographed with a bevy of young ladies.
June 9, Thursday. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presents Bing
with a platinum record of “White Christmas” which bears a plaque indicating
that he has sold more than 200 million records.
June 10, Friday. Thought to have attended the Hollywood Stars Family Night at Pacific Ocean Park.
June 15, Wednesday. Bing works on the film High Time
at the Twentieth Century-Fox studio and while there, starting at 11 a.m., he films a cameo with
Yves Montand in an hour for Let’s Make Love. Bing does not receive a fee
for the latter film but asks that a donation of $10,000 be sent to Gonzaga
University. He then drives across town to Columbia Studios at 1:30 p.m. to start filming a scene with
Cantinflas in Pepe, before returning to Twentieth Century-Fox to complete High Time, thus finishing three films in one day.
June 16, Thursday. Bing goes to Mexico alone.
June 21, Tuesday. Arrives back in Hollywood.
June 22 Wednesday. (8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.) Records the first part of the El
Senor Bing album with Billy May
and his Orchestra at United Recorders, Hollywood, for release by
June 23, Thursday. (11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Another session for the El
Senor Bing album with Billy May
and his Orchestra at United Recorders, Hollywood. Bing’s performance is uneven and the album is not released
until October 1961.
EL SENOR BING Bing Crosby.
Crosby is in good voice on this package of swingy
standards, arranged and cut by Billy May and recorded by Crosby’s Project
records, Inc., for release on the
(Billboard, October 9, 1961)
And finally we come to EL SENOR BING, that long
awaited LP from
(Frank Murphy, Crosby Post, December, 1961)
I like the “El Senor Bing” LP very much, a nice
selection of songs and Bing has been recorded very nicely and very similar to
American Decca methods of recording. I myself consider it was a blow when Bing
packed it up with Decca. I’m talking of technical reasons. Had Bing still been
with them, the recordings would have presented him with that superb deep
masculine voice as on “Gigi”. However for me, I really go for the present day
rich deep tones of Bing; these are evident on “El Senor Bing” and make up for
the one or two songs that Bing seems to have taken on a little too high a key.
(Leslie Gaylor, Crosby
Post, December 1961)
All the songs, with one exception, have only a single
chorus which, in the circumstances, is no bad thing as Crosby is distinctly off
form and at times shows an uncharacteristic lack of confidence. He is not
helped by accompaniments that are consistently pretentious and the original
intentions of the songs are unrealized. It has been suggested that this was
Crosby at his nadir and it would be difficult to remain this side of idolatry
and argue otherwise. It all sounds very much the result of fatigue.
(Fred Reynolds, writing in The Crosby Collection,
1926–1977, part four, page 288)
Billy May wasn’t just the
go-to arranger for the punchiest of big-band material, he was also the best man
to call when a vocalist desired to travel south of the border. He was co-billed
on Mel Tormé’s wonderful Latin LP of 1959 (Olé Tormé), and he helmed Bing
Crosby’s similar affair, El Señor Bing, during a pair of 1960 sessions. The
results are excellent, pure delight for anyone who loves to hear one of the
best American voices take on “Malagueña” and “Andalucia,” along with a few
decidedly domestic titles like “How High the Moon” or “Pagan Love Song.” May’s
charts are very similar to his work with Tormé, emphasizing brass, flutes, and
vibraphone. Interestingly, Bing tackles two songs during each track, making the
record a series of medleys that causes the record to move as smoothly and
effortlessly as possible (the transition from “In the Still of the Night” to “I
Could Have Danced All Night” is poetry). Though Crosby’s voice wasn’t as light
and supple as Tormé’s, his relaxed sense of swing is an excellent
counter-balance for Billy May’s smart, punchy arrangements.
(John Bush, Allmusic.com)
June 28-30, Tuesday-Thursday. Records his part of the Bing
and Satchmo album in afternoon sessions with Billy May and his Orchestra at United Recorders, Hollywood, for
Project Records with eventual release by
He’s just finished
recording an LP with Bing Crosby and Billy May. Actually, Bing and Louis,
though they sing together on the LP, didn’t record it together. Billy May made
the arrangements and cut the accompaniment first and then, via the wonders of
tape recording, Bing and Louis separately recorded their own parts. The final
product is due out this fall.
(Ralph J. Gleason
in his syndicated article about Louis Armstrong seen in The
Semi-Weekly Spokesman-Review, July 24, 1960)
“Bing and
Satchmo” is the title of a new M-G-M Records
album that brings together two veteran talents, Bing Crosby and Louis (Satchmo)
Armstrong. Billy May arranged and conducted and Johnny Mercer did most of the
adaptations on a group of nostalgic tunes that provides excellent
easy-listening programming. Included on the LP are “Muskrat Ramble”,
“Dardanella” (both tunes were released as a single), “Way Down Yonder in New
Orleans”, “Brother Bill”, “Rocky Mountain Moon”, etc.
(Billboard, October 31, 1960)
“Bing and Satchmo” (
(Variety, November
30, 1960)
Bing & Satchmo (
(Variety,
October 26, 1960)
Bing Crosby joins forces with Louis Armstrong on
(The Gramophone, March, 1961)
If you can locate
a copy, listen to the recording of a song called “Rocky Mountain Moon,” made by
Crosby and Louis Armstrong. We are accustomed to thinking of Armstrong
primarily as a trumpet player, and of Louis the singer as a kind of
gravel-voiced joke. Actually, Armstrong was a marvelous
singer who had a great influence on all the singers who came after him,
including Crosby and Sinatra. On that recording, Crosby sings the first sixteen
measures. Armstrong comes in on the bridge, and then Crosby finishes it. You
will hear, first of all, how Crosby used the microphone (Armstrong knew how to
use it, too); secondly, you will hear Crosby using the Afro-American style very
well, and then Armstrong using it better. They lag behind the beat, they
anticipate the beat, and they stretch it out. Popular singers, as a rule, do
not count time. They think in four-and eight-measure arches and are guided by
the chord changes. They put the words on the notes where they feel they should
go to be appropriate to the text. This is probably what Caccini
was talking about as “graceful negligence.” It produces a much more oratorical,
speaking kind of communication than is possible when a singer is thinking in
terms of “one-and, two-and.” I would encourage teachers to listen generally to
recordings by Waters, Bailey. Holiday, Sinatra, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Vaughan,
and Peggy Lee to discern such interpretive vocal techniques as the use of
appoggiatura, tempo rubato, slur, portamento,
glide, cadenza, singing on consonants, phrase carry-over, and virtuosic
improvisation.
(Henry Pleasants,
Music Educators Journal, May, 1973)
The octave B-flat to B-flat in Bing’s voice at that
time [1930s] is to my ears, one of the loveliest I have heard in forty-five
years of listening to baritones, both classical and popular. It dropped
conspicuously in later years. Since the mid-50s, Bing has been more comfortable
in a bass range while maintaining a baritone quality, with the best octave
being G to G, or even F to F. In a recording he made of “Dardanella” with Louis
Armstrong in 1960, he attacks lightly and easily on a low E flat. This is lower
than most opera basses care to venture, and they tend to sound as if they were
in the cellar when they get there.
(Henry Pleasants, from his book The Great American
Popular Singers, page 132)
June 30, Thursday. Kathryn Crosby is released from her
contract with Columbia Pictures at her own request.
July 1, Friday. Phillip Crosby and his wife Sandra have a son
who is named Brian Patrick. (Note: Brian is killed in a motor cycle crash on
August 19, 1978)
July 8. Friday. Bing sees the San Francisco Giants lose 7-1 to St. Louis Cardinals at Candlestick Park. Bing watches the game from Buster Collier's box.
July 9, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn, accompanied by Phil
Harris and his wife Alice Faye, arrive at 1:23 p.m. at the Calgary Municipal
Airport, Alberta, Canada. They take part in a press conference and then go on
to stay with Max Bell.
July 10, Sunday. Bing and Phil Harris golf at Calgary Country Club. Bing has a 77 and Phil Harris a 79.
July 11, Monday. Starting at 9:00 a.m., the Calgary Stampede
Grand Parade takes place with Phil Harris acting as grand marshal. Bing and Kathryn
also ride in the parade, which is seen by a crowd of 130,000. Bing attends the
stampede president’s luncheon with Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
The proceedings are captured by various newsreels and featured in Pathe News in
the UK on July 25.
July 12, Tuesday. Bing and Phil Harris golf at Banff Springs. At Banff School of Fine Arts, Kathryn Crosby
meets her former drama teacher, B. Iden Payne, who is now Shakespearean
director of the school. In the evening, Bing and Kathryn attend a rehearsal of Twelfth
Night at the school. The Crosbys stay at the Banff Springs Hotel.
July 13,
Wednesday. The Crosbys check out of the hotel and Bing pays the bill by
using a hotel's counter cheque drawn on the Citizens Bank, Beverly and
Fairfax. They travel back to Calgary and at around 4:45 p.m., Bing is
at the
Victoria Park racetrack in Calgary to present the trophy for the Bing
Crosby
International Handicap. In the evening, Bing and Kathryn, together with
the Max
Bells and the Phil Harrises go to Peter Bawden's barbecue. Bing and Kathryn move on to a party at the Mervyn Duttons' home.
Highlighting the
early part of the evening party was the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Harris and
Mr. and Mrs. Bing Crosby, The Bawden’s guests were given a special treat when
Mr. Harris sang two numbers (Mack the Knife and I Just Gotta Have Another Cigarette)
and Bing crooned his arrangement of It Had To Be You. Roy Warhurst and his musicians
moved to the garden to provide accompaniment. Mr. and Mrs. Crosby left later
for another engagement but Mr. and Mrs. Harris stayed on with Phil delighting
the guests with several more songs and taking a whirl at the drums.
(Calgary Herald, July 14, 1960)
July 14, Thursday. Bing cashes a check for
$100. The check is again drawn on Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank of
Los Angeles, Beverly-Fairfax branch and is annotated ‘Calgary trip’ by Bing.
July
(undated). Bing is
at his Rising River ranch and then fishing around Seattle.
July 17, Sunday. The annual gathering at Bohemian Grove commences and Bing attends with
his friends Phil Harris, Art Linkletter, Charles Coburn and Bill Gargan.
July 21, Thursday. Gary Crosby opens as a single act at the
Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Subsequent press comment suggests that he seems exhausted
and it is said that Bing offers to break his fishing trip to be with him.
Flamingo, Las Vegas. Songs 30 Mins.
Gary Crosby’s opening line in his new act is “I lost a
little weight since last time I was in Vegas…went on a diet and lost three brothers.”
Gary lacks the humility which personified Phil, Dennis and Lindsay, and because
his stage personality comes across in a more extroverted, aggressive manner,
it’s just as well he’s now doing a single. First-niters caught him with a case
of jitters and the act is overlong, but with proper editing, Crosby should have
a smooth nitery turn
(Variety, July 27, 1960)
July 22, Friday.
The three Crosby Brothers open at a nightclub
in Ottawa for a week’s engagement. Elsewhere, Gary Crosby is unable to
perform at the Flamingo in Las Vegas because of a throat ailment. Bobby
Darin subs for him.
July 29, Friday. Bing flies to Las Vegas to see Gary Crosby’s
act at The Flamingo and he is called on stage to duet “Play a Simple Melody.”
Las
Vegas, Nev. (UPI). Singer Bing Crosby did a little soft-shoe Friday night and
warbled a few bars of “Simple Melody” for his first stage appearance in this
desert resort city.
Bing,
called out of the capacity Flamingo Hotel audience by his eldest son Gary,
walked to the stage to a standing ovation and traded quips with the young
singer.
“If
I had known about this I’d have worn my hair,” Bing said, adding, “I had a crew
cut but the crew bailed out.”
The
two traded bars of the song and while Gary was singing Bing went into a little shuffle
routine and left the stage at the end of the number.
“If
I ever had an inferiority complex,” Gary said as his father walked back into
the audience, “I’ve got one now.”
(The Windsor Star (Ontario), July 30,
1960)
His
dear old dad was right there to give him moral support. “Bing Joins Gary on
Vegas Stage” said the headline of the local paper, along with a photo and caption
that read: “Crosby Duet.” Because Uncle Bing had never stepped onto a stage in
Las Vegas before, this seems to have created big news. That night Gary had gone
through his regular routine of mimicking his father when he took the
microphone, and introduced him by saying, “there’s a man in the audience who
taught me all of this.” It caught the Flamingo showroom crowd completely by
surprise.
Bing
rose from his seat and walked toward the front of the room. After climbing a
few steps, he strolled onto the stage. He stood next to Gary, sharing the one
and only microphone, and appeared more casual
than usual. Without his toupee that evening, few people sitting near him in the
audience recognized the crooner until he was under the spotlights. Although it
was the peak of the summer heat in Las Vegas, back in the 1960s the
better restaurants and showrooms had a dress code that required men to wear a
jacket. Even someone as well-known as Bing would not have been admitted if he
arrived in one of his famous Hawaiian shirts. Thanks to air conditioning,
Gary’s dad looked very sharp indeed wearing a linen sport coat and tan
trousers.
The
two men started off with some light-hearted banter and a bit of clowning around. Assuming that was to be the end of it, Uncle Bing started to exit the stage, not wanting to
steal Gary’s big moment. Besides, Bing had never worked a Vegas nightclub crowd
before and wasn’t at all sure what to expect and he had made some noise about
not wanting to perform in Las Vegas when he was interviewed some time before.
So now he was caught in the crosshairs, feeling a bit unsure of the situation,
when Gary tugged on his arm and asked him to “stick around.” Bing stood there
with his hands in his pockets, looking like someone who had just been pulled out
of the audience by a magician to take part in a knife-throwing act. But the old
master quickly recovered and joined Gary in a duet of their popular recording,
“A Simple Melody.” Bing was in good spirits and the father-son team did some
additional ad-libbing on stage; the people loved it. “I’m glad to see you’re
finally working,” Bing said to his oldest son. It was a packed house for the
dinner show that night, and even Uncle Bing’s pal Phil Harris was sitting
ringside.
(Carolyn Schneider, Bing: On the Road to Elko,
Page 23)
August 1, Monday. Bing writes a check for $49.76 drawn on Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank of
Los Angeles, Beverly-Fairfax branch to
West Coast Airlines, presumably for a flight to Seattle. Later he
arrives in Seattle and is greeted by the Seafair Queen, Diane Gray,
August 2, Tuesday. Bing acts as Grand Marshall for the kids' day parade in Seattle. Writes a check for $44.50 for "Cash" which appears to be paid to Drs. Smith and Stipp in Seattle.
August 3, Wednesday. Phil Harris flies in to Seattle to join Bing in a promotion for Pacific Northwest. Representatives of ABC-TV and the
August 4, Thursday. It is announced that Gary Crosby will not be able to continue with his Las Vegas engagement and he has been ordered to rest.
August 6, Saturday. Bing and Phil Harris take part in the Torchlight Parade in Seattle.
August 7, Sunday.
Bing and Phil Harris fly into Vancouver from Seattle. They catch a plane to Port
Hardy on the north-east end of Vancouver Island to join a fishing trip
on a chartered yacht. Later, during the trip, Bing writes to Kathryn.
“Wonderful weather, but miserable salmon fishing. Lots of clams, crabs, halibut, cod, and bass, but no salmon. We have visited our favorite haunts, sent the planes spotting up and down the coast, bribed the natives, all to no avail. Even the commercial fishermen are in bad shape this year. They are denouncing the Russians and the Japanese for depleting the fish supply in the Aleutians.”
(As reproduced in My Life With Bing, page 167)
Whether they catch fish or not,
Bing Crosby and his six pals won’t go hungry during their fishing junket to
Rivers Inlet. Cost of the food stowed aboard the chartered yacht: $3,000.
(The Vancouver Sun, August 10, 1960)
August 12,
Friday (12:30 p.m.) The funeral of film director Frank Lloyd is held at Forest
Lawn. Bing is an honorary pallbearer but does not attend as he is away on a fishing trip.
August 19, Friday. Bing and Phil Harris arrive back in Vancouver after their fishing trip. (8:30 p.m.) Bing goes to see Kismet at the Theatre under the Stars in Stanley Park. His good friend Susan Johnson is one of the stars of the show. He sends a hard-written postcard to Mary McConnell in Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Time grows short now, and no opportunity is available, I fear, for me take advantage of your kind invitation to dip into a stew at McConnells. But thanks. I hope you enjoyed your interlude in Seattle. I thought you were the prettiest. We have had a nice cruise, but the fish were elusive. - Bing
August 20, Saturday. Bing is at an impromptu brunch party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank McMahon in Vancouver. He then flies to Seattle.
August 24, Wednesday. Starts rehearsing a TV show with Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mercer, and his three youngest adult sons.
August 25, Thursday. Records “The Second Time Around” and
“Incurably Romantic” with Pete King and his Orchestra at United Recorders,
Hollywood. The songs are released by
BING CROSBY
The Second Time Around —
Incurably Romantic — from the pic, “Let’s Make Love,”
with Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand, comes this ballad, nicely intoned by Crosby.
Flip would appear to have an edge.
(Billboard, October 3, 1960)
“‘The Second Time Around’ is one of the most important
songs I’ve written, because when people say to me, “You’ve written my song”,
they invariably mean “The Second Time Around”. It is a hymn of hope for failed
romance or whatever. That song was written for the film, High Time, in
which Bing Crosby plays a widower who has achieved everything in life. He goes
back to college - it’s the same plot as Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School” -
and he meets a French teacher who’s a widow. I said to Van Heusen, “What are we
going to write for a widower and a widow? “I’m glad that you’re dead, you
rascal you”. “You’ll be the death of me”? We kicked around some funny song
titles and I said to him, “Are we going to be the only team that couldn’t come
up with a ballad for Bing Crosby? What do you think of the title, ‘The Second
Time Around’? ‘Love is wonderful the second time around, just as beautiful with
both feet on the ground’.” He said, “No, ‘Love is wonderful the second time
around, just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.’” The song was then
written very quickly. We sang it to Bing Crosby and he just nodded. The great,
great artists know that you are doing your part, so it is very simple to write
for them.”
(Sammy Cahn, as quoted in Brother Can You Spare a
Rhyme?, page 82)
August 29, Monday. Bing tapes a television show with Rosemary
Clooney, Johnny Mercer, and his three youngest adult sons, which is shown by
ABC on October 5. The show is directed by Bill Harbach and has been in
rehearsal for six straight days. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord
Akinson.
The boys are rehearsing with me this week
for a television show, and they have been most enthusiastic about the wonderful
hospitality they received at your hands while they were in Canada.
Pete Petitto
also told me how nice you were to him, and to them. They also were tremendously
pleased with the way Ottawa audiences received their act.
They worked very hard on this act, Gord, and I think the results are demonstrated in what
they’re doing.
Thanks very much for sending me the tape
of the interview, and the copies of the OTTAWA CITIZEN. Be nice souvenirs to
have of the engagement.
They have a little tour booked up in the
Northwest, I believe, next, and then they go on to New York to do a show with
Como and some more personals. Got to keep these fellas
working so they keep out of trouble, and keep in practice, you know.
Thanks again, Gord.
All best wishes,
As ever, Bing
HOLLYWOOD
(AP) Watching Bing Crosby rehearse for his latest TV show is deceiving. He looks
as relaxed as a sack of wet wash, but actually old pro Bing is poised,
confident and as sure of himself as a croupier with a rigged roulette wheel. Crosby
moves through the backstage chaos of spotting cameras and performers with the seemingly
amused bewilderment of someone who has just wandered in off the street.
Bing’s
next hour-long special will be shown on ABC Oct. 5. The show was in rehearsal
six straight days, through the weekend, and went before the cameras Monday.
I
watched one of the final walkthroughs. That's a sort of preliminary rehearsal,
when script changes are made, when the cast is learning where each should stand
at every point in the proceedings. Those with lines to read or songs to sing
move through their paces without microphones, speaking or vocalizing but not
straining themselves.
‘It’s a turbulent scene, and Crosby, in gray flannel slacks, business shirt,
conservative tie and bright red baseball cap, moved through it all calmly, with
good humor and as sure-footed as a chamois. All about him were dancers limbering
up, singers practicing their songs, crews and technicians measuring distances,
adjusting lights, shoving huge pieces of equipment around on dollies.
The
format of the show is the successful one used in his two specials last year.
Crosby strolls around a tastefully austere and apparently vast stage, meeting
his guest stars and singing a long, uninterrupted string of familiar old songs.
And there will be a lot of that apparently spontaneous kidding in the Crosby style,
particularly with sons Lindsay, Philip and Dennis.
Crosby
breezed along his mapped and measured path as if he were out for a Sunday morning
constitutional. Occasionally he deliberately departed from the lines printed on
the cue cards to add some lighthearted comment of his own. Sometimes he would
get a little too funny and break up the rest of the cast.
When
it was time to rehearse a dance number, Crosby wandered over to the sidelines
for a cigaret and conversation. And conversation with Crosby at this moment
involves one subject: sports.
The
Pirates, a baseball team in which he has an emotional and financial interest,
are out in front in their league. The Olympic Games are in progress, and the
minute the final scene of his special was shot, Crosby and his wife flew off
for Rome to see them.
(Cynthia Lowry, The Orlando Sentinel, August 21, 1960)
Mr. Harbach secured head writer Herb Sargent, a colleague from The Steve Allen Show, to help him with the program. Mr. Sargent would later lend his talents to the first several seasons of Saturday Night Live, eventually becoming president of the TV Writers Guild. Sargent was aided by fellow scribes Saul Ilson, James Elson, and Sheldon Keller.
“Shelly was a pistol. He also worked on the Allen shows with me.”
Sargent, who just passed away in May, 2005, put together the medleys for the show, the most outstanding being The Song Writers. This remarkable round-robin, performed by the cast sans The Crosby Boys, begins with an Irving Caesar lyric, I Want to Be Happy, from which is spun an ordered sequence of standards, ending with another Irving Caesar composition, Swanee. Never has the continuum of American popular music been better illustrated.
“That was wonderfully fashioned. I loved the way it returned to center one. It was very tricky. The tempo never changed. We rehearsed the hell out of that because they had to do little moments and say, ’What do you think of that?’ and then jump into the tempo. Of course, Bing was such a pro. He could hear something twice, and it’s in. He’s got it.”
In my estimation this exhilarating number is even more remarkable because it follows, without a break, the lengthy opening production number in which Crosby introduces the entire cast to the tune of On the Street Where You Live.
“I’m glad you noticed that! That seamlessness is just what I wanted. I thought, ‘Let’s have no dialogue, let’s keep everything musical.’ It was so exciting. It just kept going, like a snake.
I asked Johnny Mercer to guest. Johnny was not only a great friend of mine, but also of Bing’s. They knew each other for a thousand years. In fact, Bing used to date Johnny’s wife, Ginger, while he was in the Whiteman band, before he even knew Johnny, even before he met Dixie. Bing and Johnny were so close. It was so cozy with them.
It was Bing’s idea to have Rosemary Clooney on this show. He had so much fun with her. They had gone back so far before the show. They were like old tennis shoes. Carol Lawrence was hired because she was hot, just having finished appearing in West Side Story on Broadway.”
Danny Daniels, whose TV
credentials had included The Martha Raye Show, was chosen as dance
director.
“Rosie’ Rosenberg got Nelson Riddle. He had worked on a previous Oldsmobile show (March 2, 1959). Nelson was the sweetest guy. I asked him once, ‘How is it to work with Frank Sinatra’ ‘Very exciting, but you have to change your underwear a lot.’ That’s perfect! Bing was so relaxed. They were as different as night and day.”
Bill Thompson, choral director on several recent Crosby LP’s, was brought on board to arrange two intergenerational ensembles: a do-wop version of Please, and a rousing Mississippi Mud. How did The Crosby Boys get along with their father?
“I had the feeling they were always front and center. They weren’t relaxed. They wanted to do well, naturally, and they worked very hard and long with Thompson to get things right. They were darling kids. Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot of chemistry. They just seemed a little terrified, maybe because Bing was so strict.”
Mr. Harbach was reminded
that at one point in the show Lindsay refers to his and his brothers’
fear.
“That was no ad lib. It was in the script.”
Were the boys perhaps intimidated by
their father’s high standards?
“Yes, perhaps they could not measure up. Well, I hear they were hellions. Anyway, it was a completely different atmosphere with the second family.”
The most unique moment in the show is when three Bing Crosbys sing in tandem.
“That again was Herb Sargent’s idea. That was the first time that three voices had ever been blended like that before. It was difficult since it involved not only singing, but walking. We used a matte insert. It took a day and a half to do that. I regret that the sound is just OK. Murdo may have been responsible for that. He was Bing’s sound man from radio. I think that at times the sound overpowered the singers. The balance of sound to singing was not too good.”
How was Bing to work with?
“He was a joy, and ultra professional. He was always early. I’d say ‘9 or 10 am tomorrow, Bing?’ and he’d say, ‘Fine.’ In fact, he was always ahead of time. If you would tell him to be at rehearsal at 6 am, he would show up at a quarter to six. In the afternoon, if we’d be waiting for the lighting or something of that nature, and he’d say, ‘Hey, Wilbur’- he used to call me Wilbur - ‘what time tomorrow?’ I’d know he was tired. I’d say ‘10 a.m.’ and he’d say, ‘You got it’ and go home. That was the way he controlled what he had to do. I asked Mr. Harbach how much rehearsal time was needed for the special. Two weeks would be de rigueur.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with Bill
Harbach, in BING magazine, spring 2006)
August 30, Tuesday.
Bing and Kathryn board a jet airliner in San Francisco for a flight to
London. They are accompanied by the Bus Colliers.
August 31, Wednesday. Arriving in London in the early morning,
they stay at Claridges where Bing practices golf in a corridor. Finds he needs
reading glasses. Leaving the hotel at 3 p.m., Bing visits his tailor and orders
five suits. He then does some sightseeing with Kathryn, visiting Buckingham
Palace and Westminster Abbey. Bing also calls in at the U.S. Embassy to see his
friend, Jock Whitney, the U.S. Ambassador. At night, Bing and Kathryn go to see
Fings Ain’t Wot They Used to Be at the Garrick Theatre.
September 1, Thursday. Bing meets Frank Murphy and other members of
the British Crosby Society at Claridges. Is interviewed by a reporter from Disc
magazine.
September 2, Friday. Flies from London airport to Rome to see the Olympic Games with Kathryn. While in Rome, Bing discovers the song “Domenica” and writes English lyrics for it. Is interviewed for radio by Harry Thurillier. The Crosbys join up with Buster and Stevie Collier.
September 3, Saturday. A son, David Lindsay, is born to Lindsay Crosby and
his wife Barbara Frederickson in Queen of Angels Hospital, Hollywood.
September 6, Tuesday. Gary Crosby marries Barbara Stuart, a Las Vegas showgirl, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Don Rickles is the best man. Barbara has a five-year old son named Steve from her previous marriage and in due course, he rejoins his mother and is formally adopted by Gary.
When
I notified the old man about my wedding plans he was about to leave for Rome.
He fired off a quick note advising me to take my time and be sure I'd made the
right choice.
Well,
I hadn't taken my time, and I wasn't sure about much.
Oh,
I was sure I loved Barbara and wanted to marry her, but I didn't think it would
last. I figured it might take her a month or two to get tired of me and then
she'd dump me real quick, so I played the whole thing for laughs. I rented the
Bugsy Siegel Suite at the Flamingo Hotel for the ceremony. Don Rickles was my
best man. When we went to buy the wedding bands he was so nervous he dropped a
trayful of rings on the floor and was doing one-liners while we were down on
our hands and knees trying to put them back. Then he had me bouncing off the
walls with his tummel to the jewelry store owner.
"Want
a ring at a discount. The kid doesn't have much. His old man's got all the
money. You're gonna have to wait for the big score. Come on, landsman, haven't
you got something nice at a better price?"
When
the elevator carrying Barbara and her maid of honor up to the ceremony broke
down, I was certain she had run out on me. Rickles and I were pacing the carpet
in our suits, watching the minutes tick by, when he turned to me and
wisecracked, "Well, I think she got smart. I think somebody told her
something at the last minute, and she's on her way to Mexico."
"Probably," I answered, trying to conjure up a smile. Finally she
arrived, and the judge married us.
(Gary Crosby and
Ross Firestone, Going My Own Way,
page 267)
September 7, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn visit the US Olympic team
at the Olympic Village in Rome and Bing is photographed with gold medalist
boxers Wilbert McClure and Eddie Crook. During the day, he and Kathryn are in the Olympic Stadium to see the end of the 50km walk.
September 8, Thursday. The film Let’s Make Love starring
Yves Montand and Marilyn Monroe is released in the USA.
…Another highlight is a comedy sequence in which
Montand brings in Milton Berle, Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly (playing themselves)
to coach him in the musical comedy arts.
(Variety, August 24, 1960)
September 9, Friday. Monsignor Ryan, the secretary of state for the Vatican, guides Bing and Kathryn through the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City. They have an audience with Pope John XXIII at the Vatican. Bing writes to his mother.
The pope is
a wonderful man with a fine sense of humor, who treats visitors as if they’re all
from his home town. He had something personal to say to each of the twenty
people at our audience, blessed us all, and sent you a special message which I
will convey when we arrive. On September 20, he is going to say his rosary for
your intentions. Don’t forget the date.
September 10, Saturday.
Bing and Kathryn are photographed at the Arch of Constantine talking to
athletes and spectators before the start of the Olympic Marathon.
September 12, Monday. Bing and Kathryn go to Sienna and then on to Florence, where they
find the “Ristorante Bing Crosby” and are regally entertained by the
proprietors. Bing plays golf during his stay in Florence. They also visit the Ponte Vecchio.
…And
two who were window-shopping alone the other morning were Bing Crosby and his
wife, Kathy, dressed quietly and behaving like well-bred visitors in town for
the day, shredding the legend that movie stars travel with entourages of flunkeys
scattering confusion and bad manners a la Hollywood.
Kathy
in a black suit with white gloves, dark stockings, black suede flats and a brilliant
red scarf at her throat, wanted to examine everything in every window. Bing,
wearing a green sport shirt with brown slacks and jacket and a straw hat, smoked
a pipe and followed along beside his wife.
Hardly
anyone recognized them among the people sauntering along the narrow bridge-street.
(Marj Heyduck, Journal Herald, September 23, 1960)
September 16, Friday. Bing and Kathryn arrive in Venice and they
stay at the Gritti Palace Hotel. Meanwhile in the U.S.A., the film High Time
is released by Twentieth-Century-Fox.
High Time is pretty lightweight fare for a star of Bing Crosby’s proportions, and all the draw of the Groaner, who only trills twice, will be required to sell it. . . . Crosby handles his role in his usual fashion, perfectly timing his laughs, and delivers a pair of Sammy Cahn-James Van Heusen songs, “The Second Time Around” and “Nobody’s Perfect.” (sic).
(Variety, September 21, 1960)
It has been a long time since Bing Crosby was seen in a college comedy, sporting the customary beanie and crooning romantic melodies. But things haven’t changed much in the colleges favored by Bing in all those years, to judge by the one he is attending in his latest picture, “High Time.”
Bing is again attending college? Do you start in some amazement at the news? We don’t wonder, considering the old groaner is a trifle worn for a college career. But, sure enough, he is back on the campus as a middle-aged student in this Twentieth Century-Fox color film, which opened yesterday at the Warner. And it’s the same old Hollywood college, so far as we can see.
To be sure, the taste of the students in music has slightly changed. The once-favored jazz of the redhot era has been replaced by rock ‘n’ roll. The co-eds are much more casual about visiting in boys’ rooms. And Mr. Crosby’s erstwhile beanie has been abandoned — for a sensible toupee.
But Pinehurst U., which he is attending as a middle-aged millionaire who thinks it high time that somebody in his family get a college degree, is in other respects the institution of higher learning that Dick Powell and Betty Grable used to roam. Their places are simply taken by the likes of Fabian and Tuesday Weld.
Football, basketball, picnicking and shooting-the-breeze are still the principal subjects taught, and much is still made of building the bonfire that precedes the big game. The major concern of the male students is still making the right fraternity, and outrageous pranks are still demanded of the fellows who get in.
For instance, Mr. Crosby, who is delighted when he makes Xi Delta Pi, is forced to attend a swanky party in a fine old mansion disguised as a southern belle. This, of course, creates much amusement among the fellows who are in on the prank, and let’s Mr. Crosby, at long last, try his hand at a bit from “Charley’s Aunt.”
And although Pinehurst U. appears a huge place, as huge as the University of California at Los Angeles, it has but a president, an athletic director (who coaches football, basketball and the Phys. Ed. class), a chemistry professor and a teacher of French, so far as we could see. The last is fortunately female, pretty, widowed and amiable. Needless to say, she hooks up with our middle-aged student. She is played by Nicole Maurey.
Thus Mr. Crosby, still pretending to be youthful, goes to college again, but a few necessaries are lacking. One of them is a script. The other is youth. The screen play by Tom and Frank Waldman, based on a story by Garson Kanin, is awfully sad, awfully burdened with hackneyed situations. And Mr. Crosby, alas, is no kid.
He tries hard to be casual and boyish, to prove modestly that he’s in the groove, to match the animal spirits of the swarming youngsters, such as Fabian and Miss Weld. But as much as director Blake Edwards has tried to help him with a lively beat that keeps the action thumping and gives an illusion of vitality, at least, there is a terrible gauntness and look of exhaustion about Mr. Crosby when the camera gets close and peers at his face.
We don’t blame his children (in the film) for objecting to his going to college. He should have stayed at home with his feet to the fire.
(Bosley Crowther, The New York Times,
September 17, 1960)
September 17/18, Saturday/Sunday. Sightseeing in Venice and at
Torcello Isle. Kathryn writes to her parents.
…Don’t get too excited Daddy, but Bing is trying very
hard to get you to the World Series. Can you, without telling anyone anything,
arrange for a substitute? And Mama, could you too – just in case Bing can get
two sets of tickets? We don’t know whether we will be able to go yet, so you
would probably be on your own, but it should be fun, just the same.
The
food in Italy is so good – I’m having a terrible time trying to hold my own;
it’s a good thing I lost ten lbs. before we started – I’ve gained back twelve!
Bing
and I are having such fun! He is truly beloved all over the world; people have
been so nice to us; the little people, like we are. The big fashionable
people eat too late and drink too much, but we get on fine with the paisanos.
And both of us like it that way…
September 20, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn reach Treviso in Italy
where Bing plays golf. They stay the night at Velden and then go to Vienna,
Austria for several days, staying at the Hotel Sacher. They attend the opera
most nights. Kathryn sends a post card to her parents.
Velden (Our next stop to Vienna)
It’s more beautiful that I believed possible. Florence
I loved, and Rome - but Venice, even in the rain, is unique. Water streets,
much walking, no cars at all. Bella!
We got a fountain in Florence! It will fit in the fish
pond – and the tiny copper boy is modestly covered (for Mrs Sr). I think we
miss the series.
Love Kathryn & Bing
September 22, Thursday. The three Crosby boys (Phillip, Dennis and Lindsay) open at Ciro's on Sunset Boulevard.
September 25, Sunday. The Pittsburgh Pirates win the Pennant in the
National League and qualify for the World Series to be played between October 5
and 13.
September 26, Monday. Bing and Kathryn are thought to have been at
the Club Mittersill, Salzburg in Austria.
September 28, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn stay with Princess
Honey Chile Wilder in Mittersill, near Salzburg. Bing wins the Invitational Golf
Tournament at Mittersill.
I’m sure that the pope would have been sorry to hear
it, but September 28 was the height of the tour for Bing. Finishing with a
brilliant series of sub-par holes, he dominated the annual Mittersill
Invitational Golf Tournament, winning first prizes for both low net and low
gross.
(My Life with Bing, page 175)
October 5, Wednesday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The taped Bing
Crosby Show with Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mercer, Carol Lawrence, and the
Crosby Brothers is shown by ABC-TV. Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra provide the
musical support. William O. Harbach is the producer-director.
Bing Crosby, in his first special of the new season,
was the front man of a neat musical stanza, last Wednesday night (5th). Keyed
by Crosby in his customary relaxed groove, the session framed an excellent
roster of supporting performers in a swinging format. The quartet of scripters
supplied a breezy continuity which didn’t get in the way of the music, while
the production mountings were imaginative without being pretentious.
The music was pegged to
a series of flexible medleys which permitted Crosby and company to work
ensemble and solo. After Crosby’s, ‘On The Street Where You Live’ opener,
Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mercer and Carol Lawrence brought on in a ‘singing
game’ involving a chain of cleffing collaborations. It started with the Irving
Caesar-Vincent Youmans, ‘I Wanna Be Happy’ to Youmans-Billy Rose’s, ‘Great Day!’
to Rose-Warren’s, ‘I Found a Million Dollar Baby’ etc. It was a clever device
for running through about a dozen great standards.
The Crosby sons, minus
Gary, contributed a bright, ‘Limehouse Blues’ and then joined with papa on a
couple of numbers, including a rock ‘n’ roll take-off on, ‘Please’. Crosby’s
‘old master’ quality was vividly, on display, in this contrast with the younger
generation’s derivative talent. Crosby also teamed with Miss Clooney in a nifty
piece of material cut from ‘Aren’t You Glad You’re You?’ and then worked with
Mercer in a nifty creation of the old days of radio…. Miss Clooney handled one
solo number, ‘There’ll Never Be Another You’, in classy style against an
appropriately formal background.
For the wind-up, Crosby
delivered a medley of his past hits, playing against two other Crosby images,
in a cleverly and precisely executed process of film super-impositions. Nelson
Riddle’s Orchestra cut the show sharply, throughout.
(Variety, October
12, 1960)
Bing Crosby’s first special of the season, an
attraction on Channel 7 last night, was a highly tuneful outing of very
considerable style and imagination. Dispensing with the Palm Springs chatter
that had grown a trifle wearing last season, the Old Groaner concentrated this
time on a variety of medleys done in different styles with Rosemary Clooney,
Johnny Mercer, Carol Lawrence and his sons, Dennis, Phillip and Lindsay. It was
unpretentious, relaxed and musically fresh. Admittedly, the individuals in charge
of the sound portion of the show were not at their most efficient. At the
outset a mixture of delightful standard numbers was all but obscured by Nelson
Riddle’s orchestra...The show’s final number involved a triple exposure, which
had three different Bing Crosby’s in different costumes, singing
simultaneously. It was a real technical feat and interesting and amusing to
watch. The three Crosby sons, once the brats of video, have come a long way,
the number with their father, adapting “Please” to a Presley rhythm was fine.
(Jack Gould, New York Times, October 6, 1960)
October 8, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn stay another night in
Salzburg, Austria.
October 9, Sunday. They arrive at the Hilton Hotel, Berlin.
October 12, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn go on to Paris staying at
the Trianon Palace Hotel.
October 13, Thursday. The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series
for the first time since 1927. Bing
has to listen to the games on the radio while in Paris.
There we stayed in the Trianon Palace Hotel,
sightseeing and shopping each day, and listening to Bing’s Pirates play in the
World Series at night.
On the evening of the
final game we dined at a friend’s house while we listened to Armed Forces
Radio. When Mazeroski came to bat in the ninth inning, the meal was over and
Bing had started to fix himself a drink. He picked up an unopened bottle of
Scotch just as his hero laid into the ball.
The bottle dropped from
Bing’s numbed fingers and the Scotch ran into the fireplace. Fumes sprang up
and threatened to engulf the room. All the while he was doing his version of an
Apache war dance and screaming “We win ten to nine. We win ten to nine!”
I helped our hostess
extinguish the flames while she murmured something about men who turn
destructive when excited. Since our popularity seemed to be on the wane, we
left for the Ritz Bar, Fouquet’s, and finally an enormous victory bash
sponsored by Monsieur Dubonnet. All in all a great evening, but no rival to
Bing’s triumph at Mittersill.
(My Life with Bing, page 177)
October 14, Friday. They fly into London airport and go on to the Savoy Hotel in London.
Later, Bing is interviewed by Derek Hart for the
October 15, Saturday. (10:00 a.m.–12:50 p.m.) Bing records four
songs at Decca’s West Hampstead, London studios with Malcolm Lockyer and his
Orchestra for the Holiday in Europe album but they are not used. Michael
Holliday watches and arranger Bob Thompson is present too. Bing is interviewed
by Wilfrid Thomas for the
The first three numbers (“C’est Si Bon,” “Under Paris
Skies,” and “Morgen”) were in the can in scarcely no time. In each case, the
number was given one brief run-through, followed by three takes on tape,
punctuated by such remarks from Bing as: “Let’s take it just a whisker slower,
Malcolm, huh?” and “Just one more take for luck.”
The ease and confidence
with which Bing slid into his work was summed up for me by just one incident.
He pulled out a new packet of cigarettes from his pocket, tore off the
cellophane, extracted one, inserted it in his holder, and lit up—all while he
was actually recording “C’est Si Bon.”
...Now, it was time to
return to the studio to cut the fourth number. This was a tune that Bing didn’t
know titled “Melancolie”. While he was trying it through for the first time, I
climbed up into the control box only to come face to face with Bing’s greatest
fan, Michael Holliday. Mike apparently wasn’t able to resist the urge to see
Bing at work and, although it meant invading a rival company’s premises he had
shown up at Decca’s West Hampstead studios.
...Not
surprisingly, because he hadn’t seen the number before, Bing had a shade more
trouble in mastering “Melancolie” than with the first three. In fact, when he’d
hit the wrong note on three successive occasions, he gave out with a string of
colourful epithets which reduced the entire studio to helpless laughter. But
this proved a minor handicap, and it wasn’t many minutes before “Melancolie”
too was satisfactorily recorded.
(Derek Johnson, New Musical Express, October
21, 1960)
The following year, Bing turned up in London en route
from the Olympic Games in Rome. No sooner had Mike seen the picture of Bing and
Kathryn in the Daily Express than he was on the phone to Bing’s hotel. The
telephonist was a Holliday fan, more in awe of Mike than Bing and was prepared
to break the rules of ‘no calls’ and put Mike through to Bing’s room.
Mike had the phone
hooked into his tape machine and recorded the conversation. When Bing recognises
his voice with the words ‘Hiya Michael, how are ya’, Holliday is like a
schoolboy who has just discovered that there really is a Santa Claus. ‘Oh
boy!!’ is all he can say.
The call was brief,
Crosby explaining that he was in London to make some recordings. Holliday was
almost speechless. It had been one thing to meet his idol at the golf club in
California, but the idea of seeing Bing at work was on a different plane
altogether. Crosby had not performed in England since the war years and latterly,
the famous crooner seemed to have settled for semi-retirement, focusing his
attention on the second family that he and Kathryn were producing. Mike had
asked him when they met in California whether he had plans to make some new
recordings and received what seemed to be the standard, dismissive reply.
From the moment that he
put the phone down, Mike had only one thought in his head. If Bing was making
records, Michael Holliday was going to be there to see it. He called Patrick
Doncaster, the record correspondent of the Daily Mirror who Holliday
knew well. Within minutes, Doncaster was back on the phone. Crosby’s session
was taking place at the Decca studios at West Hampstead. ‘But they might not
let you in,’ joked Doncaster, ‘you work for the competition, you know.’
Mike had no intention
of allowing commercial rivalry between Decca and EMI Columbia to get in the way
of seeing Bing at work. Within an hour, he was sitting in the control booth,
transfixed as Crosby went through the process of making a gramophone record,
something he had first done 34 years ago, since when his global sales had
reached a staggering 250 million.
Once the session was
over, Crosby took time out for two radio interviews and then came into the
booth. ‘Is that old Holliday over there?’ he said, seeing Mike in the comer of
the room. Mike was thrilled to be recognised and the two of them chatted for a
few minutes. Crosby had by now reached the stage in his career where it was
debatable whether he was a singer who golfed, or a golfer who sang, and sure
enough, he had some golf lined up that afternoon. He was playing at Coombe
Hill, he told Mike, so why didn’t he and Margie come along. Mike needed no
second invitation, nor indeed did Margie. Later in the afternoon, Mike and Bing
struck up a conversation with the impresario Val Parnell, the man behind TV’s Sunday
Night at the London Palladium. Crosby assumed, wrongly, that Parnell and
Mike had not met, although by then Holliday had already made his debut on the
Sunday night show.
‘You should put him on
the Palladium,’ Bing said to Parnell nodding in Mike’s direction.
‘No, no,’ said Mike to
Parnell pointing to Bing, ‘I want you to put him on the Palladium.’
‘Me? Naw, I’m through,’
was Crosby’s self-deprecating reply.
Bing and Kathryn flew
back to the USA a few days later. Few would have forecast that of the two stars
who stood chatting at Coombe Hill that October afternoon, the then
septuagenarian Crosby would be the one who would sell out the Palladium
in the mid-1970s, not the young pretender. When Mike and Margie had returned
from the USA in 1959, the only question seemed to be how brightly Michael
Holliday’s star would shine. The real question was how long.
(Ken Crossland, The Man Who Would Be Bing - the life story of
Michael Holliday, page 121)
October 16, Sunday. Bing golfs at Pulborough Golf Club in West Sussex and has a 75.
October 17, Monday. Bing goes to Hurst Park races.
October 20, Thursday. At the Savoy Hotel, Bing is presented with
an engraved silver cigarette case in gratitude for his large donation to a West
Indian association, which is forming a rehabilitation centre in London. At
around 4:15 p.m. he has tea with opera singer (and Crosby fan) Stanley Cooper.
October 21, Friday. Bing and Kathryn fly back to the U.S.A. Bing
goes on to Palm Desert and then the Rising River ranch.
October 24, Monday. Kathryn commences duties as a probationer
student nurse at Queen of Angels Hospital, Los Angeles.
October 29,
Saturday. Starting at 12 noon, Bing, Phil Harris and Frank Jackson play with Billy
Casper in the first round of the 36-hole Borrego Springs Invitational Golf
Tournament at De Anza Country Club in San Diego County,
California. They have a 60 in the first round. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord
Atkinson.
A little late making reply to your letter of August 12
I know. It’s been on my desk ever since my departure for Europe, and I’ve only
gotten back a day or two now and catching up on my letter writing.
I’m glad that you
enjoyed meeting the boys, and that they were a success there in Ottawa. Since
then, they’ve had several very successful engagements, doing good business, to
good audiences, and to good critical reaction in Hollywood, Reno, Dayton,
Buffalo and some other towns. They’re now in New York, I believe, getting ready
to do a Como show. They have a few dates after that, but will be home for a
month or so around Christmas and then take off again up through the Northwest.
They have an album coming out which sounds pretty good to me. I hope it meets
with some success when it’s released.
Thank you for sending
me the tape of your interview. It sounded great. Also the copies of the OTTAWA
CITIZEN column, which proved very interesting.
I hope that you and
your family are in good health and spirits.
As ever—your friend,
Bing
October 30, Sunday. The second round of the 36-hole De Anza Invitational Golf Tournament.
November 5, Saturday. Mack Sennett dies.
November 7, Monday. Billboard magazine reviews the new LP by The Crosby Brothers.
*** Presenting The
Crosby Brothers
M-G-M E3873 – Phillip,
Lindsey and Dennis Crosby (Gary left the act a few months ago) warble in
effective harmony on this package, which features liner notes by “Dear Old Dad”.
Deejays should find many spinnable bands as well as interesting chatter lines in
“Green Grass,” “You Must Have Been a
Beautiful Baby,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and other oldies.
(Billboard, November 7, 1960)
November 9, Wednesday. John F. Kennedy is elected president of
the United States.
November 15, Tuesday. An article by Bob Salmaggi about Bing and Rosemary Clooney's radio show appears in the press.
“The show, you
know, is taped,” she began. “We—Bing and I—cut 10 songs at a time in Hollywood,
which takes about three hours. First I record mine, then Bing sings his second
day. The third day we do all our duets. In addition to those numbers, we
sometimes throw in one of our old recordings—Bing and I made a number of
records together. The dialogue we do at my house in California. Bing ambles
over when he feels like it—he’s always late—and we have the mikes set up on the
table and we get right to it. It’s all very cozy and nice—we usually work
around cocktail time. We can do 40 shows in two hours. No, seriously. It’s not
as staggering as it sounds.”
(The Birmingham News, (Alabama), November
15, 1960)
November 19, Saturday. Still at his Rising River Ranch, Bing writes to pianist Ralph Sutton in New York, with a copy to Si Rady.
Dear
Ralph
Got
your card, and also the announcement that you’re going to be at Condon’s for awhile,
so I thought I’d drop a note to say hello.
I
have been around a bit since we were last in touch – two month trip to Europe,
and since then have visited Palm Springs, some work in Hollywood, and am now up
at the Rising River Ranch for a couple of weeks in Northern California,
shooting some ducks and geese. Will go back to Los Angeles around the first of
December, taping a television show the week of 13th through the 19th, with Rex
Harrison, Carol Lawrence, Chevalier, and an Italian singer we discovered in
Rome. Sort of a semi-classical singer, but with a great deal of sentimental
appeal, I believe.
Ralph,
I’ve been wondering about the possibility of our doing an album. I have a
company now. Si Rady is running it for me. It’s called Project Records. We make
up an album and then distribute it through whatever company we can get the best
deal out of – Columbia, MGM, Warners, Victor – it really doesn’t matter.
I
wonder if you have any ideas what kind of album we could do. There’s only one
rather confining factor. I’m not allowed to record anything for any company that
I’ve ever done for Decca. Sometimes this poses serious problems, but
after all, there are lots of songs which I’ve never sung, and which are great.
I’m
thinking in terms of something like what we did with Bob Scobey, with a little
more emphasis on songs such “Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” – things
of that type – where we could feature a great deal of piano and maybe use a
small group.
Si
Rady is very thorough about something like this, and has no hesitancy in
spending a great deal of time in preliminary discussions and plannings. When
you consider it realistically this is, after all, the only way to get a good
album. The day is past, for me at least, when I can go in and knock off twelve
songs without some preliminary run-throughs and rehearsals, and get anything worthwhile
as the ultimate product.
Pursuing
this suggestion, why don’t you dig up some titles and send them to me, and I’ll
talk to Si about them and see what he thinks, and we’ll try and uncover a few.
If the material can be found and developed, I think we could get a worthwhile album.
I
suppose now that you’re in New York, you’re seeing Artie Lynch once in awhile,
if he hasn’t gone to Florida. He generally goes there just as soon as the
wintry winds start howling around Manhattan Island. If he should be still in
town, send him my regards.
Be
expecting to hear from, Ralph, when you have time.
All
best regards to you and your family –
As
ever, Bing
November 23, Wednesday.
(9:00-10:00 p.m.) The Three Crosby Brothers appear live on Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC-TV.
November 29, Tuesday. Bing writes to Jim Merbs at the Monterey Peninsula Herald.
Am returning herewith photos of the pastel which Mrs.
Florence Lockwood has done. It looks very nice to me, and I think it should
meet with favour on all sides.
I’m certainly building up quite a gallery of these
portraits now. Great souvenirs to have, and you’ve certainly had some great
artists do the work.
I hope you’re having a pleasant fall season up there
at Pebble Beach. I’ve been away a great deal – in Europe and now up in Northern
California hunting, but will go back to Los Angles directly and will then be
there until after Christmas.
All best good wishes to you and your family – As ever, Bing
December 3, Saturday.
Now in Palm Desert, Bing replies to Ralph Sutton's letter in which he suggests titles for a
possible album. Again, the letter is copied to Si Rady.
Dear
Ralph
Thanks
for your note. I have noted contents, and will await receipt of some more
titles. “My Fate Is In Your Hands” sounds like a very good suggestion.
From
the review, the paper sounds like you’ve got a helluva quartet together. I’m
glad it’s working out so well. We might use the whole group, if we can get this
album promoted.
The
important thing, Ralph, is get something worked out on each number so that we just
don’t go in there and do choruses, and I mean worked out instrumentally. I’ll
have to work out some things vocally, too. That’s the only way we have a chance
of getting the album to move – if it has some novelty, and because of this
novelty, some appeal.
I’m
doing an album next week which should be a dilly. I don’t know whether it will
sell or not, but it’s going to be quite an effort – 101 songs. Of course, I don’t
sing all of each song, but a good part of it. They’re mostly standards, gang
songs, old chestnuts of one kind or another. The tracks are already made, and
it will be a question of me going in there and working to horns. Looks like a
two or three day job.
Made
one called “Sing Along With Bing” which had a remarkably good sale, and it’s in
much the same character. We use a vocal group, and a big band. Well, away we
go, anyhow.
Hope
the engagement at Condon’s is coming along nicely, and they’re not working you
too hard. Say hello to Eddie for me. His daughter is my goddaughter, you know.
All the best, Bing
December 4, Sunday. (10:00 a.m.) Bing, James Garner, Phil Harris
and Randolph Scott fly into Tucson, Arizona, and later, starting at 1 p.m.,
they play in a benefit golf exhibition for the Beacon Foundation at El Rio
Country Club. Bing and Phil are defeated 5 and 4 by Scott and Garner in front of a crowd of 2500.
December 9, Friday. Bing records a 45-minute program for the
December 11, Sunday. Bing tapes his A Christmas Sing with Bing
radio program with Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer and Kathryn Crosby.
December 13, Tuesday. Bing gives a luncheon for the press at the Carriage House in Burbank to promote the forthcoming Bing Crosby Pro-Am. Bing and Rosemary Clooney pose for publicity photos for the Christmas Sing broadcast.
December 13-19, Tuesday - Monday. Records an ABC-TV show with Maurice Chevalier and
Carol Lawrence which is shown on March 20, 1961. Bill Harbach, the director,
recalled the show in 2005.
“All summer long I tried to come up with a smashing idea - not just another song and dance show. There’s got to be some point to it. What can I do that is different? I was coming back from a weekend in Westhampton, Long Island. While passing La Guardia Airport – it’s funny how you remember things – I said, ‘I got it. I got the perfect show for Bing. Wham!’ We would have Mr. England, Mr. France, and Mr. USA – Rex Harrison, Maurice Chevalier, and Crosby – singing about the women they have known and how they handled them.
Chevalier was thrilled by the suggestion and Harrison’s people thought it was sensational because he hadn’t done anything since the London production of My Fair Lady. Nothing much was going on with him professionally, and his agents thought that starring him with Bing and Maurice would put him right back. Bing reacted like a stage two rocket. He said, ‘My God, What an idea.’ Well, Rex wouldn’t do it! He said, ‘I can’t sing like Bing.’ I said, ‘You don’t have to – you just sing like you did in My Fair Lady.’
Harrison’s agent said, ‘Bill, you got to make Rex do it, for his own good.’ I pleaded with Harrison, but he remained adamant. ‘No, No, No – Crosby and Chevalier are too good. I’m not going to embarrass myself.’ Well, my writers (Bill Morrow, Saul Ilson, and George Foster) helped me create a show which became Mr. France and Mr. USA. Can you imagine what that show would have been like with the three of them? I get goose bumps just thinking of it.”
This tantalizing possibility was briefly entertained, but Mr. Harbach was assured that, even without Mr. England’s participation, the show remains a triumph of showmanship and style, notwithstanding the involvement of singer Aldo Monaco.
“Aldo Monaco had nothing to do with Crosby and Chevalier – or anything! Bing had heard him in Venice and was so crazy about him, he promised him a spot. I didn’t want to hurt Bing’s feelings, but I had to tell him that Monaco had nothing to do with the original plan. After all, he was no match for the two stars, so he wasn’t going to sing about his Italian girlfriends. Well, Bing insisted on featuring him. It killed me. I wanted the idea to stay close to the original. All that survived of it was the little black book medley.”
But what about the finale medley, which includes September Song, Young at Heart, I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore and concludes with I Wish I Were in Love Again? Didn’t this impart a wistful accent upon the philandering theme? Mr. Harbach lit up.
“Yes, Yes - and I thought I would use ‘Yesterdays’ which dad wrote with Jerome Kern for Roberta. It perfectly wrapped up the whole concept.”
How did these two icons get along?
“Bing and Maurice hit it off from the
very first day of rehearsals. Maurice politely said, ‘Bing, it’s so nice to see
you.’ ‘You too, Maurice.’ They got along beautifully.”
At this point in our discussion, Mr. Harbach produced a photo of him giving directions to a grinning Crosby and laughing Chevalier. There is no better example of the comity that existed among the three men.
“Bing enjoyed working with Carol Lawrence on the previous show, so he wanted lightning to strike twice. Hugh Lambert was hired to choreograph. His dancers were frequently featured on The Ed Sullivan Show.”
I signaled out Flattery,
a number which displays the terpsichorean talents of Crosby and Lawrence.
“Oh, Bing moved so well. He was a very good dancer. But then, he could do anything well. Bing also wanted Nelson Riddle to work again on this show since he was so pleased with his work. Incidentally, Nelson thought that choral voices were needed, especially for Chevalier.”
Mr. Harbach mentioned that Henry
Mancini’s wife, Virginia, was a member of the chorus which Joseph Lilley
assembled. Mr. Harbach is justly proud of this special.
“Do you know that we made the cover of Life Magazine?”
Mr. Harbach showed me a facsimile of
the March 10, 1961 issue which showcased Crosby and Chevalier on the cover,
heralding, Two Old Pros in TV Songfest.
This
certainly was no hype. Broadcast on March 20, 1961, it garnered high ratings.
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with Bill Harbach,
in BING magazine, spring 2006)
Bob (Wynn) worked on a
number of Bing’s TV specials before becoming the producer of the 1961 Xmas show
from London. He recalled the special in March 1961 when Maurice Chevalier was
the guest and Bob was the Unit Manager. Chevalier had arrived at the studio
looking a very old and tired man, which was a great disappointment to
Bob. However, once he was performing in front of the cameras, the ‘real’
Chevalier reappeared and he gave a great performance. After the show, Bing gave
Chevalier a wonderful party. Bob recalled that Bing could be a little careful
with his money and sometimes a ‘party’ consisted of some cheese and some cans
of beer, but on this occasion, it was top class.
(Author interview with
Bob Wynn, August 1, 2007)
December 19, Monday. At Chasen’s Restaurant, Bing meets his son
Gary (and his new wife) for the first time since Gary’s marriage. Meanwhile,
Bing’s album Merry Christmas enters the album charts and goes on
to reach number nine. It remains in the charts for three weeks. In addition,
his recording of “White Christmas” again enters the charts and peaks at number
twenty-six during its two-week tenure.
When Dad and Kathryn
returned from Europe, I took Barbara to their
house in Holmby
Hills to meet them for the first time. It had to be done, but I was more than a
little apprehensive.
“Honey, y’know, he’s kind of a cold fish,” I told her on the drive over. “He’s not warm like you
are. So don’t be grabbing and hugging at him like you usually do with people. That’s
not his style.” She laughed and answered, “Well, I’ll try. If I can
remember, I’ll keep my hands to myself.” Before
I could even finish the introductions, she threw her arms around him and gave him a big bear hug. He was
as embarrassed by the display
of affection as I knew he would be and tried to back off. But
she wouldn’t go for it. She went right up against
his coldness like it wasn’t there and destroyed
it on the spot.
On the way
home she told me he even hugged her back a little when they said good night, but I don’t know.
(Gary Crosby, writing in Going My Own Way, page 268).
December 20, Tuesday. Records sing-along tracks for the
album 101
Gang Songs at United Recorders, Hollywood, for release by Warner
Brothers Records. The chorus and instrumental accompaniment are conducted by
Jack Halloran.
December 21, Wednesday. The film Pepe in which Bing has a small cameo is released in New York City.
An extremely
uneven comedy with music, about a Mexican peon horsetrainer and his prize white
stallion; a movie director aiming for a comeback; and a would-be Hollywood
actress… Pepe, in tracking down (Dan) Dailey at Mammoth Studios, encounters
Bing Crosby, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jack Lemmon, Jay “Dennis the Menace” North, Billie
Burke and Charles Coburn none of whom he recognizes as celebrities.
(Harrison’s Reports,
December 24, 1960)
December 23, Friday. Records some more sing-along tracks for the
album 101
Gang Songs at United Recorders, Hollywood,
December 24, Saturday. (7:15-8:00 p.m.) A Christmas Sing with Bing
radio
program is broadcast by CBS. It has been cut to 45 minutes instead of
an hour as previously. The international format is dropped this time
and
Bing is joined by Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer, and Kathryn Crosby.
The
program is again sponsored by the insurance company, INA.
This was the sixth ‘Christmas Sing With Bing’ and the Yuletide Eve special is well on its way to becoming an institution which is all for the best since Crosby has that special sense of hominess and belonging that adds an extra kind of warmth to a season when the Christmas song-fests tend to lose their individuality. The ‘Sing with Bing’ remains something special, to look forward to each year. A change to format was offered this year, Crosby dropping the international flavor of season’s past for a stay at home session with Rosemary Clooney, his regular CBS radio partner, her hubby Jose Ferrer and his own wife Kathryn as they swing, happily, through a wide category of Christmas songs from the newer pop standards right down to old-fashioned carols. The music was fine. Crosby and Miss Clooney were in top form and Miss Grant displayed a small but pretty voice. Ferrer added a reading of ‘Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus’ – the 1897 ‘New York Sun’ editorial that was effective and overall the show had a fine sense of restrained gaiety. Two negatives however. One, was the fact that there was far too much talk and not enough music – at least in the first half of the show and Bill Morrow’s rapid-fire dialogue tended to be a little over cute. Second – Far too many commercials for Insurance Company of North America and pretty hard sell at that. ‘Sing with Bing’ being almost an institution it seems about time the commercial aspect of it be accorded appropriately similar treatment.
(Variety, December 28, 1960)
One of the warmest, and unquestionably, the brightest
entertainments of the holiday was “Christmas Sing with Bing”. This old tar puffed
contentedly on a huge Christmas stogie, which looked like a smokestack on our
old battleship, as he enjoyed this annual Sing with Bing. The highlights of the
party were the Groaner’s baritoning of “Silent Night” and “White Christmas,”
and Ferrer’s reading of the famous newspaper editorial, “Yes, Virginia, there
is a Santa Claus,” which for pith and point is peerless. It is a classic of the
Fourth estate.
(Daily Mirror, December 27, 1960)
December 25, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn host a family Christmas at Holmby Hills with Bing's sons and their wives.
December 27/28, Tuesday/Wednesday. Bing completes the recording of
the 101 Gang Songs album. The album is originally issued in two parts
“Join Bing and Sing Along” and “Join Bing in a Gang Song Sing Along”.
JOIN BING IN A GANG SONG SING ALONG
Bing Crosby & His Friends. Warner Bros. W 1322 —
Bing’s second sing along album is as bright and
spirited as his first, which was a sock seller for the label. This set contains
50 favorite tunes, and Bing and his gang sell them with the zing and gusto they
deserve. Among the songs are “Shine on Harvest Moon,” “Hello My Baby,” “Little
Liza” and “Annie Laurie.” As with all sing-alongs, the lyrics are included.
Good wax, good fun, and good sales indicated here.
(Billboard, July 24, 1961)
Bing Crosby is slowly moving into Mitch Miller’s
territory. Crosby’s first sing along package did quite well in the market and
this compilation of 50 faves has a good chance to do even better. The formula
is light and simple and with Crosby leading the way the songalog is easy to
follow.
(Variety, August 2, 1961)
Mitch Miller may have started (or at least resurrected) the
"sing-along" craze, but it has taken the Old Master to supply the
definitive triumph of this genre. He's in his jauntiest form here, leading an
usually robust chorus, backed by a vigorously steady rhythm section in performances
which imperiously demand participation.
(High Fidelity magazine, 1961, Vol. 10, issues 7-12)
Bing Crosby is still tops, and at present a welcome
visitor to this country. He is heard again in a “Sing Along” LP set on Warner
WM 4034 which drags up all the old chorus numbers in the now familiar Mitch
Miller formula.
(The Gramophone, September, 1961)
Bing Crosby has another sock sales item in his third
Sing-Along album for Warner Brothers. This one spotlights 51 oldies, which
Warner Brothers claims is “the greatest number of sing-along hits on any record
ever.” Crosby is in exuberant, warm vocal form and is strongly backed by a
group of heart voices. A strong package.
(Billboard, January 20, 1962)
December 28, Wednesday. Following a jury trial with a 9-3 vote, Dennis Crosby is
ordered to pay $100 per week for support of a three-year-old daughter born out
of wedlock to Mrs. Marilyn Miller Scott on November 24, 1957. He also has to
pay legal fees of $7,500 for Mrs. Scott. The child grows up to be an actress
named Denise Crosby who appears in the Paramount television series Star
Trek—The Next Generation and other productions.
December 31, Saturday. Pat Sheehan (wife of Dennis) gives birth to a son, Patrick Anthony, at hospital in Santa Monica.
January (undated). Bing and Kathryn at their home at Palm Desert.
January 3, Tuesday. An article by Joe Hyams about
Gary Crosby is syndicated in many newspapers.
HOLLYWOOD (HTNS)—My favorite
Crosby—Gary—came to lunch the other day at the Beverly Hills Hotel with his
beautiful blond wife Barbara on his arm and announced that after four months of
marriage he’s never felt better, never been happier.
“I never knew what marriage was until I
got married,” Gary said, pausing to nuzzle his wife’s cheek. You can’t tell a
bachelor that marriage is wonderful but I’ll tell you I’m happier than I’ve
ever been.
“I’m having myself a real ball getting up
early in the morning, spending the day working around the house or playing with
our son Steven (Mrs. Crosby’s five-and-a-half-year-old by a previous marriage.)
“…We had Christmas with dad and my
brothers, their wives and kids. It was a real clambake. And my career is
picking up. I just finished a picture and I have a record coming out.”
The picture Gary recently completed for
20th Century Fox is entitled “The Right Approach” in which he stars with
Frankie Vaughan. The record he cut last week is called “Jenny, Oh Jenny.” And
he’s in the process of cutting an album for his father’s company, Project
Records.
I asked Gary if he and his father were on
good terms again after some widely publicized disagreements.
“We’ve never gotten along so well as
now,” he said. "It’s just great. Everything’s great.”
(Joe Hyams, The
Blade, Toledo, Ohio, January 3, 1961)
January 5, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn are at a dinner dance held in honour of William
Randolph Hearst Sr. at Romanoffs
…Bing Crosby, who
is not the party type, danced almost as much as I did. His favorite partner was
his wife, Kathy, who looked very attractive in a white satin gown.
(Louella Parsons, The San Francisco Examiner, January 7,
1961)
January 7, Saturday.
Bing and Kathryn attend a party at the Tennis Club in Palm Springs
given by the George Hearst family for their mother Mrs. William
Randolph Hearst Sr.
January 9, Monday. Golfs with Arnold Palmer at the Indian Wells course.
January 13, Friday. Gary Crosby fails to fulfil an
engagement at Gallagher’s, Milwaukee. Attorneys for Gary later agree to
a reported settlement of $4,000 for the singer’s no-show.
January 18, Wednesday. Problems emerge with the TV show recently taped by Bing and Maurice Chevalier.
The
Oldsmobile people are more afraid of Patterson and Johansson on radio than they
are of Ingrid Bergman on tv, so the automotive sponsor has asked ABC-TV to
shift its Bing Crosby 60-minute special from March 13, fight night, to March 20
opposite the Bergman special on CBS-TV.
Decision
to switch Crosby from a 9:30-10:30 p.m. anchorage (the fight begins shortly
after 10 on ABC Radio) on March 13 to a 9-10 p.m. slot on March 20 came last
week. Miss Bergman’s “24 Hours in a Woman’s Life” will be seen from 9:30 to 11
the same night on CBS-TV.
Until
Jan. 3, despite attempts to get Crosby pushed back to the 20th, ABC-TV was
holding to the night of the 13th, but the boxers won out after all a few days
later.
Presumably,
too, ABC-TV didn’t especially relish competing with ABC Radio, whether Crosby’s
tv show were to win on the ratings or not.
ABC-TV
says it’ll not change Crosby again, and since CBS-TV won’t change either, March
20 will see the battle of the potential giants.
(Variety, January 18, 1961)
January 19-22,
Thursday–Sunday. At the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble
Beach which is won by Bob Rosburg. The weather is good this time.
Television coverage stars at 2:30 p.m. on ABC-TV on the final day with
Bing and Dick Danehe commentating. James Garner, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Gordon MacRae, Guy Madison, William Boyd, Johnny
Weissmuller, George Gobel, Ray Bolger, Don Cherry, Dennis Morgan, John
Raitt, Howard Keel, Richard Arlen, Jim Backus, Fred MacMurray, Moe
Dalitz and Phil Harris are among the many
celebrities playing. $114,000 is raised for various charities.
Crosby not only supervises the selection of those who get the precious bids to his tournament but he also tries to chat at least briefly with every one of the golfers he knows personally. In addition, he tapes radio shows, works in a few parties at the houses of friends in the neighborhood and often does a show for the Fort Ord soldiers. On Sunday night following the final round he gives an enormous steak dinner for all the competitors at which he himself awards the $50,000 worth of prizes that go to the pros and the hand-wrought silver pitchers and bowls and plates that go to the winning amateurs. That done, Crosby emcees a show that money couldn’t buy. Phil Harris gets the laughs started, Jimmy Demaret sings, Lionel Hebert plays his horn, Don Cherry croons, Bob Hope clowns it up and the host himself delivers the kind of melody that made all this possible in the first place.
Year in and year out the Crosby is most likely the wettest, ruggedest golfing test in the country. But the 50,000 people who turn out to watch, and the more than 4,000 amateurs who always apply for the 150 starting places have learned how to overlook the elements. To them the Crosby is winter’s real treat.
(Sports Illustrated, January 23, 1961)
January 24, Tuesday. The three Crosby Brothers open at the Chi
Chi in Palm Springs for eleven days. They stay at Bing’s home in Palm Desert.
January 25, Wednesday. Starting at 11:22 a.m., Bing takes part in the pro-am preceding the Lucky International
Golf Tournament at Harding Park, San Francisco, in pouring rain, partnered by
Doug Sanders.
Bing has a 78 and can only help his partner on a few holes.
Meanwhile, there are further developments with the TV show with Maurice
Chevalier.
The
last gun hasn’t yet been sounded in the competitive hassle which finds Ingrid
Bergman on CBS-TV pitted against Bing Crosby on ABC the night of March 20. Not
by Garry Moore, it hasn’t.
Moore
gets into the picture because he’s got one of Crosby’s gueststars under
contract for an April 4 appearance on his show, with a 21-day ironclad
exclusivity clause. And ABC’s got problems because the Crosby show is already
taped, and if the gueststar is to be deleted, it would require some extensive
retaping.
The
gueststar is Carol Lawrence, who had signed for the April 4 Moore show back
when the Crosby stint was originally scheduled for the beginning of March. Her
contract with Moore provides she can do no other tv work for 21 days prior to
the April 4 date. That left better than a week to spare on the original Crosby
scheduling.
Then,
Oldsmobile decided to move the Crosby special up to March 13 was the night of
the Patterson-Johansson fight (which ABC Radio was carrying), ABC and Olds
decided to move the Crosby show up to March 20. That put Miss Lawrence in the danger
area of contractual violation.
Moore
is taking his case to AFTRA for a decision, and failing satisfaction there,
will take legal action to see that his contract isn’t breached. From his and
CBS’ standpoint, they don’t care when the Crosby show is aired; their sole
concern is Miss Lawrence.
Trouble,
of course, is that the Crosby show is all taped and completed, and to comply with
an injunction requiring observance of Miss Lawrence’s contract, ABC and Crosby
would have to do substantial portions of the show over again.
(Variety, January 25, 1961)
February 1, Wednesday. Bing plays in the first round of the Palm
Springs Golf Classic pro-am held on the Indian Wells course with Chen Ching-Po of Formosa. The amateurs switch pro-partners every day,
February 2, Thursday. The pro-am moves to the Thunderbird course.
February 3, Friday. (Starting at 10:44 a.m.) Bing plays in the
third round of the pro-am on the Bermuda Dunes course.
February 4,
Saturday. The final day of the pro-am competition at
the Eldorado course. Bing plays with Ken Venturi. The professionals
play a final round on the Sunday. Bing and Kathryn are staying at their
Palm Desert home.
The Crosby Brothers act is at the Chi Chi Starlite Room until February
4.
February 7, Tuesday. Flies into Reno with his children Harry
and Mary Frances en route to a vacation at Squaw Valley, Idaho. Kathryn joins
him there on February 10. They stay at the Blair House.
Squaw
Valley, Placer Co – While delivering a load at the village store one day this
week, a truck driver walked up to a customer and asked, “Say, mister, did
anyone ever tell you look a lot like Bing Crosby?"
The
customer smiled and replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact, a lot of people have
noticed the resemblance.”
When
the customer had paid for his groceries and driven away, the store keeper told
the truck driver, “That is Bing Crosby.”
Residents
of the valley are becoming accustomed to incidents of this kind as they play
host to one of Hollywood’s most casual and unpretentious celebrities.
The
crooner arrived Tuesday with his two youngest children. His pretty young wife,
Kathy, was to join him. They are staying in the home of friends here.
Crosby
said he is taking a brief vacation, having just completed the filming of a
television spectacular with Maurice Chevalier and Carol Lawrence. The program
will introduce a young Italian tenor, Aldo Monaco, whom Crosby discovered
singing in a little Roman café during the Olympic Games last summer. Next June,
Crosby will leave for England to film Road to Hong Kong with Bob Hope.
Crosby
made his acquaintance with Squaw Valley during the Winter Olympic Games a year
ago and indicated this will be the first of many return visits.
“I
like skating,” he said. “I have been to the arena every day. That’s really a
beautiful rink.”
It
was also learned he has made arrangements to take skiing lessons in the next
few days.
(Sacramento Bee, February 11, 1961)
February 12, Sunday. (5:30-6:00p.m.) Gonzaga University lose to Fairleigh Dickinson University in the GE College Bowl program. Bing narrates the picture tour of the Gonzaga campus.
February 18, Saturday. Bing is at the races at Santa Anita with Max Bell.
February (undated). Bing and Kathryn attend a cocktail party at Jo and Monte Fisher's home in Beverly Hills. The event honors Col. and Mrs. Cloyce Tippett (Liz Whitney).
February 27, Monday. Bing is on his way to Palm Springs and he stops at Sage's Coffee Shop in Redlands in San Bernardino County en route.
March 2, Thursday. Bing (handicap 6) plays in the first round of the Eldorado club championship in Indian Wells and beats Holmes Tuttle 3 and 2. Delbert E. Grandstaff (Kathryn’s father) is
one of seventy-one people who pay their $50 filing fee in Texas in order to run
for the U.S. Senate.
March 3, Friday. Bing beats Richard Guelich 3 and 1 in the second round of the Eldorado Country Club tournament.
March 5, Sunday.
Plays with Dick Snideman in the 36-hole member-guest tournament at the
Bermuda Dunes club in Palm Springs. They have a score of 133 and are
not placed.
March 8, Wednesday. Bing attends a luncheon for General
Eisenhower at the Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs. Others present
include Bob Hope, Phil Harris, Danny Kaye, Randolph Scott, Edgar Bergen and
Freeman Gosden. Bing then goes to Palm Beach, Florida, while Kathryn
helps her father campaign for the senate in Texas.
March 9, Thursday. The three Crosby brothers (Phillip, Dennis,
and Lindsay) open at the Fairmont Hotel’s Venetian Room in San Francisco.
March 10, Friday. Bing practices his putting at the Fontainebleau Park course im Miami in readiness for a trip to Nassau.
March 11, Saturday. Bing has flown to Nassau in the Bahamas and the local paper of this date gives brief details of his
recent arrival. He stays at the Cotton Bay Club at Eleuthera. While in Nassau,
he fishes at Water Cay and takes part in a golf tournament for charity at the Cotton Bay Club.
March 13, Monday.
Back in Florida, Bing watches the Floyd Patterson-Ingemar Johansson fight
at the Miami Beach Convention Hall. Patterson wins by a knock-out
in the sixth round. Other celebrities present include Frank Sinatra,
Jimmy Durante, Joe DiMaggio, Milton Berle, Gary Cooper, Jack Benny and
Rosemary Clooney.
March 15, Wednesday.
Plays in an exhibition match at Atlantis Country Club, Lantana, Florida,
to raise funds to help Cuban refugees. Bing is part of a four-man team
of men led by Sam Snead, which loses to a team of ladies including Patty
Berg. Bing has a 76. There are 2000 spectators.
March 17, Friday. The legal dispute involving contractual small
print regarding Carol Lawrence’s appearance on Bing’s television special, due
to be shown by ABC on March 20, is resolved. It is mentioned that the show cost
$450,000. Meanwhile, Bing flies into Fort Myers, Florida, the spring
training ground for the Pittsburgh Pirates and watches the Pirates beat
the Milwaukee Braves 14-10 at Terry Park.
The crowd gave out one of its biggest rounds of
applause of the season early in the game when it was announced that movie,
radio and TV star Bing Crosby was in the press box. Crosby, a vice president of
the Pittsburgh club, flew into Fort Myers just before the game and left at the
end of the 8th inning to return to Miami.
(The News-Press, March 18, 1961)
March 20, Monday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
is transmitted by ABC-TV with guests Maurice Chevalier and Carol Lawrence.
Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra provide the musical background. The
producer-director is William O. Harbach.
Bing Crosby keeps topping himself. His latest
semi-annual ABC-TV romp for Oldsmobile, with Maurice Chevalier as his singing
partner and Carol Lawrence as an added starter, was a zestful, fast-hour with
wit, warmth and good humor.
Crosby and Chevalier
made a fine team, not so much in their vocal meshing as in their wonderfully
reactions to each other. And since producer-director, Bill Harbach and his
three writers played the hour as a sort of ‘fun with music’ show, the
Crosby-Chevalier pairing played off, incandescently.
The twosome got their
best licks in, during a pair of medleys, one pegged on femme names in a
‘little black book’ sequence of memorabilia which gave them a crack at ‘Louisa’
(sic), ‘Mimi’, ‘Gigi’, ‘Ida’, ‘Candy’ and several more, done with appropriate
tongue in cheek and camaraderie. And a second, more sentimental, turn pegged to
‘I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore’ and ‘I Wish I Were in Love Again’. Both were
top-flight in performance and effect.
Miss Lawrence got her
licks in, vocally and dancewise….and her turn with Crosby, a cute piece of
fluff titled, ‘Flattery Charges My Battery’ was pure fun. Monaco is a Crosby
discovery, an Italian tenor with a remarkable control of his vocal nuances plus
lots of lung power.
Other high points of
the show were Chevalier’s solos on ‘Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries’ and
‘Pigalle’ and Crosby and Chevalier with a femme chorus on the jazziest version
of ‘Alouette’ yet. Nelson Riddle Orchestra backed with verve and distinction.
(Variety, March 22, 1961)
March 22, Wednesday. Phillip Crosby and his wife Sandra separate. She seeks maintenance of $2500 per month.
March 25, Saturday. Bing attends a gala dinner dance given by Chris Dunphy at "Ta-Boo" in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
March 26,
Sunday. Starting at 1.30 p.m., Bing plays in a
benefit golf match in front of 1,000 fans with Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson,
and Jimmy
Demaret at the Seminole Club at Juno Beach. The match is to raise funds
to help
golfing star Ed (Porky) Oliver defray expenses in his battle with
cancer. In the evening, Bing attends the Polo Ball in the Palm Beach
Celebrity Room with his hosts, the George Colemans. Others present
include Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor,
Jule Styne, Chris Dunphy and Winston Guest. Guy Lombardo provides the music.
March 27-28,
Monday-Tuesday. Bing and Ben Hogan compete in the
Latham Reed Amateur-Pro Tournament at the Seminole Golf Club. Their
best ball
score of 138 leaves them unplaced. Bing’s handicap is now five. It is
announced that Bing has been appointed as chairman of the
newly organized Friendly Savings and Loan Association on Wilshire
Boulevard.
March 31, Friday. During the afternoon, Bing golfs at the Palm Beach Country Club
with President Kennedy, his father Joseph Kennedy,
and Chris Dunphy (chairman
of the Greens Committee at the Seminole Golf Club). During his stay in
Florida, Bing was honored at a supper party thrown at the home of his
friend George Coleman. Jacqueline Kennedy, the First Lady, also attended, escorted by Peter Lawford.
Kennedy’s Golf Praised By Crosby
OAKLAND, Calif. President Kennedy “is a pretty good golfer who could become a very fine one if he had the time to play,” Bing Crosby said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
A match between Kennedy and ex-President Eisenhower would “be pretty even now,” Crosby told sports writer Ed Schoenfeld of the Oakland Tribune. The crooner is in Hollywood, Calif.
“But Kennedy could do a lot better if he had the time. He hits a longer ball off the tee than Ike.”
Crosby based his analysis on 13 holes as the President's partner at the Palm Beach Country Club in Florida and his own experience as a golfer. The singer said the President was a good needler on the links but he was most impressed with his tee shots.
“He was out 240 or 250 yards,” Bing said.
Crosby said Kennedy is serious about his golf “when he gets ready to hit the ball. Between shots he enjoys himself.”
In their match, Crosby said, Kennedy “was about five over par, which isn’t bad for a fellow who hasn't played a great deal lately.”
(The Daily Iowan, April 5, 1961)
April (undated). Bing Crosby Enterprises has its Ben Casey series accepted for the 1961-62 television season.
April 1, Saturday. It is announced that Bing and Kathryn are expecting their third child in November.
April 4, Tuesday. Delbert Grandstaff is unsuccessful in his
bid to become a senator, coming eighth out of seventy-one contestants. The
senatorial seat is won by John Tower.
April 5, Wednesday. Bing writes to British journalist Charles
Graves. Bing flies to Mexico.
Thanks
for your note of March 11th. I’ve just gotten back from Florida and the
Bahamas. Played a lot of golf out there, and did some fishing.
I
played in a couple of tournaments with Arnold Palmer and I must say that he is
at the peak of his form, and is going to win an awful lot of tournaments.
Hogan
is striking the ball better than he ever did in his life, but putting has
become a mental block with him and unless he can overcome it, I don’t see how
he’s going to win any major championships before he retires. It’s really quite
a shame to hit the ball as good as he’s hitting it, and not be able to get it
in the hole when he gets on the green.
As
usual, Charlie, picture schedules being what they are, our picture has been
postponed a couple weeks, and it now appears we won’t be over there much before
the first of July. I won’t be able to go to Ascot with you. This saddens me,
because I’ve never been to Ascot, and on such a week, it surely must be
something to see.
The
Irish spectacular is still under consideration, but we haven’t really finalised
any plans for its consummation. Maybe in the next month or so we’ll be able to
arrive at some sort of a definite decision.
The
big question, of course, is the time. We’d need a week or ten days to prepare
and tape the show, and how I would get that much time away from the picture, I
just can’t at this moment conceive. If we wait until after the picture is
finished, which would probably be now around the 1st of October, we would be
running into the possibility of bad weather again. But the project hasn’t been
abandoned, and it won’t be until all the possibilities have been thoroughly
explored.
I’m
glad to hear that your golf is going well. Wish I could say the same. I’m still
sort of scraping it around. Have a good round now and then, but no consistency
as of yore.
I
think I’ll go fishing again - this time in Mexico.
All
the best to Peggy. Kathryn joins me in sending fondest to you both.
Always
yours,
Bing
April 7, Friday. At a family dinner at Bing's home, Phillip Crosby and his wife Sandra agree to call off their separation.
April 12, Wednesday. The Russians put a man, Yuri Gagarin,
into space.
April 17, Monday. The Academy Awards presentation
at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Bing's song “The Second Time Around”
is sung by Jane Morgan but loses out to “Never on Sunday,” from the film of the same name, for the Oscar
for “Best Film Song” of 1960.
April 26, Wednesday. The three Crosby Brothers appear at the
Latin Quarter in New York.
Bing’s Boys Sing out in Latin Quarter Debut
Music in harmony, clear and sweet and rhythmic,
approached intelligently, often humorously and always with a timing that is a
thing of beauty in itself, is the essence of an act starring Phillip, Dennis
and Lindsay Crosby, three of Bing’s sons, which E. M. Loew and Ed Risman
presented last night at the Latin Quarter. Advance notices from Las Vegas,
where the boys were enthusiastically received, do not exaggerate. It is no
fly-by-night act, built on a father’s reputation. Rather, does it subtly
recognize talent handed down to another generation that carries on in its own
proficient way. Much credit is due John Bradford and William Friml, who added
some apt lyrics for the opening “This is a Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” and
the following “You’re a Good Group.” The numbers are the boys’ introduction of
themselves to the audience, and they are solid.
The next two numbers
“Mamselle” and “Dinah,” are purely the harmony, indicating the range of each
voice and pinpointing the personalities in little ways. There isn’t a solo all
night, but each boy takes a brief turn in introducing a segment or singing a
few bars. Charles O’Curran staged and produced this superior act of the Crosby
Bros., Bill Thompson did the orchestration and vocal arrangements and drummer
Lloyd Morales sat in with Joe Lombardi’s orchestra as Fred Otis conducted from
the piano.
A folk medley of
“Scarlet Ribbons,” “Little White Duck,” “Old Dan Tucker,” “Lil’ David” and
“Joshua” made up the second segment of the act, with each number interpreted in
an original manner. Then came the finale, as the boys did excerpts from about
30 songs made famous by their father. This could have been an ear-bending,
wearying number without proper editing. As they present it, it is a closely
woven tapestry of song and sentiment, bringing the past to the present with
taste and skill. As they closed, in tribute to Bing, with “The Blue of the
Night,” I felt deeply moved and awfully glad I attended the opening. Earlier,
before and during the show, I realized the familiar antics of Frank Libuse, the
mad “waiter,” as well as other variety acts and the beautiful girls in Fred
Wittop’s scintillating costumes. The Crosby Bros. and the Latin Quarter have a
rare treat for all comers.
(Robert W. Dana, New York World Telegram and Sun,
April 27, 1961)
April (undated). Bing returns to Baja Sur, on Mexico’s California Peninsula, and buys a house in La Paz for an orphanage that is called Colina de la Cruz.
May 5, Friday. Alan Shepard becomes the first American in
space.
May 7, Sunday. (8:00-9:00 p.m.) The Crosby Brothers appear on the Ed Sullivan
television show.
May 8/9, Monday/Tuesday. Back in Los Angeles, Bing records the Holiday
in Europe album at Radio
Recorders, Hollywood, using orchestral tracks previously recorded by Malcolm Lockyer and
his Orchestra in London. The LP is released by Decca Records.
In an indie master deal with Project Records, Bing
Crosby comes under the Decca banner once again. The package peg is a global
song roundup which has Crosby working his way through such entries as “Under
Paris Skies,” “Morgen,” “Never on Sunday” and “Domenica”. It’s flavorsome and
pleasing.
(Variety, October 17, 1962)
Here’s a pleasant package from Bing with the old
groaner singing such favorites as “Under Paris Skies,” “April in Portugal,” “Never
on Sunday” and “C’est Si Bon.” Good listening and good programming for the
faithful.
(Billboard, October 20, 1962)
Many of you must, like me, have
wondered “can Bing do it”? An album full of ballads, just six a side and with
full orchestra backing? After the multi-tracked El Señor Bing and the Singalongs we were bound to
have worries - but we need not have had for this is Bing’s best album yet
released of new material. It's Bing 1962, right bang up-to-date.
(Frank Murphy, Crosby Post, December 1962)
May (undated). Records another interview with Tony Thomas that is
broadcast on
May 10, Wednesday onwards. Bing flies back to La Paz, Mexico,
with Kathryn and then cruises down the coast to Palmilla on his forty-five-foot
cruiser “The Kingfisher”. A storm forces them to take refuge in Los Frailes for
three days before they can sail back to Las Cruces. Kathryn returns to Los
Angeles while Bing stays on.
May 13, Saturday. Gary Cooper dies. Bing is named as an honorary pallbearer for the funeral on May 16.
May 14, Sunday. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
transmits an hour-long radio program in which Bing is interviewed in depth by
Tony Thomas. The program had been recorded in advance and excerpts are later
issued on a long-playing record titled Conversations in Hollywood.
Elsewhere, the Crosby Brothers appear on the What's My Line? CBS-TV show
in New York as the mystery guests.
May 17, Wednesday. Press
reports indicate that Bing has sold his house at Pebble Beach for
$190,000 to shipping magnate Fred. C. Talbot Jr. It has been on the
market for some years.
May 31, Wednesday. At Las Cruces, Bing catches a rainbow runner of 18.75 lbs with a 12 pound line. An official record that holds good for many years.
June 2, Friday. Bing returns to Los Angeles and tells Kathryn
that he has decided to build a home (eventually known as Casa Crosby) at Las
Cruces on Baja Sur. He then comes down with the “flu” and has to retire to bed.
June 3, Saturday. Gary Crosby’s wife, Barbara, takes an
overdose, and when she recovers from this, she threatens suicide again and has
to be taken to the hospital in a straitjacket.
June (undated). Bing and Kathryn are at the Rising River ranch.
June 19, Monday. Gary Crosby, appearing at the Tradewinds
nightclub in Chicago, is unable to continue with his performance, as he is dead
drunk. The nightclub takes legal action against Gary for his walkout with two
nights to go on a ten-day engagement. Subsequently, Gary
checks into a dry-out clinic called Silver Hill in Connecticut. Bing is said to
have paid for the treatment for his son’s alcoholism, and Gary stops drinking.
Predictably, the more insane I got with
the booze, the more I messed up at work. I disappeared on my way to a gig in
Milwaukee, and the club sued me for not showing up. When the audience at the
Trade Winds in Chicago didn’t laugh at one of my jokes, I told them to go fuck
themselves and stormed offstage.
The owners called Barbara in L.A. and
told her, “Listen, you better come get him right this minute. We don’t want him
around anymore.” She was so terrified by the prospect of what might happen if
she left me alone that she headed straight for the airport and arrived in
Chicago in the middle of the night. When she walked into the hotel room she
found me in bed with a woman. I was too drunk to remember I was married until I
saw her. Then I got so crazy with guilt I shoved her out into the hallway
without so much as a hello. And, of course, my guilt gave me good reason to
drink even more…
…Silver Hill was a rich man’s
dry-out clinic. I had a beautiful room. My window overlooked flowers and
rolling lawns. Each week I stayed there cost a bundle. Barbara told me later
that the old man footed the bill, but he never did own up to it.
I had gone there to placate
Barbara, so I’d still have a wife and son when I came back home. But a lot of
things about the place made sense. The first thing they did was put me on a
regular schedule. I got up and went to bed the same time every day. I ate my
meals at a certain time, went to the workshops and played sports and saw the
shrink at a certain time. Gradually I got back on the same timetable as the
rest of the world, and that felt good. I began to remember what sunshine looked
like and how food tasted. I even painted a picture and made a pretty good tray
in woodworking shop. When my head hit the pillow at 10 P. M. I fell right off to sleep.
(Gary Crosby, writing in Going My Own Way, pages 274,
277)
June 23, Friday. (10:30-11:00 p.m.
July (undated). Bing is fishing at his Rising River ranch in north California. He writes to freelance journalist Frank Dufresne.
I think the piece you did about the
fishing at Rising River is one of the most charming things I’ve ever read. I
wouldn’t change a word, except to correct a couple of inaccuracies. The lady
who ties the flies at Cottage Grove, Oregon, is Mabel Thompson, not Madison,
and the fly I use quite often up there is the “Goofer
Bug”, not “Goofus Bug”.
I'll be looking forward eagerly to
receipt of some pictures. I know that you must have gotten some beautiful
things that day, even though the action was a little slow.
We’ll be off for England on Tuesday, but
when I return in the fall, will be in contact with you about the possibility of
you and your wife going to Las Cruces. I’m sure we can set up transportation,
etc.
All best wishes, Frank, and thanks so
much for coming to the ranch, and for doing the piece. I know it will be very
well received when it appears in the magazine.
July 15, Saturday. (Probably) Sees the three younger Crosby
brothers perform at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas. The brothers give two shows
nightly during their run at 8:15 p.m. and 11:45 p.m.
At the last minute
before Kathy and Bing Crosby took off for Europe, Bing flew to Las Vegas to
catch the new act of his three boys, Phillip, Dennis and Lindsay at the Desert
Inn. He came home singing the praises of his three younger sons and says he’s
proud of them.
(Louella O.
Parsons, The Newark Star-Ledger, July
19, 1961)
July 16, Sunday. Back in Los Angeles, Bing and Kathryn go to mass at 8 a.m.
July 17, Monday. Plays golf.
July 18, Tuesday. Records twelve songs with Rosemary Clooney for use on
their radio show and then boards a flight to England.
July 19, Wednesday. Arrives at London airport to film The Road to Hong Kong,
sends for Kathryn and Harry and they join him on August 4.
They live at Cranbourne Court in Winkfield, Berkshire, with Bob and
Dolores
Hope, plus their children. The Crosbys and Hopes pay rent of £400 per
week for the property. Pending their arrival, Bing stays at the Savoy
in
London until August 1 when he moves into Cranbourne Court.
July 23, Sunday. Golfs with Bob Hope at the Walton Heath course.
July 24, Monday. Bing Crosby
Enterprises buys a new sixty-foot Chris Craft Constellation yacht, which is
named True Love, for Bing’s use.
July 26, Wednesday. The Crosby Brothers appear on the I've Got a Secret CBS-TV show and teach the panel how to lip sync.
July 30, Sunday. Records an unpaid guest spot on a Peggy Lee
ABC-TV spectacular Big Night Out with David Kossoff, Sammy Cahn, and
Jimmy Van Heusen, which is shown on the British Independent Television Network
on August 26. Bob Sharples conducts the musical support.
August 2, Wednesday. Bing and Bob Hope begin filming The
Road to Hong Kong with Joan Collins and Robert Morley at Shepperton Studios
in England. Dorothy Lamour has a cameo spot only, which leads to some
controversy. The director is Norman Panama. Musical direction is by Robert
Farnon with the Bill McGuffie Quartet. During the filming, Bing arranges for
many British fans to visit the set and meet him. Lord Mountbatten is another
visitor.
Strapped to a chair in what was clearly intended to be a spaceship was Bob
Hope. I gathered that it should have been a monkey in the chair, because milk
and bananas were being fed to Bob Hope down an automatic feeder. Then the
mechanism went wrong and Hope kept getting an earful of bananas and a faceful
of milk. Bing Crosby was watching, which gave us an opportunity to chat. What a
joy to talk to such great characters, and all so entirely unexpected. Both
these great actors were as funny off set and we all had a great time. Bing
Crosby was in tears like the rest of us at Bob Hope’s reaction to this crazy
scene.
(William Evans, My Mountbatten Years: In the Service of Lord Louis)
August 3, Thursday. Bing and Bob Hope are interviewed by Kenneth
Alsop for the
August 4,
Friday. Kathryn Crosby and son Harry fly in to London airport to join
Bing. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin also arrive in London to film their
guest spots in The Road to Hong Kong with Bing. The filming is done that night and Sinatra and Martin fly off to Paris on Saturday night. Bing and Bob Hope are
interviewed by Tony Bilbow for the
August 5, Saturday. Goes to Epsom to see the racing. Returns to
London in time to take part in a fifteen-minute rehearsal for The Rosemary
Clooney Show in which Bing then makes an unbilled (and unpaid) live
appearance on the British ATV network and sings “Fancy Meeting You Here” with
Rosie and then Dave King.
Bing Crosby sprang a surprise last Saturday, when he
made an unheralded guest appearance in ATV’s “Rosemary Clooney Show.” This was
his first live variety appearance on British television. In the Clooney show,
Bing joined Rosemary for a duet, taken from their “Fancy Meeting You Here” MCA
album and cracked ad-lib gags and sang with Dave King, who was also guesting on
the show.
(Melody Maker, August 12, 1961)
August 9, Wednesday. Lord Morrison of Lambeth, the chairman of the British Board of Film Censors, visits Bing and Bob Hope on the set at Shepperton Studios.
My Wonderful Day at Shepperton
My visit to Shepperton had been arranged about a week in advance but when I reached there, Les Gaylor had already arrived. I’d no idea that he was going, and he told me he had arranged it only the day previous.
I had several sessions with Bing in between takes for the film, and he told me several interesting things about the film. He gave me some autographs. We met and chatted to Bob Hope, Miss Joan Collins and Howard Keel, and Robert Wagner who also came on to the set. We had photographs taken with Bing, Bob and Joan. I gathered from some of the technicians that Bing was in great form when he recorded his songs for the film.
One or two amusing incidents worth noting: Bing went on to the set with the wrong trousers so he just peeled them off and stood there in his underpants waiting for the right ones with Bob and everyone chuckling…but Bing was quite unperturbed. Then when Bing was signing Les’s items the workmen started to move his portable dressing room and disconnected the lights…there was Bing in the dark with his pen and trying to sign, and Les on his hands and knees trying to find his discs.
A group of us moved outside for a breath of fresh air, and when Les came up to us, Bing said to Bob, “This is one of my fans from an island about 70 miles away.” Bob cracked “My fan club should be on an island,” to which Bing replied “Yeah, Alcatraz.” I think Bing’s little reference to the island prison fortress was a real good crack and Bob had to laugh.
It was a grand experience to see these two great stars walking around singing and whistling just as if no one was there. Les had to go about 6 o’clock to get his train, but after they’d taken the last shots for the day Bing stood there singing “…my pretty bubble has burst, somebody else saw you first…” (from “I Guess It Had to be That Way”) and he was whistling away there…really a great treat for me.
One or two other points of interest…I was told that of all the films they’d done at Shepperton none has created more interest than this and never has there been such a number of requests from people to visit,
Bing said they would have liked some of the sequences to have been in colour, but the part with Sinatra and Martin had already been done in black and white. He also said that he was going over to Ireland to George O’Reilly, and in fact I’d had a letter from George earlier in the week telling me the same thing.
By the way, Bing hopes to record an LP of Christmas songs before he returns to the States.
(Fred Reynolds, writing in Crosby Post, October, 1961)
August 25,
Friday. Bing, Kathryn, and young son Harry fly from London airport to
Nice, on the Cote D’Azur, France for the week-end. Bing meets a Shell Petrol executive
on the
plane and agrees to do a television commercial for the company.
August 26, Saturday. (7:50-8:45 p.m.) The filmed Peggy Lee television spectacular
Big Night Out with Bing, David Kossoff, Sammy Cahn, and Jimmy Van Heusen
is shown on ABC-TV in the U.K.
Peggy Lee fans may
justifiably have felt disappointed with this latest offering in the ABC Big
Night Out series. It was presumably an abbreviated version of what Miss L. gave
patrons in her recent season at London’s Pigalle restaurant complete with the
admirably precise backing of the Victor Feldman Quartet. But on television it
seemed strangely mechanical and bloodless. The best part of the evening was the
appearance of famous songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. They have
jointly been responsible for so many wonderful tunes that the whole
entertainment could well have been built around them. The squares among us who
still believe that Bing Crosby has no rival in the “pop” music field caught,
alas, no more than a glimpse of the master. And why ITV still persist in trying
to make a comedian of David Kossoff instead of exploiting his very considerable
acting talents is the biggest puzzle of all.
(The Stage, August 31, 1961)
ABC TV’s ‘Big Night Out’ which had previously suffered
delusions of grandeur, not justified by the outcome, at least lived up to its sizeable
handle in this offering. The show was built around Peggy Lee, quite an edifice
in herself and its chief guest was Bing Crosby, who’d groaned his way over from
the local movie studios where he’s making another ‘Road’ picture with Hope.
It was Peggy Lee’s
first outing on British TV and she scored with a relaxed and polished selection
of standards, sprinkled with the odd novelty…..There followed a neat tour of
waxworks, to the accompaniment of ‘The Look Of You’ (sic), at the end of which,
Bing Crosby, who was pretending to be a dummy, took life.
A gay interlude
introduced songwriters, Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, who strung along some
of their past hits, such as, ‘Swing (sic) On a Star’ and ‘Second Time Around’,
with Cahn striding out with his amateur pipes. Peggy Lee gave snatches of ‘All
the Way’ and the whole thing was agreeably informal.
Crosby, in faltering
vocal form, reminisced with numbers from past ‘Road’ movies and joined the
assembled company in a final ‘High Hopes’. It was one of those guestings when
it seemed more important to be there than to bring a contribution.
(Variety, September 6, 1961)
August 27, Sunday. Still on the Cote D’Azur, Bing golfs with
Joseph Kennedy, father of the U.S. President on the Nice-Biot course. Later,
Bing and Kathryn have drinks with David Niven and Gregory Peck plus their
wives. Bing takes Kathryn to Casa Madrid but they are turned away as they do
not have a reservation. They later dine at a little inn called La Ferme
instead.
September 3, Sunday.
Bing and Bob Hope are thought to have played in the "Fairway to the
Stars" golf tournament at the Ealing course. The funds raised are for a
cancer charity.
September 9, Saturday. Bing goes to a Sandown
Park race meeting for Variety Club Children’s Charities and presents the
Ladbroke Gold Cup. He is photographed with Billy Butlin, a former Chief Barker.
The proceedings are captured by various newsreels and featured in Pathe News in
the UK on September 14.
September 10, Sunday. (8:25–9:25 p.m.) Walks on unannounced to
sweep the stage in cap and apron during Bob Hope’s act on the Sunday Night
at the London Palladium Associated Television show.
The big draw was its star, Bob Hope, who was given 20
minutes of the running time and deserved 10. He was content with a string of
cracks about TV westerns, golf and Crosby, all of which seemed vaguely
familiar….A surprise finale brought on Bing Crosby, in cap and apron, to sweep
the stage but groan nothing. It was a good mechanical act but others could have
read the gag book, too.
(Variety, September
12, 1961)
September 14, Thursday.
Bing and Bob are back at Shepperton Studios filming a scene on Stage H
Ext, "Planet Plutonius" with Joan Collins. Bill McGuffie (pianist) and
Bobby Kevin (drummer) are also on the set for the song "Teamwork".
September 15, Friday. Visits Ireland for the first time, arriving
in the evening at Dublin Airport. The American Ambassador, Grant Stockdale, is
there to greet him and the Artane Boys Band plays “The Bells of St. Mary’s”. He
is interviewed by Telefis Eireann.
September 16, Saturday. Golfs in a charity game at the County Louth Golf
Club, at Baltray, County Louth, in the morning where he plays nine holes in very windy
conditions with Grant Stockdale (the U.S.
Ambassador). He is presented with a case of Irish whiskey in an informal
ceremony. Is interviewed in the clubhouse by Anne Gregg for Ulster television.
Goes to Leopardstown races in the afternoon with Mr. Stockdale and his wife, arriving at 3:15 p.m. Spends the evening at the
ambassador’s residence in Phoenix Park where a party is held with Dermot O'Brien and his ceili combination providing the music.
September 17, Sunday. Attends services in old Dublin Castle Church
with George O’Reilly. Golfs at Woodbrook at 2:30 p.m. in front of a crowd of
more than 2,000 with Grant Stockdale, Harry Bradshaw, and Christy Greene to raise funds
for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Is interviewed
on Radio Erin during his round of golf. Afterwards, gifts of Waterford Glass
are given to each player. Bing addresses the crowd and sings snatches of “When
Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, “White Christmas” and “Galway Bay”, as well as telling
several amusing stories. He sends a postcard to President Kennedy reading as
follows:
Stockdale
has laid it on very [illegible word] for me here at the embassy. We’re playing
a golf match today for charity, and, which is a novelty I’m sure, it’s a
gorgeous day. Met and supped with a great many of your friends and
supporters—[illegible name], [illegible name], et al. Hope you’re getting some
golf in now and then—when, if ever time allows.
Bing
Crosby
September 18, Monday. (5 a.m.) Bing leaves Dublin and flies back to
England. The Artane Boys Band is there at Dublin airport to see him off and
plays “Come Back to Erin”. Dorothy Lamour flies in to London to film her part in The
Road to Hong Kong.
September 19, Tuesday. Bing is seen being interviewed by Bruce Lewis in the 'Movie Magazine' programme on TWW. This had been filmed at Shepperton.
September 20, Wednesday. Bing writes to his friend George O’Reilly
in Ireland.
I am enclosing herewith my check for
$200.00 -- a sum which seems sufficient to cover the price of the gift
to the Stockdales, my obligation to Mr. Fogerty, and if there is anything left over, you can apply
it against what I am sure must be a substantial sum you have incurred in my
behalf for stamps, telephone calls, and so forth.
As I told you on the phone, Cy Rady had queried me about whether or not you and the Irish
Record Factors Incorporated were connected. Based on your affirmative response,
I am going to tell Cy to go ahead and allow the release of the eight singles
under this label. I hope that it will be profitable for the factors and for
your interests.
With regard to the staff for California,
we are looking here and I think it would be a good idea for you to put out some
queries there also. Maybe Kitty would have a little available time to interview
some people. To clarify our requirements, we want an upstairs maid, a butler
who can drive and a cook. These could be single people—we have found in the
past that the butler married to the cook sometimes causes difficulties, but
it’s not an obstacle which couldn’t be overcome. I will call you in a week or
ten days and see if there is anything you’ve been able to develop.
Again, I must thank you and Kitty for one
of the most wonderful experiences in my career. I’m sure you are glad that my
visit wasn’t of any longer duration or your ulcers may have multiplied and
re-multiplied.
With love to all,
Bing
September 22, Friday. The
death of Marion Davies in Los Angeles at the age of sixty-four.
September 23, Saturday. Bing goes to Ascot races.
September 24, Sunday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) The Crosby Brothers appear
on the Ed Sullivan Show that is broadcast on CBS-TV from Las Vegas.
(10:00–11:00 p.m.) A television special about Harold Arlen called Happy with
the Blues and featuring Peggy Lee and Vic Damone is shown on NBC. Bing
narrates a segment and his recorded voice is heard singing behind still
photographs.
Take a score or more of Harold Arlen stock tunes and
entrust them to some of today’s most expert practitioners, it’s a cinch you’ve
got yourself a show. Bing Crosby (offscreen) narrated a sequence capsulising
the Arlen career with accompanying stills augmented by some brief Crosby—Judy
Garland—Ethel Waters vocals.
(Variety, September 27, 1961)
September 25, Monday. Dorothy Lamour starts work on The Road to Hong Kong, Bing writes to his sister Mary Rose.
Dear
Mary Rose:
A
little late in replying to your letter which was written August 5th, and
received over here about the 15th. We’re still going along on the picture
rather slowly. The English can’t get too excited about finishing, but I think
we’re getting some pretty good stuff. The quality is fine, and I believe it
will be amusing.
We
should be through around the 1st of November, Original estimates on our
completion date was mid-October, but we’re going to miss that quite a bit.
About
the Monterey real estate, I would be interested in pretty near anything that
you run across – either a good building site, or a house. The important factor
to me is the absence of noise in the area – traffic noise – and I do want a
view.
Other
specific requirements or desires can be gone into when you find something that
you want to submit.
Sorry
to hear the Talbots have had trouble with the floor of the boys’ shower. I’m
certain that I knew nothing about it, no matter what the plumber said. He might
have told Leo Lynn, but not me.
Incidentally,
when are they going to turn loose the furniture? They’ve had several months
now, and we have a lot of places where we’d like to use it. Let me know what
you’re able to ascertain about this particular detail.
I
got a letter from Larry recently. He said Mother’s had some trouble again and
might have to go into the hospital for a bit. Nothing more serious that what
has transpired before, but a worrying thing.
Glad
to hear that Jim likes his job, and that he’s getting along real well. Sorry
you haven't been able to find a house in Carmel. I suppose prices are way out
of sight down there.
We
have a lovely house in the country here, and right near the studio, and close
to the golf courses, so we’re pretty well set up, but I think when the ladies
leave, Dolores and Kathryn, we’ll move into London for the last couple weeks of
the movie. There's no use of the two of us rattling around in the vast estate.
Getting
back again to Mother, I don't know why Kay's so sensitive about Mother’s
feelings about her, or why you are either, for that matter. She doesn’t really
dislike anybody - she just has to have something to beef about, and it really
is a good thing that she is interested enough to complain. If she wasn't, she’d
fade quickly.
Old
people get irascible like this - but I never feel that they really mean it. And
as far as me being the only one she likes, you can forget that, because she
jumps on me once in awhile too - and for no discernible reason.
Well,
I hope Bill is doing all right. Give him my best. Also Jim –
Love,
Bing
Also during the day, Bing and Bob film the Calcutta airport scene on Stage C for The Road to Hong Kong. Bing and Bob Hope have to be at the studio at 8:30 for make-up. Harold Coyne is Bing's stand-in.
September 26, Tuesday. Filming continues on The Road to Hong Kong with a Luau composite on Stage D.
September 27, Wednesday. Further filming of the Luau composite.
September 28, Thursday. Further filming of the Luau composite. No visitors are to be allowed on Stage D until further notice.
September 29, Friday. Final filming of the Luau composite.
October 1, Sunday. At Shepperton, Bing and Bob film a scene with Peter Sellers on Stage C. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) The Ed Sullivan Show
on CBS-TV contains films of interviews carried out by Ed during his recent
travels abroad. Bing and Bob Hope are shown in England where they are filming The
Road to Hong Kong.
October 2, Monday. At Shepperton Studios, Bing presents British
entertainer Lonnie Donegan with two gold discs for “Rock Island Line” and “Does
Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour”. A scene in Dorothy's dressing room is filmed on Stage D. The Bing Crosby Productions series Ben
Casey starring Vince Edwards starts its run on CBS-TV. It continues until
the end of the 1965–66 season and is placed number nineteen in the weekly
series ratings in its first year and number seven in 1962–63.
October 3, Tuesday. Filming of the Fish Restaurant scene on Stage D.
October 4, Wednesday. Kathryn flies home with Harry to await the arrival of her third child. Bing and Bob continue with the Fish Restaurant scene.
October 5, Thursday. Filming of the Fish Restaurant scene is completed.
October 6, Friday. At Shepperton, Bing and Bob film a scene in the space ship on Stage C. During the day, Bing writes to General Eisenhower.
Dear
General Eisenhower:
Sam
Morse of the Del Monte Properties, Pebble Beach, has told me he has written to
you, in the hope that he could entice you westward for our annual Pro-Amateur
Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach in late January.
All
of us would be tremendously happy if you could adjust your schedule, allowing
your presence there at that time - either as a player, or as a spectator. I think
that you would find it a very enjoyable occasion, and see some fine golf.
I
would appreciate it if you would let me know whether or not you will be able to
come. I am currently in England making a film, but plan to be home early in
November.
Incidentally,
we’re staying at the home of Dr. Berns, and from some of the pictures around
the house, it seems likely that you may have been a guest at one time or
another when you were here during the war. Happily, the house is located right
near Sunningdale, Wentworth, and the Berkshire golf clubs, so we are very
conveniently installed.
The
weather, too, has been unusually kind for England, and we’re having some fine
games over the week-ends. I think some of these courses are among the greatest
in the world.
Anticipating
a reply from you soon, and with my kindest respects
Sincerely
yours,
Bing
October 8, Sunday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) NBC-TV screen the DuPont Show of the Week, which is a tribute to the USO titled "USO - Wherever They Go". Bing is one of many stars featured.
The producers found that Bing
Crosby was one of the more ardent souvenir collectors on his USO jaunts. When
Aaron and Zousmer visited his California estate, he sent a servant to the
basement to bring up two dusty packing cases. “They contained his collection of
German hats, dozens of them, from World War ll,” Zousmer said. “They ranged all
the way from an ordinary steel helmet to a Luftwaffe cap with goggles.”
(Jack
Gaver, Independent Press-Telegram, October 8, 1961)
October 10, Tuesday. At Shepperton Studios, Bing writes to the
Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, seeking Irish nuns to act as nurses
at a hospital in Northern California. This is presumably the Mayers’ Memorial
Hospital in Fall River Mills for which Bing had arranged and appeared in two
benefit shows in the 1950s.
His Grace, Archbishop McQuaid
Archbishop’s Palace
DUBLIN
Ireland.
Your Grace:
Possibly by this time you have had some correspondence and accompanying material from Bishop McGucken of the Sacramento, California Diocese relating to a hospital project which has engaged my efforts and attention for several years now.
At the inception of the project, on two occasions I took variety shows up there and raised some money for the construction of this hospital, a facility which was badly needed in the area because no other such institution was within 65 miles of the community and sometimes, in the winter, these 65 miles could present formidable difficulties.
The hospital has now been finished and although it is a small one, it is adequate and is well equipped, but our efforts to find someone to staff the hospital have been futile. It was Bishop McGucken’s suggestion that there might be a possibility of getting some Sisters from Ireland to come and operate the hospital. He also asked that I write you and tell you of my interest in the venture.
I can tell you that it is a very attractive area in the mountains of North California, the weather is not too rigorous and the local Board would do everything in their power to make the Sisters comfortable and to keep things in smooth order. I can fully appreciate that it is a long journey and a very serious undertaking for a group of Sisters, but I can assure you that I will make it a personal obligation of mine to see that everything is in order and stays that way.
Would you be kind enough to advise me, when time allows, whether or not this project is at all feasible.
In the meantime, I have the honour to remain, My Lord Archbishop,
Most respectfully yours,
Bing Crosby
October 11, Wednesday.
A group headed by Bing sells KFOX and KFOX FM, Long Beach, to a Chicago
syndicate for $1,000,000.
October 12,
Thursday. Bing and Bob Hope attend the charity premiere of the film Back
Street starring Susan Hayward and John Gavin at the Odeon Theatre in
Leicester Square, London.
October 14, Saturday. (5 p.m.) An interview with Bing about golf by Eamonn
Andrews is broadcast on the
Dear
Bing:
My
golf is entirely too erratic for me even to dream of accepting your kind
invitation to participate in the Pebble Beach tournament. This I must say in
spite of the fact that Arnold Palmer, whose broad back ought to be able to carry
any dub anywhere, expressed a great desire through Maurie Luxford to take me on
as a partner. However, I hope to be in Palm Springs in January, and harbor a
faint hope that I might be able to run over for one day to see your tournament,
about which I have heard so many complimentary things. After my schedule firms
up, I will send you an indication as to whether I can make it.
I am interested in the
fact that you are staying in Mr. Berns’ house near Sunningdale. He was very
helpful to me, surgically, in 1942. One sunny day I recall that a group of us
gathered on his lawn for an outdoor tea or a kind of picnic. Should you happen
to see him personally I would be highly pleased if you would convey to him my
warm greetings.
Thanks again for your
nice invitation, and with best wishes to yourself,
Sincerely,
October 19, Thursday. Starting at 9:15 p.m., Bing and Bob Hope
film a promo for The Road to Hong Kong for the
Many
congratulations on achieving such an exciting special programme with Hope and
Crosby for “Picture Parade”, and at no cost for fees. To have them working a
specially written script by (Dennis) Goodwin and singing together in our
studios was an achievement we shall long remember. I will do my best to get the
cover of the Radio Times with the special photographs when you use it. Crosby
feeling ill, and the worry of a substantial informal audience all added to a
difficult day which was splendidly surmounted by all. Well done!
October 24, Tuesday. Gary Crosby adopts Steven, his wife's son by a previous marriage.
October 29, Sunday. Kathryn gives birth at 10:57 p.m. at Queen of
Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, to Nathaniel Patrick while Bing is in England.
The baby weighs nine pounds, two ounces and is named after Bing’s grandfather.
November 3, Friday. Filming of The Road to Hong Kong is
completed.
November 5, Sunday. Bing is thought to have appeared on the British current affairs program "The Time, The Place and The Camera" hosted by Bernard Braden on ATV.
November 6, Monday. Kathryn and baby go home from hospital.
November 8, Wednesday. (1:50–2:20 p.m.) Records the “Bing Sings
Shell” jingle with the Johnny Johnston Orchestra at Cine and Tele Sound
Studios, Bayswater, London. The song is actually titled “Touring”. (The
commercial is shown for the first time on March 25, 1962.) In the evening, Bing
and Bob Hope make personal appearances at the premiere of Hope’s film Bachelor
in Paradise at the Ritz Cinema, Leicester Square. After the film, Bing entertains with support from a three-piece band.
November 12, Sunday. (4:00–5:30 p.m.) Bing records the final part
of his Christmas television show for ABC-TV with Dave King, Marion Ryan, Terry-Thomas, Shirley Bassey, Ron Moody and Bob Hope in the Associated-Rediffusion
Television Studio 5 at Wembley, London. Peter Knight is the musical director
with Norman Luboff leading the chorus. The director is Peter Croft and Bob Wynn
is producer. Location shots around London had been taken in the previous days.
Later that year (1961),
when Bob (Wynn) was temporarily out of work and struggling to make ends meet
with two young children, Bing’s agent George Rosenberg called him and invited
him to come to London. No mention was made of travel expenses and Bob had to
use his credit cards to cover the fare. He went to the Savoy to see Mr.
Rosenberg who told him that Bing was planning to go straight home after filming
The Road to Hong Kong was completed but really they wanted him to
headline a TV special to be taped in London. Bob’s assignment was to persuade Bing
to stay and do the show. He approached Bing who was cordial but did not
make any commitment. However, he showed up for rehearsals for the show
and then, as we know, completed the assignment. One of the guests was Shirley Bassey. Bob had seen her perform at a nightspot when she
looked wonderful. But, as happened with Chevalier, when she arrived for
rehearsal, she looked awful with skin and hair problems plus there were
difficulties in her private life with a child and a boy-friend. Typically,
though, Miss Bassey pulled it all together when it
mattered and looked great when the show was taped. Bob said that she was one of
his all-time favorites.
Bob was fulsome in his
praise of Bing. He said that, “he was the most wonderful human being on Earth”
which drew an exclamation from me. Bob said that he knew others did not
share his opinion but “Bing was like a father to me – he made me what I am
today.” He referred to Bing’s first family saying that “they were all bad boys”
and that “Bing did his best with them.”
(Author Interview with
Bob Wynn, August 1, 2007)
HOLLYWOOD
(UPI) - How’s this for an all-star television cast: Bing Crosby, Dean Martin.
Dick Powell, Dick Van Dyke. Pearl Bailey, Richard Chamberlain, Juliet Prowsc,
Cara Williams and Connie Stevens. These stars and many others will be seen
during the month of January on approximately 500 stations in the annual March
of Dimes show.
Titled
“Once Upon A Dime,” this season’s “special” cost the charity organization only
$100,000. If it had been produced by a commercial sponsor and beamed via
network video the cost would have been among the highest in television history.
Because it is syndicated the show will be seen at different hours and on
different days across the country.
It
was filmed in advance over a three-week period in Hollywood with each star
performing independently of the others, with a few exceptions. Only Bing, Chamberlain
and Jane Wyatt plug the fund campaign. Edward Franck, an executive with the
March of Dimes, said the hour-long film will be destroyed at the end of January
in keeping with agreements signed with the guilds and unions involved.
“As
in the past three years, the
stars appear for union scale salary,” Franck went on. “20th Century-Fox Studios
provided the sets and stages free of charge, and the individual stations throughout
the country are donating the air time to the project.”
(Vernon
Scott, UPI Hollywood Correspondent, December 28, 1962)
It was a cold day on November 12th in London, and as I
had journeyed a considerable distance, I went into the TV studios foyer early,
where I was allowed to sit in the warm until it was time to enter the studios.
This part, offered me by fortune, the opportunity of seeing another great star.
As I sat there, in came about five men wrapped in heavy overcoats; they went to
the reception desk and asked to be directed to the studio where Bing was
working. The first person I recognized was the well-known Radio and TV
personality Jerry Desmonde, who used to be the side kick for the late and great
comedian Sid Field. Then I took a look at another chap who was wearing a hat,
and it was the one and only Bob Hope. I did not recognise the others; as they
went down the stairs to enter the corridor leading to the studio Bob Hope
cracked “We look like an audition for a Gypsy band.” Well, I did not see Bob do
his part in the show; and Shirley Bassey also did her part before I had entered
the studio, due to her having an engagement at night in the South of England.
At about 4.30 p.m., I
along with a lot of other people made our way into the studio, and I just stood
and stared at the hundreds of huge lights hanging from all angles from the
studio roof, along with monitor sets, microphones, and on the floor great
tangles of cables and TV cameras. I sat myself on the front row of seats on the
studio floor and waited, and as we waited, Bing and Rosie Clooney were to be heard
singing for our entertainment from the “Fancy Meeting You Here” LP. A studio
manager then came along and said a few words to the audience, explaining about
the scenes that had already been shot, and those which we were to see being
recorded. Then he introduced that great personality Dave King, who did his best
to warm up the audience. Dave did a great job, but everyone seemed to be
waiting for someone else by this time. Dave sensed this and shouted out words
to the effect of “Fetch that guy in from the golf course.” And sure enough,
from behind the crowd of studio staff and TV cameras wandered that so familiar
figure, to the tune of great applause. Bing Crosby came up to the audience and
explained about the show which was running late, and he hoped that it didn’t
cause inconvenience to anyone. If Bing only knew what his presence meant to all
those in the audience, he need never have spoken those words.
Bing then commenced
with the opening announcement of his TV show and then sang “Great Day”. This
scene was shot twice as the tapes were not running smoothly on the first take.
From then on, the whole thing was a dream come true; there was Bing and his
guests going through one scene after another with no trouble at all. And Bing
looked so smart in a very nice suit, and a delightful head of hair. He really
looked in his forties, and most certainly not in his late fifties. They say
Como is relaxed, but you should see Bing. He wandered about the huge studio
floor as the cameras switched to another set, doing a little soft shoe shuffle
to amuse himself, and whistling here and there. Then as the 30 second count
down for the next take commenced, he just stood there without any apparent care
in the world. And as the orchestra struck up he launched into his next song or
scene as I can only imagine Bing can.
We saw him sing duets
with Marion Ryan and Dave King, do a comedy routine with Terry Thomas and one
with a girl whose name escapes me [Miriam Karlin]. She was taking the part of a
painter, and with Bing did a number called “Fings ain’t what they used to be”.
Bing then joined some real London street buskers, and sang a song with them
which leads up to another very funny scene in a law court; Bing having been
arrested by a London Policeman for singing in the street without a licence. The
Judge turns out to be a fan of Bing’s, and comments “Whatever has happened in
Hollywood for you to have to turn to singing in the streets?”
My great moment came
when Bing walked right up to a TV camera not many yards from me, and announced
his final number, I had never dared to dream that I would ever hear Bing sing
in person, but I have always longed to hear him sing one number; within easy
earshot of his actual voice . . . and my great moment came . . . he did not name
the number but said words to the effect that “Here’s one I should know well.” A
shiver of delight ran right through me as the orchestra and choir came in . . .
and Bing’s great voice was only equalled by the great song itself, Irving
Berlin’s one and only WHITE CHRISTMAS. As long as I live I swear I’ll never
forget that precious minute or two as Bing entranced everyone with the most
famous song he has ever sung.
Bing thanked the
audience for being so kind to him; and that was that. . . I travelled home on
that Sunday night with a memory which overshadowed any other show business
event I have ever witnessed - I recall with pleasure the first time I ever saw
and heard Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden and Earl Hines, Michael Holliday, Kid
Ory and his Jazz Band. I shall recall this Crosby show with pleasure, but that
final number of Bing singing “White Christmas” within actual earshot, is the
memory which overshadows everything.
(Stan White, writing in Crosby Post, December,
1961)
November 13, Monday.
Bing flies out from London on a TWA Superjet and arrives later in the
day at New York International Airport. Still elated at the birth of his
latest son, he hands a cigar to the first person he meets on landing
who happens to be passenger representative Gregory Mitkazich. A press photographer captures the scene.
November 16, Thursday. Bing arrives back in Los Angeles on another
November 21, Tuesday. Bing, Kathryn, and Harry go to the Rising
River ranch.
November 29, Wednesday. Bing writes to newspaperman Jim Merbs at Pebble Beach.
Dear Jim:
I’m
so sorry to hear of your recent illness, but I’m glad to learn that you’re able
to get around and about, and are playing a few holes of golf.
I’ve
just gotten back from England myself, after a five months stay over there,
making a film and doing some television. Played quite a bit of golf while there
as we had a housed in the country, right in the middle of all the good golf courses
– Sunningdale, Wentworth, Berkshire and others.
Had
some real fine games on the week-ends and before it started getting dark early
we played a good deal after work in the evening.
I’ll
probably be up for the tournament only, Jim, so I don’t think I’ll have an
opportunity to do any golf around Pebble Beach, but if I do, I’ll give you a
call and maybe we can set up the game that you describe in your letter, with
Bishop Connelly and the others. Sounds like it could be fun.
I’m
particularly eager to see the new Shore golf course. The last time I was there,
it was under construction.
I
think we’re going to have a good tournament this year. We have two days of
television – both Saturday and Sunday, and I think we’ll be in a better
position to deliver the winner as a climax to Sunday’s show. This is important,
you know.
Please
come around and say hello while I’m up there. I’ll be at the Cypress Point
Club, I guess. I’ve taken a room there for the week.
All
the best to you, Jim, and to your family.
As
ever, Bing
December 2, Saturday. Bing writes to Bob Hope as follows:
Dear
Bob:
My
partners in the hotels at Las Cruces and Palmilla were in touch with me
recently, and they told me they hadn’t heard anything definite from you with
regard to what your intentions were about joining the fishing club we’ve formed
up at Las Cruces.
Bob,
I certainly don’t want you to have anything to do with this if you don’t think
you’re going to be able to use it. It’s not very expensive, but it is a piece
of change, and there’s no use tossing it out the window.
I
do think you’ll have some fun there, as will Tony or any other members of the
family, or anybody that you’d take along as guests. The fishing is absolutely
great – particularly in the late spring months, but almost all the year around
they can guarantee you marlin, and there are all kinds of small fish who put up
an exciting fight and give you a lot of fun.
The
accommodations are very pleasant, and the food is good. We have planes flying in
there two days a week, and I think when you really have the urge to get away
from it all – even the telephone – you’d extract some real benefit and pleasure
out of it, but, as I say, don’t do it unless you think you’re going to have
time to make use of it.
Have
Jack or your secretary let me know what your decision is just as soon as you
can as we’re closing up the lists.
Haven’t
heard a word about the picture since I left England, but I guess Norman is busy
with his little pinking shears, making a large drama out of the editing.
Had
a letter from Snideman, and he told me that you and he played golf recently,
but he didn’t disclose the outcome. I’m sure if you played like you played in
England, you must have brought him in real crisp.
I’m
up at the ranch just now, but hope to get down there before Christmas for a
little bit of golf. Will give you a ring –
As
ever,
Bing
December 11, Monday (9:00–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show,
which was recorded in London, is shown on ABC-TV. The director is Peter Croft.
The show is not shown in the UK until February 27, 1963. When the show was
being recorded, there was a dispute between ITV and the Equity Union and Equity
artists were only allowed to appear as long as the show was not transmitted
until after the dispute ended.
This
first of two Bing Crosby specials for ABC-TV may have been thin and tired in
theme and some of its comedy but the hour managed to present some easy-going
and bright musical moments. Videotaped on London locations and at Associated
Rediffusion’s Wembley studios, with Crosby and an all-British cast, it opened
and closed effectively but sagged in the middle in sequences that had the vet
crooner seeking out his British ancestry.
Highlights were the
opener, a song-and-dance number in the traditional Crosby style aided by
comedian, Dave King and singer, Marion Ryan; a Crosby and Terry-Thomas comedy
bit in a Somerset House setting; songs of Welsh, blues-belter (and a looker),
Shirley Bassey (although marred by poor dubbing) and a wind-up pub scene with
Crosby and the Happy Wanderers, a buskers group, with a string of songs in the
Mitch Miller sing-a-long vogue. Crosby closed with ‘White Christmas’, natch,
backed by the Norman Luboff Choir.
(Variety, December 13, 1961)
It was time last night for Bing Crosby’s occasional
television special on Channel 7; this one was taped in England and used a
number of British artists in an outing that was to prove very thin. By now it
is no secret that the timbre and resonance of the Crosby voice have altered with
the passing years, and last night the strain of the assignment simply could not
be concealed. For some strange reason the obvious way out of the difficulty,
capitalizing on the Crosby suavity and reinforcing him with a strong supporting
company, was not utilized. A favorite British comedian, Terry-Thomas, had one
or two moments of fun but David King was not employed to good advantage. The
sketches were of no help either. A young lady named Shirley Bassey, who Mr.
Crosby described as a major London hit, encountered formidable difficulty in
living up to her billing. And Marion Ryan and Miriam Karlin had somewhat
similar problems.
(Jack Gould, New York Times, December 12, 1961)
December 17, Sunday. Records A Christmas Sing with Bing.
Rosemary Clooney has to pull out because of illness and Jo Stafford takes her
place.
December 18, Monday. Bing’s recording of “White Christmas”
again enters the charts and reaches number twelve during its three-week stay.
December 20, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn attend a party for Alison "Skippy" Ames.
Bing
Crosby singing “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” to pretty blonde Alison “Skippy”
Ames was just one of the things that happened at the party that will go down as
the best one, so far, of this season.
The
debs, their dates and even their parents turned back the clock and dressed in
rompers and pinafores for the baby party Mrs. Francis A. Martin Jr. and Nicol
Smith gave Wednesday night in honor of Skippy, their godchild, who wore an
Alice in Wonderland dress and carried a big white rabbit.
Bing
and his wife, Cathy, came up from southern California for the party that lasted
until nearly dawn. They are staying at the Burlingame Country Club and attended the
Peter Folgers’ ball last night for Abigail “Gibby” Folger.
(Frances Moffat, The San Francisco Examiner, December 22, 1961)
December 21, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn lunch with Phyllis Tucker in
San Francisco. At night, Bing and Kathryn are at a dinner party at the home of Dr. Ralph Soto-Hall prior to attending Abigail Folger’s
debut ball in the Colonial Ballroom at the St. Francis Hotel in San
Francisco. As they enter the ballroom, Bing has an attack of
kidney stones. He is rushed into St. Joseph’s Hospital where he
remains
overnight before returning to Los Angeles by plane the next day. They
have to land in Van Nuys becase of fog at Santa Monica.
San
Francisco (AP) – Bing Crosby went to a hospital early today with stomach pains,
but improved enough to leave for Southern California shortly before noon. A
doctor said that it appeared that Crosby had a touch of flu.
The
crooner and his wife, Kathy, left by chartered plane for Santa Monica, where
they expected to arrive about 12:40 p.m. The blue and white Aero Commander was
chartered from Santa Monica Aviation.
The
57-year-old crooner had left a dinner party and gone to St. Joseph’s Hospital
in a station wagon at 12:15 a.m. He was
taken into the hospital in a wheelchair and assigned a private room.
“I’ve
never had anything like this before,” the crooner said.
(The
Solano-Napa News Chronicle, December 22, 1961)
December 24, Sunday. (6:10-7:00 p.m.) The recorded radio show A Christmas Sing with Bing is broadcast on CBS. Kathryn Crosby, Jo Stafford (a late deputy for Rosemary Clooney), and Edgar Bergen take part. Music is provided by the Paul Weston Orchestra. The program is again sponsored by the Insurance Company of North America and it wins the All-American Award for the “Musical Show of the Year”.
As
on six Christmas Eves past, the traditional Christmas Sing With Bing,” will again
be presented over the full CBS radio network and over KENS radio, Sunday. The
program will feature Bing Crosby, backed by the Norman Luboff Choir and Paul
Weston’s orchestra, singing the favorite songs of the season. The outstanding, internationally
known choir of St. Michaels will be heard singing a carol specially recorded in
London. Kathryn Grant - Mrs. Crosby - makes her third appearance with Bing this
year and will again join the Sing. A special addition to this year’s program is
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. A humorous episode will be devoted to a dual
recitation of “The Night Before Christmas” by Candy Bergen (Edgar’s daughter) and
Charlie. Also to be heard from is Charlie’s longstanding sidekick, Mortimer Snerd.
Jo Stafford will undertake, along with Bing, a major part of the show’s carol
singing. Ken Carpenter has again been selected announcer for the “Christmas Sing
with Bing.”
(Express and News, (San Antonio, Texas),
December 24, 1961)
January 1, Monday. Bing enters St. John’s Hospital in Santa
Monica in the early hours.
January 3, Wednesday. Bing is released from the hospital for two
hours to attend Nathaniel’s christening at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.
January 5, Friday. Has surgery to remove two stones from his
left kidney. He is on the operating table for two hours, twenty minutes. The
surgeon is Dr. Frederick Schlumberger who performed earlier kidney stone
operations on Bing in 1951 and 1955.
About Mr. Crosby, you will have heard that he had an operation this past week. He has a kidney problem you know—forms stones and they have to open him up pretty good from front to back to get at these things. This is his third one now but I talked to Kathryn his wife just half an hour ago. They operated on him last Friday and this is Tuesday 9th. January 1962 and she said he was up this morning, was eating pretty good and feeling quite well. I hope he’s feeling better because our golf tournament is approaching which we do at Monterey every year. I don’t play golf but I take a band up because at the end of the three days of his golf tournament at Pebble Beach, they have a big bash and there’s usually 5,6,700 guys there and we always put on a big show. Bing brings in the best acts he can get and I take up a twelve-piece band. We fly up and have a nice time . . . we drink and eat and do the show and it’s a big kick for us. Without Bing it would be a terrible lull. Of course we’d have Bob Crosby or Phil Harris take over. Phil’s great, I like him.
(Buddy Cole, in a tape recorded message to British
Crosby fan Stan White, as reproduced in Crosby Post, August 1962)
January 16, Tuesday. Leaves St. John’s Hospital.
January 18-22,
Thursday–Monday. The Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble
Beach. Stars taking part include Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Howard Keel,
Don Cherry, William Boyd, Fred MacMurray, John Raitt, Gordon MacRae,
James Garner, Phil Harris, Ray Milland, Jim Backus, Tennessee Ernie
Ford
and Johnny Weissmuller. Snow on the Saturday night transforms the
course and
the final round has to be postponed from January 21 to the next day.
Doug Ford
wins after a sudden-death play-off and the final round is televised on
ABC.
Bing does not attend as he is still recuperating after his operation.
Both
Phillip and Lindsay Crosby play. The annual “victory dinner” takes
place on the
Sunday night with Bob Crosby (assisted by Larry Crosby) and Phil Harris
leading the entertainment in the
absence of Bing.
January 27, Saturday. Phillip and Dennis Crosby visit their father
at his Holmby Hills home and publicity photos are taken.
January 29–February 6, Monday–Tuesday. The three Crosby Brothers appear at
the Chi Chi Starlite Room in Palm Springs.
January 29,
Monday. News items indicate that Bing has sold his
seven-room Hayden Lake home to a California land developer - Louis A.
Conter - for about $95,000. The property had been on the market for
several years. Conter on sells the property in May.
January (undated). Bing is seen dining out at Trader Vic’s with Trader
Vic (Vic Bergeron) himself.
January (undated). Tapes a short guest appearance on a Bob Hope Show which is shown on Feb. 27.
February 1, Thursday. Bing flies to his home at Palm Desert.
February (undated). Bing takes office space in the City National Bank
Building at 9229 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. Frank Sinatra already has an entire
floor in the same building.
February 4, Sunday. Bing records a song at Legion Hall, Palm
Springs, to be used over the title of a new television pilot being produced by
Crosby Enterprises.
February 7, Wednesday. Mary Frances passes the American Red Cross
beginner’s swimming test at the age of two in front of an audience of newsmen
and others such as Johnny Weissmuller. She is the youngest person ever to
receive the award. The proceedings are captured by various newsreels and
featured in Pathe News in the UK on April 23. The event is also recorded by Life
magazine in their issue of March 2. Bing is still at Palm Desert.
February 9, Friday. Kathryn and the three children join Bing at
their Palm Desert home.
February 11, Sunday. Lindsay Crosby’s wife, Barbara, (who is eight
months pregnant) attempts suicide and is rushed unconscious into St. Joseph
Hospital, Burbank. She is released from the hospital on February 21.
February 14, Wednesday. Gary Crosby makes his New York debut at
Jack Silverman’s International as a single act and includes a fifteen minute
tribute to his father.
February 16, Friday. Bing arrives in Las Cruces, Mexico. While there,
he goes to Mexico City, Taxco, and Acapulco shopping for Mexican colonial
furniture for his new home at Las Cruces in Baja Sur, which is nearing
completion. The property is one of only four on the 20,000-acre estate of
Abelardo Rodrigues. Bing has also been enrolled as one of the 130 members of
the exclusive Las Cruces Club. During his stay in Las Cruces, Bing goes fishing
with former President Eisenhower.
February 23, Friday. Barbara Crosby (Lindsay’s wife) gives birth prematurely to a one and one-half pound baby boy who dies one hour after delivery. Lindsay, who is in Miami, suffers feelings of guilt that subsequently necessitate lengthy psychological treatment. Press clippimgs show him in St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica on February 27 while his wife remains in St. Joseph Hospital, Burbank.
February 27, Tuesday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Bing makes a short guest
appearance in a sketch on the Bob Hope show on NBC-TV with Jack Paar and Steve
Allen.
….Finale was a zany, erratic skit with Paar, Allen,
Hope and, as a surprise ‘walk-on’, Bing Crosby. They played children soliciting
a job from General David Sarnoff, the RCA and NBC mastermind. Sarnoff was
simulated, of course….
(Variety, March 6, 1962)
February 28, Wednesday. Bing writes a check for $2032 to Glorious La Granta which he annotates "Furniture Las Cruces", Lindsay Crosby is admitted to St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica for "a physical examination and treatment of laryngitis."
March (undated). A fifteen LP set called Bing’s Hollywood is
issued by Decca Records.
Bing’s
Hollywood
Decca
The timing was just right for Decca’s massive release
of Bing Crosby’s Hollywood story. It fits perfectly into the programming
pattern being adopted by so many radio stations, which in veering away from Top
40, are going in for marathon spinning of an individual personality. This
Crosby release is tailor-made for them, in that it consists of 15 separate
L.P.’s containing 189 songs from over 40 pictures. No singer has come
close to that mark and it’s a record that’s sure to stand for a long, long
time. For the average consumer the purchase of the complete series will
obviously be hard on the pocket-book but each LP can be obtained separately
(the suggested retail price is $3. 98) and each one is a gem. Not only did
Crosby have a solid song-selling way right from the beginning, but he had top
tune-smiths turning out material for him all the way. Among the memorable
cleffing teams who delivered hit after hit for him were Leo Robin and Ralph
Rainger, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, Mack Gordon & Harry Revel,
James Monaco & John Burke, Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer, Harry Warren
and Leo Robin, and Harold Arlen & Ira Gershwin. Among the solo cleffers
were Cole Porter, and, of course, Irving Berlin who gave him “White Christmas”
for the “Holiday Inn” picture in 1942. The series is virtually a recorded
history of the filmusical genre and a credit to all concerned.
(Variety, March 14, 1962)
Starting with Bing Crosby, I have to report no fewer than fifteen sets of his Hollywood hits, dating from 1934 to 1956, and issued on Brunswick with his own special serial—BING-1 to BING-15. The transfers from the older discs have been beautifully done, and if you haven’t heard how these songs should be sung, here is a chance in a million to rectify the omission.
(The Gramophone, September 1962)
March 1, Thursday.
Bing flies in to Mexico City and has lunch with Mary Pickford. Buys a
number of antques for his home. Writes checks to Corneto for $232.80
and to Monte de Predad for
$422. Both checks are annotated "Furniture Las Cruces" and are drawn on
Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank, Beverley-Fairfax branch.
March 23-26,
Friday–Monday. President Kennedy stays at Bing’s Palm
Desert home for the weekend, and it is possible that Kennedy has an
assignation
with Marilyn Monroe while there. On the Saturday, Kennedy makes a
courtesy call on former President Eisenhower who has a home nearby.
Frank Sinatra is very upset at the President’s
decision not to stay at Sinatra’s home in Palm Springs.
I made a few calls, but in the end it was Chris
Dunphy, a big Republican from Florida, who arranged everything at Bing Crosby’s
house for him. The Secret Service stayed next door at Jimmy Van Heusen’s, and
Frank didn’t speak to him for weeks over that one, but I was the one who really
took the brunt of it. He felt that I was responsible for setting Jack up to
stay at Bing’s—Bing Crosby, of all people—the other singer and a Republican to
boot. Well, Frank never forgave me. He cut me off like that—just like that!
(Peter Lawford, as quoted in Kitty Kelley’s book His
Way, page 329)
…Another Crosby-owned home in Palm Springs, California became the focal point of countrywide interest over a
month ago when President
Kennedy took refuge in it, leaving a trail
of show business blood behind him. It seems that Frank Sinatra, an ardent
Democrat who sang his head off during Kennedy’s campaign days, reportedly left
Palm Springs in a huff
when he learned the President chose the Crosby home to hide away in. And him a Republican!
“Frank never contacted me about it,” said Bing who happens to be a longtime
friend of Sinatra. “I just don’t believe he was really very angry about it. I
saw him on Hope’s last show and he took a lot of kidding about it. He didn’t seem miffed.”
“Actually,” continued Bing modestly “I wasn’t very involved in the
business. I was simply asked if the President could use the house and, of course, I said yes. He’s
a fine man and as far
as I’m concerned he can use it any time.
I’m sure, because it’s isolated and therefore easy to maintain security, is why it was picked.”
(Kay
Gardella, writing in Daily News, May 13, 1962)
March 27, Tuesday. Gary Crosby and Bing get together and make
an announcement that the rumors that they are not speaking are untrue.
April 1, Sunday. The film The Road to Hong Kong is
released in Britain through United Artists.
April 2, Monday. President Kennedy writes to Bing.
Dear Bing
You will never
know how much I enjoyed my weekend at your ranch. I can truthfully say that my
stay there was one of the most pleasant and restful that I have had for a long
time. I, therefore, want to thank you
for making this possible.
With warmest personal
regards to you and Kathy, I am
Sincerely
April 3, Tuesday.
It is announced that Bing and Bob Hope have made a promotional record
for Minnesota called "Vacation Road to Minnesota". This is a 7" 33rpm disc on the
Capitol Custom Records label and is made available for 25 cents. It
seems that Bing and Bob recorded their parts separately; Bob in a
recording studio whilst Bing's contribution was taped on his boat. The
music and lyrics are by Les Baxter and "The Road to Hong Kong" is
mentioned. Bob Hope ends the record with a parody version of "Thanks
for the Memory." (10:25-11:10 p.m.) Bing and Bob Hope are featured in
the
April 23, Monday. Bing writes to Ben Hogan.
Just got back from Mexico to find your letter of April
17th awaiting me. I’m sorry to hear that you feel your game is not good enough
to go ahead with the television show, but I’m completely in accord with your
reasons for not doing so. If you don’t feel really on top of your game, it
would be silly for you to get out there and fret about it, when you know that
you have to produce something outstanding, in order for the show to be
entertainment.
As I told George, I
stand ready, of course, at all times to be involved with you in any project
such as the one which was originally contemplated, so let me know if anything
else develops.
I’m up here in L. A. for about ten days to do a
television show and catch up on my radio programs and records. Will then go
back to Mexico. It’s quite a spot, Ben. The gulf of Baja California is just
full of fish. I’ve seen it on some mornings, just acres of them, jumping,
fighting and devouring one another. It’s wild. And of course the marlin fishing
must be the best in the world.
I took one of the
editors of Field and Stream out on a trip a couple of weeks ago to show him how
marlin up to 250 lbs. could be taken on 10 lb. test tackle. Something he didn’t
believe could be accomplished. We had six fish hooked, and four of them boated,
in an hour. Almost without exception, every boat that goes out, and we have
twelve of them there, is back by 1 o’clock, with all rods aboard having taken
fish. Then there is the dolphin, the yellowtail, the cabrilla, the tuna, the
toro, the amberjack, the wahoo, the sierra, the bonita, and I don’t know how
many other varieties of small fish. All very game, and all very exciting on
small equipment.
It’s getting a little
warm now, and I imagine by the first of June we’ll move back to Los Angeles,
although they tell me, and I’m ready to believe it, that the hot months are
really the greatest. I may give it a little whirl for a week or two in June, just
to see if it’s too hot or not.
Saw where Demaret did
real well in the Masters, although his collapse in the Seniors must have been a
bitter blow. Looks like some of the old codgers in my age bracket can still
whip it around in great shape.
Saw a news item the
other day where the Kennedys went to Easter Sunday services accompanied by,
among others, Chris Dunphy, “golf pro”. I don’t know whether he’ll be flattered
or displeased by such a reference to him in the daily press. It’s bound to hurt
him on the first tee, I imagine.
I haven’t swung a golf
club since before Christmas, but I’ve got to get at it pretty soon. We have a
little driving range down there at Las Cruces, and I’m going to take a couple
golf clubs down this time and swing a little bit. I want to play some golf this
summer, both in this country and abroad, and I’d better get something in the
way of a swing, grooved.
Hope you’re having a
good time in Florida.
April 27-29, Friday-Sunday. The
Pittsburgh Pirates play the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and Bing is
understood to have attended in the Stadium Club at some time.
April 28, Saturday. Rehearses for
his television show.
April 29, Sunday. Tapes a
television special The Bing Crosby Show for ABC with Bob Hope, Edie
Adams, the Smothers Brothers, Pete Fountain, and Gary Crosby. The director is
Stan Harris with David Rose acting as musical director. Joe Lilley is the
chorus director. The show is transmitted on May 14.
A reunion
that promises to strike a nostalgic note - and that’s all, it’s hoped - takes place tomorrow
night on ABC-TV when Bing Crosby
welcomes his eldest son Gary, the family maverick, to his final special of the
season. With the feudin’, fussin’ and fightin’ behind them, the two Crosbys
will be arm-in-arm singing a song they turned into a big hit a few seasons ago,
called “A Simple Melody.”
The melody
played by the hot-headed Gary, during the days he was reaching for manhood, wasn’t always so simple. And Papa Bing, a disciplinarian didn’t mind letting him know when he
was socially off-key.
“I didn’t
like some of the things he was doing,”
said the singer of
his Las Vegas-loving son, “and told him so,
that’s all.”
“We had the usual, father-son
tiffs,” he crooned via long-distance phone from California. “No one really took
them too seriously.
Gary, who has a night club act, is in great shape, according to Bing, striking
just the right note of paternal pride. “He is
down to 170 lbs., a new low for
him, and is full of enthusiasm. We gave him a great spot on the show too. He’ll play an athletic director at a
vacation resort, which happens to be the theme of the show.
Aside from Gary, Bob Hope
will also be appearing with his lifetime friend and kibitzer. So will Edie Adams, who’s back in
action after the tragic death of her husband Ernie Kovacs. Also there will be clarinettist Pete Fountain and the
Smothers Brothers. “It looks like it’s going to be a jolly one,” commented the show’s star, which cued him into a two-minute solo number
singing
the praises of Edie Adams, who heads a series of her own specs on ABC next season.
(Kay
Gardella, writing in Daily News, May 13, 1962)
April 30, Monday. Records a sing-along album called Bing Crosby
on the Happy Side at United Recorders, Hollywood, for Warner Brothers
Records. Bing dubs his voice over accompaniment previously recorded in London.
This is one of Bing’s best albums in some time. He
sings a collection of old favorites in straight style, aided by good ork
arrangements…Good songs, well sung, and plenty of time, should help this set
sell.
(Billboard, November 3, 1962)
We both remarked that Bing Crosby on Warner WS8122
tackles nothing slower than medium-fast tempo, even singing things like “Blue
Moon” much too fast, and never without that rather obtrusive choir. I can
always take Bing as he was at his peak (and he was there for about three
decades, or thirty times as long as many pop singers), and when accompanied by
only a piano.
(The Gramophone, April, 1963)
May 6, Sunday. A TV program "Biography of a Movie" had been scheduled to be broadcasr on NBC-TV on this day as "The DuPont Show of the Week" but was withdrawn. The documentary was about the soon to be released The Road to Hong Kong.
The
big guessing game around television circles is why NBC killed “Biography of a
Movie” which had been scheduled for The Dupont “Show of the Week” for May.” This
had previously been OKd by all concerned – sponsor, network and the producers
of “Road to Hong Kong,” the picture which was to serve as the focal point of
the story.
Crews
went to England where “Road to Hong Kong” was shot, and filmed thousands of
feet about the making of a movie. The film was in the process of being edited when
word came down that the network had said no.
The
one guess you hear most frequently is that the show would be too much free advertising
for the movie. But there must have been other reasons. Whatever they are, it
has been a big mystery.
(TV Scout, as seen
in the Abilene Reporter News, April
18, 1962)
“Biography of a
Movie” was abandoned by NBC’s “Show of the Week” when it was determined that
the show was to be based on “Road to Hong Kong,” which stars Bing Crosby. It
seems that NBC didn’t want to plug a rival network’s star – Crosby. At one
point, I hear, they wanted to do the show without mentioning Crosby’s name. How
silly can things get?
(Paul Jones, The Atlanta Constitution, May 24, 1962)
May 9, Wednesday. Bing is back at Las Cruces, Mexico, “fishing with a vengeance.” He writes in his diary.
Between 6:30 and 2:30 p.m. we actually hooked 21 marlin. Of course the big ones got away, but this time we had an excuse because Jack was running the boat. He’s a good captain and a fair-to-middling cook, but he has a lot to learn about fighting fish. When the biggest marlin pulled the bait off the outrigger and hooked himself, Jack, thinking it was his job to set the hook, raced off in the other direction. Of course, the monster took bait, line and rod, and went dancing off to tell Davy Jones about it. I lost another rod, when, on a double hookup, I told Alfonso to break his fish off. He did it with such gusto that he broke the rod too.
May 14, Monday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The taped Bing Crosby
Show with Bob Hope, Edie Adams, the Smothers Brothers, and Gary Crosby is
transmitted by ABC-TV. It turns out to be the No. 1 Nielsen-rated show in
mid-May with a rating of 36.1.
It’s probable that Bing Crosby gets lots of loot for
his ABC-TV specials. He’s worth it. On Monday (14th), Crosby put together an
imaginative stanza, hip and quick and he was aided tremendously by a very
funny, Bob Hope, by a charming and swinging, Edie Adams and his look-alike,
offspring, Gary Crosby. Right from the opener, a theatrical number built around
‘America’, the flashy piece of music from ‘West Side Story’, the hour program
jumped.
The Crosby-Hope
‘review’ of music from their old ‘Road’ pictures was to be expected but
expected or not, these two old pros made it light and easy and almost worth all
the several minutes devoted to this two-man medley. The numbers by Miss Adams
were musical pleasures. When son, Gary and his father stood there, the younger
might not have been quite so proficiently casual as his pere but he tried and
he was a fair contrapuntal match for the old man.
The Smothers Brothers were
OK towards the finale and sets by Spencer Davies were fine, which to sum it up,
means Crosby put on a good show for ABC and his sponsors.
(Variety, May 16, 1962)
…I was preparing to go back to Maryland when I heard
Bing was doing a television special to promote the movie (‘Road to Hong Kong’).
I called him and said that if he wanted me, I would stay over in Hollywood for
a few days. Mr. Crosby informed me that it was too late to write me in. When I
saw his special, however, I was really shocked to see them using large blow-ups
of me and they kept talking about me all through the show.
(From My Side of the Road by Dorothy Lamour)
May 26,
Saturday. Harry Jr. falls out of a car in Las Cruces while
Rosemary Clooney is visiting. Bing and Kathryn fly him to La Paz for
treatment
on his arm and eye, and after an overnight stay, Kathryn and Rosemary
fly him
on to the Children's Hospital on Sunset Boulevard for further
attention. He is released to go home on May 30. Meanwhile, the film The Road to
Hong Kong is released in the U.S.A. Also, Bing writes to Frank Murphy of the
British Crosby Society.
Dear Frank;
Thanks for your letter. The autographed
photo you asked for for Don Woolland
is en route.
I was lunching with Bob Hope the other
day and we discussed the possibility of doing a picture in India – another Road
picture, probably “The Road to Calcutta" or “The Road to Bombay”.
The Indian Government make some very
attractive inducements down there to get people to film in India, and we may be
able to work out a mutually agreeable arrangement.
I hope to do the “Devil’s Advocate” this
fall, but they haven’t got a script yet, or a cast, and so the whole project is
very much up in the air. I understand they want Alec Guinness for the part, and
candor compels me to admit he would certainly be much better – but I would like
to try the role if it’s offered to me, in any case.
I’m feeling quite well again. I’ve been
down in Mexico off and on almost entirely since February. Just went up to
Hollywood to do a television show. It turned out rather well – the TV show. I
imagine you’ll see it in England soon. Had Bob Hope on, and Gary Crosby, Edie
Adams, Pete Fountain and his clarinet, and an act called The Smothers Brothers,
who I think you’ll find very funny.
I didn’t see the show because shortly
after taping it, I came back to Mexico for the fishing, but the reviews were
uniformly good, and I imagine when you see it, it will entertain you.
Please give my very best to all the
members.
Always your friend,
Bing
The seventh “Road” comedy, after a lapse of seven years, should cause a seven-year itch among tab buyers to get in at the laughs. For they come thick and fast in this genial piece of nonsense. Perhaps the old formula creaks occasionally, but not enough to cause any disappointment while the zany situations and razor-edge wisecracks keep the whole affair bubbling happily. . . . The result is an amiable comedy which should please nostalgic customers and entice those who haven’t seen any of the previous “Road” pix.
…Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn have produced a duet for Crosby and Hope
called “Teamwork” and a romantic ditty for Crosby which the performers expertly
put over.
(Variety,
April 4, 1962)
Age may have withered somewhat the glossy hides of
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and custom may have done a little something to stale
their brand of vaudeville. But the old boys still come through nicely in
another turn in the old “Road” act by which they were jointly elevated to
international eminence about twenty years ago.
Even their old touring
partner, Dorothy Lamour, is come upon towards the end of this current
excursion, “The Road to Hong Kong.” And although she, too, is a bit long in the
tooth and a trifle too thick around the middle for anymore than one quick shot
in a sarong, she is there with her old no-talent bumbling to make the
sentimental journey complete. The passage through her Hong Kong night club is
mercifully swift and brief.
But practically every
moment spent with Bing and Bob is good for consecutive chuckles and frequent
belly-deep guffaws. For their former travel agents, Norman Panama and Melvin
Frank, who have not only written this picture but produced and directed it,
have provided them with the gags and business to make for much humorous verbal
give-and-take and an almost unending succession of crazy and corny contretemps.
(Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, June 28,
1962)
“Road” fans didn’t seem to mind the alterations. Hong Kong was the fifth most successful film in 1962. Crosby and Hope each bore a third of the picture’s financing—this time in partnership with Melvin Frank and Norman Panama instead of with Paramount. Each star—already fabulously wealthy—picked up an additional $2,000,000 from the box office in return for his investment.
It’s ironic that Road to Hong Kong seems dated today, when some of the
“Road” pictures made two decades before have not begun to wear out their
welcome. Despite the success, the film’s merits lie more in its sentimental
journeying than in its comedy.
(Barbara Bauer,
writing in her book, Bing Crosby, pages 115-116)
May 27, Sunday. The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus declares Bing to be a Founder of Gonzaga University of the Society of Jesus. As part of this, it is stated that ten masses will be offered each year at Gonzaga for the next 25 years.
June (undated). The soundtrack album of The Road to Hong Kong is released.
A
big saleable team is reunited on this LP, one of Liberty’s few items in this
area. Together again are Hope, Crosby and Lamour, vets of many other of the
“Road” pic series, plus the familiar songwriting names of Cahn and Van Heusen.
Spinnable items would be Crosby’s croon of “Let’s Not Be Sensible”, the
Crosby-Hope novelty duet, “Team Work”, and Miss Lamour’s “Warmer than a
Whisper”. Robert Farnon, who conducts, also composed part of the score. Joan
Collins, a star of the pic, is not a part of the album. Crosby’s liner notes
appear in Chinese script characters.
(Billboard, June 23, 1962)
Sammy
Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, a couple of pic pros, have whipped up a serviceable
score for the latest Bing Crosby-Bob Hope-Dorothy Lamour “Road” film. It comes
over as highly pleasing soundtrack set that should get a good sales ruboff with
the pic’s playing dates. The set was done in England with Robert Farnon
conducting the orch but the values are pegged primarily for the US market. In
the song spotlight are the Crosby-Hope duet on “Team Work”, Crosby’s
balladearing on “Let’s Not Be Sensible” and Miss Lamour’s “Warmer than a
Whisper”. In all, the package is loaded with a marquee pull and a bright spirit
that’s hard to beat.
(Variety, June 27, 1962)
June 4, Monday. Bing returns from Las Cruces. He golfs on
June 5, before returning to Las Cruces on June 6 in his Aero Commander plane
following a disagreement with Kathryn.
June 14, Thursday. Kathryn flies to Las Cruces to join Bing. Around this time, Buster Collier is fishung with Bing,
June 18, Monday. Writes to freelance journalist Frank Dufresne.
Dear
Frank:
Excuse
me, please, for not replying much sooner to your letter of May 27th with
enclosure of “Marlin Tag Game”. I am still down in Baja California, and the
letter didn’t reach me till just recently, and I wanted to show it to Fisher
and some of the others - the article, that is - but I’m on my way back home
now, having closed up the house and wound up the season.
Everyone
thought the story was great, particularly the Fishers, and I can’t see any
corrections, deletions or alterations to be made, except that the boat
captain’s name is Nino - I believe you’ve already been apprised of this - and
we’d like to, instead of the admonition to telegraph Joaquin, which would prove
futile, because I think the arrival of a telegram addressed to Joaquin would
scare him half to death. He would certainly think there was a death in the
family. Instead, wires or enquiries should be sent: Reservations, Box 6069, San
Diego, California. Academy 4-l100.
There
have been quite a few fish tagged out of Las Cruces here. Mostly by Fisher and
his wife Ruth. I’ve got a few sunk in, but it wasn’t until I learned that
Fisher had been taking along an extra boatman, that I learned the secret of his
success.
In
most cases, in my experience, it was just too much for one man to do, to hold
that fish while another tried to sink the tag in.
I
had the world record on the other day, I’m sure. Had him on for about an hour
and a half and got the leader up three times, but the boy missed it. It was
kind of a rough sea, so he had an excuse, and he finally broke off. Nino
thought that he would go about 250. Big disappointment.
The
area around Las Cruces now is just alive with fish of all types and kinds.
Great deal of bait in the bay, lot of small fish, lot of big fish. There’s
action every minute.
We’ve
had more wind than usual though, for this time of the year. It’s been clear and
sunny, but quite a sea running most days. Of course this has kept the weather
down to where it’s very pleasant, and most evenings some kind of a jacket has
been necessary, if you’re going to sit out.
I
tried to look up Bill Escudero the other day, but his wife told me he had gone
to Los Angeles for two or three weeks. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance
now to see him till next fall.
Well
that’s about the story from here, Frank. I’m going up home to do some
work, and then might go up to Rising River and possibly connect with Buzz
Fiorini for a trip into one of the Canadian Lakes that he’s terribly high on.
Want
to go over to Europe toward the end of July.
I’ll
be in touch with you if I come your way.
Thanks
so much for the article, Frank. I can’t wait to see it appear. It’s a beauty.
Everyone here is very grateful to you. All the best - Yours, Bing
June 21-22, Thursday-Friday. Returns from Las Cruces and records sing-along tracks for a proposed new LP. The album, provisionally titled Bing Crosby on the Sentimental Side, was not released until 2010. The LP was produced by Project Records using accompaniment previously recorded in London by the Ivor Raymonde Chorus. Bing is believed to have filmed a spot for the March of Dimes Show to be aired in January 1963. Also, Bing writes to Frank Dufresne again.
Thanks
for your letter of June 20th. I will, of course, appreciate your letting me
know when the piece is due to appear in the magazine. I don’t know what the
policy is at Palmilla regarding advertising, but I’ll get after them and see if
I can get them to take some sort of an ad in the magazine. I’d take one myself,
but I don’t know just what I have to advertise.
Of course, it’s
perfectly all right for you to take Hugh Gray and his wife in to see Rising
River, and to fish, too. I’ll drop a note to Leonard Meyer, my brother-in-law
and manager there, telling him that you’re going to be coming in there sometime
in the middle of July.
I’ve got myself in a
lot of trouble in July, so I don’t think I’ll be able to get away from here
till August. I’ve promised to take the kids to Hawaii for a couple of weeks,
and I’m doing this leaving Thursday, which will further complicate my schedule,
but a promise is a promise. Of course, there’s a possibility that I’ll enjoy
Honolulu too – so it isn’t too bad.
But do drop in on Rising River now, with the Grays, and I hope to see you before the summer is over – Warmest regards, Bing
June 22, Friday. Tapes his contribution to Timex Presents the Bob Hope Show which is shown on October 24.
June 24, Sunday. (8:00 - 9:00 p.m.). Appears on The Ed
Sullivan Fourteenth Anniversary Television Show on CBS-TV and sings, “I
Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me”. This was Ed Sullivan’s 14th
Anniversary Show and Ed was in the audience for most of show. Guest stars
include Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Steve Allen, Jack Carter, Phil Silvers, Jack
Benny, Teresa Brewer, Red Buttons, Johnny Carson, Ted Mack, Will Jordan, Arthur
& Katherine Murray and George Gobel.
Bing Crosby, before vocalizing “I Can’t Believe That
You’re in Love with Me”, hailed Sullivan as the man “who doesn’t sing, dance or
crack jokes, but does them all equally well.”
(Variety, June 27, 1962)
June 28, Thursday. The three Crosby Brothers begin an engagement at La Fiesta Club in Juarez, Mexico. Meanwhile, Bing, Kathryn (and her mother) plus Harry and Mary Frances land in Honolulu at 11:00 a.m. where they are greeted by Bob and June Crosby and Francis Brown. At 1:00 p.m. they fly on to Kauai, Hawaii, where they stay at the Coco Palms Hotel for a week and visit Hanalei Plantation. They meet John Wayne and his wife. Before his departure, Bing has written to Rena Albanesi, the editor of BINGANG magazine.
It
is difficult to tell you my plans for the future very far in advance, because
much depends on others making up their minds about starting dates for pictures,
television shows, etc.
Right
now we are off to the Hawaiian Islands for a couple of weeks, with Kathryn, her
mother, Harry and Mary Frances.
I
hope to get to Europe this summer, possibly to Rome.
Some new records were made last month, including a “sentimental” sing-a-long, a “happy” sing-a-long, and “Holiday in Europe.”
Hope you have a nice summer, Regards to all, Bing
June 30, Saturday. Lindsay
Crosby suffers a breakdown in Juarez,
Mexico, where he and his brothers, Dennis and Phillip, are appearing in
a nightclub with their singing act. The boys cancel their engagement
and fly back to Los Angeles.
July 1,
Sunday. Lindsay Crosby enters St. John’s Hospital under the care of Dr.
Robert Buckley, a psychiatrist. This is Lindsay's second breakdown in
six months.
At some stage, Bing writes to John O’Melveny.
Now the thing that concerns me is what is to be done
with Lindsay. Is it possible to have him picked up and confined in the
Psychiatric Ward at St. John’s? This would be the proper thing to do, I’m sure,
and Dr. Studdevant would be the fella to handle the case.
July 5, Thursday. Bing golfs at Wailua Golf Course, Kauai. He plants a Chinese banyan tree at the course. Later, Bing and Kathryn visit Kapaa High School where some children from Texas are attending a summer-school. The Crosby family moves on to stay at Waiahae Hotel in Poipu.
Lihue, Kauai—The
Texas students knew Bing Crosby and his family were on the island, but when he
walked into their classrooms at Kapaa High School Thursday morning most of them
were so stunned that all they could do was stare. He walked into the first
class singing “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You.” He left the Spanish class,
after conversing five minutes “en Espanol,” singing “Celito Lindo.” Bing put
his arm around one Texas gal in art class and commented on the pineapple she
was drawing. She wouldn’t look up, just kept on dabbing paint. When he walked
out of the room she put down her paints and nearly collapsed. By the time Bing
left the school he had collected 25 leis—Hawaiian style of course.
(The Honolulu Advertiser, July 8, 1962)
July 8, Sunday. Has flown over to Oahu and golfs with Francis Brown at Waialae Country Club.
July 11, Wednesday. Variety states that:
Summer accounting on year-end 1961 sales of “White
Christmas” brings the tally of the Irving Berlin ballad to 38,058,960
recordings of which Decca accounts for 21,159,550 platters. Of this total the
Bing Crosby version accounts for just over 20,000,000 sales.
July 16, Monday. Bing and family plant four golden shower trees at the old Lihue school.
July 17, Tuesday.
Writes a check for $75 payable to Robert Beharry that he annotates as
"Hawaii Expense". Bing and family fly to Honolulu and stay at the Royal
Hawaiian Hotel.
Bing golfs at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station's 18-hole layout and
he and his partner defeat Francis Brown and his partner 1-up. Bing was
a guest of Brigadier General Keith B. McCutcheon and Col. W. R. Campbell, commanding officer of the air station.
July 18, Wednesday. Bing and Francis Brown visit the island of Maui and they golf
at the Royal Lahaina course at Kaanapali. They are in a party hosted by
Jimmy Hines and C. Hutton Smith. Later, back on Oahu, Bing, Kathryn and Mrs. Grandstaff attend a party at Francis Brown's home. Variety announces that Bing Crosby Productions has bought a half interest in
a travelogue series called Across the Seven Seas, which is produced by
Jack Douglas and syndicated to various TV stations. Subsequently, Bing appears
in one episode called “Private Plane Paradise” which is filmed at his Las
Cruces home.
July 19, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn return to Los Angeles.
Prior to their departure from Honolulu, Bing is interviewed at the airport by Dave Ford, a
KGMB-TV reporter, and Mary Frances and Harry are also seen. The interview is shown on July 26 on KGMB-TV.
July 28, Saturday. Bing flies to New York and then on to Europe.
July 29, Sunday. Bing goes alone to Biarritz, France, where he golfs frequently with Chris Dunphy. Kathryn, Mary Frances, Harry, and Kathryn’s mother fly there on August 9. Bing and Kathryn subsequently visit Lourdes.
Bing’s
second letter contained a graphic description of Biarritz, and concluded with
the following note about his friend Chris Dunphy: “Chris has upset the American
community by assuming the position of my social secretary. His latest edict is ‘Fork in hand at 8:15 or we don’t show.’
Last night Duree Shevlin remonstrated ‘But Chris, my servants haven’t eaten by then.’”
In
his third letter Bing was back to golf, describing how Catherine Lacoste (sic - think it was Simone Lacoste), former
French women’s champion, had managed to beat him.
(Kathryn
Crosby, My Life with Bing, page 215)
August 2, Thursday. The Columbia Broadcasting System radio
network informs its affiliated stations that it proposes to drop four
entertainment programs, including Art Linkletter’s “House Party” and “The Bing
Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show.” The proposal is to be put to a vote of all CBS
affiliated stations and if they approve, the programs will be dropped from
October 1. It seems that the programs had become unprofitable and that some
stations can use the time slots for local programming more effectively. Most
stations drop the Crosby-Clooney program after the September 28 broadcast
although some continue broadcasting repeats until early November.
August 5, Sunday. Marilyn Monroe is found dead.
August 25, Saturday, onwards. Bing and his party leave their hotel in Biarritz and go to a cabana at Eden Roc. Whilst there they visit the the Matisse Chapel, the U.S.S, Enterprise and picnic on Ste. Marguerite Island.
September 3, Monday. Bing writes a check for $3600 payable to Agence Group. He annotates it as "Exp Europe".
The
Italians are certainly getting a close up of Bing Crosby as a family man. For
the past two weeks, Bing and Kathy with their two oldest sprouts, Harry and
Mary Frances, have been touring the out of way spots in Italy in a station
wagon.
Some
of the hotels where they stopped are so small there’s not much service, so it’s
nothing to see Bing lugging in his own luggage with Harry draped over his back
and Mary Frances clinging to his free hand. Touring with the Crosbys is Mary
(Mrs. Bill) Morrow wife of Bing’s writer and close friend of Kathy. “We’ve
taken enough ‘snaps’ to fill a hundred albums” postcards Mary—even as you and
I. The tourists will be home in two weeks.
(Louella O. Parsons, The San Francisco Examiner, September 11, 1962)
September (undated). Bing and Kathryn go to Barcelona, Spain,
for the bullfights. They also visit the Picasso Museum. The children are left with Kathryn's mother.
September 12, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn fly back from Barcelona to Cannes. Bing befriends fourteen-year-old
Pasquale Russo whose family had been killed in a car accident and takes the boy
caddying round the golf course. Bing is photographed golfing at the Nice-Biot course. At some stage, he is interviewed in French by Jacqueline Mariel.
September 13, Thursday. The next destination is Monaco,
where they visit Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. In the afternoon, Bing golfs
with Prince Rainier and is soundly beaten.
Bing and Grace strolled in, still with their arms
about one another’s waists. Absorbed in each other they continued to chat
amiably for a moment. Then, as if from an immense height, the Princess deigned
to take notice of the uproar. Smiling majestically she murmured a few words in
French, the burden of which seemed to be, “Cease and desist, my chickadees, or
mommy will break your little necks.” The hubbub stopped instantly. Ye gods and
little fishhooks, this was sorcery! I resolved to perfect my French.
Her Highness turned
back to her admiring escort and favored him with a long, soulful Gallic look,
the English translation of which seemed to be, “See, if you’d only married me
instead of the overdressed frump who is now leaving claw marks in the arms of
my Louis XVI sofa, you might have had disciplined children, in addition to
countless other benefits.”
September 14, Friday. Kathryn, her mother and the children fly from Nice back to the U.S.A. while Bing calls on Jack Warner on the French Riviera to discuss a part in a possible film version of the Morris West book The Devil’s Advocate.
September 22, Saturday. Bing plays in the first round of the Italian Amateur Golf Championship in Como but loses 2 and 1. King Leopold of Belgium is also eliminates. While in Italy, Bing is thought to have made a propaganda broadcast to the Iron Curtain countries for Vatican Radio.
September 26, Wednesday. Plays in the opening round of the Italian international Foursome Amateur Golf Tournament with his partner, former French amateur champion, Marius Bardana. They do not play in the second round on September 27 because Bardana has a bad shoulder.
September 28,
Friday. The Crosby–Clooney Show ends its run with Bing saying, “Well
friends, we announce today, with a great deal of regret, that this particular
series of broadcasts has come to an end.”
October 1, Monday. Bing returns to Los Angeles to find a major fashion show, organized by Kathryn and featuring the Jean Louis spring collection, underway at his home. Among the many attending are Betty Bloomingdale and her husband, Bill and Mary Morrow, John Scott Trotter, Lindsay Crosby, the wives of Phillip and Dennis Crosby, Ed Crowley and John O'Melveny.
Bing Crosby has
changed. In all his life, he’s never had much to do with fashion shows; but following
a showing of Jean Louis’ clothes which is wife emceed, the Crosbys threw a
buffet supper at their home where friends and buyers met to drink only
champagne. All the Crosby boys’ wives were present—one was in all-fur outfit. A
pal who was there tells me Bing looked a little worn, but Kathryn was gay as
springtime.
(Hedda Hopper, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1962)
…And
if you think Bing is charming on the road, you should see him, pipe in hand, talking
hunting, fishing, golf with sport John O’Melveny. Easy to see what Lamour and
Clooney see in Mr. B. He’s darned attractive, Makes strangers to his house feel
at home.
(Wanda Henderson, Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1962)
October 2, Tuesday.
Ted Crosby suffers a coronary occlusion and is taken to Sacred Heart
Hospital in Spokane. He goes home later in the month.
October 5, Friday. Records the I Wish You a Merry Christmas
album at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, for release by Warner
Brothers Records. Bing sings to musical accompaniment conducted by Peter Matz
which had been recorded in July.
Crosby is a perennial holiday seller, and this LP
should prove an important Christmas item for all dealers. The Crosby touch is
everywhere evident and the material is drawn from the great Christmas catalog.
Chorus and ork assist der Bingle on such Christmas standards as “Winter
Wonderland”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas”.
(Billboard, November 3, 1962)
Doesn’t
seem possible but nonetheless it is true that the Yuletide season is with us
again and with it comes all the best of the carol parade by the top artists of
all record companies...The perennial, inevitable and still welcome Bing Crosby
has an excellent album out tor Warner Bros. called “I Wish You a Merry
Christmas” . . . It’s not advertised as a “sing-along” but it turns out that
way tor Bing’s moods are always infectious and his songs always familiar ones for
everyone.
Included
in this terrific album are such heartwarming numbers as “I Wish You a Merry
Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “The Holly and the Ivy,” “Frosty the Snowman,”
“What Child is This?”, “Let It Snow,” the ethereal “O, Holy Night,” “It Came
Upon a Midnight Clear,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” and “The Littlest Angel”
amongst others
. . . A delightful
combination of old traditional carols and new modern songs with Yule spirit and
atmosphere . . . A real ringer.
(Linda Norris, The Freedom Call, November 29, 1962)
October (undated). Tapes a four minute spot for the Ed Sullivan
television show accompanied by Buddy Cole.
October 14, Sunday. Enters St. John’s Hospital suffering severe
pain from kidney stones.
On October 14 we learned that bottled water
in France is not the equivalent of distilled water at home. Laboring under the
misapprehension that it was good for him, Bing had dedicated himself to it
religiously. The mineral content had coalesced into a whole sack of kidney
stones, which doubled him up with pain. We raced to St. John’s Hospital to see
if there was some way to move them into the ureters,
through the bladder, and out through the urethra.
Unfortunately the manipulation designed
to accomplish this was unsuccessful. Bing decided to postpone surgery, with the
hope that a combination of antibiotics and low-mineral diet might improve his
condition.
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Life
with Bing, page 231)
October 17, Wednesday. Goes to his Rising River ranch.
October 18, Thursday. Bing writes to Rena Albanesi, President of
Club Crosby.
Not
much to say except “I Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which is the title of our
new album.
I
returned from Europe, watched the World Series on our Office television, and am
off for a bit of hunting.
Sincerely,
Bing
October 22, Monday. President Kennedy says that Russia has
missile sites in Cuba and the U.S.A. imposes an arms blockade.
October 24, Wednesday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) A taped show, Timex
Presents the Bob Hope Show is televised by NBC on which Bing guests with
Juliet Prowse and Lucille Ball. Les Brown and his Band of Renown provide the
musical support. Bing had taped his contribution in June,
Hope was the incontrovertible star within a supporting
constellation consisting of Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball and Juliet Prowse. . .The
second skit, a take-off on ‘Bonanza’, was even better. In this one, Crosby was
the head of a vast Texan Empire and father of three sons. All of whom were
played by Hope. With Miss Prowse rung in for some sex appeal, it was a risible
romp in a madcap groove which Hope carried off with flawless timing and
unruffled aplomb. . . Crosby was featured in the finale, doing an okay solo on
‘I Can’t Begin to Tell You’ and then duetting on ‘Put ‘er (sic) There Pal’ from
their film ‘Road to Utopia’. It was top-name and top-drawer, all the way.
(Variety, October 31, 1962)
Bob Hope returned to the air Wednesday night with the
first of six specials. You could usually say where there’s Hope, there’s
life—but not this time. Maybe it was because it was a filmed show—or could his
writers still be on vacation? Whatever the reason, Hope didn’t have it. It
wasn’t because of his lack of talent. He had his perennial sparring partner
Bing Crosby, comedienne Lucille Ball and delicious dancer, Juliet Prowse. But
except for Bing it was almost a total loss . . . The one bright spot of the
otherwise lackluster performance was the last ten minutes when Crosby sang and
then Hope joined in for a duet on their old palship song “Put It There
Pal”—with new lyrics, it was refreshing indeed.
(Milwaukee Journal)
New
York (AP). An extraordinary event occurred this week on television. A singer named
Bing Crosby stood quietly in front of a camera, his arms in a relaxed position
at his side, and sang a song the way the composer and lyricist had written it. He did not sing while smoking a cigaret, belching
smoke along with the moon-June rhymes. He did not act like a weight lifter hoisting
the barbells while reaching for a moderately high note.
In
fact, Crosby’s entire rendition was markedly lacking mannerisms which someone has
called “the Frank Sinatra Syndrome.” The Sinatra syndrome seems to have affected
most young male singers—Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, to mention a few—since
they recovered from the Elvis Presley syndrome. Even Harry Belafonte recently has
been suffering a mild case of Sinatraitis.
(Cynthia Lowry,
syndicated article seen in Lancaster New
Era, October 26, 1962)
October 26, Friday.
Attends the annual fall feeder sale of the Fall River-Big Valley
Cattlemen's Association in McArthur, California. He does not buy or
sell at the auction.
October 27, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn are shooting at Weiser,
Idaho, and then they go on to Kona Farms, near Marysville in the Sacramento
Valley, for shooting with Trader Vic and Helen Bergeron.
October 28, Sunday. Russia agrees to dismantle its missile sites
in Cuba.
November 6-7, Tuesday-Wednesday.
Bing and Frank Dufresne (western editor of Field and Stream magazine)
fish for steelhead on the Trinity River on Reo Stott's 500-acre estate
east of Douglas City, California. They attend a dinner party at the
Glenn Spuller home on November 6.
November 8, Thursday. Bing returns to Rising River and writes a check for $250 payable to "Cash". He annotates it as "Exp Ranch".
November 9, Friday. Lindsay’s wife, Barbara Frederickson, seeks a
divorce for “extreme cruelty.” She says that her husband has assets of more
than $1 million.
November 20, Tuesday. Bing flies to Honolulu, Hawaii.
November 21, Wednesday.
Bing and his pals, Phil Harris, Ed Crowley, Francis Brown, Jimmy
Demaret and Doug Sanders golf on the new championship course at
Kaanapali, Maui.
November 22, Thursday. Bing golfs in the pro-am before the Kauai Open Invitational Golf Tourney at the new, expanded Wailua Golf Course with Phil Harris. Also he goes on a fishing trip with Phil during his stay.
November 23, Friday. Plays in the first round of the Kauai Open Invitational but has a poor round and does not submit his card.
November 25, Sunday. Bing watches play in the Kauai Open during the morning and then flies to Honolulu.
November 28, Wednesday. Bing arrives home from Honolulu.
December 7, Friday. Press reports indicate that Dennis Crosby and Pat Sheehan have separated.
December 8-10, Saturday-Monday. President Kennedy again stays at
Bing’s Palm Desert home. Bing is not in attendance.
On Friday, December 7, the President went off to
deliver speeches in Nebraska and New Mexico. Then, instead of joining his
family at Glen Ora for the weekend, he went on to Palm Springs, California, to
enjoy his first time on the loose since “Cuba 2.”
It was 12:10 p.m. when Air
Force One touched down at Palm Springs Municipal Airport, The mayor, city
manager, and members of the city council were on hand, but the welcoming
ceremony didn’t take long. Seven minutes later, Kennedy and Powers were in a
car headed for the Bing Crosby estate in Palm Desert, where Peter Lawford, as
was his custom, had assembled a collection of women. By a quarter to one, the
car had driven up the dirt road past some state police posted below. With the
exception of a Sunday morning trip to church, Kennedy would not emerge until
Monday.
Saturday evening, when
two Secret Service agents stationed in front of the house checked the pool
area, the source of a good deal of noise, a disconcerting sight greeted them.
The President and his friends were naked, as were the women around the pool, a
number of European stewardesses among them. On one side Kennedy sipped a drink
and chatted with some women, while across the water Dave Powers was having
sexual intercourse in full view. As if that were not enough, Powers later
shouted, “Hey, pal,” as he mooned the President before dashing into the house,
collecting some of Crosby’s suits, and leaping into the pool with them. Kennedy
laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.
(Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy
Years)
December (undated). Bing is interviewed by Walter O’Keefe for the syndicated radio series “Walter O’Keefe’s Almanac”.
December 12, Wednesday. Bing tapes a Christmas television special The
Bing Crosby Show with Mary Martin, which is shown on December 24. Also
writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Thank you very much for your letter of
December 7th. Glad to hear that you find an opportunity to use some of my discs
now and then on your radio show.
The new Christmas album which you
mentioned in your letter, happily is meeting with very favorable reaction all
over the country, and it looks like it’s going to be up there on the charts.
“Holiday in Europe” is also doing quite
well. The success that these two albums have met with has been very encouraging
to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything that has done as well.
We’re rehearsing the Christmas TV show
now with Mary Martin and Andre Previn. We also have the United Nations Childrens Choir of 60 some voices. Hope you like the show.
It’s just going to be solid music, I guess.
Christmastime at your house should be
very merry, with all those little children - merry and a little mad, too, as
you indicate. Hope that you all have a wonderful time –
Always yours, Bing
December 13, Thursday. Harry Barris dies of cancer at the age of fifty-six
in St. Joseph Hospital, Burbank. He had been ill since May 11, 1961 when he
broke his hip in a fall. Bing is not
well enough to attend the funeral on December 17 because of kidney stone
problems.
December 18, Tuesday. Records The Dinah Shore Show at the NBC
studios in Burbank. The show airs on NBC-TV on February 17, 1963. Bing writes
to Jack Manners of the British Crosby Society.
I’m delighted with the nice present I got
from the club the other day, and I think your selection was a real good one. A
picture of something I don’t have - the Thames and the Tower of London all lit
up like a Christmas tree.
It arrived safely – just a little crack
in the frame which can be easily fixed and no one will ever know it happened.
Happy that you liked the Bob Hope show.
We had great fun doing it. I’ve just finished one with Mary Martin. I don’t
know when it will be seen in England. Andre Previn, who I consider one of the
great talents in the musical field, is also on this show.
Also did a show with Dinah Shore, which
is being released here in February - Dinah and Al Hirt
and several others were on the show. I’m not sure whether or not Dinah Shore’s
are released in England, but you might keep an eye open for this one. It
turned out rather well, I thought. Lots of good music.
I hope that the rigours
of the miserable winter you’ve been having there in England have abated now,
and that you’re getting a little more sunshine and not so much fog, smog and
other irritants.
It’s been just lovely here. We’re way
behind on rain. Have a little fog sometimes in the morning and late evenings,
but the days are beautiful. The temperature has been ranging between 50 at
night to 70 - 75 during the day.
So now Jack, give my fondest to all the
members. I hope everyone has a happy holiday.
Always your friend,
December 22, Saturday. Bing’s album Merry Christmas enters
the album charts but only goes on to reach number forty-six. It remains in the
charts for two weeks. His Warner Brothers album I Wish You a
Merry Christmas also comes into the charts for two weeks but it achieves
merely a number fifty placing.
December 24, Monday. (7:10-8:00 p.m.) The annual A Christmas Sing with Bing
radio program is broadcast by CBS. Rosemary Clooney and Johnny Mercer
take
part. Paul Weston and His Orchestra and the Norman Luboff Choir again
supply the musical backing. This is the final show in the series, which
began in 1955. It is again
sponsored by I. N. A. Insurance. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
with Mary Martin and Andre Previn as guests is shown on ABC-TV. The show had
been taped and was directed by Norman Abbott. Andre Previn conducts the
orchestra and Joe Lilley directs the chorus. This is the first “special” ABC
broadcasts in color and it is the last show under Bing’s 3-year contract with
ABC-TV.
The potential of this Bing Crosby Christmas Eve
special was great as he and guest star Mary Martin opened with “This Is a
Lovely Way to Spend an Evening.” Unfortunately, though, the two savvy singers
didn’t live up to the potential. The hour was an overly casual affair that
produced little of the magic expected of a Crosby-Martin parlay. The songbag
was, for the most part, made up of just a few identifying bars that dissipated
the values of the standards put on display. The full-length, special material
songs fell short, too….Crosby’s material song, ‘Doing the Bing’, was pegged on
his easy-going manner and was given sock production styling by the imaginative
choreographic work of Marc Breaux and Dede Wood.
(Variety, December 26, 1962)
I think by long odds the prettiest bauble that TV hung on the Christmas
tree this year was the Bing Crosby-Mary Martin-Andre Previn Christmas Sing last
Monday night, particularly with that wonderful chorus of United Nations
children. The show had charm and simplicity and a rare grace, and it was a very
easy hour to watch. It was the first color special that ABC has ever presented
and I must say the color was beautiful and aided the show immensely.
(Cecil Smith, Los Angeles Times,
December 31, 1962)
December 25, Tuesday. Bing is the host of a three-hour AFRS radio show
in which he introduces many of his own recordings. The show has been
pre-recorded.
December 27,
Thursday. Dennis Crosby is jailed on suspicion of
drunk-driving in West Hollywood. He is later released on bail of $273.
At a subsequent court appearance he pleads not guilty but in April he
is found guilty at Municipal Court and fined $275. He is however
allowed to retain his driving licence.
December 29, Saturday. Bing’s recording of “White Christmas” again
enters the charts but for only one week. It achieves only a number thirty-eight
placing.
December 30, Sunday. (8:00-9:00 p.m.) Bing sings on Once Upon a Dime, a TV
show transmitted initially on KTTV and later used throughout the country. The
show celebrates the 25th. anniversary of the March of Dimes. Other stars taking
part include Richard Chamberlain, Dick Powell, Rose Marie, Dick Van Dyke, Jane Wyatt, Ed Wynn, Connie Stevens, Morey Amsterdam, Andre Previn, Lionel Hampton, Juliet Prowse, Pearl
Bailey and Dean Martin. The Producer / Director is Jack Donohue.
HOLLYWOOD
(UPI) - How’s this for an all-star television cast: Bing Crosby, Dean Martin.
Dick Powell, Dick Van Dyke. Pearl Bailey, Richard Chamberlain, Juliet Prowsc,
Cara Williams and Connie Stevens. These stars and many others will be seen
during the month of January on approximately 500 stations in the annual March
of Dimes show.
Titled
“Once Upon A Dime,” this season’s “special” cost the charity organization only
$100,000. If it had been produced by a commercial sponsor and beamed via
network video the cost would have been among the highest in television history.
Because it is syndicated the show will be seen at different hours and on
different days across the country.
It
was filmed in advance over a three-week period in Hollywood with each star
performing independently of the others, with a few exceptions. Only Bing, Chamberlain
and Jane Wyatt plug the fund campaign. Edward Franck, an executive with the
March of Dimes, said the hour-long film will be destroyed at the end of January
in keeping with agreements signed with the guilds and unions involved...
“As
in the past three years, the
stars appear for union scale salary,” Franck went on. “20th Century-Fox Studios
provided the sets and stages free of charge, and the individual stations throughout
the country are donating the air time to the project.”
(Vernon
Scott, UPI Hollywood Correspondent, December 28, 1962)
This televised comedy/musical special is a
charity benefit for the March of Dimes, which works to aid the health of
mothers and babies, particularly those affected by polio. The program begins as
a band of robbers, led by Blackie, sneak into a bank basement and spy through
the wall. Next door, the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the March of
Dimes gets underway as the celebrity guests introduce themselves and perform a
series of Broadway-themed songs, including “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “Bill”
from “Show Boat,” “Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider,” and “Who?”.
Next door, the robbers discuss their “caper,” and
Blackie explains that they plan to steal a priceless necklace that once
belonged to Catherine the Great, though his dimwitted henchmen are a bit slow
on the uptake. One of the men, Shuggy, shows off his celebrity impressions and
explains that he will sneak into the benefit by pretending to be a movie star.
Bing Crosby then talks about the March of Dimes' twenty-five years of work, and
Andre Previn performs a jazzy “Somewhere over the Rainbow” with accompaniment.
The robbers are suddenly joined by Edna, Blackie's cheerful wife, who brings
sandwiches and other snacks for the men and works on her crossword puzzle.
In another sketch, Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie and
Morey Amsterdam portray three comedy writers trying to come up with a good
sketch. Van Dyke tries his “dog bit,” Rose Marie plays a song on the piano, and
Amsterdam tries some standup-slash-cello, but in the end they decide that a
straightforward pitch for the charity is best. After Dick Powell recaps the
first half of the program, Juliet Prowse performs “Get Happy.” Jane Wyatt works
with two young twin girls, with whom she plans to present later, though one of
the girls spots the robbers through the wall. One of the crooks talks to her
and convinces her they are playing a game, instructing her to warn them if the
police appear.
Powell then introduces Basil O'Connor, Franklin
D. Roosevelt's co-founder for the March of Dimes, who speaks briefly about the
association's aims. Edna offers the young lookout a sandwich, and when the
young girl invites her sister to participate in the “game,” the crooks are
stunned to realize that there are two of them. They manage to procure the phony
necklace and make plans to switch it. After Pearl Bailey sings “Ma, He's Making
Eyes At Me,” the crooks find the real necklace and Shuggy encounters the guard,
Ed Wynn. He lays down his own impressive Ed Wynn impersonation and manages to “borrow”
his badge, then having him arrested for pretending to be a guard. Wynn does his
comedy routine to prove his identity, but the cops are unconvinced and haul him
away.
The robbers use the twin girls to stage a clever
theft and make off with the jewels, and the girls tell Wyatt about their
adventures. Crosby sings “I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me,” and Richard
Chamberlain talks with a March of Dimes representative about the twins' serious
medical condition and the charity's efforts to end such illnesses. The robbers
overhear them and, somewhat abashed, return the necklace. Dean Martin sings “The
Last Time I Saw Paris” and plays a few holes of golf, after which Wyatt helps
the twins dress in costumes and then presents a young polio victim, the current
March of Dimes poster boy, who rides a modified toy scooter. The girls recite
the Pledge of Allegiance, and Wyatt asks the audience to make generous
donations. Commercials deleted.
(The Paley Center for Media)
January 11, Friday. Newspaper
coverage shows Bing as he "steps lively to an Israeli "Hora" in
Hollywood during making of an album by United Artists called "Three
Billion Millionaires". Bing has recorded a song called “Tower of Babel” for the LP, a musical fable about the United
Nations, which is to be issued to raise funds for the United Nations
Children’s Fund. The title of the fantasy is derived from the plot line in
which a baby asks for a delegate’s seat at the United Nations claiming that he
represents the three billion babies of the world. The album is released in September.
January 16, Wednesday. Bing golfs at Cypress Point with Dean Martin and Bob Goldwater.
January 17-20, Thursday–Sunday. The Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach with the purse increased to $60,000. The tournament is won by Billy Casper. KTTV and 100 independent stations carry the television coverage on the last two days following the withdrawal of ABC-TV. Bing, Jimmy Demaret and Ralph Kiner give the commentary. Celebrities playing include Phil Harris, John Raitt, Ernie Ford, James Garner, Gordon MacRae, Bob Crosby, Jack Kramer, Ray Bolger, Jim Backus, Dean Martin, William Boyd, Dennis Morgan, Guy Madison, Desi Arnaz, Donald O’Connor, Ray Milland, and Fred MacMurray. Lucille Ball is there to watch her husband, Gary Morton, play. Rosemary Clooney, Rowan & Martin, Chris Crosby (Bob’s son), Bob Crosby’s Bobcats and the Buddy Cole Orchestra entertain at the Victory Dinner at the Monterey Fairgrounds Auditorium, which is emceed by Bing as usual.
Superb
photography, fine alert direction, and intelligent commentary added up to
making the finale of the Bing Crosby tournament the best golf show I believe I
ever saw on television. It should bring KTTV and all concerned a blue ribbon
award. Der Bingle, Jimmy Demaret, Ralph Kiner, Bill Welsh and Don Lamond all
contributed to a terrific production.
(Sid
Ziff, Los Angeles Times, January 22,
1963)
January 22, Tuesday. Bing flies to Hawaii for the opening of the New Sheraton Maui hotel on January 23. Landing in Honolulu, he and Francis Brown fly on in a small chartered plane to Maui.
January 23, Wednesday. Bing and his friends plan to play nine holes at the Royal Lahaina course at Kaanapoli but heavy rain prevents this.
January 24, Thursday. (8:30 a.m.) Plays in the first round of the Sheraton Maui National Pro-Am with Bo Wininger, Robert Trent Jones Sr., and Dick Holtzmann on the Royal Lahaina course at Kaanapoli.
January 25, Friday. (9:30 a.m.) The second round of the 36-hole Sheraton Maui National Pro-Am. Bing's partners this time are Guinea Kop, Phil Harris and George Coleman. There is a formal dinner at the Sheraton Maui in the evening but Bing leaves early, probably feeling ill.
Crooner Bing Crosby, who underwent successful surgery Tuesday
for the removal of a kidney stone, was apparently suffering from some pain even
while he was here, according to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Bob Crosby.
Mrs. Crosby said he abruptly left a formal dinner at
mid-point at the Sheraton Maui last Friday. She said “we wondered at the time whether
something was the matter because he seemed to be so quiet and it wasn’t like
him to leave that way without saying anything.”
Friends, however, report that Crosby was in great shape for
the Waialae golf exhibition the following day. He left for home the day after
the tournament. Friends noted that although Crosby didn’t give a clue to
possible pains, he did look drawn during his appearance.
(Honolulu Star-Bulletin, January 31, 1963)
January 26, Saturday.
Plays in an exhibition match at Waialae Country Club on Kauai with Gary
Middlecoff, Jimmy Demaret and Ed Crowley. They compete against Sam
Snead, Bo Wininger, Phil Harris and Fred MacMurray. The exhibition is
to raise funds for the Iolani School Centennial Development Fund. Bing
starts the exhibition off by singing "Blue Hawaii" backed by the Royal
Hawaiian Band's string section.
January 27, Sunday. Bing flies home.
January 29,
Tuesday. Bing goes to St. John’s Hospital and at 6:30
p.m. has emergency surgery on his right kidney. This is his fourth
kidney stone operation in 11 years; the previous operations were all on
the left kidney. Drs. Frederick Schlumberger and Matlock Mims officiate at the operation, which lasts one and a half hours,
Bing too had been considering the deteriorating state
of his health. With increased frequency and for longer intervals he was
incapacitated with excruciating abdominal pain. Hoping desperately that it
would go away, he avoided all thought or mention of it, and escaped into
ceaseless activity. . . . But his kidney stones rode with him, and finally
brought him to bay on January 29.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Life with Bing, page 235)
January 31, Thursday. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, writes
to Bing expressing the hope that he will soon be fully recovered.
February 9, Saturday. Bing is released from St. John’s
Hospital.
February 17, Sunday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Bing guests on The
Dinah Shore Show on NBC-TV. Al Hirt plus Bud & Travis are also guests on
the show which had been taped in December 1962. Harry Zimmerman conducts the
orchestra. The director is Dean Whitmore.
Dinah Shore’s show became a major event with the
addition of Bing Crosby to its cast. The presence of Der Bingle was not only a
valuable asset to its entertainment values but he seemed to excite every
department, as well…. Bing’s casual air and humor-laden renditions generated
excitement. “In a Little Spanish Town” and “Que Sas” comprised his first
medley, and then with Miss Shore sat down for a lighthearted and gay session of
singing and banter. It was an easy, graceful stint by a pair of pros. Crosby
also seemed a bit thinner than usual, but didn’t let it interfere with his
work. He seems ageless.
(Variety, February 19, 1963)
…Happy to learn that you enjoyed the Dinah Shore
telecast. I hope you had a chance to see it in color, because they had some
real pretty sets, and she wore some lovely clothes, which of course were vastly
enhanced by the use of color.
She has a wonderful
production staff. Having been on television for so many years, she has been
able to put together quite a unit. Particularly valuable is Ticker Freeman, who
has been her accompanist and musical advisor for many years - I guess almost
since Dinah started out as a single, after leaving band work. So it was a
pleasant chore, working with people like this.
The reaction to the
show has been uniformly good, I’ve run into quite a few people who said they
enjoyed it, and the critical consensus was fine. So we were pleased that we
took on the job.
I
have been out of hospital now a couple of weeks and I’m feeling fine again.
Takes quite a while to regain your full strength but I’ve been going into the
office in the afternoons and doing other little chores, increasing the work
load a little bit every day, so I think in a short time I’ll be as good as new.
Please
give my best to all of the “Bingang”. Warmest regards to yourself.
(Bing, writing to Rena Albanesi, the editor of BINGANG
magazine, February 27, 1963)
February (undated). Phillip Crosby leaves his wife Sandra and moves in
with his brother Lindsay. Phillip finds Lindsay to be unwell and has him
committed to the psychiatric ward in Santa Monica Hospital. Bing goes to Las
Cruces.
When Sandra expressed understandable
resentment of Phillip’s extracurricular activities, he philosophically
abandoned her and her two small children, and moved in with Lindsay. Out of the
frying pan into the fire. He found that his brother was in an advanced state of
avitaminosis, occasioned by a drinking bout of
extraordinary length. After observing his condition for several days, Phillip
wisely committed him to the psychiatric ward in Santa Monica Hospital, where he
would have an opportunity to recover his physical and mental health. Then he
less prudently descended upon his convalescing father for spiritual aid and
counseling… Faced with the dilemma of whether or not to commit Lindsay more or
less permanently, Bing so far transcended his own health problem as to grab the
next flight for Las Cruces, where he remained incommunicado, sans mail, sans
telephone, sans news of any kind, most of which had been bad of late. The utter
isolation of Baja California did have its advantages.
(Kathryn
Crosby, My Life with Bing, page 239)
March 12, Tuesday. Bing
writes a check for $240 which he annotates "Exp Las Cruces". It is
signed on the back by Jeanne C. Mayer and appears to have been cashed
at a bank in La Paz.
March 15, Friday. Bing goes shooting at Los Frailes in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
…He had to content himself with letters which revealed that, weak as he
still was, he couldn't resist the joys of dove hunting. His enthusiasm might have
cost him his life, or at the very least returned him to the hospital. Witness
the following communication, dated March 16:
“I had a fair shoot at a tiny rancho near Los Frailes yesterday
afternoon, but while thus engaged I also had what was very nearly the last thrill
of my life. I was standing on a hillside waiting for some doves to come over,
when I heard a rustling noise at my feet.
"Looking down, I beheld a five-foot rattler winding along about six
inches from my right shoe. Leaping back with an agility I had never dreamed I
possessed, I cleanly removed its head with one blast from my puny 28-gauge.”
Deciding that my husband was in need of professional supervision, I
packed up the children and flew to Las Cruces on March 22. Our lovely new home
had been completed at last, and this was our first chance to enjoy it.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Life with Bing, page 241)
March 22, Friday. Kathryn and the children join Bing at Las
Cruces, Mexico. They initiate a regular annual routine of cleaning the tiny
Mexican church.
April (undated).
Bing Crosby Enterprises sells the stock of Project
Records (not the masters) to Capitol Records. Si Rady moves to Capitol
as part of the deal. MGM has recently bought the music publishing and
soundtrack album rights to "How the West Was Won" for a six-figure sum
said to be about $250,000.
April 2, Tuesday. Barbara Frederickson is given an uncontested
divorce from Lindsay Crosby.
April 16, Tuesday.
Appears in the "Private Plane Paradise" episode of the "Across the
Seven Seas" series on KNBC. In this, Bing shows viewers around his home in Las
Cruces, Mexico.
April (undated). Bing pulls out of the proposed Warner Brothers’ film The
Devil’s Advocate.
April 27, Saturday. Bing, still at Las Cruces, writes to Crosby
fan Stan White.
I appreciate very much your long and informative letter of April 14th. There was a great deal of news in there, and I’m sure that I’ll profit by some of the things you had to say.
Yours is not the first complaint about the quality of the television show. Unhappily once it is sent over there, it’s completely out of our hands, and we have no control over what is done in the way of editing.
The lack of photographic quality though, baffles me. I don’t know why this should be. Practically every show in America is on tape - very few live shows anymore - and they’re all replayed; some of them many times, and in no case within my memory have there been any appreciable loss of quality.
I must tell you that I know absolutely nothing about the technical end of this business - how tapes are made, how they are dubbed or duplicated – so I can’t be very helpful in trying to supply any answers.
I am turning your letter, however, over to people in charge here, and maybe they can do something about it, although I have resorted to them in the past without any appreciable success.
Doubtless there is much material in the old radio shows which I did with Buddy Cole and with Rosemary Clooney which could be made into LPs. We’ve often thought of this, and I’m going to get a project activated that will probably lead toward doing just that.
…Please give my best to
Murphy and Gaylor and all the other people who are so loyal to me and so
helpful too.
Believe me to be – your
friend,
Bing
May 26, Sunday. Bing is on a fishing trip off the
Mexican coast with Phil Harris. He hooks and successfully lands a dolphin
weighing 51 pounds, six ounces and measuring four feet one and a half inches
using a 12-pound line. He wins first prize in the Field & Stream
53rd annual fishing contest.
June (undated). Everett Crosby has his left leg amputated below the knee because of poor
circulation complicated by diabetes. Bing, who is in Mexico, phones his brother
Ted and asks him to visit Everett. Ted and his wife duly do so with Bing
picking up the costs of the trip.
June 16, Sunday. Kathryn Crosby graduates as a nurse from the Queen of Angels School of Nursing and Bing, having flown back from Mexico, attends the commencement ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in Los Angeles.
Since I knew that
my five years of early rising and night duties were a very sore subject with
Bing, I omitted mentioning the graduation to him. But he had his own sources of
information, so as the ceremony got under way I was amazed to see him sitting
in the front row of the choir loft between my father and Frances Ruth.
(Kathryn Crosby, My
Life with Bing, page 245)
BING CROSBY’S WIFE GRADUATES AS NURSE
LOS
ANGELES (UPI)—Kathy Crosby, wife of Bing Crosby, has graduated from the Queen of
Angels School of Nursing to fulfill a long-standing desire, and her husband
said yesterday “we’re all very proud of her.”
Mrs.
Crosby, 29, received her diploma along with 33 others in a ceremony at St,
Vibiana’s Cathedral. She
expressed the desire to become a nurse before we were married,” Crosby said. “and
she went right ahead with it, even
though she had to take five years instead of the usual three. She had three
children during the period, and of course it took her a little longer to finish
the course.”
Mrs.
Crosby, who wed the famed crooner in 1957, had to meet the same requirements as
all other nurses —“including getting up at 5:30 a.m. in the morning,” said
Crosby.
“We
are all very proud,” said Crosby, who said he had given his approval to her
plans to study nursing from the start.
(The Times-Herald, June 18, 1963)
June 21, Friday.
Bing is photographed at Aptos Beach golf course in Santa Cruz County
with Mike Riley, International Junior JC Champion 1962 and Pamela Jean
Gamble, Miss California 1962. The Bing Crosby Foundation is covering
Riley's expenses.
June 26, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn watch the Los Angeles Angels beat Baltimore Orioles 3-1 and 3-2 at Dodgers Stadium.
June 29, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn attend a party for Margot Fonteyn at Chasen's given by Pilar Wayne.
June 30, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn go to see Margot Fonteyn and Nureyev
of the English Royal Ballet dance Giselle at the Shrine Auditorium. Bing invites the cast to
lunch at his home.
July (undated). Alan Fisher (accompanied by his wife, Norma)
commences work as butler to the Crosbys.
July 6, Saturday. The English Royal Ballet cast duly lunches
with Bing and Kathryn at the Holmby Hills house. Others present include Jose Ferrer, John Scott Trotter and Edie Adams.
July 9,
Tuesday. Phillip Crosby is divorced by his wife
Sandra for “extreme cruelty.” A property settlement gives Sandra their
$87,500 Westwood home, $1000 monthly alimony for five years and $250
per month for each of their two children.
July 19, Friday. Frank Sinatra announces that Bing has signed
to make recordings for his company, Reprise Records. It is Bing’s first major
recording agreement since his contract with Decca ended.
July 29, Monday. In Los Angeles, Bing records “Fugue for
Tinhorns” and “The Oldest Established” with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin for
the Reprise “Repertory Theater” album of Guys and Dolls.
Morris Stoloff conducts the orchestra.
...A
39-piece orchestra blared out the strains to “Fugue for Tinhorns,” and the trio
was off and singing. Martin kept things hopping during rehearsals by ad libbing
crazy lyrics, occasionally breaking up his partners. “Put a mute on them violins,”
he yelled after blowing his lines.
Bing's
voice hit a clinker at one point and he called out, “Stop the music, I just shanked
a good one.”
The
recording studio on Sunset Boulevard was filled with friends and
friends of friends and innumerable hangers-on. But there was no
mistaking that Sinatra was
in charge of the session. It was the thin singer who kept time with his
hands, made
changes in the score and advised the other two.
Martin
clowned around, and during one pause observed, “Let’s do something
besides just stand here. We look like the Ritz Brothers out of work.”
Sinatra's
answer was a tap to Martin’s jaw.
After
an hour’s work the song was recorded to everyone's satisfaction and the boys swung
into “The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York.”
(Vernon Scott (UPI) as seen in The San Francisco Examiner, August 3,
1963)
Meanwhile, as one professional to another, Bing wrote
about a recording session with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin:
“The great one had
hired a forty-five piece orchestra, a vast cadre of vocalists, and four
arrangers and conductors for our songs from the Broadway musicals Guys and
Dolls, South Pacific, and Kiss Me Kate. Dean and I watched in
bemused bewilderment while Sinatra organized, conducted, arranged, and
criticized everything. After finishing two sides, Frank, who had spent the
night on the town, averred that his reed was tired and dismissed the vast
assembly. We had been there less than an hour and a half, a far cry from the
old days when I used to record five or six hours with a four-piece band in a
warehouse in downtown Los Angeles.”
(Kathryn Crosby, My Life with Bing)
August 6, Tuesday. Bing writes
to Frank Murphy of the British Crosby Society.
Thanks for your letter with all the news.
Yes, I’m doing an Hawaiian album for Frank Sinatra’s Reprise group in a few
days. We’ve got the tunes pretty well lined up now, and Nelson Riddle is doing
the arrangements, and we hope to get a very unusual background with the
Hawaiian predominant of course, but with some nice musicianship also featured.
I believe the “King Serenade” is going to
be included. It’s one of the ones that we have high on the list.
I did a couple of tunes with Frank and
Dean for the Reprise label - an album covering four of the big Broadway musical
shows. Dean and Frank and I did “The Traveling Crap Game” and “Fugue for
Tinhorns” and I have to do a duet with Debbie Reynolds on “Something Sort of Grandish” from Finian's
Rainbow and a solo on “Younger than Springtime” from South Pacific.
There is also a possibility I’ll do a
Christmas album with Frank, using the Fred Waring
orchestra and choir, if we can find suitable material.
We’re doing some things over at Capitol
records. An album called “The Traveling Two Beat” which will be sort of a
musical tour of the world, taking the principal song in each capital, and doing
it in Dixieland style. Bobby Darin and Peggy Lee might be in this album with
me, and Evans and Livingston have written a great song to open and close the
album, called “Traveling Two Beat”. Also they’ve done a lot of special
lyrics for use on the songs of each country.
Capitol is also gathering material for a
possible country and western album - or I guess you might properly call it a
“Folk Album”. There’s quite a vogue for this stuff in the States just now.
We are getting the television
shows ready - four to be done this year. The first to be taped in September, so
I guess you’ll probably see that one in England.
And I might be doing a picture with Frank
and his group over at Warners called “Robin and the
Seven Hoods”. Also have a couple of other pictures that are under serious
consideration.
I’m playing a good deal of golf just now,
and playing rather well too, for an old gaffer. It’s certainly a relaxation - this
game, and probably the only game there is where a fella
my age can still turn in a creditable performance.
Give my very best to all the members and
to yourself and family –
As ever, Bing
Meanwhile, Kathryn Crosby opens in the play Sunday in New York
at the Avondale Playhouse in Indianapolis with John Lupton. Heavy rain interrupts the
dialogue occasionally and forces two unscheduled intermissions in the
first act. Kathryn receives very good reviews. The play runs until August 11.
August 7, Wednesday. Thought to have played in the first round of the Valley Club's championship against Dan Chandler in Santa Barbara.
August 8, Thursday. Bing records “Something Sort of Grandish” with
Debbie Reynolds and a solo version of “Younger than Springtime” for inclusion
in the Reprise Repertory Theater albums. Morris Stoloff conducts
the orchestra.
August 20, Tuesday. Bing
and Kathryn have been in the San
Francisco area for two days looking for a new house and they return to Los Angeles
on this day. They have been staying at the Burlingame Country Club
during their time in the area.
August 21, Wednesday. Bing records part of the Return
to Paradise Islands album with
an orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle for Reprise Records.
August 23, Friday. Bing is in St. Paul, Minnesota, for a meeting
with representatives of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. At a press
conference at the Hotel Lowry, he promotes their “Beat Bing Contest”
(a golfing challenge with the winners to play in Bing’s pro-am). He states that
close to two million rounds of golf have been played since August 4 by golfers
across the nation who are seeking to beat his score. Around this time, he
records a TV commercial for the new Thermo-Fax copier being marketed by 3M.
During the press conference, he is presented with a copy of the baptism
certificate of his mother, who was born nearby in Stillwater. Bing is surprised
to find that his mother is three years younger than he had thought. In addition, Bing
is made an honorary citizen of Stillwater.
August 24, Saturday. A crowd of 2,500 watch Bing as he golfs at the White Bear Lake course
with Bert Cross (president of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) in the “Beat Bing
Contest.” His handicap is given as six and he has a seventy-six (four over
par). There is a private dinner for 60 at the White Bear Yacht Club in the evening. Bing then goes to his Rising River ranch.
September (probably). Bing records his links for an album called ‘My Favorite Story’ in which various stars read stories. Part of the proceeds are earmarked for the Motion Picture Relief Fund.
September 3, Tuesday. Kathryn opens in Sunday in
New York at Packard Music Hall, Warren, Ohio until September 8.
September 6, Friday. Pat Sheehan files for divorce from Dennis Crosby citing mental and physical cruelty.
September 7, Saturday. Bing flies to Warren to see Kathryn in the play.
September 9, Monday. Bing and Kathryn plus Harry and Mary Frances fly in a private plane from Youngstown, Ohio to
Piqua, Ohio, for a short break where they stay with Mr. and Mrs. William
B. Wood. In the afternoon, Bing golfs on the Moraine Country Club
course at Dayton with William Wood and Conrad Ruckelshaus and has a 79.
September 10, Tuesday. Golfs on the National Cash Register course at Kettering, Ohio. Later in the week, Bing and family drive to Indianapolis.
September 13-15, Friday-Sunday.
Bing and Kathryn plus Harry and Mary Frances are staying with Mr. and
Mrs. Conrad Ruckelshaus in Indianapolis. Bing comes down with a fever
and has to stay in bed with bronchitis for most of the weekend.
September 16, Monday. (8:30-9:00p.m. PST) An unsold pilot for a comedy television
series called Come a Runnin’ is shown. The show had been put together in 1961 by
Bing Crosby Productions and Bing is said to sing the theme song on the sound
track. The stars are Linden Chiles, Ruth Hussey and Stuart Erwin.
September 25, Wednesday. Details of a new long-playing record
called Three Billion Millionaires are announced at the United Nations. A
complete musical has been written for the LP and many stars including Bing,
Jack Benny, Carol Burnett, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, and Danny Kaye have
taken part. Bing is heard singing “Tower of Babel” on the record, which he had recorded in January 1963. The funds raised by the
LP are for the United Nations Children’s Fund.
September 28-29, Saturday–Sunday. President Kennedy again spends a
weekend at Bing’s Palm Desert house. The arrangements have been made through
Chris Dunphy.
...Yesterday, at the
Bing Crosby home in Palm Desert, Calif., the President loafed by the swimming
pool in temperatures that passed 110 degrees. The heat and rest seemed to wipe
out any travel fatigue quickly. He appeared heavily tanned and relaxed when he
went to Mass at the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Palm Desert
with his sister, Mrs. Pat Lawford, and a close friend, Undersecretary of the
Navy Paul Fay.
(The Knoxville New-Sentinel, September 30, 1963)
September 29, Sunday. Tapes The Bing Crosby Show with Caterina Valente, Andre Previn, and Buddy Ebsen which is shown by CBS-TV on November 7. The producer-director is Nick Vanoff with Andre Previn assuming the musical director role. The script is by Bill Morrow and Max Wilk.
BUDDY EBSEN AND BING HOOF IT UP
Hollywood -- “Bing Crosby Show” - Rehearsal
Hall 2.”
It is a big bright room with a high ceiling, one mirrored wall and a polished hardwood floor. It is cluttered with music racks, benches, tables with stacked
scripts and a long blackboard on wheels
on which the words to the song “Danke
Schoen” are written.
The room is
jammed with high-salaried talent but somebody
doesn’t know how to spell the song
Bing Crosby may use as a regular television
signoff a la Bob Hope’s “Thanks for the Memory.”
It is written “Danke Scoen,” but it comes out right every time
when Bing sings the words.
In one corner a piano player pounds out an old tune “In
the Summertime.” The tall man shuffling his feet to the tune sure knows how to
dance.
“How about that,” says, Bing, trying to keep in
step with Buddy Ebsen’s fast-moving feet. There was a day, long before the
Beverley Hillbillies, when Buddy Ebsen danced up storms in vaudeville, on
Broadway and in movies.
“How about a little fast footwork on the show?” Bing
had asked Buddy a few weeks ago. “Like to have you do some singing, too - songs
from those old movie musicals you did.”
“You got me,” said the delighted Buddy. “What’s the
wardrobe?”
“White tie and tails,” said Bing. “You’ll be in good
company - Dean Martin, Caterina Valente and Andre Previn. Snappy dressers.”
But in the pretaping rehearsal for the CBS-TV special
November
7 Bing looks like a golfer and Buddy like a yachtsman, which they
are. Bing is wearing slacks, sweater and a golfing cap. Buddy, in tennis shoes and
denims, looks as if he just stepped off his racing sloop moored in front of his
home at Newport Bay.
When producer-director Nick Vanoff called a break
it was Buddy’s turn to say “How about that” in reference to a line I had
written about his big television, personal appearance and movie loot piling up.
“Relative down in Florida read it.” he grinned. “What
money you talkin’ about? I ain’t seen it yet.”
(Erskine Johnson, Hollywood Today,
Syndicated column, October 21, 1963)
October 3–December. Bing starts filming Robin and the Seven Hoods
with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Barbara Rush and Peter Falk. He is paid
$100,000 for his work. The producer at the outset is Gene Kelly and the
director is Gordon Douglas. The music is scored and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
Phillip Crosby has a small part.
Frank kept telling Howard Koch that he’d
be arriving the next day, then the day after and so on until I decided the
tension and the waiting wasn’t doing any of us any good, and I told Jack Warner
I was quitting. I really loved Frank and that was the reason I was walking out
because it was my intention to remain friendly with him, and if I stayed on, as
a kind of paid labourer, our relationship would be over.
(Gene Kelly, as quoted
in Gene Kelly: A Biography by Clive Hirschhorn)
October 5-6, Saturday-Sunday. Bing and Kathryn are again in the San
Francisco area looking for a new house.
Fall (undated). Bing’s mother suffers a severe stroke.
October 11, Friday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Bill Hall in
England.
Thank you for your very nice letter. So
pleased to know that through the years you’ve found some amusement and entertainment
out of my records, etc., and am glad also to learn that you’re associated with
my good friend Frank Murphy of the British Bing Crosby Society.
I certainly hope the next time that I’m
in England we’re able to arrange a meeting. I’m sure it will be quite easy to
do.
The club meeting at Jack Manners home
sounded, according to description, like a very pleasant occasion.
At the moment I’m rehearsing with Dean
Martin and Frank Sinatra for a picture to start the end of the month. Sammy
Davis is also in the film.
Have just finished taping a television
show with Caterina Valente,
Buddy Ebsen, Andre Previn and others, and have one to
tape at the end of the month with Bob Hope, my wife Kathryn, and Rosemary
Clooney. John Scott Trotter is going to be the conductor and arranger for this
particular show.
It will be nice being associated with him
again and we shall possibly use a couple of the things that he and I
collaborated on some years back with such success.
Thank you for sending me the two pictures
from “Sing You Sinners” and
Closing now, with best regards to you and
your family, and to the other club members you may encounter in the immediate
future –
All best regards, Bing
October 13, Sunday. (7:00–7:30 p.m.) Gary Crosby makes his debut
as “Eddie the Bellhop” on the Bill Dana Show transmitted by NBC-TV.
October 15, Tuesday. Bing is concerned at developments with the
Robin and the Seven Hoods movie and writes to his agent Bob
Coryell as follows:
Talking to Howard Koch last night, and he gave me some
rather surprising news. He said it was their intention to shoot a musical
number with me, then lay me off three weeks, and do some other things. He
indicated that he’d want me to be working, or to be available up into January.
This, of course, hardly agrees with our original agreement whereby I was to
work four weeks consecutively.
As you know, I’ve been
going over to Warners almost daily since the 3rd or 4th of October - I can’t
remember which - and if they plan on holding me in the bullpen or working until
January, it would amount to something like twelve weeks. Maybe more.
I think you ought to
have a talk with Koch about this, and I’ll talk to him about it myself today
when I go to rehearsal.
Quite privately, I’m
very disturbed about the removal of Gene Kelly as the producer. This was one of
the major factors which influenced my desire to make the film. I felt that
Kelly would be an outstanding producer of a musical show, and the initial work
that he did - the preparation and everything else inclined me to think that he
was really going to have a fine musical.
I don’t know what will
happen now since he’s been removed, although the elements are still there. It
just depends upon whose hands it falls into. I believe it’s going to be Sinatra
and Koch.
I mention this because
if there’s any problem about the time that I’m supposed to be working on the
picture, I’d just as soon get out of it - although this is something that I
would hold back and not reveal until you have sounded them out and gotten back
to me.
Maybe before you talk
to anybody, you and I should get together on the phone, or I can come by the
office, or you can come by the studio.
Give me a ring.
Bing
October 16, Wednesday. Bing records further songs for the Return
to Paradise Islands LP with an
orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle for Reprise Records in Los Angeles. He
writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor.
I just can’t remember how much I told you
about recording plans, so probably some of the news I’m giving you now will be
repetitious, but I’ll send it along anyhow.
I’m just finishing an Hawaiian album for
Reprise, including some fine old Hawaiian standards like
“Old Plantation”
“Farewell My Tane”
“Lovely Hula Hands”
“Frangipani Blossom”
and others of similar stamp.
The orchestra was conducted by Nelson
Riddle who also made the arrangements, and I think he’s done some outstanding
work in this date.
I did four songs for a big album that
Reprise is putting out, involving eighteen artists and fifty-six tunes from
four big Broadway Shows - “Guys and Dolls”, “South Pacific” “Finian’s Rainbow” and one other, the name of which I do not
at this moment recall.
I have a Country and Western album to do
for Capitol. I have picked the songs. They are things like “A Little Bittie Tear”, “Bouquet of Roses”, “Four Walls”, “Heartaches
by the Number”, etc.
Also am to do an album called “Around the
World with a Dixieland Beat” for Capitol. This is all prepared but I don’t know
just when time will be available to tape it.
I’m rehearsing now on a picture with
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. Should be finished shooting
this around the 1st of the year.
So much for my activities as far as
recording is concerned.
Hope this finds you and all the other
friends of mine in the Club in good form
Yours sincerely, Bing
October 21, Monday. Records “Do You Hear What I Hear” and
“Christmas Dinner Country Style” with Ralph Carmichael and his Orchestra for
Capitol Records in Los Angeles. The former song achieves some chart success
reaching No. 3 in the Christmas singles list in the USA and featuring at No. 49
in the UK’s Melody Maker charts.
October 23, Wednesday.
(3:00–6:00 p.m.). Rehearses the song “A Scarf, A Stool, A Song and Imagination”
for a forthcoming CBS-TV special with Rosemary Clooney.
October 24, Thursday. Further rehearsals for the TV show in CBS
Studio 2. (1:00–3:00 p.m.) Bing and Rosemary Clooney rehearse Jazz-Waltz
country medley. (3:00–4:30 p.m.) Bing, Rosemary Clooney, Kathryn Crosby and the
singers and dancers rehearse “A Scarf, A Stool, A Song and Imagination”.
(4:30–6:00 p.m.) Bing rehearses “Pennies from Heaven”, “Something to Do” and
“Danke Schon” (the last named song was not eventually used in the show).
(6:00–7:00 p.m.) Peter Gennaro and Kathryn Crosby rehearse.
October 25, Friday. Camera blocking for the TV show (Camera
blocking is defined as the process of deciding where the cameras will be, when,
and what shots each will be responsible for). (9:00 a.m.–12 noon Principals and
dancers rehearse. (1:00–2:00 p.m.) Lunch. (2:00–5:30 p.m.) Run through in set
with full cast and principals. (5:30–6:00 p.m.) Dinner. (6:00–7:00 p.m.) Introduction
to Peter Gennaro dance - Bing and Kathryn. (7:00–7:30 p.m.) Introduction to
Bing and Kathryn “Dream” duet - Bing and Kathryn. (7:30–8:30 p.m. Introduction
and “Strangers in the Night” dance - Bing, Kathryn, Peter Gennaro. (8:30–9:30
p.m.) Introduction and “Oldest Established” song - Stand-in’s for Bing, Frank
Sinatra, and Dean Martin
October 26, Saturday. Pre-recording of songs and camera blocking.
(9:00 a.m.–12 noon) Pre-recording session at United Recording Studio, 6050
Sunset Blvd. Hollywood. (12 noon–1:00 p.m.) Lunch. (1:00–2:30 p.m.) “A Scarf, A
Stool, A Song and Imagination” Bing, Rosemary, Bob Hope, Kathryn, Peter
Gennaro, dancers, singers. (2:30–4:00 p.m.) Opening: “Pennies from Heaven”,
Bing ‘Hellos’ and “Something to Do” Bing, Rosemary, Bob Hope, Kathryn, Peter
Gennaro, dancers. (4:00–4:30 p.m.) Dialogue and “I Believe in You” Duet - Bing
and Bob Hope. (4:30–5:00 p.m.) Bachelors’ Anonymous Sketch - Bing, Bob Hope,
girl (this skit was not however used in the show) (5:00–6:00 p.m.) Dinner (6:00–6:30
p.m.) Make-up (6:30–7:30 p.m.) Video tape “Strangers in Paradise” (7:30–8:15
p.m.) Rosemary Clooney Song: “Invitation” (not used in show) (8:15–9:00 p.m.)
Dialogue and Jazz Waltz Medley - Bing and Rosemary (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Closing
song: “Danke Schon” (not used in show).
October 27, Sunday. Final camera blocking and complete show is
taped for the television special, which is shown on February 15, 1964, on
CBS-TV. (9:00 a.m.–Noon) Show run through - full cast and orchestra. Bob Hope
has to leave the studio at 11:30 a.m. suffering from an eye ailment before he
has completed his segment. (Noon–1:00 p.m.) Lunch. (1:00–1:30 p.m.) Make-up,
costumes. (1:30–3:00 p.m.) Video Tape: Dress Rehearsal. (3:00–4:00 p.m.) Notes,
Make-up. (3:30–4:00 p.m.) Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin rehearse with orchestra
in studio. (4:00–6:00 p.m.). The whole show is taped with the exception of the
segments involving Bob Hope. The “Oldest Established” song is recorded first
with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and the rest of show is taped in sequence.
October 29, Tuesday. Bing signs a contract to record for Capitol. (9:00-12:30 a.m.) In Hollywood, Bing records four songs for The Great Country Hits album with Bill Justis and his Orchestra which is issued by Capitol Records. Bing has a cold and the effects can sometimes be heard on the recorded songs. Glen Campbell is one of the backing musicians.
Although Bing Crosby signed a new deal with Capitol Records a couple of weeks ago, he’ll still continue to fulfill a previous obligation to the Reprise label. Reprise has a Crosby album scheduled for release early next year, and additional album and singles projects are currently being discussed.
(Variety, November 20, 1963)
October 31, Thursday. (9:00a.m.-12 noon, 1:00-4:30p.m.) Completes
the recording of The Great Country Hits album although still suffering
from a cold. Later stages a Halloween party at his Holmby Hills home that is
attended by Rosemary Clooney and family, plus Edie Adams and daughter.
The consistency of Bing Crosby’s talent over the
decades is an authentic show biz phenomenon. In this set, the veteran singer
finds himself in a very congenial groove with a group of backwoods ballads
which he delivers with an easygoing lilt just tailored for this material.
(Variety, October 13, 1965)
For the first time Crosby devotes his vast musical
talent to only top country material. Demonstrating his feeling and
understanding of lyric in such standouts as the classic “Four Walls” and
“Jealous Heart.” Crosby maintains his own great style.
(Billboard, October 16, 1965)
Bing Crosby also turns his eyes Nashvillewards on the
Capitol LP T2346 and that too is third rate. “Heartaches by the
Number”/“Wolverton Mountain”/“Jealous Heart” and whatnot make easy listening
but poor Crosby.
(The Gramophone, May 1966)
Bing Crosby is king of the cowboys for me this month
with “Bing Crosby sings the Great Country Hits” (World Record Club T833). My
preference for Mr. Crosby will probably antagonize the purist adherents of this
genre when they notice some of the other names further down this paragraph, but
the clear mellow tones are ideal for songs such as “Oh, Lonesome Me,” “Wabash
Cannon Ball,” “Wolverton Mountain,” and “A Little Bitty Tear.” Even Mr. Crosby
cannot do much with lightweight superficialities like “Still,” but he also
makes everything very agreeable for listening.
(The Gramophone, May 1969)
NOT
LONG AGO the phone rang for Bill Justis and a fellow with Capitol Records in
Hollywood asked how would Bill like to get a little Southern California sunshine
and do an album with a singer they have under contract out there, name of Bing
Crosby.
A
few years ago, Bill would have thought someone was putting him on, but he has
been moving in the higher echelon recently and he doesn’t get excited as easily
as he once did.
He
only had to think twice. The second thought was when he said, “How much?”
Bill
just returned to Nashville after making the album with Bing. It hasn’t been
titled yet, he said, but it’s due out next month some time.
“They
had an idea for an LP of country songs in modern settings,” he said. “They gave
me a list of about 18 songs from the country and what we call the ‘country pop‘
field and told me to pick 12 and make arrangements. I added some I thought
would be better, and they agreed.
“I
think it's going to be real nice. I got the musicians together and conducted as
well as arranged, but under my contract with Mercury I can’t use my name except
as arranger. They said, however, that they were going to try to get Mercury to
give me credit as conductor.
“Bing
is easy to get along with. One day he was sick with a cold, and we had to
change a couple of sessions around. The background singers had worked with him
before and they’re wild about him.”
Bing,
said Bill, “is a real comical guy.”
(Robert Johnson, The Memphis Press-Scimitar, December 4,
1963)
November 1, Friday. Bing is in San Francisco looking at houses
again. He subsequently arranges to sell the Holmby Hills house for $250,000 and
to buy a twenty-five room property at 101 Robin Road in Hillsborough, San
Francisco, which was formerly the home of the late Douglas Alexander and his
wife. The purchase price is quoted as $175,000 by the press. Kathryn joins him
later and they spend the weekend shooting at Vic Bergeron’s ranch.
Always a low-pressure performer, Bing Crosby seemed to
be rolling virtually on his rims in his first special of the 1963-64 season.
The Old Groaner still appeared youthful, but there was a telltale trace of
tiredness in some of his routines. Crosby, however, is still a persuasive
smoothie with the rococo lines supplied by scripter Bill Morrow and he piloted
this stanza down a pleasing, even if familiar, groove.
It was an all-musical
session spotlighting vocals by Crosby, Buddy Ebsen and a large Coast Choral
group, the Young Americans…Ebsen, in his ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ role, joined
with Crosby in a work-over of a charming folk-styled tune, ‘In the Summertime’.
Continental songstress,
Caterina Valente was brought on with a weak comedy intro but she came through
with an effective rendition of ‘Never Will I Marry’ and joined with Crosby in a
snappy international medley of tunes that ranged from, ‘Never on Sunday’ through
‘Sukiyaki’ to ‘Mademoiselle de Paris’.
Second half of the show
revolved around a group of old picture and legit tunes with Crosby and the
guests working solo and in tandem on such numbers as ‘Codfish Ball’, ‘Broadway
Rhythm’, ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ and ‘Davy Crockett’. The singing and
hoofing were entertaining enough despite the unimaginative staging.
The show was marked by
some clever commercial concoctions. The Pepsodent plug featured some by-play
between Crosby and Jerry Colonna, who was long identified with the product via
his association with Bob Hope. In the Pontiac plug, Phil Harris turned up in a
screwball golf match with Crosby.
(Variety, November 13, 1963)
None of us, including Bing Crosby, are getting any
younger. The crooner, youthfully attired in what appeared to be a blazer, was
on the Columbia Broadcasting System last night in a special that wasn’t very
special at all. He sang a few old songs, a few new ones and traded some unfunny
musical variety-show patter with his guests – Buddy Ebsen and Caterina Valente.
Mr. Crosby still has the same quiet, relaxed manner and his sleepy-time voice,
apparently in fine condition, roved through “Dream Your Troubles Away” and
“Shenandoah”. Delicate hearts in many homes probably skipped several
beats...The program emerged as a harmless hodgepodge of folk, popular and
semiclassical music.
(New York Times, November 8, 1963)
November 11, Monday. Plays in the pro-celebrity match that
concludes the Frank Sinatra Invitational Golf Tournament at Canyon Country
Club, Palm Springs. Bing’s four-ball tees off at 10:26 a.m. and the other players
are Jay Hebert, Gen. Archie Old, and Dr. L. Krohn. Other celebrities playing include Pancho Gonzales, Ray Milland, Jim Backus, Donald O'Connor, Howard Keel, Robert Wagner, Andy Williams, Frankie Laine, Hugh O'Brian
and Danny Thomas. In the evening, starting at
7:00 p.m., Bing, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Rosemary Clooney
entertain to the accompaniment of Les Brown's orchestra at a thirty
dollars a plate
charity dinner held in the Grand Ballroom of the Riviera Hotel.
Sinatra And Buddies Stage Riotous Show
PALM
SPRINGS - UPI
- Four old “entertainment pros” staged a riotous show last night in the
auditorium of the Riviera Hotel as a climax of the five day Frank
Sinatra
golf tournament.
Sinatra,
sponsor of
the tournament, was joined on the stage by his buddies, Bing Crosby,
Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., in a sometimes impromptu singing
and gag routine that drew waves of applause from the packed house of
2,000,
At
one point during
the proceedings, Martin fell off the stage but he climbed back unhurt.
This was during the finale singing of The Oldest Established Floating
Crap
Game from the musical Guys And Dolls.
Many in the audience paid $30 a plate which went like the proceeds from the golf tournament to boys clubs in this area.
At the event,
Rosemary Clooney is asked by Frank Sinatra, who is still awed by Bing, how she
can relax with him. “I pretend he isn’t Bing Crosby,” Clooney replied. During
the evening, Bing is filmed being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy
from the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences by Frank Sinatra. It is
intended that the film will be used in an NBC special at the Grammy Awards
event to be called “The Best on Record” which is supposed to be televised on
November 24 but is postponed because of the death of President Kennedy. The show
is eventually transmitted on December 8 when a newsflash about a plane crash in
Maryland cuts into the Crosby clip. The citation reads:
For his outstanding recordings which span more than 30
years, consistently embodying superior musicianship, uncompromising dignity and
a never-failing enthusiasm, and have served as an inspiration to those within
the industry as well as millions of listeners the world over.
November 15, Friday. (8:30-9:30 p.m.) Kathryn Crosby appears in a television comedy
“The House Next Door” with Bob Hope and Jill St. John as part of the Bob
Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre series on NBC-TV. Bing makes a surprise
guest appearance in the final scene as a handsome stranger who distracts Bob’s
wife (played by Kathryn). The program is re-broadcast on April 27, 1966.
November 17, Sunday. Lindsay Crosby is arrested in Palm Springs for suspected drunken driving after hitting a parked car and a traffic sign. He is later released on bail of $288.
November 18 / 20-21, Monday / Wednesday-Thursday. Bing is at Warner
Brothers studio working on Robin and the Seven Hoods. On
November 20 or 21st, he tapes an interview with John Salisbury to be
used in Salisbury's Sunday Spectacular featuring a "Profile in Sound of
Bing Crosby" which is aired on the Portland radio station KXL on
December 15.
November 22, Friday. President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas,
Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson assumes
the presidency. Bing subsequently sends a hand-written note to Mrs.
Kennedy.
Dear Mrs. Kennedy,
My wife, Kathryn, and I want very much to extend our
sympathies and condolences to you because of your tragic and insupportable loss.
We felt Jack Kennedy to be a brilliant decent, dedicated man, and we both think
we shall not see his like again on the national scene. Your composure, courage
and quiet dignity through the crushing ordeal of last weekend was a source of
inspiration to the millions who watched and prayed with you.
With all sincere sentiments
Bing Crosby
November 24, Sunday. Bing tapes his part in Bob Hope’s Christmas
special, and because of Bob’s eye problems, he acts as cohost with Jack Benny as
well as lip-synching to his recording of “Do You Hear What I Hear.” The show is
televised by NBC on December 13.
November 25, Monday. A National Day of Mourning for President Kennedy as his funeral takes place.
November 27, Wednesday. Bing tapes three separate commercials for (1) 3M Business Machines (2) Pepsodent and (3) Quaker Motor Oil.
November 29, Friday. Performs “Don’t Be a Do Badder” for the Robin
and the Seven Hoods film at Warner Brothers studio, with Kathryn and the children
watching. Nathaniel is sick all over his father.
December (undated). Bing tapes a special program in Spanish for the Family
Theatre’s Father Peyton to be shown in Portuguese-speaking Brazil on December
8.
December 3, Tuesday. At Warner Brothers, Bing pre-records the song
‘Style’ with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin during the evening. He writes to
Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Of course I’ll be delighted to do the
tape interview with you along the lines that you suggest. In other words,
you’ll send me some questions and I will provide answers on tape and send you
the tape.
I will leave some pauses between my
answers, so that you will be able to cut in the questions and in this way put
together an interview suitable for your purposes.
This method of procedure would be
infinitely more preferable than a telephone interview - both from the
standpoint of quality and from personal feeling.
So
I’ll be awaiting receipt of your
questions and just as soon as I am doing some taping, I’ll provide the
answers
thereto.
Happy to hear that everything’s going
along well for you and that your young ones are coming on in good shape.
I suppose with Christmas hard upon us
now, you’re going to have a hectic two or three weeks. I know we are here.
All best regards to you and your family
As ever, Bing
December 6, Friday. Bing returns to Warner Brothers studio to
work on Robin and the Seven Hoods.
December 8, Sunday (9:30 p.m.) Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped at
gunpoint and held for ransom. Bing,
on tape, participates in a special "Family Hour" prepared by Father
Peyton that is broadcast throughout Brazil. He sings "Ave Maria". In addition,
he is thought to have taped material for the Bob Hope Comedy
Hour due to be shown on December 13. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Bing is seen in the program "The Best on Record" (see Nov. 11).
December 9, Monday. Bing completes the Return to Paradise
Islands album with an orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle.
Bing turns on the charm again. This 1964 version of
Der Bingle is calm, relaxed and very much in tune with this South Seas
material. The tunes, for the most part, are out of the usual standard fare.
Nelson Riddle’s backings are fruitful and are certainly enough to make the old
master and his vocal backings sway in the breeze. “Adventures in Paradise” is a
fine middle of the road programming track.
(Billboard, February 1, 1964)
Bing Crosby seems to be holding back deliberately in his
collection of Hawaiian-tinged songs on Reprise R6106, for he projects without
any effort at all, just as he has always done during the last thirty-eight
years.
(The Gramophone, May 1964)
A four star album. Bing Crosby – Return to Paradise
Islands.
With
a luxury orchestral backing from Nelson Riddle, the “Old Groaner” shows he is
indeed the Peter Pan of recordland. Here he warbles, relaxed and deep throated
as ever, a dozen Hawaiian songs. And Bing is one singer you can hear when a
vocal group is accompanying. Well done Bing.
(New Musical Express, March 20, 1964)
December 9-12, Monday-Thursday. Bing is at Warner Brothers studio
working on Robin and the Seven Hoods.
December 10, Tuesday. At Warner Brothers, Bing is supposed to
pre-record the song ‘Mr. Booze’ with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean
Martin during the evening but this may have been postponed because of the
kidnap of Frank’s son.
December 11, Wednesday. Frank Sinatra Jr. is released by the
kidnappers after his father pays a $240,000 ransom.
December 13,
Friday. Bing and Kathryn arrive at their new home in Hillsborough and
celebrate with a champagne toast with friends. John Scott Trotter accompanies them.
The Crosbys plan to move into the Alexander mansion in mid-January. Bing and Kathryn then go to Kona Farms to join Alice Faye,
Phil Harris, June Haver, and Fred MacMurray in Trader Vic Bergeron’s California
retreat. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) The taped Bob Hope Comedy
Hour is screened by NBC-TV. Bing and Jack Benny act as co-hosts with the
principal guests being Juliet Prowse and Danny Thomas. Les Brown and his Band
of Renown provide the musical backing.
With Bob Hope benched for a few weeks by an eye
ailment, Jack Benny and Bing Crosby co-quarter-backed his ‘Chrysler Comedy
Hour’, last Friday and, with the help of some choice sketches from previous
Hope programs, made it a winning outing. The show was noticeably a patchwork of
tapes and almost totally devoid of the immediacy and spontaneity that is
normally felt in a Hope broadcast. But the star’s illness, wittily dwelled upon
by Benny and Crosby, turned that into an advantage in the manner of a tribute. The
viewer found himself present, not merely as a consumer of entertainment but as
a friend of the hospitalized comic and a well-wisher.
The opening monologues
took the form of the traditional show biz roasts, with Crosby testifying that,
in all his years with Hope, the comic never up-staged or hogged a scene -
‘although Heaven knows, he tried.’
For a finale, Crosby
introduced the ‘Look’ magazine, All-American Football Team and the various Bowl
Game Queens with a lukewarm gag for each member. The segment had no
appropriateness in the program but did serve for topicality and, along with a
Crosby rendition of, ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’, helped to keep the show from
seeming to be an entire re-run.
(Variety, December 18, 1963)
December 16-20, Monday-Friday. Bing is at Warner Brothers studio
working on Robin and the Seven Hoods.
December 19, Thursday. After completing her practical work in the
maternity ward, Kathryn is awarded her nursing diploma at Queen of Angels School
of Nursing.
December 23, Monday. Bing and Kathryn dine with Sammy Davis Jr. and his wife at Sammy’s home. Dean Martin and his wife are supposed to attend but, due to some confusion with the arrangements, they are not present. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) An NBC-TV program The One and Only Bing is shown. This is part of the Hollywood and the Stars series and is narrated by Joseph Cotten.
“The One and Only
Bing” is hardly a biography in depth, but it is great fun to watch because Bing
Crosby is a completely charming, inimitable personality. It traces his career
through his “Rhythm Boys” days (with one very old scene of him singing in a
Hollywood night club) to the present.
(The Star-Ledger, December 23, 1963)
December 24, Tuesday. Kathryn and her mother prepare dinner for the staff of the Crosby household and their guests for the first time. This tradition continues until 1969. (10:30-11:00 p.m.) A television showing of The Promise with narration by Bing takes place. In the program, Father Peyton’s Family Theater Group re-enacts events leading to the birth of Christ.
December 28, Saturday. Bing records the Hollywood Palace
television show which is shown on January 4, 1964. The guests include Mickey
Rooney, Nancy Wilson, Gary Crosby, Bob Newhart, Bobby Van and The Young Americans. Bill Harbach, the producer, recalled the
genesis of the show when interviewed in 2006.
One day in mid-November, 1963, Nick Vanoff
received a frantic call from ABC. Mr. Harbach remembers it well.
“ABC knew that Nick was free since The Perry Como Show went off the air for good in June. They pleaded with him. ‘The Jerry Lewis Show is going down in flames. We don’t know what to do! Can you come out to Hollywood and fill this goddamn time slot. We’ll figure out what to do with our time next season. At least finish out the fourteen weeks that are left in this season.’ There was one proviso - that whatever he came up with should be entertainment of the old school.
Nick immediately consulted me. We decided to tackle it. Nick came up with an idea. ‘Let’s do a vaudeville show! The Lawrence Welk Show would lead into it, so let’s keep our show and hour, too. Make it very chic – and not like The Ed Sullivan Show where everything is basically worked-in-one, without much depth, in front of a sparkle curtain. And, most important, we’ll have a different host each week, so that it will stay fresh.’
I thought it was a perfect concept, especially since it would take care of the dilemma of what to do with The El Capitan Theater, which ABC had revamped and renamed The Jerry Lewis Theater. Jimmy Trittipo, one of the best set designers and art directors, would refurbish the house to give it a vaudeville ambience, putting in that great lighted proscenium and adding the runway. (Trittipo crafted the sparse and abstract sets for all the Oldsmobile shows, except the last) We would call both the theater and the show The Hollywood Palace.”
Nick added, ‘I’ll executive produce and you produce it.’ I replied, ‘We go as a team – fifty/fifty.’ We formed Zodiac Productions. We flew to the west coast and spent four weeks of negotiations with the network. ABC liked the vaudeville idea, but wanted to hire a top star who would be the permanent host. They thought that an audience would not get used to the idea of a rotating emcee and would demand the same star coming into their living rooms every week. Well, Nick played hardball. ‘OK, get yourself two other producers.’ ABC caved, saying, ‘OK, do it, but we think you’re wrong.’
Of course, Nick called Bing. He had just produced and directed a special for Bing (The Bing Crosby Show of November 7, 1963) and there was one in the works. (The show for Lever Brothers of February 15, 1964) He was nervous. After all, we could only pay $10,000. Nick asked, ‘Would you do our first show?’ Without hesitating, Bing said, ‘Sure, for you kids, I’d love to.’ Right away, we were on cloud nine! After all, Bing was such a giant, so monumental and bigger than life. We knew that he would be a pacesetter and soon other stars would fall in line, despite the fact that we couldn’t pay big money. So, in order to save ABC from disaster we went out to Hollywood to complete the fourteen weeks - and stayed seven years!”
The directing chores for the first Palace fell to Mel Ferber, whose credits included The Joey Bishop Show and My Favorite Martian. Joe Bigelow (Cavalcade of Stars) and Jay Burton were tapped to write the script. It was taped on December 28, 1963 and broadcast on Saturday, January 4, 1964. Put on a Happy Face, selected as the HP theme song, ushered the unfolding spectacle.
“I thought Johnny Mercer’s Hooray
for Hollywood would be a better selection, but Nick prevailed with a song
written by his good friend Charles Strouse for Bye Bye Birdie.”
This broadcast would prove to be uncustomary, inasmuch as Crosby didn’t begin the proceedings with a tune; rather, he walked down a side aisle while a dance act was in progress on stage.(You can actually glimpse someone at a control board in the background) With great élan, Crosby uttered the following.
“Good evening. Good evening. I’m
just delighted that I’ve been chosen as the fella to welcome you to this
premiere performance of our little divertissement in time, or, if you will,
vaudeville…Why don’t we begin with the creed of all vaudevillians, those
immortal words that go, ‘Hello Joe, what do you know. Let’s put on a vaudeville
show. Song and dance, I’ll take a chance. OK professor, let’s go.”
An impressive guest list of stars answered Bing’s beck and call on that debut. The roster included Nancy Wilson, Bobby Van, Bob Newhart, Mickey Rooney, Gary Crosby, and The Young Americans. Of them, Mr. Harbach wryly remarked, “there was a lot of them – a whole state.” Of course there was the obligatory novelty act, in this case the Tahon Puppets. Crosby’s enduring musical director John Scott Trotter was on hand. (Les Brown would serve in that capacity for the rest of the first season.)
Crosby and number one son Gary blended on Teamwork, from The Road to Hong Kong. How did Gary interact with his father?
“Even with him there was a tension. I don’t know how to put my finger on it.”
The finale was a stirring offering by Crosby and The Young Americans of Climb Every Mountain, and then a heartfelt peroration by the impeccable master of ceremonies.
“I know the folks here in The
Hollywood Palace are going to do their utmost to make things enjoyable for you
here every Saturday night. Let’s make it a happy year, a joyful year, and a
year that will rate among the best of them all. I think the clue is really
teamwork. Thank you.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with Bill
Harbach, in BING magazine, spring 2006)
Felisa (Vanoff) had nothing
but warm memories of Bing and Kathryn. She recalled Bing turning up early for a
rehearsal. He always knew his lines and was thoroughly professional. The
Hollywood Palace show came about from a 10-minute phone call when Nick was
asked to put together a show to replace the ailing Jerry Lewis show. Nick
approached Bing at short notice and Bing agreed. Because Bing did the show,
others took notice and it became easier to obtain high quality hosts.
(Author interview with Felissa
Vanoff, September 21, 2007)
January 2, Thursday. Everett Crosby has his remaining leg
amputated in Mount Sinai Hospital. He remains in the hospital until May 15.
January 3, Friday. Lindsay Crosby is fined $250 in Palm Springs
for reckless driving.
January 4, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The Hollywood Palace
television show premieres on ABC and Bing is the host. This is the first of his
thirty-two appearances on the show, which runs to 1970.
A briskly paced vaudeville show was unveiled on
Saturday evening by the American Broadcasting Company to take the place of the
recent Jerry Lewis stage weight. For popular diversion, the hour gives promise
of turning out nicely.
The show bears the
title of “The Hollywood Palace” and adheres straightforwardly to the tested
formula of the two a day. Last night there were clowns for an opener, the main
star was penciled in for next of closing and there was a song fest to empty the
studio. The producers, Nick Vanoff and William O. Harbach, displayed their
showmanship by engaging some fine acts to bridge the intervals between
headliners. Andre Tahon’s puppet company was nothing short of superb in its miniature
version of the singing nuns doing “Dominique.” The Hardy family, a father and
his three engaging young daughters, were tumblers extraordinary. Silvan was
truly a mystifying illusionist; it was a pity he had to be cropped for a middle
commercial.
With its chief feature,
the show took no chances: it presented Bob Newhart in his wonderful monologue
on Sir Walter Raleigh trying to convince his London superior of the uses of
tobacco. And Mickey Rooney’s vitality stood him in good stead in making the
most of his rather thin sketch involving “Candid Camera.” Nancy Wilson, Gary
Crosby, the Young Americans and Bing Crosby, who doubled as master of
ceremonies, completed the roster. The musical aspects of the show, as a matter
of fact, were the weakest part of the evening.
But a good augury of
the future was the insistence of Mel Ferber, the director, that the show keep
moving. It looks as if there may be some new competition on the Ed Sullivan
level of television.
(Jack Gould, New York Times, January 6, 1964)
The Hollywood Palace, ABC-TV’s replacement for Jerry Lewis,
got off to a fine start Saturday. No effort was made to achieve novelty; it was
just good TVaudeville, with a well-chosen assortment of acts, guided with customary
smoothness by the ever reliable Bing Crosby.
After the perilous unpredictability of Mr. Lewis the sponsors
and the network took to safe, firm ground. All the turns, I believe, have
appeared with Ed Sullivan and other impresarios, and on various specials.
The Hollywood Palace will continue to present a variety
of acts, with a different master-of-ceremonies every week, There should be room
for another such program, if the quality of the premiere is maintained.
Mr. Crosby continues to present an amazingly youthful appearance,
with the help of one of the most noble hair pieces in show business. He didn’t
seem to be much older than his son Gary, also in the cast. Gary, incidentally, is
doing pretty well as an actor in the Bill Dana show.
(Donald
Kirkley, The Baltimore Sun, January
6, 1964)
As the first of the series’ guest hosts, Bing Crosby
was sharp-wittedly at ease and the Old Smoothie of fond memory. MC Crosby made
the hour seem better than it was.
(Herald Tribune, January 6, 1964)
January 5, Sunday. The Crosby furniture is loaded onto the
moving vans for transfer to 101 Robin Road, Hillsborough, near Burlingame, San
Francisco.
January 7, Tuesday. Bing’s mother dies in a Santa Monica
convalescent home at 3:30 p.m., nearly age ninety-one. She had been in a coma for
almost three weeks. Apart from her seven children, she left 23 grandchildren
and 22 great-grandchildren. Bing and his family are at Palm Springs when they
receive the news.
January 8, Wednesday. (8:00 p.m.) A Rosary for Bing’s mother is
recited at St. Paul the Apostle Church, Westwood. Bing and his siblings, except
Everett who is ill in hospital, get together at Larry’s home.
January 9, Thursday. The Crosby family, including Bing’s four sons,
again gathers at Larry Crosby’s home prior to the funeral of Bing’s mother. She
is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery after a requiem mass at 10:00 a.m. at St. Paul
the Apostle, Westwood. Father Corkery delivers “a stirring eulogy.” The
pallbearers are Edward Crowley, Basil Grillo, Leo Lynn, Dr. John Egan, A. J.
Vita and John Carberry. Bing and Kathryn return to Palm Springs.
At 4 p.m. on January 9, with no place else to go, we
finally returned to Palm Springs. Each time that I awoke that night I heard Bing
sobbing.
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Life with Bing,
page 275)
January 10, Friday. The final items of the Crosby furniture
are delivered to their new home in Hillsborough.
The last crates of antique furniture, hi-fi sets,
family mementos, clothing and 17-year old Scotch were delivered to the Bing
Crosby family’s new home—a $175,000 mansion, in Hillsborough yesterday. John
Scott Trotter, Crosby’s musical director for 27 years and an expert on
antiques, presided over the last delivery yesterday morning by the Bekins Van
& Storage Company. Because of a narrow, winding road leading to the
beautiful Tudor-style home, Bekins had to use their “midget” 16-foot vans, the
smallest the company has. Trotter, with help from the Crosby’s English butler,
Alan Fisher, capably directed the moving men, who were led by Bill Simms of Los
Angeles and William Snyder of Redwood City. It took eight vans to haul the more
than 40,000 pounds of household belongings —including priceless 16th. century
antiques, valuable paintings and first editions. Trotter, an ebullient and
charming man, fairly hopped with enthusiasm over the house. “It’s marvelous,
isn’t it?” he said repeatedly.
(San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 1964)
January 10-13, Friday–Monday. Bing and Kathryn are in Palm Springs. They go to their new home at Hillsborough on January 13. Bing joins the Burlingame Country Club and the children all eventually go to North Hillsborough School. Bing writes to Sheldon Schultz, the Talent Coordinator for the "Tonight" show.
I'm afraid that
it would be impossible for me to consider an appearance on the Johnny Carson
show. It would be unlikely that I would be coherent at that hour of the night,
as I am generally asleep two hours before. With very best
good wishes, As ever, Bing
January 16-19, Thursday–Sunday. Bing watches Tony Lema win the Bing Crosby Pro-Am Tournament at Pebble Beach. The weather is again poor with rain, sleet, wind, and fog. Celebrities taking part include Ray Milland, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, John Raitt, Ernie Ford, Fred MacMurray, James Garner, Bob Newhart, Jim Backus, Phil Harris, William Boyd, Donald O'Connor, Bob Crosby and Dennis Morgan. Amongst the famous spectators are Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Hope. NBC-TV coverage of the event takes place on the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. The Victory Dinner is held on the Sunday night at the Monterey Fairgrounds Pavilion. Bing and Kathryn stay at the Cypress Point Club during the tournament.
PEBBLE BEACH (UPI)
— Singer Frank Sinatra slugged socially prominent Richard Osborne in a brief
encounter at the Del Monte Lodge during the Bing Crosby Golf Tournament over
the weekend, Osborne revealed Monday. Osborne, president of Del Monte Properties,
suffered a slight cut over one eye, but said he blocked the remainder of
Sinatra's punches.
According
to Osborne, Sinatra entered the lodge with singer Dean Martin early Saturday
morning and demanded something to eat. A clerk told him the kitchen was closed.
When Sinatra insisted, the clerk called Osborne.
The
athletic, 185-pound Osborne said Sinatra asked him to come over. He said he arrived
with a bottle of champagne and that was when Sinatra started swinging.
“I
guess I over estimated Sinatra’s sense of humor,” he said.
(The Sacramento Union, January 21, 1964)
January 21, Tuesday. Starting at 11:30 a.m., Bing plays in the Porky Oliver Cancer Research Day tournament at Sunset Oaks Country Club,
Rocklin, California. Because of the very poor weather, the tournament
is cut to nine holes. Bing has a 47. About $12,000 is raised for the Porky
Oliver Cancer Fund.
January 22, Wednesday.
(Starting at 11:38 a.m.) Golfs in the pro-am before the Lucky
tournament at the Harding course in San Francisco. Bing's four-ball is
made up of Jimmy Demaret, Ed Crowley and Phil Harris. They score 64 -
two shots out of the money.
January 23,
Thursday. Writes a check for $100 payable to Sam Solis. He marks the
check as "Tourney Ex". Bing’s mother’s will is filed for probate.
She leaves Bing jewelry, an Oriental rug, pictures and $20,000, Larry Crosby $10,000, Bob Crosby $1,000, and
Everett
and Ted $50 each. The remainder of the estate is divided between her
daughters Mary Rose Pool and Catherine Mullin. The total value of
the estate is not revealed.
January 26, Sunday. Bing writes a check fot $245 payable to Phoebe Carter Alexander Estate which he annotates "Equipment of Robin Road".
January 29, Wednesday.
Bing is thought to have attended a
$100-a-plate fund-raising "Go Day" Republican dinner in the Pacifica
Room of the Sheraton-Villa Hotel, San Mateo. The featured speaker
is Peter H. Dominick and the master-of-ceremonies is Ray Bolger.
February 2, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn take their three children to
the San Francisco Sports and Boat Show.
February 3, Monday. Completes taping of The Bing Crosby Show,
which is shown on February 15. Bob Hope is involved in this segment, as he had
not previously completed his work for the show due to an earlier eye ailment.
February 4, Tuesday. Bing records patriotic songs for the album America,
I Hear You Singing with Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring and his
Pennsylvanians in Los Angeles for Reprise Records.
This is an impressive gathering of top names for a
patriotic paean in a swinging format. Backed by Fred Waring’s orch. and chorus,
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra singly and in tandem deliver a fine collection of
flag-wavers. Crosby takes off on “This Is a Great Country”, “This Land Is Your
Land” and “A Home in the Meadow.” Sinatra effectively handles “The House I Live
In”, “You’re a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith” and “Early American.” Together they
deliver “You Never Had It So Good” and “Let Us Break Bread Together”.
(Variety, May 9, 1964)
February 7, Friday.
Bing plays in the Mission Invitational Golf Tournament at the San Jose
Country Club and has a 71. The best-ball tournament benefits the Sight
Conservation Research Center of San Jose.
February 8, Saturday. The Beatles fly into New York to appear on
the Ed Sullivan show the following day. Their latest record is at number one.
February 10, Monday. Bing donates $150,000 to Gonzaga for the new
Society of Jesus faculty residence.
February 13, Thursday. Bing watches the San Francisco Warriors beat
the Boston Celtics 106-95 in a basketball game at the Cow Palace. The attendance is 8,140.
February 14, Friday. At RCA Victor’s Music Center of the World in Hollywood, Bing, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin record “The Bathtub Scene” a short sketch for use on the sound track accompanying Sid and Marty Krofft’s “Les Poupees de Paris.” This is a puppet show that premieres on Wednesday, April 22 in a specially built 675-seat theater in the lake amusement area at the New York World’s Fair at Flushing Meadow.
Dean Martin, Frank
Sinatra and Bing Crosby do a scene in a locker room shower (real water) talking
transatlantic with Brigitte Bardot, who cautions them, “Don’t say Paris, say
Paree.”
(Hedda Hopper, The Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1964)
It may take a lot more than “Les
Poupées de Paris” to pull the Amusement Area at the World’s Fair out of the doldrums.
But Sid and Marty Krofft’s lavish and spectacular puppet show will help. This
show has a lot of French bounce. From the moment the puppet orchestra rises
from the pit until the final curtain falls on a dazzling circus scene, there is
a lot of lively business on the stage. Birds twitter in the eaves…There had
been some concern that this puppet review might, in the French manner, be a bit
too saucy…When “Les Poupees de Paris” first opened in New York in December,
1962, some of the material was found in poor taste, some of the costumes a bit
scanty. But for this edition, hemlines were lowered, plunging necklines
stitched up, and the script doctored. The raciest line remaining in the show
belongs to a Jayne Mansfield puppet: “When I was 14, I learned to kiss and
smoke. I haven’t had time for a cigarette since.” What remains is an hour that
should prove thoroughly entertaining for both adults and children. Happily, a
puppet show blends with the gaiety of a World’s Fair, and is a charming
addition to it… the audience is dazzled by the effects that are achieved on
stage. These are possible only because of the technical versatility of the
stage. The recorded voices of people like Pearl Bailey, Bing Crosby, Phil
Silvers, Edie Adams and Loretta Young are used in connection with the
appearance of the puppets…If the show can be faulted it might be on the ground
that children might be frightened by the Grand Guignol scene starring the
Frankenstein monster. However, the valor of the children is probably being
underestimated. Only the adults will be afraid. The fear will not be a lasting
one. The puppet show is good entertainment and good fun.
(The New York Times, May 15, 1964)
February 15, Saturday. (8:30–9:30 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
is screened by CBS-TV. The guests are Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Hope,
Kathryn Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Peter Gennaro. John Scott Trotter is the
musical director and Nick Vanoff is producer-director.
Bing Crosby, who can somehow do no wrong in front of
the camera, ambled his way, effortlessly, through his hour Saturday night
special on CBS-TV. His tired pals, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin,
didn’t generate much excitement. It was left up to Peter Gennaro and his dancers
to add any sparkle the program had.
Bing’s wife, Kathryn,
was not much of a plus or minus in the line-up. She was there and she did, very
nicely, what she had been taught to do which was a novelty in itself. Actually,
she was a welcome change from Bing’s sons who usually show up on his TV
clambakes.
(Hollywood Citizen News, February 18, 1964)
This one had billing as ‘a special’ but therein lies a
misnomer. There’s nothing special about a program, despite illustrious show
business names, which lacks both wit and wisdom…..Mrs. Crosby proved to be the
hit of the show, being amiable and attractive. Otherwise Crosby’s show was a
disjointed effort.
While the various
players gave a fair account of themselves, mainly via the song and dance material
and the quipping clashes between Crosby and Hope, the program itself was devoid
of cohesion. It was as if each segment had been filmed on its own and then all
the pieces were put together as an afterthought, with continuity not in mind.
Crosby was strong with
‘Pennies from Heaven’ and ‘San Francisco’ and he and spouse were fine with the
‘Dream’ combo but for the rest, well, it was just a lost world….The show was
probably okay for the fans but the advertised come-on must have left a number of
people, unhappy.
(Variety, February 19, 1964)
The Prestons, the father-and-son law team on “The
Defenders,” were pre-empted last night on the Columbia Broadcasting System to
make way for Bing Crosby’s special musical hour. Followers of the Saturday
night legal dramatics probably questioned the wisdom of the substitution. Mr.
Crosby’s hour boasted a number of stars including his wife, Kathryn Crosby, Bob
Hope, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, and Pete Gennaro. But not
too much originality was employed in their use, and the show followed a
predictable course. The longest sequence had Mr. Crosby and Mr. Hope exchanging
insults as usual. Otherwise, the sixty minutes primarily had Mr. Crosby and his
colleagues in random numbers, the choice of which left much to be desired in
lilt or melody. The evening’s major pleasure was Mrs. Crosby, who in song and
dance projected an attractively youthful verve.
(Jack Gould, New York Times, February 16, 1964)
…
Getting down to business, the recent Bing Crosby Show proved once again that
Crosby is the unchallenged master of the insouciant style of singing - casual,
intimate, mellow. He was in splendid voice, too - reviving “Pennies from
Heaven” for openers, in a manner that proved just how he made this one a shiny hit
in the first place.
When
Bing and Rosemary Clooney work in tandem, as they did on the show, you are
watching two professionals and that says it all. In this age of the amateur,
when guitars and an old Burl Ives song book are available to anyone, it’s reassuring,
I think, to witness two professionals at work – singing songs, moreover,
written by other professionals.
Personally,
I was delighted with Bing and Rosemary spoofing the western songs, including
Cole Porter’s matchless spoof of the whole genre – “Don’t Fence Me In.” And I’m
altogether certain that nobody sings “Imagination” more tellingly than Miss
Clooney.
(Donald Freeman, Copley News Service, February 25,
1964)
February 18, Tuesday.
Bing writes a check for $350 payable to Green Rock Hunting Club. The
check is drawn on Citizens and National Trust Savings Bank,
Beverly-Fairfax branch.
February 22, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn celebrate the Chinese New Year at a lavish party thrown by the Buster Colliers at their Grant Street studio in San Francisco.
February 25, Tuesday. Songwriter Johnny Burke dies in his sleep at
the age of fifty-five.
February 27, Thursday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Kathryn Crosby appears with Cornel Wilde
and Martha Hyer in a Kraft Suspense Theater drama called Doesn’t Anyone Know
Who I Am on television. Her reviews are very poor.
February 28, Friday. It is announced that Bing has been appointed to the Board of Regents of the
Jesuit University of Santa Clara, California. Bing and Kathryn fly to their home in Las Cruces.
March 3, Tuesday. Announces that he will appear in a weekly
situation comedy television series in the fall for ABC. Each episode has a budget of around $70,000 with Bing himself
taking $15,000 to $20,000 of this. Bing makes a point of saying that he
will not accept any sponsorship from cigarette companies. In the event, Lever
Brothers and Lincoln-Mercury Division become sponsors. It is also noted that
Bing has turned down large sums of money to appear in Las Vegas, as he does not
want to be linked with gambling.
March (undated). Bing records a tribute to the late British singing
star, Michael Holliday, which is played at a memorial concert in London on
Sunday, April 19.
Announcer: Before the evening ends, Russ
Conway introduces one last tribute from across the Atlantic.
Russ Conway: Ladies and Gentlemen, the voice
of Bing Crosby.
Bing: I’m grateful indeed to have this
opportunity, even if in absentia, to pay tribute to Michael Holliday and to
participate in your benefit show. It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing. Michael
was certainly a great artist and a loyal and true friend, and I lament with
you, all of you, his premature passing from the scene before he had reached the
fulfilment, the complete fulfilment of his considerable talent. I recall
poignantly our encounters, our meetings, both in your country and in mine.
Every time I came to England. Michael came to see me with his good wife
Marjorie. They always made me feel that I mattered a good deal to them, and
that’s nice. I admired his talent and I liked his warm friendly personality. I
shall miss him. Thank you very much.
March 6, Friday. Press reports indicate that Bing and Kathryn plus their children have recently been to dinner at Vince's Seafood and Italian Restaurant in San Mateo.
March 11, Wednesday. Bing is at Las Cruces and hooks and lands a roosterfish weighing 50 pounds two ounces and measuring four feet one inch with a 12-pound line. He receives an honor badge in the Field & Stream, 54th annual fishing contest. Back in Los Angeles, Kathryn completes her 2-day State Board Nursing Examinations. She flies to join Bing in Mexico on March 12.
March 27, Friday onwards. Easter. At Las Cruces, Mexico. The Crosbys again thoroughly clean and refurbish the local church. Producer Steve Gethers visits Bing to discuss the forthcoming Bing Crosby Show series. During their stay in Mexico, the Crosbys visit Santiago, Pueblo, and also Mexico City where they meet Merle Oberon.
April, 5, Sunday.
Bing writes a check for $500 payable to "Cash" which he annotates as
"Ex Mexico". He appears to cash this at the Hotel El Presidente in
Mexico City.
April (undated). Bing accepts the board chairmanship of the new Northern California National Bank of San Mateo. Basil Grillo is also on the board. The Bank opens for business on April 3.
Over in San Mateo
the new board chairman of the new Northern California National Bank of San
Mateo quietly walked in to pay his first visit to the institution the other
day. None of the staff knew him personally but a board chairman can’t hide
under a trench coat, pork-pie hat and orange shirt. So plenty of employees
gathered around to help Bing Crosby open his own savings account – a gesture
which made him a pillar of the community.
(Bill Fiset, Oakland Tribune, May 14, 1964)
April 10, Friday. Back in Los Angeles, Bing records songs for
the Reprise album Robin and the Seven Hoods with Frank Sinatra, Dean
Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. Nelson Riddle conducts the orchestra.
A try at a latter-day “Guys and Dolls”, Robin and
the Seven Hoods has a slick set of music and lyrics by Sammy Cahn and James
Van Heusen, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. With such topflight
funsters as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and Sammy Davis Jr. to
warble the songs, this LP looms as a solid contender at the stores and on the
air. All of ‘em have at least one good number and the overall feel of the
session is upbeat. The Warner filmusical will soon be released and it could be
a surprise summer winner. The LP has a fine chance on its own.
(Variety, June 24, 1964)
…It is difficult to take the music away from the film
context, but several things are obvious. Sinatra’s voice sounds rather tired;
Dino’s improving all the time; Bing is singing extremely well; and Sammy takes
a vocal backseat. And finally, the songs are poor. Best one: “My Kind of Town”,
by Frank (Reprise).
(Melody Maker, September 12, 1964)
May 2, Saturday. Press reports indicate that Mary Healy
has turned down the opportunity to test for the lead opposite Bing in
the forthcoming sitcom series. She is reluctant to leave the East
Coast. Within days, Beverly Garland is confirmed to be Bing's wife in the series.
May 4, Monday. Bing, with his young son, Harry, attends the
San Francisco Giants baseball game at Candlestick Park and sees the Houston
Colts beaten 3-2.
May 8, Friday. Bing writes to Club Crosby
representative, Priscilla Koernig.
You
were very thoughtful, and very kind, to send me the pictures taken when you
attended the golf tournament at Pebble Beach last winter. It seemed to me the
pictures turned out quite well.
Yes,
I’m a Giants fan, until Pittsburgh improves a little. You know, I’m a
Pittsburgh owner, or part-owner. Of course, even when they play the Giants,
I’ll have to root for them, but all other times I’ll be pulling for the Giants.
They
must be a very brave team to play half their schedule in that deep freeze
called “Candlestick Park”.
Thanks
for the pictures,
All
best wishes, Bing
May (undated). Bing is back in Las Cruces and fishes with Ed Crowley, Buster Collier and Dick Snideman.
May 15, Friday. Everett Crosby is discharged from hospital (see January 2, 1964).
May 17, Sunday. Bing writes a check for $100 payable to Father Luis Ruggeia. He marks it "donation."
June (undated). Bing commences filming episodes of his new
sitcom series at Desilu Studios in Hollywood.
Meanwhile Bing was
scribbling off a note every time that there was a pause in his crowded
schedule:
“We finished shooting the
first episode this morning. The work isn’t too difficult but it’s constant, and
all other activities and interests must be excluded. We work straight through
from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. By the time I bathe and dress for dinner it’s
9 o’clock, and I collapse into bed by 10. I have to rest a minimum of nine
hours because, as you well know, only about five of them are spent sleeping.”
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Life with Bing,
page 291)
“The Bing Crosby Show went into production around the 15th of June on Stage 7, where Desilu-Gower Studios had soundstages they had leased from Paramount. Crosby, an avid golfer, could often be seen practicing his game using a steel-framed net sent over by his thoughtful “landlady” Lucille Ball. He also had a bicycle parked just outside the stage door so he could ride over to Stages 8 and 9 where his other two productions, Ben Casey and Slattery’s People, were shooting. As part of her contract, Beverly received $5000 to decorate her dressing room on the set.
Set visitors would often find Crosby and Frank McHugh using the time between scenes to play an improvised game of trivia where each would try to outdo the other recalling obscure or famous vaudeville performers and the songs they performed in their acts. Beverly marveled at Bing’s photographic memory, “He was the kind of person who could sit down and look at a script in the morning and he would memorize all the lines. He was a great sports buff and he also remembered every star, every actor, just about everything from the 1920s and 1930s because that’s when he started in the business.”
She also recollected that Crosby was always on time for rehearsals and she never saw him lose his temper. “He’s quiet on the set,” she recounted to Charles Witbeck during an interview for King Feature Syndicate (February 14, 1965), “but knows what is going on all around him. Bing doesn’t play the star bit. You never hear the phone ring for him or see secretaries come running out with papers to sign. If he wants something, he goes and gets it himself.”
Beverley told Lydia Lane (Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1965), “Bing takes things so easy, but he has tremendous control. The only way you can tell when something is bothering him is that he doesn’t sing or make jokes. You never know if he is elated or depressed. Bing hides his feelings. He’s not an extrovert. He doesn’t particularly like small talk but his mind is shooting along.”
…One very often hears harrowing tales about the pressures of working on
a weekly television series. However, this was apparently not the case on The
Bing Crosby Show. Reporter Eleanor Roberts noted that during her set visit,
she immediately noticed a “camaraderie that was rarely found on Hollywood
sets.” Bing would often been seen doing a time step or singing up a storm at
the end of the work day. It was also widely-known that the show’s work schedule
called for a two-week break after four or five episodes were filmed, to give
Crosby a chance to take care of his other business interests, spend time with
his family and/or play golf. The cast and crew were required to work 12-hour
average days, five days a week, to make up for the time lost during these
frequent hiatuses.”
(Deborah Del Vecchio, Beverly
Garland - Her Life and Career, page 96)
June 10, Wednesday. Writes a check for $225 payable to Executive Aviation.
June 11, Thursday. Films an episode for the sitcom series
called “Janice and Me on a Saturday Spent with Random Inputs No.1”. The episode
is transmitted on December 14.
June 16, Tuesday. Whilst filming his sitcom series at Desilu
Studios, Bing gives an interview during the afternoon to an Australian
broadcaster, Philip Brady. The interview is broadcast later in the year in
Australia.
June 18, Thursday. Irish impresario George O’Reilly visits
Bing’s home and mentions a song called “Christmas Candles” that had been
recorded by one of George’s clients. Bing plays the song and arranges to record
it the next day at a session which had already been organized. Nelson Riddle
has an arrangement written overnight.
June 19, Friday. Records Christmas songs (including “Christmas
Candles”) with Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians in Los
Angeles for Reprise Records. The album – “12 Songs of Christmas” is released in November and achieves
advance orders of 79,000.
This is an attractive compilation of seasonal standards delivered in standout style by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, singly and in tandem, with the polished support of Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. Among the top sides in this set are “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Da”" and “The 12 Days of Christmas.”
(Variety, October 7, 1964)
“12 Songs of Christmas,” with Bing Crosby, Frank
Sinatra and Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians (Reprise R2022). Plenty of
expensive talent crammed uncomfortably into a small, well-worn stocking.
Obvious, pallid stuff, with the two head groaners actually together on only two
tracks, and neither of them anywhere in particularly good voice. Collectors of
sheer corn may take a perverse delight in an item called “We Wish You the
Merriest.”
(The Gramophone, December, 1965)
June 20, Saturday. Tapes a Spanish-speaking panel show called
“Los Expertos Contestan” for Latin American release. Bing writes to Kathryn,
who is in Austin, Texas, rehearsing for her role of Eliza Doolittle in the play Pygmalion at the University of Texas.
“I made a Christmas album with Sinatra and Fred Waring
over the weekend. Also taped a panel show called Los Expertos Contestan
for Latin American release. I tried to do it in Spanish, but got all tangled
up. We’ll have to find time to learn that language one of these days.”
(As reproduced in My Life with Bing, page 291)
June 25, Thursday. Bing writes a check for $200 payable to "Cash". He annotates it as "Exps Hollywood for Series ". Leo Lynn signs it on the back.
June 28, Sunday. Bing writes to Kathryn.
"Gary has been
invited to Calgary to be Grand Marshal of the Stampede. He may have trouble
making it because he’s in a film, and we’re planning to use him in one of our
episodes. Lindsay drops in on the set
practically every day, and Denny works right next door. So we’ll probably write
in some parts for them too."
(As reproduced in My Life with Bing, page 291)
June 29-July 8, Monday-Wednesday. Kathryn and Jim McQueen star in Pygmalion at the Hogg Auditorium in Austin, Texas.
July 3, Friday. Dennis Crosby is divorced by Pat Sheehan for
being “a bad father, a habitual drinker, and a neglectful husband.” There are
two children from the marriage.
July 5, Sunday. (9:30-10:30 p.m.). Bing, Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring are interviewed by Bill Ballance on Los Angeles radio station KFWB as part of a previously recorded promotion for the new album "America, I Hear You Singing."
July 7, Tuesday. Bing writes a check for $1900 payable to Paul H. Faber which he annotates "Purchase 2 paintings".
July 11,
Saturday. Bing and Kathryn go to the wedding of
Chatty Collier Greiner (the daughter of the Buster Colliers) and Hugh
Cook at Stanford Memorial Church. Bing sings part of “I Love You Truly”
as the
wedding cake is cut.
July 12,
Sunday. Bing and Kathryn are at the dinner given by the Charles
Thieriots at the Burlingame Club. They go on to attend a ball given by
Mr.
and Mrs. Edward Scripps at the Scripps home in Hillsborough.
July 25, Saturday. Takes
part in the "Low Jinks" variety show at the private Bohemian Grove
encampment at Monte Rio, California on the Russian River. Others involved are Phil Harris,
George Murphy, Art Linkletter, Dennis Day, Bill Gargan and Andy Devine.
July (undated). Bing has become honorary chairman of the Santa Clara Swim Club
Benefit Olympic Trials Club Golf Sweepstakes which is to be held over
six courses August 8-16. A photograph of him demonstrating his golf
swing is seen in the local press on July 26 as publicity for the event.
July 26, Sunday.
Bing golfs at Burlingame Country Club and at 2 p.m., he boards a jet
for Los Angeles. He goes on to the Coliseum in Los Angeles
to watch the United States-Soviet track and field meet.
July 28, Tuesday. Kathryn Crosby opens in Sabrina Fair at the Avondale Playhouse in Indianapolis and continues there until August 2. Her mother accompanies her on the tour. Kathryn's leading man is again John Lupton.
July (undated). Bing continues filming episodes of his new sitcom series
at Desilu Studios throughout July and August. He spends the weekdays in
Hollywood, staying at the Sheraton-West, and flies back to Hillsborough for the
weekends. The schedule requires five shows to be filmed in three weeks following
which there is a week off before the schedule is repeated. Bing works from 8:00
a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.
August 3, Monday. Films the “Genius at Work” episode of his
forthcoming sitcom series.
August 4-9, Tuesday-Sunday. Kathryn Crosby stars in Sabrina Fair at the Northland Playhouse, Detroit.
August 5, Wednesday. The film Robin and the Seven Hoods
is released by Warner-Pathe.
Warner Bros.
has a solid money entry in “Robin and the Seven Hoods,” a spoof on gangster pix
of bygone days sparked by the names of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bing
Crosby to give marquee power. . . Top song number is “Style,” sung by Sinatra,
Crosby and Martin. . . Performance-wise, Falk comes out best. His comic
gangster is a pure gem and he should get plenty of offers after this. Sinatra,
of course, is smooth and Crosby in a “different” type of role rates a big hand.
Martin seems lost in the shuffle. Davis is slick and Miss Rush, going heavy, is
beautiful to look at.
(Variety,
June 24, 1964)
The minor musical whimsey that arrived at the Palace
and other theaters yesterday under the just-too-cunning title of “Robin and the
7 Hoods” is almost as strained and archaic in the fable it has to tell of
Prohibition-era gangsters in Chicago as the fable of Robin Hood it travesties.
Dishing up Frank
Sinatra as the leader of a mob that enhances its public image by giving large sums
of money to charity, it runs through some all-too-familiar plot arrangements
and farce routines that have a fleeting and far-away resemblance to some of the
stuff in the old Damon Runyon tales.
Mr. Sinatra is this
character Robbo who runs a merry and mercenary mob that is constantly in
cheerful competition with another run by cockeyed Peter Falk. Dean Martin is
his genial and girl-nutty side-kick, Little John, and Sammy Davis Jr. is his
agile and derby-hatted henchman, Will Scarlet. And Bing Crosby is the seemingly
solemn square, Alan A. Dale, who gets the boys into the charity racket and
turns out to be the coolest of the lot. But for all those magnificent talents,
it is an artless and obvious film. The brightest thing about it is its color
photography. There is some mildly amusing byplay with a dead gangster’s
ambitious daughter, performed by Barbara Rush, plus a few songs of no
distinction and a frenzied fracas with the hoods of Mr. Falk. And, as though
there weren’t enough aping in it, Mr. Crosby sings a moralizing song, “Don’t Be
a Do-Badder” in a roomful of charity-home boys.
Well, at least, one can
say this for it: The usual Sinatra arrogance is subdued. It is about as humble
and harmless as a romp with the Keystone cops.
(Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, August 6,
1964)
I must confess I was yawning up to the moment Bing Crosby made his quiet and studious entrance as the unworldly secretary of a children’s orphanage. The years have not dealt lightly with Mr. Crosby. The tips of the famous toupee have receded still
further back upon that time-honoured
face. But after some moments of horrifying suspicion that he had been
introduced as a mute stooge for the Sinatra Clan, the Old Master opened his mouth to
sing again and to prove that his sweetness of
tone remains unimpaired and undiminished for all his years of seniority.
(Michael Thornton, The Sunday Express, July 26, 1964)
August 7, Friday. The United States steps up action against
North Vietnam.
August 8, Saturday. Bing is at Hillsborough to supervise
Harry’s birthday party. Kathryn is still in the play—Sabrina Fair—in Detroit Bing writes to her.
“As I write, Harry’s birthday party is in full sway.
The entire yard is decorated with balloons, streamers, and Donald Duck
placards. Only one serious conflict has developed. Nathaniel is quietly and
seriously insisting that it is his birthday too. He’s not given to impassioned
outbursts, but he’s steadily, relentlessly obdurate. At this point it looks as
if we’ll just have to yield and find another cake.
I
now share your opinion of the inadequacies of this house, but I have grave
doubts about building again. I just don’t know whether I have the energy to
deal with the inevitable worries, decisions, and frustrations.”
(As reproduced in My Life with Bing, page 293)
August 10-15, Monday-Saturday. Kathryn stars in Sabrina Fair at the Pocono Playhouse in Mountainhome, Pennsylvania.
August 12, Wednesday. Bing signs a check for $100 payable to Charley Penna Fund.
August 15, Saturday. (11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.) Bing records part
of the That Travellin’ Two Beat album with Rosemary Clooney
and Billy May and his Orchestra for Capitol Records in Los Angeles.
Whether we were recording or just singing together,
Bing and I were always comfortable. The best thing about singing with Bing was
that our ranges were so compatible; we never had a problem selecting a key for
the two of us that was comfortable. You’ll probably be surprised to learn that
neither of us could read music. We managed to phrase well together anyway,
using our own system. What we always had was a setup that allowed us to look at
each other, because each of us could tell from the way the other took a breath
what the phrasing was going to be. That was the closest contact that we had,
and it worked out very well for us. I did that to the end—the last
concert—angling myself so that I could see him when we were dueting.
(Rosemary Clooney, This for Remembrance, page
236)
August 16, Sunday. Bing again writes to Kathryn.
“Shoulders sufficiently
improved to permit cancellation of hospitalization, and rescheduling of the
recording session with Rosemary Clooney. I’m delighted because there was a great
deal of pressure from Capitol to get it done before she left on tour. Gary
doing very well in this episode. Quite a revelation to me. He’s punctual knows
his lines, and is cooperative and receptive to directions and suggestions.”
(As reproduced in My Life with Bing, page 295)
August 17-22, Monday-Saturday. Kathryn stars in Sabrina Fair at the Mt. Tom Playhouse, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
August 18, Tuesday. Bing films “The Gifted Child,” another
program in the sitcom series. There are now ten programs recorded and a
two-week break is taken by the production team.
August 21, Friday. Phillip Crosby weds Mary Joyce Gabbard, an airline
stewardess, in Las Vegas.
August 22, Saturday. Bing sees Kathryn in the play Sabrina
Fair at the Mount Tom Playhouse in Holyoke, Massachusetts. They both go
on to visit Everett Crosby at Canaan, Connecticut, en route to New York for
four days of shopping.
The arrival of the Crosby entourage at Motor Lodge in
Holyoke had all the makings of a late, late show movie on TV. Crosby breezed
into Holyoke in a sleek, black limousine accompanied by the usual liveried chauffeur,
Holyoke Mayor Daniel Dibble, and a siren-wailing, light-flashing police
escort. Bing had flown in from California Saturday afternoon on a commercial
flight that made three unsuccessful attempts to land at overcast Logan airport
in Boston. The plane finally touched down at Hanscom field in Bedford, a
combination Air Force-civilian airport. Then began the hurried rush here to
allow him to see his wife for the first time in her summer theater comedy
production… About a dozen Holyoke police and several cruisers were involved in
the V.I.P. treatment given Crosby, who will be leaving the area today… Despite
the hectic day and the flight problems, Crosby was relaxed when he finally
talked to newsmen shortly before going to Mt. Tom to see the play… A chorus of
“White Christmas” closed the impromptu performance—a Bing Crosby appearance
seems to need that tag—and, trailing policemen and cheering fans, the crooner
re-mounted the black limousine to watch someone else—his wife—in the spotlight
for a change.
(The Springfield Sunday Republican, August 23,
1964)
August 29-30, Saturday-Sunday. Rehearses for and then tapes ABC’s
Wide World of Entertainment (a preview of coming attractions on the ABC-TV
network) at the Hollywood Palace Theatre with Mickey Rooney, David Janssen,
Inger Stevens, Gene Barry, Kathy Nolan, Jimmy Dean, Sammy Jackson, David Hedison, Tony Franciosa, Richard Basehart, Lawrence Welk, Connie Stevens, and many other guests. The actual show is taped
between 8 and 9 p.m. on the Sunday night. Bing is paid $20,000 for his services,
which include taping a commercial for Quaker State Oil. The arrangements are
made through Artists Agency Corporation of 9229 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.
September 4, Friday. Commences taping the
“What’s a Buddy For?” episode for his sitcom series with Lloyd Nolan.
September 11, Friday. Bing leaves Hollywood at 4:30 p.m. and flies to Burlingame. Then Bing and Kathryn go to see Othello at
the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco before attending the Opera Guild
Ball where they dance until the early hours.
September 13, Sunday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) ABC’s Wide World of
Entertainment is broadcast. The show had been taped on August 30.
Surprise is the word for “Wide World of
Entertainment.” What we were expecting was a roll call of ABC-TV stars
extolling the virtues of their new or continuing series. That could be a bore.
What we got was a pleasant variety show hosted by a casual and winning
Bing Crosby, as he hasn’t been TV-seen in years, a nice assortment of songs and
dances by an unusual group of warblers and hoofers (David Janssen, Mickey
Rooney, Connie Stevens, Gene Barry and Kathy Nolan, as well as Mr. Crosby), and
more bright comedy lines than one had a right to expect from a variety hour.
(New York Herald Tribune,
September 14, 1964)
Crosby, last night served as host of a program
introducing the stars and shows debuting this week on ABC. It was a nice bit of
fluffery serving to show the network’s intense concentration upon strictly
light-hearted programming.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, September 14,
1964)
Some day, it’s to be fervently hoped, somebody’ll come
along with an effective ‘let me entertain you’ trailer on things to come - a
trailer, for example, that won’t have the opposite effect of what was intended
and induce viewers to stay away. . . When the hour was over, what was chiefly
demonstrated (and perhaps, compensated for the entire 60 minutes) was the
indestructibility of Bing Crosby.
(Variety, September 16, 1964)
September 14, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show,
a half-hour situation comedy, premieres on ABC-TV. It lasts one season until
April 1965 and is not placed in the top twenty ratings of weekly shows. The
cast includes Beverly Garland, Frank McHugh, Diane Sherry, and Carol Faylen.
Steven Gethers is the producer with James Sheldon directing. John Scott Trotter
is the musical director. The opening episode is called “A Fine Romance.”
BING
CROSBY has ANOTHER wife—and he’s going back to work.
And
as he’s 60, multimillionaire with thriving business interests, happily married
with a family, people are asking. . . WHY?|
For
Bing has agreed, for the first time in his career, to a weekly TV series, a
family show with lovely Beverly Garland as Mrs. Bing Collins, his wife, Carol
Faylen as their 16-year-old daughter, Joyce, and Diane Sherry as their
11-year-old daughter Janice. Living with the family is Bing Collins’s wartime
buddy Willie (played by comedian Frank McHugh) who dropped in for a meal and
just hasn’t left.
Why
face the high pressure and grind of a weekly show, particularly when for years
you have worried about the dangers of over-exposure?
Says
Bing: “I liked what they showed me and thought I’d take a crack at it.”
The
fact is that Bing was bored. His holdings in the orange-juice business, real
estate, oil and Bing Crosby Productions were all in good hands, needed little
attention from him. He’d had all the golf and fishing he wanted.
Agents
and friends had been trying for years to persuade Bing to take on a weekly TV
show. His answer was that he didn’t mind an occasional appearance but that was
all.
“Suppose
I made 52 movies a year? Who’d come to watch me after the fifth or sixth?
They’d get fed up with my voice, my kisser, every aspect of me. No.”
Then
one of Bing’s agents, Meta Rosenberg, took over a proposition for Bing to make
several specials. Her viewpoint: There were already so many specials on
TV that there was nothing very special about them.
“What
would be special to if we could ever talk Bing into doing a weekly
series,” she said.
“After
all good motion-picture roles for Bing are hard to come by, but he’s still a
fine actor in good physical condition with an excellent mind and great stores
of energy.”
So
she went to Bing and put up the proposition again, pointing out that stars such
as Lucille Ball, Red Skelton and Donna Reed had all been appearing regularly on
TV for years
Bing
said he would try it, if he liked the format of the shows they planned. The
Bing Collins family was the result. Bing, as Bing Collins, is an engineer who
is also consultant to a nearby university. As a father he is sensible and
witty. It’s a family with no zany relationships—just a group of happy people
whose life can be fun. He sings in each show, gives the youngsters sound
advice. For instance, when elder daughter, Joyce pleads for an equal-terms
relationship with her parents he explains: “You want to be us. And you can’t.
And you force us into trying to be you. And we can’t. We’re not meant to be
friends, baby. I’m your father. And you’re my kid. And if that’s an outmoded
parent-child relationship I’m all for it.”
It’s
quality with a pedigree. Most half-hour TV shows are budgeted at around 50,000
to 60,000 dollars (£22,300 to £26.700) a program. The Bing Crosby Show is
closer to 70,000 dollars (£31,250). Bing’s take from this package, which he
owns completely, is from 15,000 to 20,000 dollars (£4700 to £8930) a week.
It
hits the screen this month in the U.S.
(TV Week, September 19, 1964)
The feeling is inescapable, in watching the new Bing
Crosby situation comedy series which premiered Monday night (14) on ABC-TV,
that it’s just about fifteen years too late in arriving. For when all is said
and done—and the saying and the doing take a long time—the new 30-minute entry
is nothing more than a variation on a dozen similar “Ozzie & Harriet,”
“Make Room for Daddy” themes. Attractive people all, as were (and are) their
predecessors, each responding to the other’s cues with all proper and
warmed-over nuances to match their own stylized comedies and delivery. But
unfortunately it’s all been seen and acted and scripted before, with nary a bow
to innovation. It’s telegraphed to the viewer from the word go and while
there’s no denying that Crosby has a way with a given situation, the warm
banter or even the grimace, it lacks any sort of inventiveness to take it out
of its vintaged mould. It’s all played low key and casual (often to the point
of dragging) as Crosby and his mate, Beverly Garland (in this initial
installment), relive their courtship, amid the more frantic behaviorism of
their teen-age daughters, Carol Faylen and Diane Sherry. Even the old props
will be recognizable - as for example, the wartime pal, (Frank McHugh) who
becomes a permanent houseguest. That’s really going back. Don Beaumont as the
scripter, James Sheldon as director and Steven Gethers as producer are a match
for Crosby and the others in perpetuating the cliché.
(Variety,
September 16, 1964)
Bing Crosby, in his first TV series rather than a
special, has been assigned the 9:30 niche and his domestic situation comedy
might work out in to something rather nice and different. At least he starts
out as a sensible father, not a wack, and he and his TV wife, Beverly Garland,
live a more gentle life than is the norm for couples on the screen,
Don Beaumont’s opening
script had several warmly understanding insights into married life in the
middle years, notably the fact that conversation has a way of always veering
back to the welfare of one’s children. If James Sheldon, the director, can
withstand the normal TV pressures for fierce activity in comedy, Mr. Crosby’s family
series could evolve pleasantly.
(Jack Gould, New York Times, September 15,
1964)
Because of Crosby’s star power there was no need for a pilot. When Mr. Sheldon came on board as director, the cast and crew had already been assembled. He had never worked with Bing before, and he soon realized what a joy it was to direct him. “He generally enjoyed his work. He was very cooperative and never late, and always thoroughly prepared. He was truly a class operation.” There naturally would be a script reading and a rehearsal before each shoot began. “We would never over-rehearse. That ruins the energy, especially with the kids.” …
He quickly learned that the best way to direct Bing was to just keep him happy. “Just let Bing be Bing! How do you tell Bing Crosby how to act or sing?” …
He continued, “There was never a hint of strife on The Bing Crosby Show. We always broke early because of the youngsters on the show. Bing didn’t like to work too late, anyway.” Was there ever an attempt to film the show with a live audience? “No. Most sit-coms of that time were done on film.”…
“John Scott Trotter, the music director for the series, suggested that a piano player be ever present on the set. So if Bing would ever get bored or down, if things ever got too quiet, if his energy level would ebb, or if he became frustrated because a script didn’t arrive until the last minute, there would always be the sound of the piano not too far away. Once Bing heard the music, he would become revitalized.” The piano was played by a staff pianist at Desilu studios, where the series was filmed. “It became the talk around the lot that there was always ‘a cocktail party without booze’ on the set!”
The series is especially noteworthy for the Crosby vocals which would adorn each episode. The variety of the songs is impressive, ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan to Duke Ellington, from the plaintive ‘Japanese Sandman’ to the rollicking ‘Kansas City’. Mr. Sheldon shed much light on this aspect of the series.
“All the musical numbers were directly recorded live on the set – there was not enough time to do otherwise. Bing preferred it that way. There were never any elaborate production numbers with different angles requiring matching shots, so they were easy to do.” Mr. Sheldon indicated that there was never an orchestra on the set. Mr. Trotter’s incidental music would be added after filming. There was just pianist Buddy Cole’s small combo.
Mr. Sheldon had great affection for Frank McHugh, who played Willie, the household handyman who had been Bing’s WW2 companion. “We got along fine. Frank was a delight. I loved working with him. He was always ready. There was very little reason for him to be there, but Bing and he were buddies. They were in Going My Way together. Frank was very much accepted.”
Mr. Sheldon remembered the pleasure of directing Carol Faylen and Diane Sherry, who played Bing’s daughters, respectively, Joyce the rambunctious teenager, and Janice, the pre-teen all-purpose savant. “We had a very good time together. Bing liked the children very much. Diane’s mother was a true stage mother, but not oppressively so, like some others I’ve known, although she was on the set regularly. Everyone got along extremely well. It was such a fun show.” Was Mr. Sheldon aware that Carol Faylen was the daughter of Frank Faylen, Bing’s co-star in Blue Skies, Welcome Stranger and Road to Rio? He was not, and has no memories of Mr. Faylen visiting the set.
A recurring character on the program was Clarissa Roberts, the best friend of older daughter Joyce. She was played by Pamela Austin and is prominently featured in the episode entitled, Are Parents People. “Bing liked her a lot. He thought that she was quite attractive.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
September 19, Saturday.
Bing and his family watch the Pittsburgh Pirates being beaten 13-4 by
the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. They leave during the 7th
inning.
September 20, Sunday. Peacock Gap Golf & Country Club at San Rafael hosts the First Marin Invitational Tournament of Stars, which is watched by 4,000 fans. Bing and Kathryn (plus young Harry) attend briefly for lunch. Others present are Joe DiMaggio, Clint Eastwood, Martin Milner, Forrest Tucker, James Garner, Jim Backus, the comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, and Gary Morton, who is accompanied by his wife, Lucille Ball.
September 21, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV with guest Gary Crosby. The episode is titled “Guess Who Is Exactly
Like Who?” (10:00–11:00 p.m.) A new drama series Slattery’s People
starring Richard Crenna starts its run on CBS-TV. It has been produced by Bing
Crosby Productions. The opening rating is 23.2 to 12.1 due to opposition from Ben
Casey on ABC-TV, another show from the Bing Crosby Productions stable.
An out-and-out gimmick show, but how many
others would be able to pull this type off? Gary Crosby guests as Bing’s
daughter boyfriend, a hip flip-talking counterpart of hr father (maybe that’s
why she fell for him) and a bit of a tune thief. Gary does a rock ‘n roll
version of “Night and Day” and persuades Bing’s family that it’s an original creation.
Bing is long suffering and genial and although there’s no particular wallop in
this episode, it’s reasonably pleasant.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, September 21, 1964)
Gary Crosby appeared on two episodes, Exactly Like Who? and The Dominant Male. In both, he played Don, another of Janice’s beaus.
“Gary and I became friends. I went out for dinner with him and his wife, who was kind of flashy, one night. He wanted to work with me on other shows, but we never got around to it. I thought that he was a very nice fellow. I was so surprised when Gary’s book, ‘Going My Own Way’, came out. Bing and Gary seemed to get along so well. They had a terrific rapport. I remember them sitting around the piano and chatting. They were very friendly. It was apparent that they had a very warm relationship. Bing was quite fond of him.” He mentioned that his dear friend Judy Lewis, the daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, thought very highly of the Crosby boys and became quite upset when Gary’s tome was published. In fact, there was a photo of Mr. Sheldon and Ms. Lewis together on display on the shelf behind the couch where we sat for the interview.
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
September 23, Wednesday. Films an episode called “Conform, Conform,
Whoever You Are” for The Bing Crosby Show, his weekly sitcom.
September 26, Saturday. Bing is spending the weekend in Los Angeles
and goes to see the UCLA Bruins football team play Penn State. The Bruins win
21-14.
September 27, Sunday. Goes to see the St. Louis Rams play the
Minnesota Vikings. The Rams win 22-13.
September 28, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV with guest Ulla Jacobsson. The episode is titled “A Bit of Fresh
Danish.”
Excellent episode. At last, Bing’s series hits on all
cylinders and shows some promise. The plot concerns a scientist Bing met in
Copenhagen who has come to town on a visit. The scientist happens to be a tasty
bit of Danish pastry, complete with Danish ideas of love and courtship. There
are not real belly laughs as we go through the standard jealousy routines but
the characters gel, the pace is perfect and it’s a smile from start to finish.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, September 28,
1964)
October 1, Thursday. The Crosbys find and soon arrange to buy a
thirty-two room French-style chateau at 1200 Jackling Drive, on the other side of
Hillsborough from their present house. The property had at one time been owned
by Bing’s former racing partner, Lindsay Howard, and Bing had many happy
memories of it. The Crosbys eventually move in to their new home in December
1965.
October 2, Friday. Bing and Kathryn, accompanied by John Scott Trotter, go to see "Gianni Schicchi" at the Opera House in San Francisco.
October 4, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn are at Green Rock Pheasant
Farm and Hunting Club in San Rafael for a daylong shooting party in their honor organized by Victor
Bergeron. John Scott Trotter accompanies them.
No one had a
better time (or more luck on the field) than the old groaner and his pretty and
vivacious wife. They were among the first out at 9 a.m. and among the last to
come in for luncheon and again in the afternoon they were out late and bagged
several birds apiece.
(The San Francisco Examiner, October 6,
1964).
October 5, Monday (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV with guests “The Wellingtons.” The episode is titled “The Green
Couch.”
Bing continues to come out on top in his role as one
of TV’s most sensible husband/fathers. Tonight wife, Beverly Garland and
friend, Frank McHugh wind up in the clink after a small misunderstanding with
the police and Bing has to bail them out.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, October 5, 1964)
October 6, Tuesday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Bing makes a live guest
appearance on the Bell Telephone Hour television show that comes from
NBC’s Burbank studios. He is accompanied by Buddy Cole, although there are
indications that he may have lip synched to a pre-recording. Other guests
include Burl Ives and The McGuire Sisters.
The series came out for the seventh TV season bell
with a stellar marquee of Burl Ives, the McGuire Sisters, concert pianist Grant
Johannesen and a wham plus in the person of Bing Crosby. Der Bingle, backed by
Buddy Cole’s combo, was likewise retrospective, but let it be said that his evergreen
nostalgia (“Chinatown,” “Confessing,” “Avalon,” etc.) was indeed a delightful
capper to this latest Bell seminar in musical democracy. It was notably, Bing’s
first stint on the show, which beamed live from NBC’s Burbank plant.
(Variety, October 7, 1964)
This doesn’t seem
to be Bing Crosby’s year on TV. Bing’s so-so
ABC series hasn’t got off the ground yet. And last night, as the final act of
an otherwise sparkling Bell Telephone Hour, the groaner seemed to saunter through
a medley of his favorite tunes in an undistinguished fashion. His usual feel of
excellence wasn’t evident in the performance.
(Kay Gardella, Daily
News, October 7, 1964)
October 12, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. Jimmy Boyd is the guest and the episode is titled “Hoop Shots Are
Hard to Get.”
Pleasant episode. Papa Bing’s casual
approach towards parenthood comes to grips with his older daughter’s (Carol
Faylen) modern ideas on the subject.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, October 12, 1964)
October 19, Monday. Lindsay Crosby is found guilty of disturbing the peace at Beverly Hills Municipal Court. This stems from a disturbance at a Sunset Strip nightclub in June 1963. On appeal, the verdict is overturned on October 30. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show on ABC-TV. No guests. The episode is titled “Flashback—Ah, Happy Days!”
If you’ve been
wondering how on earth the Collins family got hooked into the permanent care
and feeding of boarder Willie. Maybe this episode will help. It’s a delightful bit
of nostalgia picking up Bing and Willie (Frank McHugh) as they are discharged
from the army and showing Bing and Ellie’s (Beverly Garland) less than idyllic courtship.
The whole half hour is just wonderful and at the end it leaves only one question
unanswered. How on earth did the Collins family get hooked into the permanent
care and feeding of boarder Willie?
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, October 19,
1964)
October 20, Tuesday. Taping of the Bing Crosby Show
resumes after a 3-week break and work starts on the Christmas show, which is to
be filmed in color. John Scott Trotter handles the arrangements and the conducting.
October 24, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn take their children to Frontier Village amusement park in San Jose, California to celebrate Nathaniel’s third birthday.
October 26, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show on ABC-TV with guest Macdonald Carey and this episode is “The Education of Bing Collins.”
The Bing Crosby Show
comes up with a winner in tonight’s “The Education of Bing Collins.” Seems as if
teen-age Joyce Collins (Carol Faylen) thinks her parents are just a stone’s
throw from being prehistoric. She has been charmed by her egghead school teacher
(MacDonald Carey) and it takes considerable doings to make her change her mind.
The song for the evening is “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” a pleaser with Bing and
Beverly Garland in high form.
(The Ithaca Journal, October 26, 1964)
November 3, Tuesday. Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president of
the U.S.A.
November 4, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn are at the Rising River
ranch for a week or so.
November 5, Thursday. Buddy Cole dies from a heart attack, age
forty-seven.
November 9, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. Gary Crosby is the guest and the episode is titled “The Dominant
Male.” (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Phillip Crosby appears on the Ben Casey TV
show on ABC-TV.
A charming half-hour
comedy on the battle of the sexes theme. Is man the master of his home, or does
woman really call the shots? Bing and guest Gary Crosby fight their losing
battle long and hard and the truth doesn’t hurt much. The show is leavened by
several musical selections.
(The Kansas City Star, November 9, 1964)
Beverly also has some very fond memories of working with Bing Crosby as his TV wife on The Bing Crosby Show [1964 - 1965]. She had been suggested for the role by producer Steven Gethers who had previously been the segment writer for Beverly’s guest appearance on an episode of The Farmer’s Daughter [1963 - 1966]. “When I was called for the interview,” she recollected, “I’d never met Bing before and to me it was like seeing God. I didn’t know what to say; it was silly to introduce myself. So I whipped out pictures of my daughter Carrington and said, ‘Do you want to see the most adorable child in the world?’ Then Bing showed me pictures of his children.” While she might have been rendered temporarily speechless, as it turned out Beverly was the only actress who tested for the part and was signed in less than two weeks.
“Bing was a fantastic person to work with,” Beverly freely admitted. “He was the kind of person that could sit down and look at a script in the morning and would immediately memorize all his lines. He had a photographic memory.
“He was a very easy, relaxed man to work with. However, he was also very undemonstrative,” she added. “When I got the part on the series, the director and producers said to me, ‘This has got to look like a really happily married couple, but Bing Crosby is not going to be affectionate. So you’re the one that’s going to put your arms around him and kiss him, and just you alone are going to have to show this affection because Bing isn’t going to do this. So, that was my job.”
Beverly also remembered the show’s quirky bedroom set. “It was a kick because Bing absolutely would not have a double bed on the set. So in the room where we ‘slept’ we had one bed on one wall and the other on another wall and to top it off, there was a table placed in between where the two headboards met! I don’t know of any married couple that sleeps like that! I thought it was kind of crazy but that’s what Bing Crosby wanted so that’s what we had.”
(From Beverly Garland’s website at www.beverlygarland.com)
Mr. Sheldon, who had worked several times with Ms. Garland prior to the series, denied ever making such an appeal. “Bing may have downplayed demonstrativeness, but he was always friendly and warm. I never experienced any problems along that line.” He concurred with my observation that there is a strong sexual undercurrent and a palpable intimacy at play in many of the scenes involving Bing and Beverly Garland. In one particular episode, Bing is so frisky that he slaps his wife’s derriere! Another contention by Ms. Garland was cited. She claims that Bing opposed the use of a double bed on the set, and maintains that he insisted on two single beds, one along one wall, the other along another wall, with the headboards meeting in a right angle at a night table. She writes, “I don’t know of any married couple who sleeps like that! I thought it was kind of crazy but that’s what Bing wanted so that’s what we had.”
Mr. Sheldon could not remember if Bing demanded the unusual bed placement, but he disputed Ms. Garland’s contention that Bing was responsible for the single beds. He explained, “In those days, all sit-com couples slept on single beds. It was de rigueur. There was absolutely no alternative to a single bed. This was absolutely not Bing’s decision.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
November 10, Tuesday. Work resumes on the taping of The
Bing Crosby Show with an episode titled “The Soft Life” followed by one
called “Love Bugs”.
November 16, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. The episode is titled “The Importance of Bea ‘n’ Willie” and the
guest is Elisabeth Fraser. Bing writes to Pat Ward-Thomas of Country Life
magazine in England.
Cute show with
plenty of laughs. Willie (Frank McHugh) gets stung by one of Cupid’s biggest
arrows and doesn’t know how to cope with it. Elisabeth Fraser plays the object
of his affections.
Thank
you for your prompt reply to my recent letter. I have written your editor, John
Adams, and am hopeful of an affirmative answer to my request.
The
souvenir program goes to the printers in mid-December, so there is a bit of a
deadline involved.
If
you see my old friend, Leonard Crawley about, give him my best. He despatched
me rather sternly in the French Amateur some years ago.
Very
best regards, Bing Crosby
November 23, Monday (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. This episode is “The Liberated Woman” and the guest is Glenda
Farrell.
Bing’s aunt visits
the Collins family and instills theatrical ambitions in his wife, Ellie.
(Portland Press Herald, November 23,
1964)
November 30, Monday (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV with guest Thomas Gomez. The episode is titled “Danger! Genius at
Work.”
Bing and Ellie
take in a temporary house guest against their better judgement simply because he’s
a genius who needs a quiet place to work. But, when the professor sets up shop
at Bing’s home he creates havoc in the household and in the family. Thomas
Gomez is pretty funny as a true eccentric, in fact a real nut, though the show
as a whole is much more of a cartoon than usual.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, November 30, 1964)
December 2, Wednesday. (7:00-10:00 p.m.) Bing records further
songs for the That Travelin’ Two Beat album with Rosemary Clooney
supported by Billy May and his Orchestra.
December 3, Thursday. (7:00-10:00 p.m.) Bing completes his work
for the That Travelin’ Two Beat album. The LP is released by
Capitol Records.
BING CROSBY – ROSEMARY CLOONEY: “THAT TRAVELIN’
TWO-BEAT” (Capitol). This parlay of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney results in
fair session of Dixieland music pegged to a musical Cook’s tour. While the
sound is traditional, the repertoire is definitely offbeat, setting some
surprising material into a two-beat format. The duo works with some amusing
ideas in the title song, “Knees Up, Mother,” “Roamin’ in the Gloamin’,” “The
Daughter of Molly Malone,” “The Poor People of Paris” and “I Get Ideas,” plus a
takeout on a Strauss waltz, “New Vienna Woods.” This was the last session
produced by Capitol’s a&r exec, the late Si Rady.
(Variety, March 31,
1965)
This second album, teaming Bing with the delightful
Rosemary Clooney, is far less sophisticated than the 1958 classic Fancy
Meeting You Here (RCA), but it is enjoyable nonetheless. Like the previous
album, Crosby and Clooney have decided to retain the “travel” theme—with songs
like “Poor People of Paris,” “Roamin’ in the Gloamin’,” and a clever, up-dated
variation of Strauss’s “New Vienna Woods.” The only shortcoming—and with twelve
songs it is a considerable one—is that everything is tied to a two-beat
Dixieland format. Despite these limitations, Billy May’s tongue-in-cheek
backings raise a smile or two. The adaptations and lyrics by Jay Livingston and
Ray Evans are very effective. Miss Clooney responds happily to Bing’s bouncy
phrasing. If the treatments had been a little more varied and the sound
balancing a shade more sympathetic to the voices, this could have been just as
good as Fancy.
(Ken Barnes, writing in The Crosby Years, page
96)
Dear Michael,
I am enclosing a cassette of me singing with Bing Crosby, for which you
asked.
It happened like this: we had a session for the “THAT TRAVELIN’
TWO-BEAT” album at Capitol. Bing showed up along with Billy May’s orchestra,
but Rosemary Clooney called in sick. I found out later that she was a complete
alcoholic, and there were days when she couldn’t function.
Si Rady, the producer, had only one course of action: he would make
instrumental tracks with the orchestra, and Bing and Rosie could come in later
and sing to the tracks. But the union had a rule then; Bing had to make one
recording, and then he could leave. Bing went into the booth, and Si said to
me, “Jay, you have to go in there and sing Rosie’s part.” There would be big
holes if Rosie was left out. I was flabbergasted. I said, “You want me to go in
that booth and sing with Bing Crosby?” But he insisted. So I went into the
booth, inches from Bing, and he looked at me like I was out of my mind. I said,
“Si wants me to sing Rosie’s part. He looked at me with those cold blue eyes
and I thought, “This is a mess.” He didn’t say anything, and the music started.
I expected him to just mark it, as that tape would be destroyed. But as we
continued, I realized that he was singing full out, adding harmony, ad libs,
etc. He was doing that for me, which was a nice gesture. I was singing with Bing
Crosby with Billy May’s arrangement wailing away and I was having a ball. My
voice is puny next to his, but I have a good beat and I held my own.
Listen for the autograph at the end, when he said, “You’re very brave,
Mr. Livingston.” I guess he knew how intimidating he was and that it took some
courage to do what I did. Then he said, “You oughta get that tape.” He knew
what an icon he was and what a souvenir that would be. The engineer didn’t want
to give it to me, but Si Rady was a good friend, and he prevailed. And that’s
how I ended up with a tape of Bing and me singing.
Best
(Letter from Jay Livingston to Michael Feinstein, dated January 17, 1998)
Only one record company stayed true to the
‘old’ style singers. Capitol Records, perhaps because it had the Beatles
on its roster, continued to promote singers such as Peggy Lee, Judy Garland and
Nat King Cole. In 1963, Bing Crosby signed a two-record deal with them, the
second album planned as a follow-up with Rosemary to their Fancy Meeting You
Here collaboration from 1958. Reprise still held Rosemary’s recording
contract but seemed more than happy to grant permission for her to work on the
new duet project with Bing. So, the old firm of Crosby and Clooney went to work
late in 1964 and over three sessions, recorded That Travellin’ Two-Beat.
The album lifted much from its predecessor from six years before. It had the
same theme, travel, and the same arranger (Billy May) and where the first had
been the brainchild of one songwriting partnership (Cahn and Van Heusen), Two-Beat
relied on another pairing, that of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The result
was a spirited and lively album but, as with many follow-ups, one that never
quite matched the original. Livingston and Evans composed some new material,
including the title track, as well as providing some updated lyrics for some of
the older material that Bing and Rosemary chose to include. Thus, the 1883 song
about a Dublin fishmonger, “Molly Malone” became an updated “Daughter of Molly
Malone”. A classical piece, Johann Strauss’s “Tales from the Vienna Woods”
became the “New Vienna Woods”, whilst the Latin standard “Cielito Lindo””
became “Adios, Senorita”.
Critical response to the album was lukewarm and few reviewers thought that it
matched its predecessor. Some said the Livingston and Evans re-workings were
too elaborate and complicated. Others thought that May’s typically bombastic
arrangements, complete with bells and whistles, owed more to a marching band or
circus act than it did to the purported Dixieland theme. Perhaps the greatest
difference however was in the duet performances of Bing and Rosemary. Until the
Two-Beat album, they had always appeared as equal partners, working in a
genuinely collaborative style. Two-Beat however was Crosby’s show. His
voice opens virtually every track and makes almost all the running. The reason,
it later emerged, was that the duets, like Rosemary’s outing with Sinatra the
year before, were studio creations. Crosby put down his vocals first with
Rosemary filling in the gaps later. The emergence of a rehearsal recording in
which Jay Livingston sang Rosemary’s part (“You’re very brave, Mr. Livingston,”
said Crosby at the end of the session) was the first indication that the duets
were spliced together. At the time, union rules held that lead singers should
be present in the studio at the same time as the musicians playing on the
sessions. As a result, the spliced nature of the duets was concealed from
public view for over forty years. Certainly when Rosemary joined Crosby on the Hollywood
Palace early in 1966, their duet medley from the album was more spontaneous
and more like the equal partnership that had characterized their previous work
together. Rosemary’s TV appearance with Crosby would be the last time the two
would work together for nine years.
(Ken Crossland
and Malcolm Macfarlane, Late Life Jazz, pages 104-105)
December 7, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. The episode is titled “The Yadwin Report” and the guest is Don
Penny.
The family’s as charming as ever and it’s
fun to hear Bing and Ellie (Beverly Garland) sing “You’re Just in Love,” but
the whole premise of the show seems labored. Joyce’s boyfriend subjects the Collins
elders to a personality test and determines they have no “friction quotient”
and should never have been married.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, December 7,
1964)
December (undated). Works on a sitcom episode with Kathryn.
December 11, Friday. San Francisco Police Department receives a
letter postmarked “Denver, Colorado,” in which the writer says, “If that son of
a bitch Bing Crosby doesn’t stop, he’ll get a powerful bullet in the neck.” The
police pass the letter to the FBI.
December 14, Monday. Bing is the guest on Lucille Ball’s Let's Talk to Lucy daily radio show on CBS. They discuss his recording of “White Christmas” and a track is played from his latest Reprise album “12 Songs of Christmas”. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show on ABC-TV. The guest is David Wayne and the episode is titled “Janice and Me on a Saturday Spent with Random Inputs No.1.”
This charming series takes a humorous poke
at electronic music. Daughter Janice helps a kookie composer with his latest
way-out work. David Wayne plays the composer as though he were Burgess Meredith
playing a mad scientist.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 14th
December 1964)
December 16, Wednesday. Working on his ABC-TV sitcom series.
December 17, Thursday. Agents of the FBI visit Bing at his home at
101 Robin Road, and show him the threatening letter recently received. Bing is
not concerned and is unable to offer any possible suspects.
December 21, Monday. The Bing Crosby Show airs on ABC-TV
and has a Christmas theme. Titled “The Christmas Show,” the guests are The
Wellingtons. This is the only one of the series to be taped in color.
Monday’s (21) seg of this fresh-man situationer did
what it figured to do with Crosby as star – tossed out the plot and settled down
to a pleasant holiday songfest with Bing, his TV household – Beverly Garland,
Frank McHugh, et al – plus an augmentation from the Wellington trio of lads and
a group called The Carolers (who were doing just that outside when the family
flagged them in).
The tree-trimming,
gift-giving seg delivered ‘seasonal songs’, capped inevitably with a
Crosby-Garland rendition of ‘White Christmas’. Miss Garland, of course, being
the show’s hausfrau. The two, by the way, make a fine couple, and Crosby is
convincingly his own age in this series.
(Variety, December 23, 1964)
For years a holiday radio staple, Christmas Sing With
Bing, was one of the nicest presents delivered over the air-waves. It’s off
now, unfortunately. But for those who warmly
remember these programs, all is not lost. Crosby is still perpetuating the
spirit of Christmas on his ABC television show, Last night, during his
pre-holiday episode, Der Bingle and his TV family, along with the Wellington
Trio gathered ‘round the Christmas tree for an old-fashioned session at the
hearth. It was unpretentious and like the
Crosby personality, relaxed and unhurried, capturing the true spirit of the
Yule season. “White Christmas” was the song we
all waited for and Bing delivered it in his customary meaningful style.
The reason, of course,
more series don’t trouble to shoot special holiday episodes is a mercenary one. There’s money to be made in reruns and most
profit-minded producers assume people are too busy
this time of year anyway to watch television.
Whether they are or not is not for the TV people to decide; it’s their job to
program in the public interest. A special holiday program comes under that
heading, we would think.
(Daily News, December 22, 1964)
Good holiday entertainment for the family. Short on
plot but long on song as Bing and company gather round the piano and offer a
program of some new Christmas songs, as well as his holiday trademark, ‘White
Christmas’.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, December 21, 1964)
Of all the episodes, one particularly shines in Mr. Sheldon’s memory. That is The Christmas Show, broadcast on December 21st, 1964. This is the most elusive example of the series. Nobody seems to have this episode on videotape in their collections. He remembered, “It was the only one in color. There was no possibility of other shows being filmed in color. Nobody except Disney had color. There was no compatible color – it was too expensive a process.” The Christmas Show also remains a highpoint for Mr. Sheldon since it contained seven musical numbers, more than any other episode. Several of them called for Bing to dance.
“I told Bing, ‘You got to get a choreographer.’ Bing thought that would entail too much work. I replied, ‘I certainly can’t dance.’ Bing responded, ‘Yes, you dance like you got a broom up your ass, but you make me look good.’ Well, in spite of this acknowledgement, I wound up choreographing the numbers. Although generally, Bing would make up his own dance moves. As with all the shows, the Christmas songs were done live on the set. I don’t recall any playbacks.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
December 22, Tuesday. Bing writes to Irving Berlin as follows:
“I see the picture ‘White Christmas’ is getting
considerable exposure this season. Of course, I’ll be eternally grateful to you
for that wonderful song and all it’s done for me.”
December 24, Thursday. The Crosbys throw a Christmas party for
their friends and staff. Kathryn and her mother prepare pheasant for forty-five
and then Bing takes the family out caroling. On their return, Bing sings carols
and Irish songs for the guests.
December 28, Monday. Bing begins taping “The Keefers Come Calling”
episode of the Bing Crosby Show with Vikki Carr and Frankie Avalon. Today's episode of The Bing Crosby Show is pre-empted.
January 2, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn attend Merle Oberon’s dinner dance at her home.
Merle Oberon did
it again. It was Christmas all over after her party. Her guests sent all kinds
if gifts; Ray Stark, a gold key; Anita May, a Steuben vase filled with orchids;
and Bing and Kathy Crosby, a Chinese porcelain plate. The Crosbys danced until
midnight, then Bing said, “I’ve got to take her home. She starts a ‘Ben Casey’
on Monday.”
(Hedda Hopper, The Los Angeles Times, January 6, 1965)
January 4, Monday. Kathryn commences filming an episode of the Ben Casey series. Another episode of The Bing Crosby Show is pre-empted by the State of the Union address by President Johnson.
January 7, Thursday. Bing films six scenes for an episode in his
sitcom series called “Operation Man Save”. The guest stars are Joan Fontaine
and Dennis Day.
He (James Sheldon) could not recall too many of Bing’s interactions with his fellow stars. One, however, did stand out. Mr. Sheldon thought that Joan Fontaine and Bing worked very harmoniously together while filming the episode, Operation Man Save. “They appeared very relaxed, comfortable, and familiar with each other. They also seemed to have a lot of fun together, and Joan was normally aggressive.” This surprised me since Ms. Fontaine had reported that she did not have pleasant memories of working with Bing in The Emperor Waltz, 18 years earlier. We both agreed that either this had not been the case, or that the intervening years had softened her regard for him.
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
January 8, Friday. Films six more scenes for the sitcom episode.
January 9, Saturday. Tapes a Hollywood Palace Show that is shown on January 16.
January (undated). Bing and Kathryn entertain former President
Eisenhower at their home.
January 11, Monday. (7:45 a.m.) Bing is in make-up at Desilu Studios prior to commencing the filming of the final five scenes for “Operation Man Save” at 8:30 a.m. on stage 7. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show is shown on ABC-TV. This episode is titled “The Soft Life.”
A familiar situation for family comedy shows,
but handled delightfully. The Collins family decides it wants to take a real
back-to-nature vacation and rough it in the country. But not Bing. So they all
go off together, Bing living in an electrically equipped comfortable cabin and
the others in tents. The results are thoroughly and happily predictable.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, January 11,
1965)
January 12, Tuesday.
Bing starts another episode for the sitcom series and this one is called “One
for the Birds” and Phil Harris is the guest star. Twelve scenes are shot on
stages 5 and 7 at Desilu Studios. The latest Nielsen report
indicates that the show is languishing in 77th. place for evening network shows
with a rating of 14.9.
Bing Crosby, who started his first weekly television
show last fall, expressed doubt yesterday that the series would continue next
season.… “It’s been fun and it hasn’t been too hard a chore,” the singer and
actor said. “But according to the rating, we haven’t been doing so well. I
think I’d have to get on a glass bottom boat to find the rating. It’s a rat
race. If you don’t get a rating they dump you.” Mr. Crosby said he was not
depressed by the show’s rating and that usually a show required “a couple of years
to get a good rating.”
(New York Times, January 13, 1965)
With regards to an unofficial member of Crosby’s family, Phil Harris, who appeared on the episode One for the Birds, Mr. Sheldon remarked, “I remember the two of them always singing in between shots around the piano. I can see Phil’s smiling face even now! I encouraged them to rehearse their lines between themselves. It was always a question of keeping the actors contented and the mood light.” How were the intricate shots involving the blackbird handled in that episode? “The bird shots were set up in advance, with an extra camera to catch the close-ups of the bird.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
January 13, Wednesday. Films another eight scenes for the sitcom
episode on stage 7 at Desilu Studios.
January 14, Thursday. (7:45 a.m.) Bing is in make-up at Desilu
Studios prior to commencing the filming of the final fifteen scenes for “One for the Birds” on stage 7 at 8:30 a.m.
January 16, Saturday. Bing hosts a Hollywood Palace Show on ABC-TV with principal guests Beverly Garland, Frank McHugh, The Three Rebertes, Jacques D’Amboise & Catherine Mazzo, Leonardo, Corbett Monica, The King Family and George Burns. Also Gene Barry, Cyd Charisse, Buddy Ebsen, Phil Harris, Liberace, Tony Martin, and Ed Wynn make brief guest appearances. The Mitchell Ayres Orchestra provides the musical backing.
The Hollywood Palace has done well for itself in the
first year of its existence…The first birthday party show was emceed by Bing Crosby
who also emceed its premiere on January 4th, a year ago. As guests, the
producers gathered many of the emcees that had appeared during the year, for
extremely brief bits. Crosby in addition to conferenciering, reparteed with
Frank McHugh, Beverly Garland and the raft of guests to give this show a great
big, agreeable and ingratiating effect.
(Variety, January 20, 1965)
A rousing
anniversary show with host Bing Crosby. Old vaudeville lines are exchanged
between Bing and his guests, Phil Harris, George Burns, Ed Wynn, Tony Martin,
Cyd Charisse and Liberace. Beverly Garland of the Crosby series sings, and all
the King Sisters do a medley. In addition, there’s the talented ballet dance
Jacques d’Amboise, a husband and wife monologue by Corbett Monica, a plate
spinner and an Italian tumbling act.
(Quad-City Times, January 16, 1965)
January 18, Monday. Bing is interviewed by sportscaster Tom Harmon. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. The episode is titled “Bugged by the Love Bugs” and the guests are
The Standells.
One of the best episodes of the series, in my estimation, is Bugged by the Love Bugs, which was written by Bing’s long time comedy writer, Bill Morrow. It has loads of slapstick; most notably when Bing, in one of his most energetic moments in the series, is trampled by screaming fans of The Standells, a current rock n’ roll band, in an hysterical send-up of the then current teen-idol craze. Although he had no memory of that particular show, Mr. Sheldon thought that Mr. Morrow would have accounted for it being an outstanding one.
“In any event, the Crosby series was too quiet, not really a comedy, and certainly not a drama. It revolved around the basic situation of a happy family - a sweet, homey show, echoing Bing’s own life. Regrettably, those kinds of shows were falling out of favor at the time.” Although the series did address some of the creeping cultural changes of the early sixties, for example, The Liberated Woman episode with its feminist story line, we were in accord that it was too little, too late.
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with James Sheldon, BING magazine, summer 2005)
January 21-24,
Thursday–Sunday. Attends the Bing Crosby Pro-Am Golf
Championship at Pebble Beach where Bruce Crampton is the professional
winner.
Celebrities playing include Ray Milland, James Garner, Andy Williams,
Clint Eastwood, Jim Backus, Howard Keel, Ray Bolger, Forrest Tucker,
William Boyd, Fred MacMurray, Buddy Greco,
Bob Newhart, Phil Harris,
John Raitt, Ernie Ford and Bob Hope. $125,000 is raised for various
charities. The clambake is moved to the Wednesday night before the
tournament and becomes a reward dinner for the hundreds of volunteer
workers with a Victory Dinner being held on the Sunday.
…Crosby told the
group that his own pro-am (the 24th) grossed more money than any of
the previous 23 tournaments by 15 per cent. Crosby said this year’s event, in
spite of cold, windy weather, was the largest in the annual series and was
still “growing, growing.” Crosby then went into the presentation of awards and
sang “Bless ‘Em All” as winner Bruce Crampton of Australia walked on stage to
pick up the first place check of $7500.
(Jack Daugherty, The Californian, January 25, 1965)
Clint (Eastwood) played his first Crosby in 1965, when
he was playing Rowdy Yates on the TV series Rawhide. He’d been
interviewed on television and asked whether he’d be playing in the upcoming
Crosby and he said, “No… I guess they don’t like cowboys.” Bing heard about it
and sent Clint an invitation with a note, “See, we do like cowboys.”
Clint’s been playing in the tournament ever since.
(James Garner writing in The Garner Files: A Memoir,
page 162)
January 23,
Saturday. Bing and Kathryn are among thirty black-tie
dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Works. The whole party
goes on
to the Richard Osbornes’ home for dancing. (7:30-8:30 p.m.) "The
King Family" debuts on ABC-TV and Bing makes a filmed
introduction.
January 25, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show on ABC-TV. This episode is titled “Are Parents People?” and the special guest is Ken Murray.
The show contains
a profoundly great line: “Never be fair with teenagers, they’ll rack you up
every time.” Joyce wants to go to Mexico with an equally young friend and Bing’s
natural instinct is to refuse to let her. There’s an amusing scene as the girls
try to get jobs in a chorus for spite. Then they fail as car-hops. Sanity
finally prevails. Cute show.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, January 25, 1965)
January 26, Tuesday. Larry Crosby meets FBI agents and gives them
a file of over one hundred crank letters directed at Bing since 1956. The FBI
compares the writing on them all to the most recent letter without achieving a
match. (See December 11, 1964).
January 30, Saturday. Bing writes to James Sheldon, the director
of his sit-com series.
Dear Jim:
I told you on the set, but I
wanted to put it in writing - in all my experience, Jim, I’ve never worked with
a nicer fella than you, or a fella more qualified
in your job.
Your patience is inexhaustible. I can’t recall any time on the set where you ever
exhibited any signs of
falling apart, blowing up, or taking a walk - and you had many situations where
such behavior would have
been justifiable. Tremendous control, old boy!
I had
a great time just because of the fact that you were at the helm, and in spite
of my bursitis problems.
I
do hope we can get together on a film sometime - any one of the projects we
discussed should be definite
possibilities.
As
far as the series is concerned, I don’t think we made a single episode that we
have to be ashamed of or
worried about. I just got into that type of thing about five or six years too late.
With all this wild semi-pornographic type of thing that audiences are viewing
nowadays, it’s not conceivable they’re going to have much of an appetite for our gentle, casual stories.
The way the trend is
going it’s conceivable that Norman Mailer and Tennessee Williams and fellas of
that stamp will soon be doing all the writing.
Well, in any case, we
closed on a high point - with Pamela Curran on the set, didn’t we?
Hope to see you, Jim,
either in New York or on the Coast -
Always Your Friend,
Bing
It was a happy time, and I kept the set happy because it wasn’t necessary
to “direct” Bing playing Bing. One of the things I learned as I worked with him
was that he had a tendency to lose his energy as the day progressed. However,
when we were working on the musical numbers in each episode, Bing was all there.
That gave me the idea of having the rehearsal pianist available at all times,
to play in between takes while the lighting crew got ready. The music cheered
Bing, and he performed better. The atmosphere on the set was like a cocktail
party. Other celebrities would drop by sometimes. Even Lucille Ball (who owned
the studio [Desilu]) would come on the set to say hello and chat with us once
in a while.
John Scott Trotter was an important member of the creative staff of the
show and a joy to work with. He had been with Bing for years, and knew just
what was workable for him. For the songs, Bing didn’t want to pre-record the
audio and then have to lip-synch to it when being filmed. Most musical films
were done with pre-recording, but we did it live with a piano. Then John Scott
would put it together on the dubbing stage, with the orchestra just hired for
the session, and synch it to Bing’s voice.
Bing was always on time and always very professional, but the perks of
stardom were part of his deal on that series. Occasionally, we would use an
extra camera to get more coverage without taxing Bing too much. Bing’s contract
also required us to finish with him by six o’clock every day. It was nice to be
able to count on getting home at a reasonable hour. I also enjoyed having a
home base instead of going to different locations or soundstages each day. I
even had my own office and telephone at Desilu.
The Bing Crosby Show only lasted for one season. It was a pleasant
half-hour, although not as successful as Crosby had been in the past. The
ratings had not been great, but I’m told the reason the show wasn’t picked up
because Bing didn’t want to continue. At this point in his life Bing didn’t
need the money, or the work. The bursitis in his shoulder caused him pain, and I
think he just got bored doing the show. It was a shame, because I had a lot of
fun working with Bing. When he decided not to keep the series going, Bing sent
me a very nice letter, which I have reproduced here.
(James Sheldon, writing in his book Before I Forget
- Directing Television: 1948-1988)
February 1, Monday. Bing completes the taping of his final Bing Crosby Show episode. This one is called “The Image” and Kathryn Crosby is one of the guests. Bing and Jose Ferrer go to the Golden Gate in San Francisco to watch the Patterson versus Chuvalo fight on television. Patterson wins on points. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show is screened by ABC-TV. The episode is titled “That’s the Way the Suki Yakies.”
Pleasant show.
Bing and Ellie declare war when Bing decides the “old tradition” is more
desirable than the new, after spending the evening at a Japanese couple’s home.
Plenty of sight gags here.
(Portland Evening Express, February 1,
1965)
February 2, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn dine at the Johnny Kan
Peninsula Restaurant with Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Martin and then they go on to
the Hyatt Music Theater for Rosemary Clooney’s opening at 8:30 p.m.. They all join the
supper party after the show in the Ferrer suite at Hyatt House.
February 8, Monday (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show is screened by ABC-TV. This episode is called “The Gifted Child” and the guest is Arthur Franz.
Janice Collins,
12, gives her parents some concern when they discover her school has sent the youngster
to a psychiatrist to determine the extent of her precocity.
(The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 8,
1965)
February 9, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn host a dinner at Burlingame Country Club for their friend Bess McGrath.
February 11, Thursday. American planes bomb North Vietnam for the
first time. Bing goes to San Mateo,
J.C., to tape various messages using the facilities there. One of the messages
is to the British Crosby Society.
February 12, Friday.
Bing wins the 1965 "Yesterday's newspaper boy, today's leader" award.
This is an annual award sponsored by the California Newspaperboy
Foundation.
February 13, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn are at the Buster Colliers' studio in San Francisco for their annual Chinese New Year party and to watch the Chinese New Year parade pass by.
February 15, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
is screened by ABC-TV. The guests are Kathryn Crosby and George Gobel and the
episode is titled “The Image.” Meanwhile, Bing writes to Jim Murray of the Los
Angeles Times.
Public relations
expert and interior decorator make efforts to jazz up the Bing Collins personality.
(Democrat and Chronicle, February 15,
1965)
Someone sent me your column of February
12th, wherein you discussed very incisively what has happened to the game of
golf. I applaud vigorously your sentiments.
It’s simply tragic the way such a great
game has now become a big business, and I never thought they’d besmirch amateur
play by making the National Championship a medal play event.
I’m certain though that pleas and importunations to the people in charge would be unavailing.
They simply would mention economic considerations and allege inability to
continue unless they had access to television revenue - and if that’s what they
need to continue the National Amateur, I certainly haven’t any answer for it.
But it certainly makes giants out of
people like Lawson Little, Bobby Jones, Bill Campbell, Harvie
Ward, who won these championships when they were contested in the traditional
manner
Yours “pour le sport”,
Bing
February 16, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn attend a Jean Louis fashion show on the third floor at I. Magnin’s, San Francisco.
February 21, Sunday. Makes a brief cameo appearance in a
Danny Thomas Show being taped today. The show is broadcast on April 23. Bing is paid a token $210.
February 22, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show is screened by ABC-TV. The guests are Frankie Avalon and Vikki Carr and the episode is titled “The Keefers Come Calling.”
The older
generation on The Bing Crosby Show gets
still another shock from the younger generation when Frankie Avalon and Vikki
Carr portray teen-aged newlyweds, who move next door to the Collins family. It’s
routine business for this series, which seems to have only theme – Bing’s amazement
of the passing of time.
(The Ithaca Journal, February 22, 1965)
February 27, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn plus Bob and Dolores Hope
are at Santa Anita to watch “Hill Rise” win the $100,000 handicap.
March 1, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another episode of
The Bing Crosby Show is screened by ABC-TV. The guests are Joan Fontaine
and Dennis Day and the program is titled “Operation Man Save.”
Joan Fontaine
guests as Lenore Taylor, Bing Collins’ super-efficient secretary, and Dennis
Day as her downtrodden husband…In “Operation Man Save,” Bing accepts Lenore’s
efforts to keep his business interests on an even keel, but rebels when she
tries to organize his home life.
(Daily Herald, March 1, 1965)
March 8, Monday. Simon Rady, Bing’s record producer at first Project Records and then at Capitol Records, dies from cancer at the age of fifty-three. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show this week has Phil Harris as the guest. The episode is titled “One for the Birds.”
Phil Harris guests
as a vaudevillian who resembles a Phil Harris type of character, which gives Bing
a chance to join him in some corny old-fashioned songs and patter. There’s a
plot too, something about an untrustworthy talking crow, but the main reason
for watching is to observe a couple of old pros like Bing and Phil go through
their paces.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, March 8, 1965)
March 10, Wednesday. (9:30–11:00 p.m.) Bing hosts The Grand
Award of Sports on ABC-TV from the New York World’s Fair. Kathryn and Col.
John Glenn are guests. Bing and Kathryn then fly to Las Cruces.
Emcee Bing Crosby was his usual hip and casual self, a
parlay that couldn’t offset the boredom as athletes in just about everything
from pro football to beanbag plodded to the podium to collect the hardware.
(Variety, March 17, 1965)
Bing Crosby was a happy choice to conduct ABC’s “Grand
Award of Sports” last night. The program was telecast live from the World’s
Fair, and might have died there, but for Crosby’s natural, friendly, folksy and
sometimes funny commentaries. He’s clever enough to do as little as possible so
you don’t weary of him, and just enough so you know he’s around and keeping a
hand on the steering wheel. Even the scripted quips were delivered as if they
were his own.
Along with the live
portion of the show were film clips of outstanding performances and commercials
- at least one of which cut Bing off in mid-sentence. Another came too late,
leaving him staring pop-eyed into the camera. But that’s the charm of live TV.
Bing was assisted by his lovely wife Kathryn. At the point the network cut him
off in mid-sentence in favor of the commercial, Bing remained his imperturbable
self. “How do you like that?” he remarked. “I’m talking to myself.”
(World Telegram & Sun, March 11, 1965)
March 14, Sunday. Bing writes to Fred Corcoran. (See February 9,
1966)
Dear Fred:
I didn’t know until the other day that you were associated
with the National Hockey League in a promotional capacity.
I thought that you might be interested to know that
I’m part of a group who have been for some months interesting ourselves in the
establishment of a major league hockey franchise in San Francisco.
Vergil Sherrill, George Coleman, Barry van Gerbig and
myself, are the principal figures in this deal.
That, of course, was some of the discussion that took
place when I met with Bill Jennings. I have since talked to the president of
the National Hockey League, Mr. Campbell and appraised him of our intentions,
and now, I imagine, we’ll just have to sit back and wait and see what happens
to the League with its plans for expansion, but if there’s any more you want to
know about it, call Virgil Sherrill there at Shields & Company, and he can
give you the complete scoop. I’m sure you know Virgil.
Good seeing you in New York. The Sports Show was a
marathon, and of course, like all shows of its kind, it had some tedious
moments, but I thought for a first time out, it was pretty interesting and at
times even exciting, and over-all about the best you can do with that type of
thing.
Take care of yourself. Be looking forward to seeing
you.
Always your friend,
Bing
In February 1966, the
March 15, Monday. This week's episode of The Bing Crosby Show is pre-empted and is eventually shown on April 19.
March 22, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show is screened by ABC-TV. The episode is titled “The Test” and the guests are The Wellingtons.
A good show to
catch if you’re about to take your driver’s test. Joyce is taking the test and
you can study the rules with her. The gag in this one is that Bing has let his
licence expire and has to take a test himself – but he’s forgotten all the
rules. Bing gets to sing “The Little Things in Life” which this show is one of.
(Press and Sun-Bulletin, March 22, 1965)
March 29, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
on ABC-TV. The guest is Mel Torme and this episode is “Moonlighting Becomes
You.”
Mel Tormé guests
as Bert Snyder, the university’s associate professor of music, “moonlighting”
as a hot pianist in a cellar café in “The Bing Crosby Show.”
(The Ithaca Journal, March 27, 1965)
April 3, Saturday. A portrait of Bing by Barnaby Conrad goes on display at Maxwell Galleries in San Francisco.
Recently,
I stood before the great oaken door of a Hillsborough, California mansion with
my box of paints and canvas. As I rang the bell, half expecting it to chime
When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day, I almost wished I hadn’t
come. I’m not sure why I was worried, since I’ve done dozens of famous people’s
portraits over the years, from Sinclair Lewis to Manolete to Deborah Kerr to a
princess of Greece.
But
Bing Crosby .... Show people so frequently are very different from the warm, lovable
characters they portray. I had heard much of Crosby’s business acumen—would he
insist on being portrayed as the solid tycoon type? Or perhaps, to conform with
this imposing home and vast gardens, as Squire Bing, posed in front of the
fireplace? Or worse still, as Bing, the world-famous entertainer, about to
burst into song—a portrait no more profound than a record album cover? What I
wanted to convey was Bing the man, the person behind the best-known voice in
the world.
Through
the heavy door I could faintly hear that voice singing The Breeze and I. The
sound came closer and closer and soon the door was opened.
“Come
on in,” Bing said. Blue eyes, under those much-caricatured heavy lids, looked
out at me from a friendly tanned face. He was wearing a baggy pair of pants, a
beat-up shooting coat and a green Tyrolean hat covered with shooting-club
insignia. An old Parker shotgun that he was in the process of cleaning was
cradled in one arm, and he was trailed by a muddy, black Labrador retriever.
Bing
explained that he had just returned from hunting. Then he smiled and shook his
head. “Couldn’t hit the rear end of a cow with a plate of spinach today. Join
us in a little oolong.”
I
followed him through the great hall, thinking how one always tends to imagine
famous men as being taller than they really are. Bing is of medium height—and
also leaner than one expects. He put the gun down on a side table and dropped
his hat onto a Ming vase. In spite of the sparseness of his hair he looks
amazingly youthful; he moves like a young man too.
Kathryn
Crosby was in the library, an inviting room filled to the ceiling with books on
every subject—books that look read. On the walls hang paintings by the great
cowboy artist, Charlie Russell. Kathryn was wearing a costume she had been
trying on for a George Bernard Shaw play she was to do in Chicago—an
extravagant floral hat and an old-fashioned dress with a bustle. They added to
her piquant beauty a theatrical flair and an elegance that would have pleased
painter John Singer Sargent.
I
told Kathryn I wanted to paint her in that costume, and she said, “Oh lovely!
And I have a Mary Poppins umbrella to go with it. But how are you going to do
Bing? We have an attic full of paintings of him and not one of them is right.”
“You’re
not going to make me wear my rug, I hope?” Bing said. “Haven’t worn it except
in front of a camera for 20 years.”
“Is
it a lot of trouble?” I asked. He shrugged. “No. A toupee just seems kind of,
well-affected.”
Kathryn
said, “You know, people have told me Bing’s balding, but I wouldn’t know—not
since the first day I met him have I seen above those blue eyes.” She blinked
affectionately at him. “I do hope you can capture those eyes.”
The
best light for painting turned out to be at a spot near the French doors in the
living room, so I set up my easel there by the piano. (Bing himself doesn’t
play; he told me he can’t read music, but that “if someone starts me out on the
right note I can follow along pretty good.”)
I
was considerably intimidated by the paintings around the room—such masters as
Corot, Vlaminck and Laurencin, but nevertheless, I resolutely squeezed my
paints out onto the palette.
“Mr.
Crosby,” I began, “have you any ideas on how you’d like to be painted?”
“Name’s
Bing,” he said. “And you’re the boss man on the brush. Just tell me what to
wear and how to stand.”
I
glanced up and suddenly saw the picture I wanted to paint. In our stroll
through the house he had picked up the shotgun again and now he broke it open
over his arm and resumed cleaning it with an oily rag. Remus, the big Labrador,
had come in and sat at his feet. Bing casually put one foot up on a footstool.
All we needed was the omnipresent pipe and the green hat. I told him so.
“You
mean you want to paint me in these old duds?” he asked with a chuckle. “O.K.,
you’re the painter.”
We
worked for an hour and a half and Bing never broke the pose except to answer a
phone call from Bob Hope (who wanted Bing to appear on his show), and another
call from Bing’s agent (who wanted to tell him he was slated as guest star on
The Danny Thomas Show). Throughout the session Bing sang continuously—any kind
of song, from snatches of Granada to King of the Road. Why the fact that he
loves to sing should have come as a surprise to me I don’t know, but it did.
Kathryn
ducked in from time to time to make faces at him and check my progress. “Isn’t
he gorgeous? I’ll bet you have a terrible time getting those eyes.”
So
went the first session of a series that would last, for one reason or another,
for almost a year. During that time Bing and I saw a good deal of each other,
our young wives became friends, and what with picnics, trips and shooting
forays, a friendship was begun that I trust will continue for many years to
come.
(Barnaby
Conrad, The Good New Life of Bing Crosby, Good Housekeeping, May, 1966)
A
portrait of Bing Crosby, currently being completed by Barnaby Conrad, will be
one of the canvases on display at “Showcase-Celebrity Artists,” the April 3
benefit exhibit at Maxwell Galleries for the San Francisco Auxiliary of
Stanford Children’s Convalescent Hospital.
It
will be the first time the portrait will be viewed by the public. Eventually it
will hang in Bing’s Hillsborough home along with one that Barnaby will shortly
begin of Kathryn Crosby.
Bing
has had many portraits painted but this is his favorite because it portrays him
as a hunter instead of an entertainer. He is shown in a green fedora and hunting
jacket with his favorite gun over his arm and his black retriever, Remus, by his
side.
(The San Francisco Examiner, March 4,
1965)
April 5, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby Show
is screened by ABC-TV and the episode is titled “What’s a Buddy For?”
“What’s a Buddy
For” on “The Bing Crosby Show” tries hard but nevertheless strikes out as a
crisp comedy outing. Lloyd Nolan plays Bing’s insurance broker and enlists the
reluctant crooner into umpiring a Little League baseball game. It’s a walk all
the way. Manager Bill Rigney and outfielder Albie Pearson of the Los Angeles
Angels also join Bing and the Mitchell Boy’s Choir in a light-hearted ditty, “A Smile Looks Good on Any Face.”
(The Ithaca Journal, April 5, 1965)
April 12, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) Another Bing Crosby Show
is on ABC-TV and the episode is called “Conform, Conform, Whoever You Are.”
“Conform, conform,
whoever you are” on The Bing Crosby Show
has the Collins’ family celebrating New Year’s Eve in a snow-bound cabin so
they can get away from the crowds. Few laughs in this one, and viewers may wish
they’d brought along a few noise makers.
(The Ithaca Journal, April 12, 1965)
April 19, Monday. (9:30–10:00 p.m.) The final episode of The
Bing Crosby Show sitcom is shown on ABC-TV. This is titled “Real Estate
Venture” and the guest star is Ruth Roman.
The Bing Crosby Show gets around to “Real Estate
Venture,” which was scheduled earlier but pre-empted. It’s one of the series’
better comedies with Ellie (Beverly Garland) having her day, joining forces
with a dynamic real estate lady who wants to start her on a new career. The
plan, of course, upsets the Collins hacienda and it takes all of Bing’s efforts
to keep Mama at home. Ruth Roman guests as the high-heeled broker.
(The Ithaca Journal, April 19, 1965)
April 23, Friday. (8:30-9:30 p.m.) The Danny Thomas Show is broadcast by NBC-TV.
Bing makes a brief cameo appearance in a comedy sequence.
April 27, Tuesday. Phillip Crosby opens as a solo act at the
Hyatt’s Backstage Bar in Burlingame.
April 29, Thursday. Bing is back in Hillsborough after a long
stay at Las Cruces and has his hair cut at Hilton’s barber shop. He goes on to lunch
at Trader Vic’s with Shirley Temple Black and Claude Jarman.
May (undated). Back
at Las Cruces with his family. The Vic Bergerons are house guests at
one time as is Ed Crowley. It is probably around this time that he films
an American Sportsman program with Joe Brooks that is shown on February 6, 1966.
June 4, Friday. Young Harry Crosby and Kathryn have tonsillectomies at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles. Bing is in Las Cruces.
I spent the intervening
hours preparing Harry for his ordeal, and to his credit it must be said that he
survived it admirably, demanding boatloads of ice cream within hours after he
emerged from the anesthetic. I, on the other hand, was nauseated for days, with
a throat so swollen that I was unable to eat, and a horrendous case of pityriasis rosea from the hospital
sheets.…To amuse me during my recuperation, Bing sent a long account of his
doings in Las Cruces.
…Contrary to expectations, however, Nathaniel has finally succeeded
in picking up a couple of random words. The other day I tried to pull them together
for him by asking, ‘What do you say in the morning?’
He looked at me
solemnly and finally admitted that it might be ‘Buenos dias.’
‘Fine,’ I continued
encouragingly, ‘Now what do you say in the afternoon?’
It was like
pulling teeth, but I finally got him to say, ‘Buenos tardes.’
‘Great,’ I
persevered, ‘What do you say in the evening?’
This took a bit more thought, but he finally came up with, ‘It’s gettin’ dark.’
(Kathryn Crosby, My Life with Bing, pages 319 amd 321)
June 13, Sunday. Bing arrives home in Hillsborough again from
Las Cruces. Whilst he was in Mexico, he was visited by William “Buster” Collier
and they fished together.
June 14, Monday. Kathryn flies to Indianapolis to take the
lead in a production of Peter Pan at the Avondale Playhouse from June 29. She is joined by her mother and they
stay with Mr. and Mrs. Ruckelshaus.
June 17, Thursday.
Bing attends a debutante ball at the home of Joseph Cochran III
in Hillsborough. The Cochrans present their daughter Joan "Bambi"
Cochran. Others present include the Ray Bolgers and the Andrew Mclaglens.
June 25, Friday. (7:45 a.m.) Bing flies in on a KLM flight to Shannon Airport in Ireland
with Max Bell, part owner of a racehorse called Meadow Court that is to run in
the Irish Sweeps Derby the next day. Bing also has a one-third share in the
horse as does Frank McMahon. They drive to
Nenagh in County Tipperary, the home of the Crosby nanny, Bridget
Brennan. A large crowd gathers outside O'Meara's hotel and photographs
appear in the local press. Overnight, Bing and Max Bell stay at Paddy Prendergast's home, Keadeen House, Newbridge, Kildare.
Bing Crosby visits
Nenagh
Bing
Crosby, the TV radio and film singing star, paid a short courtesy visit to O’Meara’s
Hotel, Nenagh on Friday morning of last week to meet Mrs. Josephine Keller and
Miss Joan Cadell. He was accompanied by Mr. G. W. Bell, the Canadian publisher
and racehorse owner. In Nenagh, Bing Crosby called on behalf of Miss Bridie
Brennan, formerly of the “Vogue” Mitchel St., who is now in charge of the
Crosby household in California, and at an informal reception, Miss Ann Keller,
nine year old daughter of Mrs. Keller, presented him with a suit length of
Ballyartella tweed for his wife as well as an Aran sweater. He presented Ann
Keller with a toilet set along with other gifts for the Cadell family.
Also
with the party was Mrs. Max Bell and they left Shannon airport in a car placed
at their disposal by Mr. P. J. Prendergast, the racehorse trainer and driven by
his chauffeur. At the airport, Bing said that his wife Katherine was “furious”
when she heard he was going to Ireland.
She wanted to come, he said, but was committed to play in a stage production
in Indianapolis.
While
in Nenagh, Bing signed many autographs and posed for photographs with members
of the Cadell family, the hotel staff and onlookers. Before leaving, he said it
was wonderful to meet Bridie’s friends and that Bridie hoped to be home next
year.
(The Nenagh Guardian, July 3, 1965)
June 26, Saturday. At the Curragh in Kildare, Bing sees Meadow
Court win the Irish Sweeps Derby and pick up the first prize of £55,650. The
jockey is Lester Piggott. After the race, Bing sings briefly to the large
crowd. The proceedings are captured by various newsreels and featured in Pathe
News in the UK on July 1.
June 27, Sunday. Bing flies to London and is interviewed by
Ronald Allison for
…A visibly ageing
Bing Crosby, more charming than ever, sparkled as a raconteur and only the
debonair Paddy Campbell could outwit him. Eamonn Andrews, unfortunately,
was his thickskinned old self.
(Belfast Telegraph, June 28, 1965)
One involved some Bing Crosby. When Eamonn met him for
the first time it was on the show itself and Crosby was, of course, wearing his
toupee. But had he met Crosby beforehand he would have realized that he only
wore the wig when he was in front of an audience. . . .
After the program Crosby
went to makeup and removed the toupee. Then I took him back to the hospitality
room where the other guests, their relatives and friends, and the program team,
Eamonn included, were already having drinks. For a while Crosby and I stood
chatting close to where Eamonn, cigar in one hand, large whisky in the other—in
later years he changed his tipple to gin—was in conversation. . . . After a few
minutes Eamonn disengaged himself and came over to us. Then, to my surprise, he
totally ignored the famous crooner but, within his hearing, asked me, “Where’s
Bing?”
Furtively I indicated
the shiny-domed pipe-smoking character standing beside me. Eamonn, however, was
now looking around the room and to my increasing embarrassment, he repeated the
question. I tried to make him realize with gestures that he was actually
standing face to face with the man whom only half an hour before he had
introduced on his program as “a living legend” but now did not even recognize.
However, he still failed to understand.
Now he was showing
signs of increasing irritation and I thought he was about to scream the
question out loud when, to his amazement, the figure beside me began to croon
in that unmistakable voice, “Where the blue of the night meets the gold of the
day. . . .”
And finally the truth
dawned on Eamonn, whose face was now turning as red as the night in Crosby’s
signature tune was blue.
(Tom Brennand, writing in his book Eamonn Andrews)
June 28, Monday. Bing goes to Wimbledon to see the Centre
Court matches. He does not have a ticket and has to buy one from a tout. Inside
he is given one by Teddy Tinling, the dress designer.
Veteran crooner Bing Crosby was ‘scalped’ at
Wimbledon. The “Old Groaner” lived up to his name when he paid £8 for a 27s.
6d. ticket for he arrived at Wimbledon without a ticket for the Centre Court.
He tipped back his famous trilby and said: “I did not know the form, I guess. I
should have gone to a ticket agency. This scalper–that’s what we call touts
back home–offered to sell me a ticket for £10.”
Millionaire Bing began
to haggle on the pavement. He said: “I said to the scalper ‘No, I’m not paying
that,’ then we wrangled and I got it for £4.”
But Bing had made a big
mistake. He gave the man a £10 note thinking it was a fiver.
(Daily Express, June 29, 1965)
June 29, Tuesday. Again, at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis
Championships and sees Christine Truman beat Nancy Richey in the quarter finals
of the Women’s Singles. Meanwhile Kathryn opens in Peter Pan at
the Avondale in-the Meadows playhouse, Indianapolis and she continues
until July 4. The production is dogged by technical problems.
June 30, Wednesday. Bing attends the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis
Championships again and is photographed watching the Emerson – Ralston
semi-final with former tennis star Jack Kramer. Emerson wins. Whilst at
Wimbledon, Bing is interviewed for
July 1, Thursday. Bing boards a plane to return to the USA. Elsewhere, the purchase of the Jackling Drive house is completed.
July 6, Tuesday. Back in Hollywood, Bing begins filming Stagecoach
for Twentieth Century-Fox, his last major film, with Ann-Margret, Alex Cord,
Van Heflin, Robert Cummings, and Red Buttons. The director is Gordon Douglas.
Bing stays at the Bel Air Hotel.
“(I) had a great time playing the Ringo Kid and got
to, again, meet some wonderful people. I got to work with Bing Crosby, Van
Heflin and Slim Pickens.”
This
gave Cord an opportunity to do something nice for his mother.
“My
mother was always a huge fan of the movies and movie stars. And her favorite
entertainer in the world was Bing Crosby,” Cord said.
When
he told his mother, she couldn’t get over the fact that her son would be
working with Bing Crosby.
“We
were filming near Boulder, Colorado,” Cord recalled. “By then I’d become pretty
friendly with Bing and I told him about my mother. I said, ‘You know she thinks
the sun rises and sets on you. What the Beatles are to the kids of today, you
are to my mother.’” When Cord asked if Crosby would be willing to have dinner
with his mother, Crosby answered, “’Oh, Alex, absolutely.’ He couldn’t have
been more gracious,” Cord recalled.
“So,
I fixed it up. My mother got to have dinner with Bing Crosby. Bing just sat
next to my mother and paid all the attention in the world to her. I was so
thrilled to be able to do that little thing for her; it was a dream come true
for her.”
(Alex Cord, as quoted in an article in the Gainesville
Daily Register, 2005)
July 7, Wednesday. An interview with Bing is shown on
Later, Bing made a classic
fluff. In his portrayal of a drunken doctor he is ordered to leave town along
with the undesirable Dallas. She asks him why they have to go. Bing was
supposed to say “You see my dear, we are both victims of a disease called
social prejudice.” Instead he explained to her “You see my dear, we are both
the victims of a social disease…”
(From a report by Muriel Davidson and Janet Rale,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 1966)
July 7–9, Wednesday–Friday. Filming Stagecoach in
Hollywood. Bing is in constant pain with bursitis in his shoulder and has to
leave the set to see his doctor.
Hollywood: July
8th.
Bing, whom we
have known for years, has had to be briefed about our undercover roles. He has promised
to say nothing. So far, he has been very gay and light-hearted on the set. He
sings a lot and he dances little time steps when he finishes a scene and he is
unfailingly courteous to everyone. He manages to remain detached, though, and
you just don’t walk up to Bing to have a random chat about nothing. Also he has
been in constant pain with bursitis in his shoulder and had to leave the set
for an hour this morning to get to his doctor. We broke for lunch and made the
long trek to the commissary. Just ahead of us, Brett Pearson, the “heavy” who
is killed by a dagger, was walking with the bloody knife still jutting from his
side.
(From a report by Muriel Davidson and Janet Rale,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 1966)
July 9, Friday. Gary Crosby and his wife, Barbara separate. She sues for maintenance.
July 10–11, Saturday–Sunday. Bing has traveled to the Hampshire
House Hotel, Denver, Colorado, for the filming of scenes at a location some
fifty-six miles northwest of the city. The weather is poor.
July 14, Wednesday. Bing moves into the Harvest House in
Boulder, Colorado, to be nearer the location. The rest of the cast moves to
Boulder as well. Son Harry stays with Bing. It is still raining.
July 15–24, Thursday–Saturday. Still on location near Boulder.
Harry Jr. remains with his father. The weather continues to be very poor.
Boulder: July 22nd.
During one of the afternoon takes, Bing
made his entrance and little Harry Crosby shouted to him, “Hi, Daddy!” At which
Red Buttons remarked, “Name-dropper.”
(From a report by Muriel
Davidson and Janet Rale, published in the Saturday Evening Post, April
9, 1966)
I found Bing Crosby trying to dry his
son’s socks.
Mae Pace never expected to meet Bing
Crosby the day she took her nephews panning for gold in a Colorado mountain stream.
“It was one of the great moments of my
life,” said Mrs. Pace, 64, of London, KY., recalling for the ENQUIRER the
occasion in 1965.
Mrs. Pace had taken her two great-nephews
to pan for gold at a mountain tourist attraction at Black Hawk, Colo.
“By chance, we came across this man
wearing baggy pants and a big buckled belt.
“I got the shock of my life when I
realized it was Bing Crosby. He’d been filming “Stagecoach” at nearby Boulder
and took the day off to go prospecting with his son, Harry, who was 7 at the
time. I was astounded to see Bing wringing out Harry’s socks in his hands.
“Apparently Harry had got his feet wet in
the stream and Bing was trying to dry the socks. He whirled Harry’s socks
around his head—just for me. He made a great thing of it. I never expected a
star of such fame to do such things. For 15 minutes we just had fun.”
Leo Lynn, an executive of Bing Crosby
Enterprises, told the ENQUIRER: “I went with Bing and Harry on the expedition
to pan gold, and I recall the occasion well.”
(National
Enquirer, March 31, 1974)
July 16, Friday. Dennis Crosby weds Arleen Buell in Las Vegas.
Dennis is said to be working as an assistant to Hilton Schiller, producer of
the Ben Casey series. It is later reported that the marriage was not
valid as Dennis had not picked up his final decree from Pat Sheehan so he and
Arleen marry again on July 31 in Reno during their honeymoon.
July 17, Saturday. Bing’s horse Meadow Court wins the King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
July (undated). Bad weather in Denver halts filming so Bing flies to
New York to see his ailing brother Everett.
July 24, Saturday. Bing and his son Harry fly into Chicago to
join Kathryn. Bing and the children see Kathryn in the dress rehearsal of Arms
and the Man at the Drury Lane Theater.
July 25, Sunday. The Crosby family goes to see the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 at Wrigley Field. Bing returns to Colorado, taking Mary Frances with him.
July 26–August 2, Monday–Monday. Filming Stagecoach at Arapaho
Falls and Arapaho Glacier in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, near Boulder.
Boulder: July 29th.
Bing
“delivered” Stefanie’s baby today. When she starts
into labour, Bing (as “Doc”) is drunk as usual. He orders Dallas (Ann-Margret) to make coffee. Then he dumps great quantities of
salt into it and starts to drink it in order to sober up. He finally becomes
violently sick to his stomach. He was so convincing that Mike Connors, watching
him, was nauseated for real. A-M looked good in this scene too. Usually Gordon
has to urge her to speak up because her voice is very soft. But she really
hollered at Stefanie, “Hurts even when you’re a lady,
Huh? Well, why don’t you scream - that’s what I’d do - go ahead, scream!”
(From a report by Muriel Davidson and Janet Rale,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 1966)
July 27, Tuesday. Kathryn opens in Arms and the Man at the Drury Lane Theater, Chicago. Her reviews are good and the play runs until September 5. She is supported by John Lupton.
July 30, Friday. Bing withdraws from a planned film role in Rocket
to the Moon because of his ailing shoulder.
July 31, Saturday. Back
in Chicago for a few days due to flooding on
location in Colorado. Bing and Kathryn take the children to the matinee
at the Cinestage to see "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying
Machines".
August 1, Sunday. Sees Kathryn perform in Arms and the Man at the Drury
Lane Theater, Chicago.
August 3, Tuesday. Filming of Stagecoach now continues
on the Twentieth-Century-Fox back lot in Hollywood.
Hollywood: August 3
Aside from Alex, who missed the plane and had to be
flown to Denver by helicopter, we are back at 20th Century-Fox, shooting
outdoors on the back lot. Bing is doing his little time steps and singing his
own ribald version of Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home.
(From a report by Muriel Davidson and Janet Rale,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 1966)
August 9, Monday. Bing returns to Hillsborough as filming is delayed.
August 20, Friday. On location at the Twentieth-Century-Fox
ranch in Malibu Canyon for Stagecoach. Bing writes a check for $150 cash which he annotates as "Hollywood Expenses".
August 30, Monday. Back in Hollywood for night shooting from
8:00 p.m.–4:00 a.m. Bing also rehearses for a forthcoming Hollywood Palace
show.
September 2, Thursday. Completes his part in the filming of Stagecoach. Writes to Diane Sherry, the actress who had played his daughter in the sitcom series.
Dear
Diane
How
nice of you to remember me and to write the very interesting and newsy letter.
Glad
to hear that you’re having a good summer, and I’m sure you must be in complete ecstasy
now that the Beatles were here. I know you are awaiting the releases of their
new picture eagerly.
Mrs. Crosby and the children are fine. She’s
in Chicago doing a play for six weeks and has the children with here. I was on location
for a picture up in Colorado for four weeks, so I took Harry with me, and then
took him into Chicago and left him with her and brought Mary Frances back up.
They both hated to leave Colorado, they loved it so much.
They
had a great time riding ponies, and fishing and swimming, etc. It’s a beautiful
country. You should go there some day.
Yes,
I like Herman’s Hermits a little. I like them because they’ve got a good sense
of humor. Their cutting of “I’m Henry VIII” is an outstanding record, I think.
Glad to see that you’re on the right track…
(rest of letter missing)
September 5, Sunday. Although suffering problems with kidney
stones, Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Caterina Valente, which is
shown on September 18.
September 7, Tuesday. (8:30-9:30 p.m.) Bing is seen in "Hollywood Talent Scouts" on CBS-TV being interviewed by Art Linkletter on the Stagecoach set. Bing and Kathryn are unable to go to England
to watch Meadow Court run in the St. Leger at Doncaster, for Bing has more
kidney stones. A cystoscopy provides relief.
Hollywood, Sept. 7th.
Bing finished his
role last Thursday and had planned to go to England to see his prize-winning
horse Meadowcourt race at Ascot. Today, Leo Lynn,
Bing’s friend and factotum, came to the set and told us that over the week-end
Bing had suffered a kidney attack and could not go. Then Leo presented all of
us, cast and crew, with a key chain memento from Bing. It’s made of solid
silver and has a tiny stagecoach on one side of a disc, and on the other,
written in gold leaf in his own hand-writing, it says, “Thanks, Bing -
Stagecoach, 1965.” Everyone was quite honestly touched deeply. Stars rarely
take the trouble to make these gestures anymore.
(From a report by Muriel Davidson and Janet Rale,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, April 9, 1966)
September 8, Wednesday. Meadow Court, ridden by Lester Piggott,
finishes second in the St. Leger.
September 9, Thursday. Bing is at the Hyatt House Theater in
Burlingame to watch Kathryn rehearse her songs for the forthcoming production
of Peter Pan.
September 14, Tuesday. Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Louis Armstrong, Phil Harris, Carl Ballantine, Pat Woodell and The Young Americans which is shown on ABC-TV on September 25. Bing has another kidney stone attack. Another cystoscopy fails; Bing rests for two weeks.
No matter how many times you experience it, there is
no “high” in life quite like the adrenaline-surge in your body as you stand
waiting behind a curtain to open upon the stage of a TV variety show. The
orchestra goes into the intro for your song. You hear the long, sustaining roll
on the timpani drums. The string section is coming in on a single-note trill.
Then you hear the brass building in pitch and volume when suddenly the curtain
opens to reveal a truly awesome sight. At least it was an awesome sight for me
to see late that Friday afternoon, September 3, 1965, when the curtain opened
on the stage of the ABC TV variety show, Hollywood Palace.
Standing
about 15 feet to my left is big-bandleader Phil Harris. Standing about 12 feet
to my right is show business legend Louis Armstrong. And standing center-stage
about eight feet in front of me to my left is the entertainer I most admire in
life - Bing Crosby. . . This particular Palace is going to be publicized in
the TV viewing guides as “Bing Crosby hosts Louis Armstrong’s fiftieth year in
show business.”
. .
. Amid lingering uneasiness throughout the city, an extremely large crowd is
lined up out front of the ABC Palace Theater on Vine about one-half block north
of Hollywood Blvd. Making my way down an iron fire escape on the south side of
the theater where the second and third-story dressing rooms are located, I’m
amazed to see so many people waiting to get in to the late-afternoon taping of
the dress rehearsal. . . Less than an hour later the full-dress rehearsal is
being taped. I don’t remember now all of the songs performed. But I do remember
that after two or three, I am performing with Mr. Crosby a moderately obscure
song of the time called Happiness Is. He had had a special arrangement
made, complete with key changes that move one-half step upwards after every
chorus. And the original lackluster verses are rewritten into clever new lyrics
about various celebrities. I always liked the up-beat melody, so I still
remember some phrases, like this one:
To
a waiter, it’s a tip, tip, tip,
To
Phil Harris, it’s a nip, nip, nip.
To
a jockey, it’s a nag, nag, nag,
And
to a G.I., it’s a Bob Hope gag.
When
the Bob Hope line comes up in the dress rehearsal and the final performance,
both audiences emit a sustained “Aaaaaaa” that everyone up on stage can clearly
hear above the ongoing music. Through part of this song, Mr. Crosby is seated
on a stool. On the floor around him are several young female singers with their
arms around the bottoms of his legs. One day at rehearsal, Lisa, one of the
girls, had found a hole in one of his pant cuffs. She put her finger through it
and wiggled it around while laughing out loud for all to see. He just smiled
and paid no attention.
While
standing behind him for part of this number I often think he has a poor tailor.
Even his performance clothes look - in a word - “baggy.” When I tell my folks
about this one night, my mother says he always had a reputation over the years
for being a bad dresser. And yet his loose-fitting garments may be the result
of nothing more than him being on a diet at the time - something my current age
has much experience with. Back then, however, that thought never occurs to the
17-year-old mind in my 145-pound body. . . . At 62, his voice is deep, full and
every bit as resonant as it was for any performance at any time in his career.
Watching him whenever possible, it seems to me as though it is just so
effortless on his part. His head tilts back slightly, the jaw drops and out
comes this incredible sound unlike any voice before or since.
On
Monday, the first day of rehearsal, everyone takes turns on stage recording all
the numbers with the full orchestra. For the remainder of the week the daily
rehearsing is performed to the prerecorded sound which is constantly stopped
and rewound while the Director and the TV camera people work the show out
visually from various angles. The orchestra will not reappear until the dress
rehearsal late the following Friday afternoon.
On
variety programs of this time there is a short break on the day before dress
rehearsals. This allows newcomers to briefly kibitz with the stars. Like me,
everyone in that show could hardly wait to return from their dressing rooms
with some memento for these stars to autograph. In my case, I had brought along
the record jacket from Robin and the Seven Hoods on which Mr. Crosby is
centered between Sinatra, Martin, Davis and Peter Falk. When he reaches out to
sign it for me, I just cannot resist telling him the many number of times I had
gone to see the film.
"Myyyyyy,"
he says in that familiar low-baritone voice as he drops his head and looks at
me from out of the top of his eyes, “but you are a brave soul.” On the
soundtrack recording of Style, his voice can be clearly heard speaking
after the song concludes: “Come on, let’s get some clothes on or we’ll be late
for breakfast.” A passing comment from me about this remark only brings a
bewildered expression from him.
Standing
there, less than four feet from him as he signs the album and hands it back to
me, I am thinking how authentic his hairpiece appears. No one unaware of the
truth would ever have suspected it is not his real hair. But overall, the one
aspect I find truly remarkable about his appearance is that he has the most
youthful-looking eyes I have ever seen in any person. Either before or since, I
have never seen such bright blue irises surrounded by such large, pure white
sclera. They are totally devoid of any red blood vessels, which is probably why
Phil Harris comments at one point that Bing should not worry his “baby-blues.”
Misters
Crosby and Harris have some comic patter they perform together at one point.
And I am so happy that on Thursday, the last day before dress rehearsal, there
seems to be endless equipment problems. Over and over again the Director’s
voice bellows out from the control room speaker: “One more time from the top,
please.” The two seasoned veterans then redo all the punchlines, complete with
feigned laughter and totally rehearsed “ad libs.” And every time they
make it sound as though they are just having a casual, impromptu conversation
in someone’s living room. It is quite an on-the-job education for those of us
present from the younger set. . .
This
Friday is also the first day that Louis Armstrong appears at rehearsal,
primarily for camera placement and sound levels. Mr. Armstrong was age 65 at
the time. A number of the younger performers think the network is especially
insensitive to his physical condition, for he had been given a dressing room on
the second floor. To reach it, he has to slowly labor up two floors of thin
metal steps.
I
remember on the day of kibitz, my request for Mr. Armstrong’s autograph turns
an expression of pain upon his face into that wonderful smile. His smile could
cause the sun to shine, even indoors. After he graciously signs my album, I
watch him take very short and slow steps towards the dressing room stairs. His
head is bowed forward, and it seems to take him forever to reach the second
floor. But as far as I know, he never once complains to a soul about not having
a first-floor dressing room. I shall always remember him as the quintessential
gentleman of charm, grace, personality, humor and - most of all - talent.
He
and Mr. Crosby perform something together, which I have since forgotten. But
what I will never forget is the closing finale, in which everyone on the show
takes part. Talk about a show-stopper, the closing number is South Rampart
Street Parade. A wonderful series of interlaced melodies and counterpoints
composed by Ray Bauduc and Bob Haggart with lyrics by Steve Allen, the entire
composition conveys the feeling of an oncoming parade building in volume and
rhythm. Only this arrangement has something no street parade ever has - a
studio orchestra with a string section. Added to this layered complexity are
the jazz “fills” of Mr. Armstrong’s horn and numerous sections of syncopated
rhythm.
Wow,
what an experience!
There are many unforgettable musical moments I can look back on. But if I had to select one that approaches a spiritual level of magic, it would be this one.
(Richard Zimmerman, one of the Young Americans, writing in BING magazine, winter 2001)
September 16, Thursday. Bing writes to Henry Schmidt of the Athletic
Department at the University of Santa Clara.
Dear Schmidty:
Thank
you so much for your letter, with all the news about your activities.
Schmidty, we’ll certainly try and include Jim Weichers in our golf tournament invitation list next
January.
I’ve heard
of this boy and of his prowess, and I’m sure he would be a very welcome
addition to the field.
Hope
you have a good year there at Santa Clara. The 49’ers don’t look too strong off
their showing against the Rams last Sunday, but maybe they are experimenting a
lot.
I’m
very high on that fellow, Willard, that they got in the draft. He looks like a
real runner.
Stay
well, Schmidty - Always your friend, Bing
September 17, Friday. The Bing Crosby Productions series Hogan’s
Heroes starts a run on CBS-TV. The plot involves Colonel Hogan leading a
ragtag band of POW’s caught behind German lines. The bumbling Germans give
Hogan and his crew plenty of opportunities to sabotage their war efforts.
Colonel Klink is more concerned with having everything run smoothly and
avoiding any trouble with his superiors (especially anything that might result
in his being reassigned and sent to the front) than with being tough on Hogan
and his fellow prisoners. Nielsen places Hogan’s Heroes at number nine
in the ratings for most popular weekly series for 1965–66. It places at number
eighteen in the 1966–67 season and continues to run until April 7, 1971.
September 18, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The first Hollywood
Palace show of the season, starring Bing, Caterina Valente, Tim Conway and Burns & Schreiber is shown on
ABC-TV. The Mitchell Ayres Orchestra provides the musical backing.
Hollywood Palace starting its third year on the vaudeo
spectrum, seems to continue in affable and agreeable ways. At this point the
format continues to be serviceable and there’s no cause to re-write this hit.
The formula of a name emcee and name talent is sufficiently potent to make this
one of the better variety displays on the medium. Bing Crosby, making his third
appearance on this soiree, gave the season’s premiere a flavor unique to him.
He mixes affability and entertainment in equally potent doses and gets involved
in the proceedings to give the show an entertaining tone. For example, he
straighted for Tim Conway of McHale’s Navy who needed a straight of
Crosby’s caliber to look good. He sang with Caterina Valente, and each endowed
the other with an added ingredient. On her own, Miss Valente delivered with her
accustomed top-rated product. . .
(Variety, September 22, 1965)
September 19, Sunday. Advertised to play in the Movie Invitational
Tournament of Stars at the Peacock Gap Golf & Country Club in San Rafael in
California but does not attend as he is still resting
after a kidney stones attack.
September 21, Tuesday. Bing writes to Fred Corcoran regarding the
Canada Cup golf tournament that is to be held in Madrid, Spain. (Corcoran was an American sports
promoter, agent, administrator and amateur golfer, who had a diverse career in
the world of golf, baseball, boxing, ice hockey and other sports.)
Dear Fred:
Yes, it’s true, we’re going to Europe on a vacation,
but the principal purpose in addition to the shooting in Spain was to watch the
running of the Arc de Triomphe horse race in Paris. We have an entry in there.
The race, as I say, is October 3rd, and we’d like to
be there a day or two before, so unless we’re able to develop an opportunity to
slip up for maybe the opening day’s matches in Madrid, I don’t see any way of
our making it.
This grieves me because I know it’s going to be a very
colorful match, particularly because it’s held in Spain and because the foreign
representatives have come along until at this point they really can give our
guys fits on the links.
Hope it is the tremendous success it has always been.
As ever yours,
Bing
September 25, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The Hollywood Palace
show starring Bing, Phil Harris, Louis Armstrong, and The Young Americans is
shown on ABC-TV. Mitchell Ayres conducts.
Bing Crosby hosts
again in a salute to Louis Armstrong. Louis plays for Bing and Phil Harris and
leads a big finale of “South Rampart Street Parade.” Phil Harris and Crosby
pull out an old comedy routine, Carl Ballantine shows off more unworkable magic
tricks, and the Young Americans do a medley.
(The Commercial Appeal, September 25,
1965)
September 27, Monday. (6:30-7:00 p.m.) Appears in a United Bay Area Crusade film "Time Is Short" with John Forsythe and Dick Van Dyke on KRON-TV.
September 28, Tuesday. Records “The White World of Winter” for
Reprise Records using a previously recorded musical accompaniment by an
orchestra conducted by Sonny Burke.
I don’t think there’s anybody better in the studio than Bing. He and Sinatra are two of the finest people I’ve ever worked with from that standpoint. When Bing comes into the studio, he’s there to perform and nothing else. He’s a pure professional and is that much of a pro that he doesn’t tolerate anyone else who isn’t. Bing is probably one of the fastest studies I’ve ever seen. He’s got great ears. He has something approaching total recall, in that it doesn’t take him long to get the feeling of a piece and learn it.
(Sonny Burke, as quoted in The Complete Crosby by Charles Thompson, page 97)
October 1, Friday. Bing and Kathryn fly to France and the following
day watch the horse Meadow Court work out.
October 3, Sunday. After breakfast at the Ritz bar and mass at
La Madeleine, Bing and Kathryn see Meadow Court, ridden by Lester Piggott, run in Le Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe in Paris but the horse can only finish ninth. The horse is quickly retired to stud.
October 7, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn fly from Paris to Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain. They stay at the Ritz for several days and then go to Burgos and the Landa Palace for partridge shooting. During their stay in Madrid, they are photographed visiting the Museo del Prado.
October 12, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn fly into London from Spain. They fly on to Dublin Airport and give a press conference there.
October 13,
Wednesday. Bing is at the races at Punchestown
racecourse at Naas in Kildare. Press reports state that he and Kathryn
have
been invited to the Irish Shoe Fair Ball at the International Hotel
that night
but it is not known whether they attended. At some time, they attend a
performance of Sean O'Casey's play "Shadow of a Gunman" at
the Abbey Theatre.
October 15,
Friday. Bing and Kathryn are in Galway and attend a
reception given by the local Junior Chamber of Commerce. Bing is
presented with a stone from the Bay on a Connemara marble base. On a
beautiful sunny
evening, they see the sun go down on Galway Bay. (The song “Galway Bay”
had
been one of his biggest hits).
October 16,
Saturday. Bing takes a photograph of Galway Bay and
he and Kathryn visit the Connemara Marble Centre at Moycullen and also
the new
cathedral in Galway. They go on to Shannon Airport for their T.W.A flight to
New
York. Meanwhile, Bing's representatives buy two yearlings for him at
the Newmarket Houghton yearling sales. Total cost is £21,735. Both are
to be trained by Paddy Prendergast.
October 18, Monday. Bing is awarded a Conservation Certificate by
the Pacific Marine Game Fish Cooperative Tagging Program for tagging yellow
fish tunas off Baja California that were subsequently recovered; thus
disclosing the migratory pattern of those fishes.
October 22, Friday. Bing is in Canada and spends a long weekend
in Ontario with Charlie Conacher, the former Maple Leaf hockey star, whom he
had originally met in New York in 1929. Charlie and Bing also share a mutual
friend in Max Bell. Bing goes pheasant shooting on an island near Trenton.
October 23, Saturday. While in Toronto, Bing is interviewed
by Telescope host Fletcher Markle for a television show “A Profile of
Bing Crosby” which is shown on
October 28, Thursday. Bing is at the San Francisco Film Festival and he presides over the Leo McCarey respective at 1:00 p.m. in the Masonic Auditorium. McCarey is ill and cannot attend. Going My Way is shown.
Crosby,
balding, relaxed, and as cozy as an old sweater, paid McCarey, 67, hospitalized
in New York, brief but warm tribute: "He
brought pleasure to millions. And he changed the course of my career by putting
me, a popular singer, into a dramatic role in “Going My Way.” I will always be
grateful to him.”
Then
he amused the crowd for an hour with his tales of movieland in the 30s and 40s.
About
the eight “Road” pictures he made with Bob Hope”: “I stuck to the script. But
Hope never did. He couldn’t read it.”
(The San Francisco Examiner, October 29,
1965)
October 30, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn are at the Masonic Auditorium in San
Francisco for the presentation of the David O. Selznick Memorial Laurel Awards. Bing accepts an award on behalf of Jean Gabin, who is not present. They go on to the party at Le Disque Alexis.
November 6, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn attend a black-tie party at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Thieriot in Hillsborough at which Princess Margaret and
her husband Lord Snowdon are present.
Bing Crosby was
Margaret's dinner partner at the Saturday night black-tie party Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Thieriot gave at their Hillsborough home, and the Princess told her hostess
that she was giving her “the greatest treat in my life.” Bing has been a
favorite of Margaret’s since she was a young girl and the two struck up an immediate
conversation. This in itself is not unusual for the Princess, who seems
to be at ease in conversation with everyone she meets whether or not she knows
anything about them beforehand. Bing however handed her special kudos by saying
that not only was she a bright, attractive young lady with a good sense of
humor, but that her conversation about music was “very knowledgeable.”
(Oakland Tribute, November 8, 1965)
November 14, Sunday. Tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Diahann Carroll, the Kessler Twins, John W. Bubbles, Willie Mays, Charlie Manna and Bob Hope which is shown on November 20.
Then there was the
great team of Buck and Bubbles, particularly the dancing member of the team,
Bubbles. He was considered by Fred Astaire (and many others) to be the greatest
soft shoe, buck and wing, or tap dancer who ever lived. At every performance we
had visiting dancers in the wings who had dropped in from other vaudeville
circuits or motion picture presentation houses, who came over to watch and
learn. People like Eleanor Powell and Hal Le Roy. Five times a day, seven days
a week, Bubbles never danced the same routine twice, but always an inspired
improvisation. Later he went on to play ‘Sportin’ Life’ in ‘Porgy and Bess’.
(Bing Crosby,
writing in ‘Call Me Lucky’)
November 16, Tuesday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Bing contributes to a special tribute to
Frank Sinatra shown by CBS-TV.
November 20, Saturday. The Hollywood Palace television show
is broadcast with Bing as host and Diahann Carroll and Bob Hope as guests.
Bing Crosby will
make his third appearance of the season as host of The Hollywood Palace, at
9:30 p.m. today to sing familiar melodies and present other musicians and a
wide variety of acts, in color. Veteran vaudeville dance and singer John
Bubbles, formerly of the team of Buck and Bubbles and the creator of the “Sportin;
Life” role in the Broadway production of “Porgy and Bess” is slated to present a
new routine, Song stylist Diahann Carroll is high in the billing for the show
as are the blonde Kessler singing twins – Alice and Ellen – from West Germany. Another
performer from West Germany is Michael, the waiter, who does amazing feats with
trays and cutlery. From England comes the singing and dancing team of Desmond
and Marks, and from America’s night club circuit comes comedian Charlie Manna.
(The Times Herald, November 20, 1965)
November 30, Tuesday. Bing records eight songs for the Longines
Symphonette Society at Coast Recorders, San Francisco, using prerecorded tracks
prepared by British orchestra leader Geoff Love. The tracks form part of a six LP album
comprising eighty-four tunes, said to be chosen
by Bing, most of which are orchestral. He also records a radio
promotional disc
for the album. The set is released in April 1966 with an extensive
newspaper advertising campaign offering the set for $14.98 (plus
postage) in a deluxe presentation case. There is an option to pay $5 a
month. Purchasers receive a free seventh album, which contains some of
Bing's early tracks from the 1930s and 40s.
Ralph Harding writing in the fanzine “The Crosby Collector”
(June 1966) said: “All of the Bing numbers are exceptionally well done and I would be hard
put to pick out a particular favourite and if pressed I suppose “When My Sugar
Walks Down the Street” really stood out, probably because it's one of my
favourite numbers. You will notice that the great majority of numbers are those
already featured by Bing during his recording career. At the moment I don't
possess individual master numbers, recording dates and other data but without a
doubt Bing is in excellent voice. I appreciate that the album costs a lot of
money but even if it means mortgaging the happy home, please don’t miss out on
this set. It is an excellent buy and I thoroughly recommend it.”
December 2, Thursday. Bing records a further eight songs for the Longines Symphonette Society at Coast Recorders, San Francisco. At night, he attends the Thoroughbred Racing Association Dinner at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco where he accepts an award from Mervyn LeRoy (President of the Hollywood Turf Club) on behalf of his friend Raymond Guest in respect of the horse ‘Tom Rolfe’, the best 3-year-old of 1965.
December 3, Friday. Gary Crosby and his wife Barbara agree to meet with a conciliation counselor at a court hearing prior to the trial of her maintenance suit. They reunite the following year but eventually divorce in 1981.
December 4, Saturday. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Dear
Gord:
The
next time I get near a tape machine I’ll supply the answers to the questions
enclosed in your recent letter.
You
didn’t mention a deadline for the material, so I assume there is no immediacy.
I
plan to be in Hollywood on the 17th to tape a couple Hollywood Palace shows,
and while there, I’m sure some facilities will be available to tape the answers.
All best wishes, Bing
December 13, Monday. Bing writes to sportswriter Mel Durslag of the
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
Talked
to Max Bell today and he told me he would look into the possibility of
syndicating your column.
He
knows your work, likes it, so something should develop, if he can possibly make
it so.
He
says he only has eight papers, not fourteen, and he’d like to dump a couple of
those.
You’ll
hear from him direct, I’m sure, Mel.
All
the best, Bing
December 15, Wednesday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Guests on the Bob Hope
Comedy Special television show on NBC with Jack Benny, Janet Leigh, and
Nancy Wilson. This is said to be Bob Hope’s first television variety show in
color.
Less effective was a skit in which Bing Crosby tried
to get rid of his Palm Springs tenant (Hope) so that he could sell his mansion.
. . . Crosby nicely warbled his way through a Yule tune entitled “Do You Hear
What I Hear?”. . .
(Variety, December 22, 1965)
December 17, Friday. Bing is in Hollywood working on two Hollywood
Palace shows for December 25 and January 1.
December 19, Sunday. Bing tapes the Christmas edition of the Hollywood Palace television show that is shown on December 25.
…When
the “Hollywood Palace” chips are down, Harbach, or his executive producer, Nick
Vanoff, or his director, Grey Lockwood, can always take advantage of two or
more options. The final show is totally taped, the dress rehearsal is totally
taped (at the El Capitan Theater) and musical sounds involving movement or
large groups are pre-taped in a recording studio.
Mix
them all together, select the best bits from each, and Harbach has got himself a
show to suit his fancy…Sometimes he lets the final show go as is; sometimes he
dips into the “dress” tape and lifts anywhere from a little to a lot.
It
is common practice for most variety shows these days. Ed Sullivan is an exception.
Ed is the last of the live wires. When a “live” Sullivan show is in progress,
the whole Eastern seaboard is watching. Nothing can be retracted…
Bing’s
“Hollywood Palace” show tomorrow night is highlighted by soaring Christmas
music from Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, and by the first TV appearance of
Bing’s boy, Harry…
Young
Harry premieres as a soloist rendering eight lines from “Oh, Come Little
Children.” Everybody is supposed to strictly follow the cue cards but at the
dress rehearsal Harry winged an ad lib, his first. When Bing introduced him as “a
classy singer…he’s going to do “Oh Come Little Children” from “Hansel and
Gretel” by Humperdinck,” Harry suddenly looked up with surprise and said, “I
am?”
It
wasn’t in the script. I don’t know if it will be in the final show. Later, when
Bing was singing “White Christmas” there was a rustle of amusement from the audience.
It happened after Harry noticed that his father was sitting with knees crossed.
Harry abruptly decided to imitate him.
(Dwight Newton, The San Francisco Examiner (page 15), December 24, 1965)
December (undated). The Crosbys move into their new house on Jackling
Drive, Hillsborough. The Robin Road property has not yet been sold.
December 20, Monday. Tapes another Hollywood Palace show, which is broadcast on January 1.
December 21, Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce seeks to
buy Northern California National Bank (based in San Mateo), of which Bing is
chairman and major shareholder, for $2.75 million cash. The proposal is
approved on July 21. Kathryn Crosby appears as Peter Pan
at the Hyatt Theater, Burlingame, until January 2. Mary Frances makes a brief
appearance in the final scene. Bing cannot be there because of his TV commitments. Comments in Time magazine are slightly
critical and Bing writes to them about it.
In your “People” section (Dec. 21), you made
reference to Kathryn’s recent appearance in the musical version of Peter Pan in
San Francisco.
While we’re always grateful for any
mention in such a fine magazine as TIME, I know you want to be corrected
when you’re in error. You said Jeanne Miller of the San Francisco Examiner
panned Mrs. Crosby’s performance and described the performance of our little
daughter Mary Frances as stodgy.
The only thing that could possibly cause
umbrage about Mrs. Crosby’s performance was that Miss Miller said she was too
girlish and too pretty to be Peter Pan—which is sort of a mixed criticism.
The reference to Mary Frances as being
stodgy was made about another performer in the cast. If Mary Frances is stodgy,
then Sammy Davis is taciturn, moribund and laconic. For weeks at a time we have
to keep her in a strait jacket and an Oregon boat.
December 24, Friday. Bing and his family plus Mrs. Grandstaff, Kathryn's mother, call at several local houses in Burlingame to sing Christmas carols.
December 25, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) A Hollywood Palace
television show starring Bing is shown. Young Harry L. Crosby
Bing
Crosby makes the fourth of eight planned appearances this season (he returns next
week for anniversary show) hosting Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, Dorothy Collins.,
stars of “Hogan's Heroes,” Blinko the clown, Landon's Midgets, puppeteer Andre
Tahon and 7-year old Harry Lillis Crosby III in his professional singing debut.
(Independent Press-Telegram, December 25,
1965)
December 29, Wednesday.
Bing is at the Venetian Room at the Fairmont in San Francisco to watch
Ella Fitzgerald's show and he joins her on stage.
Venetian Room
patrons got a double treat last night. Besides the great Ella Fitzgerald, a
ringsider climbed on stage and did a duet with her, toupeless Bing Crosby.
(Jack Rosenbaum, The San Francisco Examiner (page 21),
December 30, 1965)
January 1, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing stars in the Hollywood Palace show on ABC-TV. Principal guests are Danny Thomas, Donna Butterworth, Bob Newhart, Marilyn Maye, Ben Blue plus Sonny & Cher.
Holiday man Bing
Crosby hosts the show again. Listening with awe and wonder as Sonny and Cher
drive the kids crazy with their renditions of songs. Plainly, Bing feels more
at home with monologist Bob Newhart, who shares comedy honors with Oldster Ben
Blue’s familiar pantomime bit and French pantomimist Yonal. Eight year old
singer Donna Butterworth completes the variety bill.
(Quad-City
Times, January 1, 1966)
January 3, Monday. Bing and Kathryn attend a gala for the benefit
of the Royal Ballet at the Chandler Music Center in Los Angeles. Bing and Bob
Hope are joint chairmen of the event. Afterwards there is a formal dinner at
which Bing sits next to Margot Fonteyn and Inger Stevens. Bing and
Kathryn go on to Refugio, Texas for hunting.
January 6, Thursday. Bing writes to Maurie and Mia Luxford.
Thank
you so very much for the very handsome and most useful car thermopot. Just the
thing for hunting and fishing trips. I may break it in on a duck hunt next week
and fill it full of Phil Harris’s favorite mixture – half hot tea, half rum,
and a cup of honey. I’ll let you know how it works.
Fondest to you both, Bing.
January 13, Thursday. (9:30-10:00 p.m.) Bing is featured on the Canadian Broadcasting television program Telescope when he is interviewed by Fletcher Markle. The show had been taped in October 1965.
Canada likes Bing
Crosby, Fletcher Markle likes Bing Crosby and Bing Crosby likes Fletcher Markle
and Canada, so it was a cheery half hour with Bing and Fletcher chatting
companionably about nothing in particular. With no one out to rock the boat, it
was certainly no Mike Wallace interview, but it was a remarkably agreeable way
I found, to get from 9:30 to 10.00.
(Frank Penn, The Ottawa Citizen, January 14, 1966)
January 16, Sunday. It is reported that Bing has bought Brooks Island,
a former game preserve next to Port Richmond in San Francisco Bay. In
fact, Bing together with Vic Bergeron and John Parr Cox lease the
island for a while.
January 17, Monday. Arrives in Pebble Beach from a hunting trip in readiness for his Pro-Am.
January 20-23, Thursday–Sunday. Attends the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at
Pebble Beach where the purse has been increased to $104,500. The pro winner is
Don Massengale.
The tournament is billed as celebrating its twenty-fifth
anniversary although it is actually the twenty-sixth as the 1942 event
has been
overlooked. Celebrities playing include Howard Keel, Bob Crosby, William
Boyd, Jim Backus, Clint Eastwood, Forrest Tucker, Phil Harris, Bob
Newhart, Mike Douglas, Fred MacMurray, Don Cherry, John Raitt,
Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dean
Martin and Andy Williams. Bing and Kathryn attend a number of dinners:
at the Joseph Cochran's on Thursday; the Robert Stanton's on Friday;
and the Richard Snideman's on Saturday. On Saturday, January 22
at 12:30 p.m., Bing
and Ray
Bolger host an NBC television special called The Road to Pebble Beach.
Television coverage of the golf is carried by NBC on January 22 and 23.
January 31, Monday. Bing attends the final day of the Lucky
International Golf tournament at the Harding Park municipal course, San
Francisco. The winner is Ken Venturi. Bing writes to Mel Durslag of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner about
the Crosby Pro-Am.
Dear
Mel:
I
thought your column turned out beautifully – the one you did about the
tournament.
It
was beautiful this year. The weather good, and we raised 20% more money than
any previous year.
The
pros were so surprised by the good weather that they still didn’t know how to
handle themselves. They still shot their regular 76’s and 82’s, with a few
exceptions – the fellas who finished in the money.
Thanks,
Mel, for everything –
As ever, Bing
February 6, Sunday. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) Bing appears on The American Sportsman television program that is shown today. He is featured marlin fishing at Las Cruces in Mexico with Joe Brooks.
In
the Bay of California, between the Baja California Peninsular and the mainland
of Mexico, Crosby and Brooks will fish for striped Marlin, a spectacular fish
that can weigh up to 500 pounds and take leaps across the water at speeds approaching
15 knots.
The
fishing adventure from Crosby’s 26ft. boat, the Maria Francesca, will take
place in waters known as the Bay of Cortez. The remote bay is surrounded by
barren, forbidding country and all modern conveniences and equipment must be
flown in from hundreds of miles.
ABC
color cameras will record the singer’s battle with the powerful marlin and also
capture in slow motion the Marlin’s bursting leaps as it runs the line of the
fisherman’s 12 pound test leader.
(Longville News-Journal,
February 6, 1966)
February 9,
Wednesday. Bing is among a group of investors awarded a National Hockey League
expansion franchise for San Francisco. The group is headed by Barry Van Gerbig,
who is described in the press as caretaker of Bing’s financial interests in New
York. (See March 14, 1965 for further details)
February (undated). Checks into the La Costa Spa at Carlsbad, California to lose weight before filming a TV special with Danny Thomas.
February 12, Saturday. Lindsay Crosby marries Janet Sue Schwartze (age 23 – a staff secretary at Douglas Aircraft Co. in Santa Monica) in Las Vegas.
February 14, Monday. Begins taping a television program The Road to
Lebanon at the NBC Studios in Burbank with Danny Thomas, which is shown on
NBC on April 20.
Flu Bug Blocks ‘Road
To Lebanon’
Hollywood
(AP) – Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, scheduled to be reunited for NBC-TV’s color
filming of “The Road to Lebanon” didn’t make it Monday.
Crosby
showed up for the rehearsal and did his bit in skits and songs, with comedian
Danny Thomas and French actress Claudine Auger for the April 20 color special.
Crosby,
who had the flu and a temperature of 103 degrees, said he would spend the night
at St. Joseph’s hospital in nearby Burbank. Hope was bedded with the flu in his
North Hollywood home and never showed up.
(Associated
Press, February 15, 1966)
Danny Thomas managed to finish taping the fifth and
last of his NBC specials despite the illnesses of his co-stars Bing Crosby and
Bob Hope. Thomas had the famed pair signed up for a “Road to Lebanon” spoof,
but he had to settle for a walkon by Hope, who was battling the flu. Bing also
tangled with the flu bug. He figured if the Batman couldn’t beat it, neither
could he: so he checked into St. Joseph’s Hospital after the Thomas rehearsals.
The hospital is next door to NBC and Bing found the accommodations so pleasant
he returned the next night, instead of going to his hotel.
(Bob Thomas, Associated Press, February 18,
1966)
February 17,
Thursday. Complete filming The Road to
Lebanon program. Later, films a segment for a CBS-TV program The Magic of Broadcasting
at Desilu Studios on Gower in Hollywood. John Scott Trotter, Diane Sherry, and
Kerry McLane also take part. The show is transmitted on May 1.
February 19, Saturday. (9:30-10:30 p.m.) Gary Crosby guests with Rosemary Clooney, Edgar Bergen, Roger Ray and Henny Youngman on the recorded Hollywood Palace show hosted by Bing.
A good night for
the middle-aged set with host Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Edgar Bergen and
Henny Youngman on tap. Rounding out the bill are the Hugh Lambert Dancers,
Roger Ray who practically destroys the xylophone and the Fiji Island Band.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, February
19, 1966)
February 25, Friday, onwards. Bing and Kathryn fly to South
Carolina where they stay at Medway, an antebellum estate outside Charleston.
They go on to Florida where Bing golfs and they attend the races at Hialeah.
George Coleman takes them out on his new boat the Aurora C.
March 3, Thursday. Attends the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah Park,
Miami, which is won by Buckpasser. Management at Hialeah, positive that Buckpasser would
win and wishing to avoid losing money through the betting windows, declared the
1966 Flamingo Stakes to be a non-wagering event.
Bing presents the Flamingo Trophy in the winner's circle and there are
boos because of the non-betting status. During his time in Florida,
Bing golfs on the Seminole course.
March 6, Sunday. Arrives in Toronto, Canada, from Florida and records links for a radio version of the Easter Seal Show at the
March 7, Monday. (1:00–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for the television
version of the Easter Seal Show (also known as Timmy’s Easter Parade
of Stars) at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. (8:00–9:30 p.m.) Tapes the
television show before an audience of 1,200. The program is screened on March
27 and features Kathryn Crosby, Gordon Lightfoot, Juliette plus Robbie Lane and the Disciples.
Later, Bing and Kathryn attend the after-show party.
… The television show was taped on the
following evening and what a wonderful experience it was. My daughter, Diane,
who also admires Bing very much, accompanied me to the show and we were
delighted to find that our seats were in the twelfth row, on the side of the
theatre from which Bing was working. What a wonderful thrill as the curtain
went up to the strains of the Lucio Agostini orchestra playing the ever-beautiful “Blue of the
Night”—and Bing appeared on stage. It seemed just incredible that we were
actually sitting there watching the great Mr. Crosby in person!
As the show was being taped, it was a
start and stop affair. This made it all the more interesting for, between
numbers when the tape was stopped, Bing was on stage, talking casually to the
audience, the technicians, the performers, and lending a hand whenever he saw
the need. We were particularly impressed by his never-failing patience,
friendliness and good humour throughout the entire
show.
We had been told that it was Bing’s
friend, Mr. Max Bell, who had invited and “coaxed” Bing to come to Toronto to
do this show. But it was obvious from Bing’s own remarks that he had been very
happy to come as he said he wanted to express to Canada his gratitude for many
good times he has spent in various parts of the country hunting and fishing and
making good friends. What nicer way than to give so freely of his time and
talents for such a worthy cause.
Bing opened the show with his own
terrific version of “Red Red Robin”, and the show was
off to a happy start, most of the performers on the show were Canadian, which,
Bing said, was “as it should be,” but besides emceeing the show, Bing managed
to get in four songs, each of which had its own specia1appeal, and all were
well-chosen to fit the occasion.
At one point in the show, Bing had a chat
with “Timmy” who asked Bing if he would have time to meet some of his little crippled
friends. Bing said he most certainly would and then did a very appealing
version of “Swinging on a Star” with Timmy and his friends. Bing is always so
good with children. You can just imagine the scene as Bing looked round at each
of the children and smiled saying: “Well, this is the biggest group I’ve worked
with since I sang with the Fred Waring
Pennsylvanians.”
Just about the happiest moment in the
show came when Bing introduced “A young lady who’s very special to me—because
she keeps my sons out of my golfing equipment, fishing tackle and shot guns—my
wife Kathryn.” It had been Bing’s idea to bring Kathryn along to appear on the
show and her appearance just made it complete. The audience was clearly
delighted to see her. Kathryn came on stage smiling. She is very sweet and
friendly, and looked so beautiful in a pink fur-trimmed gown, with a short full
skirt, and very stylish white lace hose.
Kathryn talked to Bing and the audience
about the Easter Seal campaign and the excellent work which is done through
donations received. But after a few short minutes, Bing said: “That was very
well said, Kathryn,—and now I am going to excuse you.” “Already?” she
exclaimed, smiling—“I was just going to sing!” “Well,” said Bing, “I’m about to
introduce a lovely lady and I don’t want to see my wife crying in public.” “I
never cry darling,” said Kathryn “but I’ll be in the wings, waiting— and
watching,” and kissed him on the cheek. As she left the stage, Bing called out:
“Where’d you get the socks?” “From when I was a nurse,” Kathryn called back.
Bing then introduced Toronto’s own Juliette—my favourite female vocalist if I may say so here. Glamorous Juliette has been charming her fellow Canadians with her
lovely songs and warm personality on her own weekly show for many years and it
was a real treat to see my two favourites
together.
Juliette expressed her genuine pleasure at
meeting Bing. “You know,” she said, “Like every other female vocalist, I’ve
often wondered if I would ever have a chance to stand right beside you and sing
a duet with you.” “I thought you’d never ask me,” said Bing, as the orchestra
struck up “Easter Parade”. This produced one of the most delightful moments in
the show. The words of the song had been changed slightly to fit the
occasion—and this must have been somewhat confusing, though Bing wasn’t using
the cue card. But in the second chorus, when he was supposed to sing “I’ll be
all in clover”, the words eluded Bing and unable to pick up the place on the
cue card, he came in, like the pro that he is, in perfect tune and time, with
the surprising words—“I can‘t see the next line.” Juliette,
quite a pro herself, quickly filled him in and not a note was missed. A most
delightful duet, with a special added dash of true Crosbyanna.
Something very amusing happened as Bing
was about to do his closing song. The orchestra went into the introduction too
soon and Bing didn’t quite make it to centre stage on time. “You’d better give
me that intro again, Lucio,” called Bing. The
orchestra, hidden behind the curtains for this number, must have been
completely thrown. All was silent for so long that Bing finally walked over and
put his ear to the curtain, calling out “Hello-o-o there. Is anybody there?”
And then to the audience: “I think they’ve all gone home.” But soon the
orchestra started the song again and Bing, seated on a stool, alone in
the spotlight at centre stage, closed the show with his own unforgettable
version of “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life”. Bing does this song so
well that it is really regrettable that he has not made a recording of it for
general release.
At the end of the show, all the
performers came on stage. Timmy presented Kathryn with a huge bouquet of red
roses and it was a very touching moment as she bent down to kiss him on the cheek.
When the curtain went down, Bing came out
front and thanked the audience for “helping us to put this show together,” said
once again how happy he was to have been able to do it and with a smile and a
wave, a “Goodnight and God Bless you,” was gone.
(Lillian Potter, writing in BINGANG
magazine, December 1966)
Bing was in Toronto last week for the video-taping of
the Timmy Easter Seal Show. The cast and crew at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre,
Canadian National Exhibition, were captivated by the Crosby personality.
Despite his genuine modest manner, it was evident to everyone that we were in
the presence of an incomparable performer.
During the rehearsals
for the
The ease with which he
emceed the show was infectious. The variety bill included: Jackie Vernon (who
was appearing at the Royal York), Gord Lightfoot, The Brian Brown Trio, Robbie
Laine and Juliette. Alex Barris, the popular Toronto columnist and TV
personality, wrote a solid script—with Crosby jargon much in evidence.
When I first heard that Bing
would host the big Easter show, I sent him a note telling him where I could be
reached in Toronto. It was a real treat to receive a phone call from him,
shortly after his arrival—I doubt if my mother-in-law will use her phone for a
long time. We had several opportunities to talk to Bing throughout the day and
early evening. During the breaks in the rehearsal he sat in the near-empty
theatre with Alex, my wife and I. In the mid-afternoon we were joined by his
wife Kathy, who also made an appearance on the program. Mrs. Crosby is not only
very pretty, but also a very pleasant person.
(Gord Atkinson, The Ottawa Citizen, March 19,
1966)
March 8, Tuesday. The funeral of Bill Frawley takes place at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery. Bing is listed as an hononary pallbearer.
March 11, Friday. (7:00-7:15 p.m.) Bing is interviewed by Jack Ledden on WPTV in Florida. This had been taped earlier.
March (undated). Bing tapes two Hollywood Palace shows.
March 14, Monday. At a western-style lunch at 20th. Century Fox, Bing presents Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, with a gold emblazoned Winchester rifle.
March 17, Thursday. Bing flies to Florida but his plane is
delayed and he misses a testimonial dinner for his friend Chris Dunphy in the
Regency Room at the Palm Beach Towers. He had however sent ahead a special
recording called “Daddy, Oh, Daddy Dunphy” which is played in his absence.
March 19, Saturday.
(12 noon) Plays in the Latham Reed Memorial Tournament at the Seminole
club. His partner is Ogden Phipps and they have a 71.
March 20, Sunday. Plays in the second round of the Latham Reed Memorial Tournament and has an 85. He
and Ogden Phipps finish with 135, well down the field. Later, Bing
attends the benefit for the American Cancer Society at the Royal
Poinciana Playhouse, Palm Beach. Dinah Shore entertains.
March 21, Monday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Kathryn Crosby guest stars in the Ben Casey episode "Then, Suddenly, Panic!" on ABC-TV.
March 26, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) A Hollywood Palace
show hosted by Bing and featuring Nanette Fabray, Jackie Mason, David Frost,
and Tammy Grimes airs on ABC-TV.
Host, Bing Crosby and guests, Tammy Grimes and Nanette
Fabray spend most of the hour, singing tunes. In addition Miss Fabray is
tap-dancing again: Britain’s David Frost and Jackie Mason deliver soft
quiet-type comedy monologues and the vaudeville acts feature a tumbling group
and pantomimist Cully Richards.
(Los Angeles Herald
Examiner, March 26, 1966)
If ‘Batman’ succeeds by being very bad, ‘Hollywood
Palace’ scores by being very good. Last Saturday (26th), with Bing Crosby as
emcee, viewers were treated to another potpourri of talent. Host Crosby offered
his rendition of the current hit, “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life” which is
part soliloquy. But singing rather than “saying” songs is his forte, as he
demonstrated in the opener, “When the Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob-bob-bobbin’
Along.”
(Variety, March 30, 1966)
By the 1965/66 season, Crosby’s Palace stints began in earnest. In total, he emceed an unrivalled 31 times, including all of the anniversary shows, as well as every Christmas show, save 1969. Mr. Harbach had not realized that the time honored tradition of the Crosby family television yuletide show originated with the HP.
The HP was twice nominated for the Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Variety Series, for the 65/66 and 66/67 seasons. It lost on both occasions to The Andy Williams Show, which, incidentally, was produced by Bob Finkel, who produced a lion’s share of Crosby’s post-Harbach television efforts.
Each Crosby Palace ended with a special treat. As he walked off the stage and the lights dimmed, he would be seen in silhouette, executing some sort of athletic stage business, either kicking one of his legs or arching his torso, usually ending with a droll pantomime of a feigned back-ache. This enchanting chicanery would afford one last taste of the inimitable star before he disappeared until the next show.
“That was pure Bing. Nobody could have told him to do that. Absolutely delightful.”
Was there ever any trouble with Crosby?
“Are you kidding? He was so easy.
Although there was one moment - We were rehearsing, and we had the air
conditioning high. Bing came in with his collar turned up and cried, ‘Jesus
Christ, you could hang meat in this place!’”
Crosby’s remarkable use of language on the HP was an endless source of inspiration. What other host would incorporate words like contumely or phrases like roundelay of jocosities in their parlance? Mr. Harbach concurred.
“He could use words that long and get away with it. He would have you running to the dictionary. And he could rattle off fast lyrics like nobody else.”
Mr. Harbach had lots of fun during the annual Hollywood Palace parades. Crosby would usually be the grand marshal.
“Bing would ride in a car with a lot of kids and he would be the host for the parade. That was done purely for publicity.”
Many new songs seemed to have been written for the Palaces. This was most apparent on the season openers.
“I believe my associate producer Saul Ilson was responsible for many of those.”
Saul Ilson had been writing for The Danny Kaye Show. He would later produce The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the Arte Johnson special, Ver-r-r-ry Interesting on which Crosby appeared. The audiences always seemed to be so attentive and so well dressed.
“We would put the nicer looking people in the front of the house so that we could cut to a reaction.”
There were so many Crosby pairings with contemporary artists: Sonny and Cher, (Nick Vanoff produced their show after the Palace series) The Temptations, Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro, Jeannie C. Riley, Bobbie Gentry, and perhaps most memorable of all, Tiny Tim.
“We loved to do that sort of thing. There used to be a regular feature in Vanity Fair called the impossible interview. For instance, Einstein and Mae West would be combined. How would they talk to each other? I loved to book that way - one from the old guard and one from the new. They all got along well together and had a ball.”
Certainly one of Bing’s most atypical guests was Senator Everett Dirksen.
“We had to fly down to Miami to tape that speech he made.”
Crosby mingled with the crème de la crème of show business royalty on the HP. As an astonishing list of Crosby’s guests was rattled off to him, each name evoked general praise, a laugh, a smile, but hardly any particular details came to his mind.
“When I’m brushing my teeth, I’ll say, ‘Oh God, I should have told him that.’ Right now, nothing’s popping in.”
He did inform me that Nick Vanoff was
responsible for the four appearances which the King Family made with Crosby on
the HP. Vanoff had been producing The King Family Show at the time. (Mr.
Harbach is a font of anecdotes of many other stellar hosts and
hostesses, and has vivid memories of, among others, Fred Astaire, Frank
Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Judy Garland - but that’s another story.)
However, Mr. Harbach does remember one particular Crosby duet - the one with Johnny Mercer from May 21. 1966. It is his personal favorite.
“Herb Sargent was responsible for that. He came up with the gimmick to have Bing stump Johnny by singing phrases from other lyricists’ songs, challenging him to come up with a similar lyric from his own pen. It was so darn clever and intricate, and it went on for about seven minutes. Terrific!” (Mr. Harbach screened this sterling specimen of virtuosity at the recent Crosby tribute held at The Players Club in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park.)
On many of the Palaces, Crosby seemed
to be lip-synching his opening number.
“This was needed since the production numbers had a lot of dancing and moving. The duets and solos were done live.”
Mr. Harbach shed light on the HP rehearsal regimen.
“After about two weeks of rehearsal, we would block everything, and then we would have just one dress rehearsal at 5pm, followed by what we called a complete show at 8pm. Whatever was the best performance would go into the finished tape three weeks later when you show it to the country. Be sure the handkerchief is right there for both shows so if you want to intercut a better moment here or a better step there, the continuity is the same. Nine out of ten times the aired show was played. Once in a while there would be a tiger act that was better in the dress rehearsal - so you’d just put that in.”
The Palace did not switch from black and white to color until the beginning of the 65/66 season. Why the delay?
“ABC was the last network, the bottom network. They went kicking and screaming into color. They had to. Everything was way ahead of them.”
(Martin McQuade, detailing an interview with Bill Harbach,
in BING magazine, spring 2006)
March 27, Sunday. (5:00-6:00 p.m.) The TV special "Timmy's Easter Parade of Stars" is shown with Bing acting as host.
Easter Parade
As
benefit shows go Timmy’s Easter Parade of Stars, a timely reminder that you
should do something about those Easter seals, can be called a success.
The
show had blanket coverage. If you missed it on Channel 4 at 5 p.m. Sunday, you
could pick it up could pick it up on Channel 2 at 6 p.m.
The
idea wasn’t necessarily that you watch it twice. Once was probably enough. Produced
for CFTO-TV, Toronto, the show was picked up by most CBC affiliates.
The
production might have been more imaginative – something more than a stage, screen,
band, and series of unconnected acts – but there was a big plus factor present
in that Bing Crosby handled the introductions.
Everybody
concerned had contributed his time and talents. To their credit Crosby and comedian
Jackie Vernon, a hot property at the moment, weren’t too busy to turn out for a
worthy cause.
Vernon
has milked his routine rather dry but he brought along enough new material this
time to keep the laughs coming. He was in good form.
Backed
by the group that grins on her show each Saturday night, Juliette sang rather
well (we never said she can’t sing, only that her show is a big bore) and
giggled hysterically only once or twice.
Summing
up: A pleasant enough outing with enough names, notably Crosby’s, to keep it interesting.
(Bob Shieles, Calgary Herald, March 28, 1966)
Timmy’s
Easter Parade of Stars could have been a reasonable success because of the
content of top Canadian stars and Bing Crosby as singer and emcee. As it turned
out, it was not too well planned and Mr. Crosby was not given enough time to rehearse
all the lines. It was often too obvious
he was straining to read the cue cards and at one point he said. “The show can’t
go on if you don’t move it closer (meaning the cue card)”. This sort of thing
goes off as a joke when it’s done by Dean Martin, but was just short of the
comic this time. The Browne Trio was particularly entertaining with the pianist
performing with a clear-as-a-bell touch.
(Cecilia Humphreys,
The Calgary Albertan, March 31, 1966)
March (undated). Bing is at his Rising River ranch.
March 29, Tuesday. Pacific Northwest Bell
take advertising space in many Oregon newspapers
headed “Come on Gang, Let’s Sing the Praises of Oregon!” Readers were
then
invited to send for the free Northwest Holiday record titled "Holiday
in Oregon - The Sounds of The Fabulous Pacific Northwest", plus map and
jacket which
they could send to out-of-state friends and relatives. Bing, Jane Powell and
Mel Blanc are heard on the 7" disc and in a few sentences, Bing speaks warmly
about the Pacific Northwest and the fishing and golf there. He encourages everyone
to hit the Oregon Trail. Bing's recording is taken from a similar record "Holiday in Washington - The Sounds of The Fabulous Pacific Northwest" with his references to Tacoma and Washington omitted. Author and historian Murray Morgan writes the sleeve notes. Meanwhile, Cinerama’s Russian Adventure has its world premiere at the McVickers
Cinerama Theater in Chicago. Bing appears briefly in this and then narrates this Cinerama
tour of Russian culture and geography produced by the Russians and released
under the auspices of the Cultural Exchange Program. The original narrator was
Homer McCoy but he was replaced by Bing in this re-edited release.
Bing Crosby, who handles the narration and appears briefly in the beginning to introduce the picture, turns in a first rate job, easily projecting an affable aura around the entire production.
(Variety, April 6, 1966)
As narrator for
this package, they have that old gadabout and Russophile, Bing Crosby, whose
jolly tone and lingo tend to embrace all the Russians as chums. His narration
provides meager information, however, aside from the fact that the Soviet Union
spans 10 time zones. That is the most striking fact about Russia you are likely
to get from this film.
(Bosley Crowther, New York Times, April 14, 1966)
April 1-3, Friday-Sunday.
Bing plays in the La Quinta Invitational Golf Tournament, near Palm
Springs. He partners his friend Ed Crowley who is president of La
Quinta Country Club. They are not in contention. This is Bing's first
competitive tournament for four years because of his bursitis problems,
April 3, Sunday. (5:00-6:00 p.m.) The radio show "Timmy's Easter Parade of Stars" is broadcast on the main Canadian radio stations with Bing acting as mc and introducing Rich Little, The Four Lads, The New Christy Minstrels and Petula Clark amongst others. His recording of "The Men in My Little Girl's Life" made for the TV show on March 7 is interpolated.
April 7,
Thursday. Bing takes his young son Harry to watch San Francisco Giants
beat the California Angels 7-3 at Angels Stadium, Palm Springs.
April 8, Friday. Bing Crosby Enterprises receives a four-page
threatening letter to Bing and his family. The FBI is involved and eventually
decides that the writer, a man called Tompkins, is a crank and they decide not
to prosecute.
April 10, Sunday. Bing and family are at Palm
Desert for Easter and go up Mount San Jacinto on the Palm Springs Aerial
Tramway where they encounter Bobo the Clown.
April 11, Monday.
Bing writes to fan Pat Sullivan.
Thanks for your letter. Glad to welcome
you back into the fold of supporters, and I’m delighted to hear that you liked
the last Palace show.
This show was a great deal of fun to do
because of the wonderful staff they have – the production end, and the creative
end, are just tops.
Glad you liked the closing piece with
Nanette Fabray. We had a little difficulty
getting this as she was very sick with the flu, running a temperature, and we
didn’t know whether or not we were going to be able to get it done in time for the
show to be put together, but it came out okay if it proved entertaining to you.
No, I didn’t author a book entitled, “How
I Beat Nicklaus, Player and Palmer”. This is a gag –
this book. It has that title on the front and when you open it up, all
the pages are empty. I don’t know if it’s available on the stands or not, but I
imagine it is, or else somebody had it made up for me for a joke. I can’t
remember which.
All best wishes, and thanks again – as
ever
Bing
April 15, Friday. Bing is photographed in San Francisco examining the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy
awarded annually to the National
Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner. The trophy is being circulated to various cities for exhibition.
April 20, Wednesday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Bing stars in the taped
television program The Road to Lebanon on NBC with Danny Thomas, Sheldon
Leonard, Hugh Downs and Claudine Auger. Bob Hope makes a short guest appearance. Music is
provided by Harper MacKay and his Orchestra.
HOLLYWOOD. The fifth and
last Danny Thomas Special for the season, “The Road to Lebanon,” with Danny,
Bing Crosby, Claudine Auger and Sheldon Leonard, along with brief appearances
by Bob Hope and Hugh Downs airs tonight on NBC, and it's by far the most amusing
Thomas Show of the lot.
Seen at an advance
screening, “The Road to Lebanon” turned out to be funnier than most of the old,
meandering Hope-Crosby “Road” pictures, which was quite a feat in view of the
mishaps confronting producers Alan Handley and Bob Wynn at taping time during
the California flu epidemic this past winter.
When Alan Handley was blocking
out camera movements for his opening scene the night before taping was to
begin, he learned that Bob Hope, stricken by flu, had taken to his bed, and would
probably re-main there. Then word came that star Bing Crosby had been bitten by
the bug, but not as badly, and would appear on stage the next morning after spending
the night at the nearby St. Joseph's Hospital.
Handley pulled writers
Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson out of bed at 2 a. m., and told them to cross
out Hope’s feature part, and make other script changes. Originally, Jim Nabors
was slated to make a cameo appearance at the end of the show, turning up in the
desert in time to rescue Thomas, Crosby and Hope, who were about to be
beheaded. Now, Jim was excused from the
show, and his place would be taken by a groggy Hope who expected to be out of
bed on the fourth and last day of the taping.
Then Handley sat back
to await further flu victims. Would Thomas be next – or Claudine Auger, the
French beauty from the latest James Bond movie?
Oddly enough, nobody
else dropped in his tracks during the four-day production. Even the camels were
nice and refrained from biting or spitting. Writers Marshall and Belson made the necessary
cuts, which meant shifting Hope’s best quips over to star Thomas. Bing reported
for work daily and spent his nights in the hospital, and the battling Hope recovered
in time to play the desert scene in a golf cart. Following tradition, the show
went on, braced by an irreverent script, sexy dancing girls and familiar tunes involving
a few changes in lyrics.
For producers Handley
and Wynn, “The Road to Lebanon” marks the end of a very successful year.
(Charles Witbeck, Mount Vernon Argus. April 20, 1966)
Fashioned on the old ‘Road’ features that Bob Hope and
Bing Crosby used to make, and aping the style as it parodied the situations,
this Garry Marshall - Jerry Belson script had Thomas visiting his ancestral
homeland to judge the Miss Lebanon beauty contest and being pursued first by
Crosby who wanted to team up with him and slough off Hope as a partner, and
second by the son of a Lebanese sheik who was to exact punishment for a tribal
sin committed by one of Thomas’ forebears - getting a nose job. The wellspring
of much of the hour’s comedy was that the ‘son’ was really a daughter, played
by Claudine Auger who was everything her role demanded - sexy. . . .The
scripters managed to pave some openings along the way for a couple of songs by
Crosby and a singleton by Thomas. . . . Producers Alan Handley and Bob Wynn
kept production values high throughout, and Handley’s direction was slick and
strictly big time.
(Variety, April 27, 1966)
April 28, Thursday. At Hillsborough, Bing’s female Labrador,
Topsy, delivers seven puppies with Kathryn’s help. Kathryn adopts the runt of
the litter, which she calls Cindy.
April 29, Friday.
Bing and his family are at their Hillsborough
home and pose for a number of press photographs. Later, Bing plays in the Doten Invitational at Orinda Country Club, near
San Francisco. Despite his nagging shoulder, he has a 78 and helps his team of four to second place.
May 1, Sunday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Acts as one of the hosts
on the CBS-TV program The Magic of Broadcasting. Bing’s segment of the
program had been recorded on February 17.
Arthur Godfrey is host for a nostalgic review of the
great stars and favorite programs of radio and television history. Joining him
are Bing Crosby, who uses an ancient Atwater Kent radio to acquaint two
youngsters with musical stars of the past, including Al Jolson, Ben Bernie,
Helen Morgan and Arthur Tracy; Lucille Ball, seen at rehearsals for her TV show
with series co-star Gale Gordon (radio’s first Flash Gordon); Sheldon Leonard,
TV producer of such series as ‘I Spy’ and ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’; writer Rod
Serling, who discusses the live dramas of television’s ‘Golden Age’ and
bandleader, John Scott Trotter, who reviews the big bands of yesteryear. Films,
stills and transcripts include ‘Amos ‘n’ Andy’; Fanny Brice; Rudy Vallee;
Milton Berle; Fibber McGee and Molly and Fred Allen.
(TV Guide, April 20, 1966)
If there was anything this star-studded botch lacked,
it was any kind of “magic”. In the scan of broadcasting from early radio days
to TV present, the show fell into almost total disarray in striving to cover
too much. The historic segments, a hodge-podge of clips, stills and sounds came
off as a meaningless recitation. The viewer kept waiting for a spark in the
debris which would give the feel of the medium’s past. Nothing happened.
It was as though reels
from another special were unspooling in a reprise of a day in the life of
producer, Sheldon Leonard and Lucille Ball at work on the set. And Bing
Crosby’s inane bit at opening with two kids in a record shop seemed more like a
gimmick out of the past than historic footage.
The first mistake in
this Lee Mendelson production may well have been putting it in color. The
switches from tint to b & w to sepia and yellow-tinted b & w was the
crowning touch to the mishmash of the whole.
(Variety, May 4, 1966)
May 4, Wednesday. Bing has received a letter from Jean Drapeau, the Mayor of Montreal, and he duly replies.
Thank
you very much for your kind letter. Certainly a visit to Montreal to see MAN
AND HIS WORLD would be an exciting experience.
I’m
just now lining up a schedule for the summer which includes a trip to Africa, and
I haven’t been able yet to complete the final arrangements.
If
I find that I can get away, I’d love to bring the children to see the exhibit.
I
do want you to know that I’m grateful to you for thinking of me.
With kindest personal wishes, sincerely yours, Bing
May 6-8, Friday-Sunday.
Wins the Cypress Point Club Invitational with his partner Ken Walsh.
They are 10-up against par. Bing's handicap is now 12.
May 9, Monday. Bing has his only recording session of 1966
and sings “Far from Home” and “How Green Was My Valley” for Reprise Records.
The songs are from the Broadway musical A Time for Singing and the
backing tracks have been prepared by Johnny Keating and his Orchestra in Los
Angeles. Bing adds his voice in San Francisco. A Time for Singing opened
on Broadway on May 21, 1966 and closed on June 25, 1966.
…It was sometime during all this activity
that Sonny Burke, the then Head of Warner Bros. Music Department and long time
personal musical associate of
Bing, asked
me to do a single for the great man himself
- an offer I
couldn’t refuse. The important points surrounding
this recording were:
(1) The two songs
were from a new Broadway Show “How Green
Was My Valley” just about to open in New York and must be recorded, like yesterday, in
order to coincide with the hype of the opening.
(2) Bing was
working in San Francisco
and this meant it was impossible for him to come to Los
Angeles to record.
This necessitated a certain set of circumstances, unusual
to say the least, especially way back then.
Bing hadn’t
heard the songs
but trusted Sonny Burke’s
judgement that they would
be good for him
to record.
Not knowing the songs meant
that Bing could not
set the appropriate keys (an extremely vital factor for any singer) so this very personal choice
was left to me to figure out. Sonny also
pointed out that at this later period in Bing’s singing
career his higher register, as is common with all singers in similar circumstances, should be given careful consideration. There was also the problem of tempo changes
- those bits near the end where a
slight slowing down
can enhance the emotive impact of a
performance. Added to these idiosyncrasies was the strange situation
- at least back
then in those days - for a conductor to have no singer to conduct or to
follow. In effect, I had to become Bing
Crosby. As Bing, I had to choose
my keys, my key
changes, my tempos and tempo changes, my loud parts and quiet parts and be sure to see that the orchestra
directed by Johnny
Keating faithfully
and sympathetically followed
my interpretation.
What frightening power was
placed in my hands. This was Bing Crosby. My father’s favourite singer. The great star of Stage, Screen, Radio and Recording colossus. Help! As it happened “How Green Was My Valley” was a Broadway failure so that was
that…
(Johnny Keating, writing in BING magazine, summer,
2000 [#125])
May 11, Wednesday.
Bing and his family travel to their home in
Las Cruces. During their stay there, Bing fishes with Dick Snideman,
Buster Collier and Ed Crowley. They take a 4-day cruise, fishing out of
Las Cruces the first day and spending the night at Muertos Bay. The
second day they fish down to Frailes Bay and spend the night. They go
on to Palmilla on the third day and to the Cape on the fourth.
May 21, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Another Hollywood
Palace show hosted by Bing is shown on ABC-TV in which he is joined by
Johnny Mercer, Shelley Berman, Leslie Uggams, and the King Family.
Except for comic, Shelley Berman at the telephone, this
is mostly a singing show with Bing Crosby as its host. Bing joins songwriter,
Johnny Mercer for a medley and manages to merge with the huge King Family for a
few tunes at the end. Leslie Uggams rounds out the vocal list with numbers like
‘Inka Dinka Doo’ and vaudeville acts including a trio of sway poles, two
British comics and a glass tumbler juggler round out the bill.
(Los Angeles Herald
Examiner, May 21, 1966)
With Bing Crosby as host, Saturday’s (21) Hollywood
Palace was another well-blended hour of mirth and melody. Whether in a solo
rendition of “One of Those Songs,” or joined by the various branches of the
King Family tree, the crooner sang in a pleasant, low-key manner that has kept
his popularity constant for what seems like generations. “Old buddy” Johnny
Mercer was on hand for a humorous duet with Bing which in medley fashion ran
down the list of Mercer hit favorites through the years.
(Variety, May 25, 1966)
Harbach needed help handling the volume of work, and he got it with a young Greek kid named Nick Vanoff. The two formed a production company to produce TV variety shows. Vanoff handled the business and the money, Harbach handled the people.
“I’m terrible at deals, terrible with money,” says Harbach, adding, of his late partner, “He was great; he could make the plates spin.”
Harbach had inherited his father’s essentially positive temperament. He was handsome and liked people, so people usually returned the favor.
In the early ‘60s, Vanoff was producing Perry Como, when ABC had a terrible bomb with a talk show hosted by Jerry Lewis. The network bought out Lewis for $2 million, and Vanoff and Harbach put together a show called The Hollywood Palace that was a return to the show-business era of Otto Harbach — a variety show mixing famous headliners and the occasional dog act or plate spinner. It was only supposed to be a short-term replacement, but the show ran seven years. The most frequent host was Bing Crosby, who was always pleasant to work with, Harbach recalls.
“He had this one thing; he’d call out at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, ‘When do you need me tomorrow?’ and then he’d be gone. That was the way he controlled what he had to do. He wasn’t doing it for big money; we only paid the host $10,000 a show.
“He was a total professional on the set, but his kids were absolutely terrified of him. You could see it in their eyes when they would visit. With them, he was cold and strict.”
. . . He has his favorite Hollywood Palace shows on tape and will occasionally go on a cruise and show clips. He pops in a tape, now, of Crosby and Johnny Mercer doing a very complicated medley of each other’s hits. They’re a couple of old pros who are sitting down but hitting every note. A look of pure appreciative pleasure spreads across Harbach’s face.
“You couldn’t do that kind of show today,” he says. “You could get Streisand and Tony Bennett, and then who, exactly?”
(Scott Eyman, writing in the Palm Beach Post, April 18, 2004)
June 6, Monday. (8:00-9:00 p.m.) Interviewed by Jim Day on Channel 9, Station
KQED, San Francisco in the pre-taped Kaleidoscope program. The show is repeated on July 21, 1967. There are several
interesting points covered:
Jim: “You
say that more recently you’ve come to think that your mother was right about
her prayers. What’s happened more recently that’s caused you to think
that luck is a little less important?”
Bing: “Well
mebbe I’ve become a little closer to religion. And thinking it over, and the
way things go, you become convinced that there is a Divine Providence that looks
after you. I don’t suppose the Good Lord was looking after me whether or not I
recorded this or recorded that. But you have to feel that some influence other
than something worldly was working. My mother was such a wonderful woman and
she did so many good things and such good work and she wanted success and
happiness for me so maybe the Lord, to make her happy, had good things happen
to me.”
Jim: “Why
have you been brought closer to religion in recent years?”
Bing: “Well
I can’t account for it, except as you get older, you seek the solace of
religion. I always was a pretty good Catholic. I had lots of transgressions for
which I was properly sorry but in our church, if you’re penitent, you’re still
in the fold. But as you get older, Jim, as you know - you’re just a young
fellow - but you’ll come to it later in life - you’ll become sear and yellow
like me, that religion is a great solace and a great refuge and a great
comfort.”...
Jim: “How
long do you intend to continue singing?”
Bing: “Not
much longer!”
Jim: “Why
not?”
Bing: Oh, it
doesn’t sound so good anymore. I make a record now and the disc comes back to
me a few days later. I play it at home and I play it about half through and I
take it off. It sounds too bad.”
June 11, Saturday. Kathryn leaves Las Cruces for Hillsborough
before traveling to Vineland, Canada where she takes part in the play Mary,
Mary with James Kirkwood starting on June 20. The play tours to Laconia (New Hampshire, July 5-9), Ivoryton (Connecticut, July 11-16),
Fitchburg (Massachusetts, July 18-23) and Falmouth (also Massachusetts, July 25-30). Kathryn visits
Everett Crosby at a hospital in Sharon, Connecticut on three occasions during
her tour.
June 15, Wednesday. The film Stagecoach is released by
Twentieth Century-Fox.
New version of
“Stagecoach” is loaded with b.o. appeal. Ten stars repping a wide spectrum of
audience interest, an absorbing script about diverse characters thrown together
by fate, plus fine direction and performances are all wrapped up in a
handsomely mounted Martin Rackin production. …Crosby projects eloquently the
jaded worldliness of a down-and-outer who still has not lost all self-respect.
Much humor evolves from his running gag with Red Buttons, the preacher-dressed
and mannered liquor salesman played earlier by the late Donald Meek.
(Variety,
May 25, 1966)
...The action fans may not be short-changed, but only
a few of the principals achieve more than surface effects. In a decided
departure from the norm, Bing Crosby, as the unshaven, sodden surgeon, is
casual, natural, glib and mildly funny. Mr. Heflin is
authoritative and taciturn as the marshal intent on keeping his prisoner, the
Ringo Kid, from being shot down by the savage Plummers, and Mr. Cord is
properly hard, sinewy and determined as that vengeful lone cowhand.
. . .But “Stagecoach,”
after all, is a horse opera, and the horses, the eye-catching scenery, those
dependable hands, and superb sound and fury make it an enjoyable trip most of
the way.
(A. H. Weiler, The New York Times, June 16,
1966)
Stagecoach
is a remake of the greatest western ever. It is still a good and gripping
story, though bigger, lusher now. The best performance in this version comes
from none other than Bing Crosby, playing a drunken doctor, with bloodshot
eyes, stubbled face, and a splendid sense of timing.
(Daily
Express, May 13, 1966)
Bing’s role was
that of rum-soaked Doc Boone, the part which won character actor Thomas
Mitchell an Oscar in the earlier production. Although Bing acquitted himself
well in this film, the overall product that Martin Rackin put on the screen
lacked the impact of the original movie.
(The
Fabulous Life of Bing Crosby, page 204)
June 16, Thursday. Watches the first day's play at the US Open Golf Championship at the Olympic Club, San Francisco.
June 19, Sunday. Leaves San Francisco for Honolulu. Son Harry
accompanies Bing.
June 27,
Monday. Bing and Harry fly from Honolulu to Kamuela airport on the
island of Hawaii. Bing and Harry stay at the Mauna Key Beach hotel.
Bing writes to Rena Albanesi, President of
Club Crosby.
You
said in a letter written in April that you would like some word from me in
June. Well June is in its waning days just now, so I thought I’d drop you a
note, giving you some indication of what I’m supposed to be doing the next few months—or
the next year, for that matter.
This
is all more or less tentative. Every time I line up a schedule like this, I
start seeking ways of getting out of it. But as of now, I’m supposed to
do an Andy Williams show to be taped on the 13th and released in the fall, I
imagine. And two Hollywood Palaces are going to be taped in late July and early
August for fall use.
I
then go to Ireland to make a picture. It’s a Jules Verne story called “Rocket
to the Moon” —laid in the period around the turn of the century, and featuring
some of the famous English character men like Terry-Thomas, Wilfred Hyde-White
and Stanley Holloway. Gert Frobe who is so funny in “The Magnificent Men in
Their Flying Machine” is also in the cast.
I
play the great American promoter and circus operator, Phineas T. Barnum. It
should be fun. They’re going to photograph it in Ireland, weather willing,
which will be a convenient place for me because I have a couple of two-year-old
race horses there and I’d like to see how they’re coming on.
There
is some talk of a picture to be made with Vivien Leigh. This is a thing based
on a play called “The Absence of a Cello”. It was a mild hit on Broadway, and
has had considerable success on the road, with different people playing the
lead roles.
The
producers of this particular version plan to make a musical out of it. This is
all very indefinite, but there has been some talk, and it could very well turn
out to be a reality.
Mrs.
Crosby is currently east doing five or six weeks on the road. A comedy called
“Mary, Mary”. In her absence, I’m sort of a babysitter, golfer and
fisherman.
So
much for my news of now.
As
ever, Bing
July 3, Sunday. It is announced that Bing has accepted a position on the Gladys Turk Foundation,
supported by the estate of the late composer Roy Turk, to help selected
musicians receive foundation aid.
July 6, Wednesday. Phillip Crosby is divorced again, after
less than two years of marriage to Mary Joyce Gabbard. The couple has a daughter
named Mary Elizabeth and Mary is expecting her second child who is eventually
named Bing, but becomes known as "Flip".
July 13, Wednesday. Bing’s brother Everett dies of throat
cancer, age seventy, in Salisbury, Connecticut, and is buried on July 18 in Lakeville,
Connecticut. Everett has been confined to a wheelchair for some time. Bing
receives news of his brother’s death just as he finishes taping an appearance
on the Andy Williams television show (which is shown on October 30). Andy and
Tennessee Ernie Ford make Bing go with them for dinner at the Villa Capri where
a pianist plays “Pennies from Heaven,” Everett’s favorite. Bing thanks the
pianist. Kathryn (still on tour in East) goes to Connecticut to help with the
funeral arrangements.
July 14, Thursday. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, writes to Bing sending his condolences following the death of Everett.
July 16, Saturday. Bing writes to Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Dear Norman
I did indeed look at the song
written by the late Mrs. Rockwood. It seemed to be a very stirring depiction of
how our country started, and a clear exposition of the things America believed
in and stands for.
Ideal material for a
thanksgiving song.
I noted with particular interest,
the dedication of the song to the Society of Mayflower Descendants. I am
supposed to be one of those – at least, so my older brother has always told me.
He made an exhaustive study
of this some years ago and developed a family tree which showed that the
Crosbys came from Massachusetts and were descended in direct line from Edwin
Brewster, who was reputed to have been a passenger on the vessel.
May I say how pleased it was
to hear from you again, and to tell you once again how much I enjoyed being
with you on “Stagecoach” both in Hollywood and in Colorado.
I thought the picture turned
out very well. It’s tremendously exciting, and I’ve received much favorable
comment – not only about the picture, but about your outstanding performance in
the bar room.
All the best to Mrs.
Rockwell –
Your friend, Bing
July 25, Monday. A son, Sean, is born to Lindsay and Janet
Crosby.
July 29, Friday.
Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Sid Caesar, George Burns and
The Mamas and the Papas. This is shown on September 17.
July 31, Sunday. Kathryn Crosby arrives back at Hillsborough following her theatrical work. Bing is still in Los Angeles preparing a Hollywood Palace show with Dorothy Lamour.
August 3, Wednesday. Bing tapes the Hollywood Palace show with Dorothy Lamour that is subsequently shown on November 26.
Two
of the three members of a famous movie “Road” company — Bing Crosby and Dorothy
Lamour — got together the other day to tape a Hollywood Palace show which will
be on ABC in November.
Bing
was making his 12th appearance as Palace host, Dorothy her first as guest star.
Not since “The Road to Hong Kong” in 1962 have they performed together.
Bing
introduced Miss Lamour to the audience. Like a fashion ad for “life begins at
50,” she looked stunning in her off-the-shoulder gown. She sang “Cause I Love
All of You.” In the background, for those who remember her early movies, were
palm trees.
The
former “Road” partners then went into a little patter that poked fun at their
missing trouper. They feigned remembering his name … “Boob Hopp, or something like
that?”
Said
Dorothy: “I hear he’s in the car business now.”
Said
Bing: “Well, with that ‘horn’ of his he’ll make a fortune!”
Miss
Lamour then suggested they sing a medley of “Road” tunes, to which Bing, after
an admiring look at her, replied, “Why not, I certainly recognise those soft
shoulders.”
Mitchell
Ayres, who has conducted the orchestra since the first Palace show, (sic) which
Bing hosted, had nothing but admiration for these show business veterans.
“For
a man who can’t read music, he’s remarkable,” says Ayres. “Bing’s such a quick
study. Dorothy can’t read music either, but they only needed about 10 minutes
to rehearse their medley. Why, heck, Bing came in about 6 last night, and by
6:45 he was out of here, having gone through everything he’ll do on the show.”
At
62, that casual, relaxed appearance of Bing’s is for real on or off the stage.
While Palace stagehands and assistant directors nervously scurried about
setting up the next number, Bing stood motionless, or sat on a chair to one
side, hands clamped or arms folded, staring off into space.
In
an anteroom later Bing smiled graciously when it was remarked how well he
looked. “I got a lot of makeup on’” he confessed with a laugh. “I kind of fall
apart when it’s off.”
Chewing
on his ever-present pipe, Bing told how he’s been doing a number of commercials
for charitable organizations, looking in on an occasional meeting of Bing
Crosby Productions (Hogan’s Heroes) and, except for a recent touch off bursitis
in the right shoulder, spending time on the golf links, “If I couldn’t play
golf,” he says, “Where’d I be?”
…Miss
Lamour allowed that it had been some time since she and Bing had sung together
and that it was (she winced at the mention of the title) in “The Road to Hong
Kong.”
“I
didn’t like that one,” she said in a mocking tone, shooting a glance at Bing. “I
was just a guest star in that one.”
(Paul Henniger, The Los Angeles Times (page 74), August 11, 1966)
August 8, Monday.
Bing and Kathryn attend the opening of the new Chinese restaurant, "The
Empress of China" in San Francisco before going on to Lou Lurie's
dinner for Maurice Chevalier at the Mark Hopkins hotel.
August 10, Wednesday. Bing presides as grand marshal of the Hollywood
Palace parade to celebrate the third anniversary of the show. He writes to
British fan Leslie Gaylor.
Well, the 40th Anniversary of my advent
into the disc business is coming up, according to advices recently received by
you. I didn’t have any idea so many years had slipped by. Doesn’t seem half
that long. Maybe that’s because the first five or six years, I only made two or
three records.
I was coming over there to make a film in
Ireland, but I’m now not in the picture and if I come, it will be in connection
with some other business. I have a couple two-year-old thoroughbreds in Ireland
who might be getting ready to run in September and also some interest in the
stallion, Meadow Court, currently standing in Dorset.
I might do a little bit of work while
there - the nature of which has not yet been decided.
I’ve just finished a couple Hollywood
Palace shows - I’m doing eight again this year. The first two will be for
release in the fall - I believe October and November.
I think they’re two good shows. Sid
Caesar is on both of them, doing one of his famous comedy sketches. I appear in
one, and Dorothy Lamour in the other. We also have Jane Marsh, the young
American girl who recently won the Russian musical competition, Vikki Carr,
Bill Dana, Dorothy Lamour, George Burns, and a host of other acts – all of them
very good.
I think they are two excellent shows. In
color, of course.
I have also done an Andy Williams show -
taped in late July for release in the early fall. Andy and I sang “In a Little
Spanish Town” done in the Tijuana Brass style, then did a medley of some of the
songs I’ve been identified with. We had a little conversation, too, and some
jokes. I think it’s a good spot. Andy seemed to be pleased.
In the main though, I’ve been fishing and
traveling about and playing a lot more golf now that my bursitis has improved.
There was a period there for a year and a half when I didn’t play at all and
believe me, it’s great to be back on the links. No matter what I shoot, no
matter how bad, I never complain, because the prospect a year ago of never
playing again was a grim prospect indeed.
Mrs Crosby has been doing most of the steady
work lately. She has just returned from eight weeks in the east doing the comedy
“Mary, Mary”. She does this every summer - for the past six years - and enjoys
it very much. Sort of gives her an opportunity to keep her hand in the theatre.
She does good solid material and her
reviews are consistently good - in some cases, unusually laudatory.
I’m grateful to you, Leslie, and to all
the members for their loyalty and their support through the years. Please
extend my profound thanks and warmest best wishes -
Always yours, Bing
August 15, Monday. Takes his 7-year old son Harry fishing off Harding Rock buoy in San Francisco Bay.
August 28, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn arrive at Prestwick Airport
in Scotland after a flight from San Francisco. They catch a plane to Manchester
Airport, England, and visit the mother of Alan Fisher (their butler) at Heald
Green, Manchester. They go on to stay at the Trout Hotel in Cockermouth in
Cumbria.
August 30, Tuesday. Still at Cockermouth, Bing fishes for salmon
(without success) on the River Derwent for The American Sportsman
program for ABC-TV. Joe Brooks, the American fly expert, is with him. Bing is
interviewed by Jim Graham, (later Chairman of Border Television), for the Lookaround
TV program. Bing mentions a film he hopes to make for Disney next spring called
The Family Band. During their stay in Cumbria, they dine at Lowther Hall
with Lord and Lady Lonsdale.
August 31, Wednesday. (7:30 p.m.) Staying at the Trout Hotel,
Bing and Kathryn are visited by a party of members of the International Crosby
Circle.
September 1, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn have dinner with Lord
Egremont at Cockermouth Castle.
. . . The difference between the amateur and the
professional - if the amateur is a proper amateur - is that the amateur
dabbles.
I was reminded of this
distinction when Mr. Bing Crosby was fishing one of my rivers in Cumberland.
Mr. Crosby is the most delightful of men and it was such a pleasure to have him
and his charming wife Kathy with us.
He is also, as I
quickly discovered, the most professional of men in the best sense of the term.
With all that glittering success behind him, we now find him giving a lot of
time to one of his favourite sports, fishing. Hence his appearance on my
property in Cumberland, where I have some rather good salmon fishing.
I was struck from the
first by Bing Crosby’s careful and meticulous way of going about his sport. On
this occasion he was doing it for a film about fishing. He was surrounded by
professionals - a professional producer, director and cameraman and so forth -
and he showed himself an extremely able fisherman. Salmon abounded, leaping
about in the river like billy-ho, sometimes over Crosby’s line - but they just
wouldn’t take his fly. And so it went on day after day. As any salmon fisherman
knows, this is the sort of thing that may happen. Crosby fished on and on,
going out at 7 a.m. and making four thousand casts a day. The camera crew stood
by (at a cost of £1,000 a day) waiting for him to catch a fish. He could not
have fished the river better, and I was deeply impressed by his
professionalism, and by his calm and patience.
He would croon quietly
to himself in that famous and charming voice, making up the words as he went
along - for example:
The River Derwent
Is in a ferment
With fish.
But they won’t bite.
I am not qualified to speak about the mind of a
professional. But Dr. Johnson said: ‘It is wonderful when a calculation is
made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharge of any
profession.’ I wondered how Bing’s mind had been employed day after day with
all those four thousand fruitless casts. Thinking of Kathy, I shouldn’t be
surprised.
(Lord Egremont, writing in his book Wyndham and
Children First, page 207)
September 2, Friday. After three days without catching a fish,
Bing catches three salmon, one of which weighed over eight pounds.
September 3, Saturday. Bing meets four more members of the
International Crosby Circle at the Trout Hotel. Much to their surprise, he is
wearing evening dress as he and Kathryn have a dinner engagement later.
…No more than five minutes later in
walked Bing, a drink held in his left hand, politely said “Good evening” to the
assembled company and advanced towards us, right hand outstretched in greeting,
with the query “Where’s the boy from Liverpool?”
How can a moment like this be caught in
mere words and committed to paper? What manner of literary device can be
employed to capture the essence of a situation such as this - the sight of a
face and figure so highly regarded, and so completely familiar from movies and
photographs over virtually a lifetime, appearing ‘in the flesh’ at long, long
last and walking across the room to join one? The simple answer is that it
can’t be done. Even if I had the ability to wax as lyrical as Wordsworth
himself it’s clear that any attempt to report so profound an emotional
experience must be foredoomed to failure. Therefore, faced with this
incontestable fact and more than ever aware of my many limitations, I shall
merely try to set down some of the superficial aspects of this memorable
get-together.
Bing and Kathryn had a dinner engagement
later, so instead of seeing our man in his customary informal garb we were now
confronted by a Mr. Crosby immaculately clothed in evening dress and looking
for all the world like C. Dexter Haven straight out of the film High Society.
His remarkably blue eyes, the colour doubtless
accentuated by a deep sun-tan, are even more striking than I had anticipated -
and Bing in person seemed to me decidedly taller than his screen image would
lead one to expect. He was still experiencing some pain from the bursitis in
his right shoulder (hardly surprising in view of all those backcasts
with the salmon fly rod) but, this apart, Bing was obviously very fit and well.
With formal introductions over Mr. C sat
down at a table by which we had gathered and in no time at all we were all chatting
away merrily, naturally, entirely without strain. One thing’s for sure - the
casual charm we have always associated with Bing is part and parcel of the man
himself and no mere layer of professionalism. Jack Shaw told Bing that “May I”
was one of his favourite Crosby recordings and this
set Mr. C off on a rapid but patently enjoyable mental excursion through the
songs from We’re Not Dressing (1934). “Some pretty good numbers in that
one”, opined Bing, naming “Love Thy Neighbour” and
“Once in a Blue Moon”. When I reminded him of “Goodnight Lovely Little Lady” he
grinned and said “Sure… and, gee, I sang that one to a bear!” Then someone
mentioned “The Folks Who Live on the Hill”. “Did I do a recording of that?”
asked Bing, with just the ghost of a smile playing around his lips, “A fine
song. Let’s see now, how did it go?” At this point he closed his eyes (there’s
a photograph I took at the precise moment which, by a lucky chance, beautifully
captured the reflective mood he was in) and, having thought for a few seconds,
treated us to half a chorus or so of that evergreen Jerome Kern ballad. This
was really something, and proved beyond doubt that the Crosby vocal cords are
still in excellent trim. Likewise his speaking voice, which has about it a marvellous depth and resonance not always adequately
reproduced on record or soundtrack.
(Extract
from an article by Les Phythian in BING magazine,
October 1966)
September 5, Monday. Bing and Kathryn leave Cockermouth and drive to
Barnby Moor, sixteen miles from Doncaster, where they stay at Ye Olde Bell
Hotel.
September 6-8, Tuesday–Thursday. At Doncaster in South Yorkshire, where they attend the races including the St. Leger. Bing places a bet on a horse called “Crosby Don” and it romps home at 33-1, earning him £17. During his stay, Bing golfs at Doncaster Golf Club one morning with Ernest Chapman, a Daily Mirror cameraman (handicap 4).
...Bing soon settled my nerves. He was wonderful. We'll have a second shot from here, if we are not happy with the first drive he said. Bing knocked his first ball 220 yards straight down the middle, mine surprisingly near. The match was joined.
Bing talked about his love of many courses in Great Britain, differences in green textures, what fine ambassadors American golf pros were on their visits for the Open and the Carling. It was like playing with one of my own club members. I found his easy smooth swing helped me to play well so we had a great game. When he suggested playing a few more holes, he made me feel that he had enjoyed it too.
I always thought Bing was a great
man - now I know he is.
(Ernest Chapman, in a letter to
Crosby fan, Leslie Gaylor)
September (undated). Bing and Kathryn visit Stratford-on-Avon and Oxford
as they drive down to West Sussex.
September 9, Friday. Bing Crosby Enterprises receives a ten-page
letter threatening Bing and his family. The writer is again a man called
Tompkins who is known to the FBI and no action is taken.
September 9-11, Friday–Sunday. Bing and Kathryn stay at Lord
Egremont’s home, Petworth House, West Sussex, for the weekend. Bing plays two
rounds of golf at the West Sussex course with Sir Charles Russell, Lord Justice
of Appeal, and wins both times. Bing sends a postcard to John Scott Trotter as
follows:
This
is a fabulous place, we came here as Lord Egremont’s guests. His waters we
fished in Cumberland and it was marvelous. It’s in Sussex and is just loaded
with fine furniture and Holbeins, Van Dycks, Turners and Titians. Kathryn’s
agape! Hearst was just kidding himself, believe me. The drive down from
Cumberland, stopping of course, for the racing at Doncaster, convinced me that
the English countryside is the most beautiful of all. And now Petworth! You
should see our rooms. Incredible tapestries and furniture. We’ll never recover.
Yours,
Bing
September 12, Monday. Bing goes to the horse races at Goodwood near
Chichester in West Sussex.
September 14-16, Wednesday-Friday. Stays with Stafford Howard at
Greystoke Castle, near Penrith in Cumbria, and finishes the American
Sportsman program at Cockermouth.
September 16, Friday, Bing and Kathryn fly to
Ireland. On arrival at Dublin airport, an RTE reporter persuades Bing to sing a
few lines of “Galway Bay”. During the afternoon, Bing plays nine holes at Portmarnock with Harry Bradshaw,
Jim Short and George O'Reilly. Crosby and Short beat the other pair.
Bing and Kathryn stay at the Gresham Hotel in O'Connell Street.
September 17, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The first Hollywood Palace
show of the season is shown on ABC-TV and Bing is the host. George Burns and
Sid Caesar are also on the bill. Others taking part are Mac Ronay, Mickey Deems, The Mamas and the Papas,
Lola Falana, Jane Marsh and Joyce Jameson.The show was taped in July.
‘Hollywood Palace’ is basking in its reputation as one
of the better produced variety shows. Nick Vanoff and Bill Harbach seem to be
able to extract a maximum from each act and a distinguished emcee gives gloss
to the show and provides the acts with an excellent setting. In its premiere
for the new season, Bing Crosby paced the proceedings, imparting his own brand
of affability and easy-going charm. Crosby contributed as a singer, comedian
and conferencier and rated high in each sector. As far as additional name
value, the show had its share. Sid Caesar, in a slimmer package, looked like
his old self…his skit with Joyce Jameson, portraying suburbanites whose home
Crosby visited, had the air of exaggerated truth. It had funny moments and
excellent execution.
(Variety, September 21, 1966)
September 19, Monday. During the morning, Bing records six songs at the Eamonn
Andrews studios to tracks laid down by the Radio Telefis Eireann
Light Orchestra conducted by Buddy Bregman and the Guinness Choir for
the soundtrack of a television show A Little Bit of Irish in Dublin, Ireland.The program is shown in the United States on March 14, 1967. In the afternoon, Bing plays golf.
September 20, Tuesday. Bing goes to the Guinness brewery to film segments for the A Little Bit of Irish production. Milo O’Shea and Dermot O’Brien
join in with the lipsynching of “McNamara’s Band.” In the evening, there is
a reception at the Martello Room of the Intercontinental Hotel where
Bing is introduced by the American Ambassador, Raymond R. Guest.
The reception was to mark the launching of a building fund for a new
clinic. Both Crosby and Guest donate $1000 to the Central Remedial
Clinic.
September 21, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn are at Howth Castle, near
Dublin, all day taping the A Little Bit of Irish program.
September 22, Thursday. Starting at 8:00 a.m. in O’Connell Street,
Bing continues taping his Irish television program in Dublin. He goes on to the
Abbey Theatre to film further scenes and then plays golf in the afternoon. He is collected from the
golf course at 6:00 p.m. by George O’Reilly (the producer of the television
show) for the return to Dublin.
September 23, Friday. Bing and Kathryn fly to Glasgow airport in Scotland and travel on to Gleneagles.
September 25,
Sunday.
Bing golfs with Ronnie
Alexander, Ian Marchbank and H. C. Kerr at Gleneagles.
September 27, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn fly from Prestwick,
Scotland to Montreal in Canada. They fly on to Vancouver.
September 28, Wednesday. Bing golfs with Ken Venturi in a foursome in the Pro-Am that is run in
connection with the Canadian Open Golf Championship at Shaughnessy Golf &
Country Club. They finish well back in the field. Bing and Kathryn
dine with Mr. and Mrs. Frank McMahon and Mr. and Mrs. Max Bell at Trader Vic’s.
September 29,
Thursday. Kathryn goes to Hycroft Antique
Fair. At night, Bing is a special guest at the Sportsmen's Dinner
in Vancouver. Others present include Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey
and Phil Harris.
September 30, Friday. Bing and Kathryn (and their ten large pieces of luggage) fly back to San Francisco.
October 6, Thursday. Bing writes to British fan John Weir.
Thanks so much for your nice letter. It
is always a genuine pleasure to hear from nice people like yourself, and to realize
that I’ve been able through the years to give you some entertainment, and that
you still extract some amusement, recreation and pleasure from the old films
when they appear on television.
I haven’t seen any of the old pictures,
really, since the time they were first released, but I have them all on 16 mm.
Every so often, I’m going to start getting them out now and showing them to my
new little family and see what they think of them.
It will give them an opportunity to
compare me with the Beatles when I was their age.
Thanks again for your letter. Hope you
and your family are in very good health and spirits –
Your friend, Bing
October 7, Friday. Bing leaves his Hillsborough home for the
Cypress Point club where he stays for a few days. Later that month, Bing
and Kathryn decide to sell their Palm Desert home and this is quickly achieved.
Bing has written to Rena Albanesi, President of Club Crosby giving details of
his activities in recent months and he continues:
A
variety show in Ireland was put together by George O’Reilly, who you may recall
has been, for a long time, actively engaged in fan organizations for me in
Ireland and England. He is now an artist agent, and has some of the Irish
singers and dancers and band leaders under his wing.
It
was done in color, and I think it turned out very well. It’s going to be
released in Ireland and England, but unfortunately, in black and white, as they
don’t have color yet. We are hopeful that the show will be sold to one of the
networks for distribution in our country sometime around St. Patrick’s Day. I
hope it’s good enough for this to be accomplished. Kathryn did a little bit in
the film—introducing some of the stars, and she looked very good indeed.
We
lived in a couple of castles when we were there in England. Three in fact.
Cockermouth Castle, Greystoke Castle in Cumberland County, and Petworth House
in Sussex County. These are tremendous places, full of irreplaceable antiques,
and of course, Kathryn was absolutely agape at all the things she saw.
We
managed to spend a little time too at Oxford and at Stratford-on-Avon. I took a
picture of her in front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre there, with a wistful
expression on her face, as if to say, “When, if ever, will I get to play here?”
My
plans now include finishing up my Hollywood Palace assignment. I have six more
shows to do for them. Probably do a guest shot with Hope, and one with Andy
Williams. Then there’s the golf telecast, of course.
I have
a film under discussion, to be shot at Disney Studios, called “The Family
Band”. It’s a period piece around the turn of the century. Has the songs
written by the same fellas who did the “Mary Poppins” score. Mr. Disney told me
the story when I was out there the other day, and it looks like it could be a
good film. Hasn’t been signed yet, but there’s every likelihood it will go
through.
Also
have a couple other film possibilities I’m looking at. One called “The Great
Saint Bernard” which is about a monk up in the Tyrolean Alps. He belongs to the
order of monks who raise the dogs in that area.
My
big problem now is adjusting some of these chores, schedulewise, so that I
won’t miss any shooting, fishing or golf, but one way or another, I think I can
juggle it around.
Harry,
or Mary Frances, or maybe both of them will probably appear on the Christmas
show for the Hollywood Palace. They are terribly excited over the prospect, and
I hope the development of the show doesn’t wind up excluding them. You never
know about these things—whether or not they’ll be needed…
October 8, Saturday. Plays in the first round of the Fall Guys Invitational at Cypress Point. He and his partner Pete Brown have a 69.
October 16, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn are at a supper-dance at Burlingame Country Club for Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Lowther.
October 29, Saturday. Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Louis Armstrong that is shown on April 1, 1967.
October 30, Sunday. (10:00-11:00p.m.) Bing’s guest appearance on The Andy
Williams Show is transmitted on NBC-TV. Other guests are Tennessee Ernie
Ford and Kate Smith with musical support from the Allyn Ferguson Orchestra.
…I
cite for example, “The Andy Williams Show.”
especially this week’s hour which should have been irresistible to
every “old square" in the country. Indeed, anybody who didn't enjoy
thus particular program probably
should be investigated for un-American tendencies.
Andy brought on Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Tennessee
Ernie Ford and the Young Americans for a smooth, easy-going hour of old-fashioned
musical Americana. It was one of the most entertaining programs of any kind that
I’ve seen this season.
With all the tonsilpower available, it’s no wonder the
emphasis was on music though Bing did come through with a couple of funny
anecdotes at the expense of Bob Hope – a fair turn about since it’s usually the
other way around.
Andy modestly cast himself in the role of harmonizer and
worked with each guest to excellent effect. His medley of duets with Crosby was
particularly winning.
(Jerry
Coffey, Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
November 1, 1966)
The Andy Williams Show did
all the right things with guest stars Bing Crosby, Kate Smith and Tennessee
Ernie Ford last night. The hour was considerably better than
"special" in the TV programming sense. Most of the TV variety hours,
of course, are suffering in the ratings because of the movie competition.
(New York Post, October 31, 1966)
Although I had some of the
biggest stars in show business as guests over the years, one
of the greatest thrills was when my childhood hero, Bing Crosby,
agreed to be on the show. I hadn’t
seen Bing in almost twenty years, not since my brothers and I had made
“Swinging on a Star” with him, but he had sent me a gracious letter when I
recorded “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” telling
me how much he liked it. He loved Hawaiian music and had recorded many songs, including “Ke Kali Nei
Au,” the
original lyrics for “Hawaiian Wedding Song.” Of course, I was thrilled to get
that acknowledgment.
He was a guest on the show
two or three times,
including an
appearance during my first season. When he stopped by my dressing room to say
hello, he was wearing his trademark hat, smoking
his pipe, and wearing an old cardigan. At one time I’m sure it had been a very
lovely cashmere sweater—it
was obviously one of his favorites—but
now it had a hole in the sleeve at the elbow and looked a little weary all over.
Bing reminded me of my dad,
who got so attached to his favorite jackets or sweaters that he would wear them forever. I can remember my mom
despairing of ever smartening him up and once going as far as throwing his
current holed and threadbare favorite sweater away. Five minutes later, as my
mom settled down in an armchair with a magazine, my dad tiptoed out the back
door, retrieved the sweater from the trash can, and was wearing it when we all
sat down to supper that night. Mom looked up, gave an exasperated sigh, and
said, “All right, Jay, you win, but at least let me darn the holes.” He kept
wearing it for a few more years until finally it was so shabby that even Dad had
to concede its days were over.
Bing’s cardigan wasn’t quite in
that state, but it had certainly seen better days. I don’t know whether wearing
his favorite old clothes relaxed him, but he was certainly in a mellow mood that day.
Friends had warned me that Bing was quite a “buttoned-up” sort of person, but to my surprise he really seemed
to relax and open up while we were sitting around chatting in my dressing room.
He started telling me about his early days as one of seven kids growing up in
Spokane, Washington. He had been christened Harry but was renamed after The Bingville Bugle, a parody of a hillbilly newspaper that
started appearing in his local paper. According
to Bing it was a very funny spoof, and
he and his friends were forever quoting it to one another. As a result, his
friends began calling him Bing from Bingville, and
the name eventually stuck.
When he grew up, he went to
college, intending to be a lawyer, but two things changed his life. The first
was when he went to see Al Jolson perform at a local theater and was so blown
away by the experience that he never forgot it. Forty years later, as we
chatted in that Burbank studio, he was still in awe of that performance by
Jolson, calling him “the greatest entertainer I ever saw.” The other key event
was when he sent away for a set of drums on mail order, taught himself to play, and then began
playing and singing with a local band. “I made so much money doing that,” Bing
told me, “that I thought, Why would I want to be a lawyer when I can make more
money and have a lot more fun doing this?”
I really felt I’d seen at least a glimpse of the real Bing Crosby that day, even if only for those few minutes, before a couple of
network executives arrived, and Bing slipped back
into his normal role; like so many big stars he had developed an affable but rather distant public manner, one that kept all but the most persistent Bing worshipers at arm’s length.
When we recorded the show, I was as
excited as a kid in a candy store to be sitting on a stool alongside Bing
and singing a medley of duets with
him. We even sang “Swinging
on a Star,” just like the Williams Brothers had done with him all those years
before. I was a reasonably well-known performer by then,
but Bing was in an entirely different league—the first and greatest singing star
of the modern era and
the man who paved the way for
all the singers, like me, who followed him. I found it both humbling and hugely
exciting to be sharing a stage with him,
listening to that wonderful relaxed delivery and that still silky smooth and beautiful voice.
(Andy Williams, writing in Moon
River and Me, pages 141-143)
November 5, Saturday. (Starting at 6 p.m.) Bing tapes a Hollywood
Palace show with Ella Fitzgerald, which is subsequently shown on February
18, 1967.
November 8, Tuesday. Tapes an appearance on a Bob Hope special that is shown on November 16.
November 9, Wednesday. A twelve-minute interview with Bing is
broadcast on the Voice of America radio station. It is announced that Bing has sold his Palm Desert home.
November 15, Tuesday. Lindsay and Janet Crosby separate.
November 16, Wednesday. (9:00-10:00 p.m.) Guests on The Bob Hope Comedy Special
on NBC-TV with Bach-Yen (Miss Vietnam), and Les Brown and his Band of Renown.
Time has not withered the charm of the pairing of Bob Hope
and Bing Crosby and as a result this show was an unalloyed delight. . . There
were two major sketches on the show, both of them excellent. The first was a
wacky skit with Hope as a rich Texan and Crosby as a snooty Englishman, both of
them with horses in a race. The two began by betting their vast holdings
against one another in the race and the scene ended in a comically bizarre
courtroom scene. In the other big sketch - a comic takeoff on ‘The Fantastic
Voyage’ - Hope and Crosby were miniaturized to delve into Jackie Gleason’s
stomach to remove an impacted shot glass. The gastric interior set was superb
and the pair utilized the gag potential of the situation to the hilt. As a
closer, Hope and Crosby paraded an octet of up-and-coming film starlets across
the stage with a brief stop at the microphone. They were all pretty, but were
generally at a loss as straight-women to the stars’ razor-sharp gagology.
(Variety, November 23, 1966)
November 21, Monday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Alex Wilson in
England. They had met at Cockermouth and Mr. Wilson had promised to send
Sunderland Football Club shirts for Harry and Nathaniel.
My two
boys, Harry and Nathaniel are quite delighted with their soccer outfits. They
had never seen anything quite like these, and they can’t wait for an
opportunity to put them on and display then to their playmates
Their
full names for the Honorary Membership in the Sunderland Club arc Nathaniel
Patrick Crosby and Harry Lillis Crosby. The address is 780 North Gower Street,
Hollywood 90038.
You
know, soccer is coming to our country in an official league basis. There’s a
controversy now as to just which group in the United States is going to form
the League, but when that is settled, I don’t suppose it will be too long until
we’ll be seeing some soccer. It will take several years, I’m sure, before they
can field a representative team because of the lack of experienced personnel in
this country - that is, personnel of top professional calibre.
I
think it’s a great game. It should catch on here. It’s a good spectator sport,
a wonderful subject for television, and easy to understand.
Thanking
you again for the uniforms, and with all best, wishes, believe me to be –
Your
friend, Bing
November 26, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) A Hollywood Palace show with Bing and Dorothy Lamour airs on ABC-TV. Other guests include Sid Caesar, Bill Dana, Liliane Montevecchi and Vikki Carr. The show had been taped in August.
Bing Crosby hosts “Hollywood
Palace” and teams up with singer – actress Dorothy Lamour for the first time
since the old Crosby – Bob Hope – Lamour “road” pictures. Other entertainers
are comedians Sid Caesar and Bill Dana, singer Vikki Carr, singer – dancer Liliane
Montevecchi, fire-eater Tagora and the tumbling Gimma Brothers.
(Tulare Advance-Register,
November 26, 1966)
November 27, Sunday. Bing is with Charlie Jones (a close friend of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon), Bob Fisher, and Hal Seley hunting black brant in remote Magdalena Bay. They fly there by DC-3 from Las Cruces, Mexico, to Soledad on the east Baja California peninsula. Bing subsequently prepares a 19-page account of the trip (with many photographs) which he calls “Tesoro Con Plumas.” The exterior of his folder is titled “Cazadores Exploradores.”
“…Meanwhile
Jones was philosophically retrieving his birds, and moving the decoys out a few
yards, lest they be stranded by the ebb tide.
Hoping
against hope, I asked him, “Is there any chance that they’ll be coming back?”
Charlie
disillusioned me quickly. “Not the ones I fired on,” he admitted, “or their
cousins out on the bay, but there’s always a remote possibility that they may
have associates who have yet to arrive.”
In
spite of his words, my spirits revived. If fate accorded me another opportunity,
however slim, I wouldn’t muff it. Hit or miss, I resolved to throw some lead
into the air.
We floundered
back out of the muddy water, and sat for a long, silent hour, staring up at the
branches of the mangrove trees, while the tide slid out from under our decoys.
Just
we were about to move them for the last time, Jones shrilled, “Brant at 12 o’clock.”
Peering
between the branches, I saw a flock sweeping straight toward our shore, with no
pause for surveillance. Like so many homing pigeons, they were heading directly
for the nearest decoys.
Moreover,
this group wasn’t silent. It was emitting a low, clucking sound, reminiscent of
the ladies’ lounge at a country club.
The geese
swung in a wide circle about the decoys, their ebony bodies glistening in the
bright sunlight, and their white collars standing up like dickeys on a clutch
of aldermen.
Once
again, I was simply standing there mesmerized, but Charlie was now aware of my
problem.
He
shouted, “Shoot, Bing,” and gave me a sporting chance before banging away
himself.
Without
even pausing to aim, I loosed two shots directly into the flock, reloaded, and
fired again. The brant disappeared downwind, but I seemed to have downed a pair
of them.
Thereafter
new groups of birds came wheeling in over the decoys in such rapid succession
that I lost all track of time. At last, there was a lull, during which I
noticed a long-billed grey bird, about the size of a quail, paralleling the
shoreline.
“That’s
a godwit,” Charlie grunted.
“Fine,
what’s a godwit?”
“A
species of snipe, a shore bird that travels and nests with the brant.”
“Sort,
of a camp follower?”
“You
might say so. I prefer to think of it as a mascot.”
“Is
it a game bird?"
“A
delicious one.”
So
the interludes between arrivals of the brant were enlivened by spectacular
exhibitions of flying from a leggy bird which dives and ducks like a white-winged
dove.
For
two more hours, we forgot about our boats, lunch, and welfare. When the brant
and godwit finally abandoned us, we had to collect our trophies and decoys in
desperate haste, because a successful exit had become marginal.
In
effect, the tide was so low that we scraped bottom continuously, and made a
number of wrong turns, but by dint of poling, pushing, and pulling, we finally
reached the dwindling main channel back to Soledad.
When
we arrived there, we found that we had taken enough brant for dinner and godwit
for breakfast, a result which Charlie pronounced to be his best ever.
The
whole excursion had been a tribute to his patience, dedication, and organizational
skills. Back home in Las Cruces, he showcased his cooking by offering a menu of
bland turtle soup, charcoal-grilled brant, Waldorf salad, and wild rice.
You
and the kids may have to perform in the Christmas show without me. Charlie says
that he’s planning to stay on forever, and I am not one to let him suffer
alone.”
(Extract
from Bing’s description of the adventure, taken from My Last Years with Bing, pages 27-29)
December (undated). Bing hosts three radio programs for the Salvation
Army that are broadcast at various dates this month. The first one is Army of Stars, which runs for 30 minutes and has
Bing introducing various religious songs for Christmas. The other two programs
run for 15 minutes and are named Reflections by Starlight. It is
possible that these were simply edits from the Army of Stars program.
December 7, Tuesday. (8:00 p.m.) Acts as Grand Marshal in the Hollywood Palace 4th Anniversary Parade. Tapes the Hollywood Palace Christmas
Show that is shown on December 24. Bing’s young children take part, as does
Kathryn.
December 17, Saturday.
There have been complaints about the behaviour of Desi Arnaz in the
club at Las Cruces and Bing is delegated to write to him. His letter
dated December 17, finishes as follows. "This role of a disciplinarian
is a grotesque assignment for me, and I dislike it very much. I hope
you understand, and I'm hopeful too that thus cautioned, you'll do
something about it."
December 24, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The Hollywood Palace
show transmitted by ABC-TV today features Bing and his family for the first
time. Other guests include Kate Smith, Cyd Charisse, and Bob Newhart. Meanwhile
at Hillsborough, Bing and Kathryn again give a party for friends and staff. As
Kathryn’s mother cannot attend, Trader Vic is asked to do the catering.
It wouldn’t be a Hollywood Christmas without Bing
Crosby singing his ‘Happy Holiday’ and ‘White Christmas’. In fact, the whole
family, including the tiny ones, is on hand for carols and holiday songs,
reinforced by Kate Smith with a collection of winter melodies. Bob Newhart’s
monologue deals with a man returning a gift toupee to a department store,
lovely Cyd Charisse and her partner perform a puppet dance and dog acts,
Cossacks and puppets complete the vaudeville bill.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, December 24,
1966)
December 25, Sunday. Bing speaks direct from his home by telephone
to The Late, Late Show in Ireland.
December 31, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Another Hollywood Palace show hosted by Bing is shown. The Mills Brothers, Charles Aznavour, Johnny Puleo & The Harmonica Gang, Burns & Schreiber, Dorothy Collins, and Skitch Henderson are the principal guests.
Bing Crosby rings
in the New Year with songs ranging from “Laura’s Theme” (sic) to “Auld Lang
Syne;” France’s Charles Aznavour offers a medley of melancholy tunes, backed by
Dorothy Collins, Skitch Henderson and the Mills Brothers. Comics Burns and
Schreiber return with a new taxicab routine, ballet stars Szony and Clair
perform and Johnny Puleo’s Harmonica Gang and the unicyclist Volentes round out
the bill.
(The Sacramento
Bill, December 31, 1966)
January 11, Wednesday. Bing writes letters to Louis Prima and his
wife Gia, then to Rena Albanesi of Club Crosby.
Kathryn
and I are grateful to you for thinking of us at Christmastime. We appreciate
very much the handsome little wooden bucket containing the goodies.
Haven’t
seen you in too long, Louis, but I certainly keep abreast of your progress and
aware of your many successes.
Your
old record of “Black Magic” still is among the “First Five” in my top records.
What a performance! What an arrangement!
Hope
to see you some day soon –
Always yours, Bing
Dear Rena:
Thanks for your letters. I’m delighted
that you and your friends enjoyed the Hollywood Palace show on Christmas Eve.
Of course I don't have to tell you how
excited the children were about appearing on the show and about watching it
later on when it appeared on their television set. They couldn’t believe that
there they were, up there on the tube.
I must say they were completely without
stage-fright or self-consciousness, when we did the show - just eager to get on
and do their stuff. So I imagine they're going to grow up into full fledged ham
actors.
All best wishes to you and members of the
Club –
As ever, Bing
January 14, Saturday. (7:30-7:59
p.m.) Bing is heard being interviewed by Ken Sykora in 'Be My Guest'
broadcast on the BBC's Light Programme. Possibly recorded during Bing's
time in the UK in 1966. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing stars in the Hollywood
Palace show with Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, Edie Adams, Tim Conway and Senator Everett Dirksen which is shown
today. He receives $12,500 for each show in the series.
A strong bill tonight. From Florida Senator Dirksen
recites ‘The Gallant Men’ and exchanges humorous patter with Bing Crosby via
the split screen. Jimmy Durante duets with Crosby and sings unforgettable
tunes, surrounded by pretty girls. Tim Conway does a monologue about racing car
drivers and Edie Adams appears in an eye-popping costume as Lady Godiva. Also a
collection of ‘fluffs’ by guest stars during the past year, adds to the fun.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, January 14, 1967)
‘The Hollywood Palace’ may not match the venerable
stature of the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’, but it has reached its fourth birthday. And
in this day of 13-week cycles, ‘second seasons’ and maybe thirds, finishing
three years and starting strong on the fourth on TV looms as quite an
accomplishment. So last Saturday night (14th), the Hollywood Palace had a happy
style birthday party with Bing Crosby, who did similar chores for the debut
show in 1964, emceeing and performing with his customary or rather, legendary smoothness.
He was surrounded by a solid roster of performers, including such veteran show
biz comrades as Bob Hope, who dropped in from the other network to give his
greetings, and Jimmy Durante, as bouncy as ever. . . Show also included a
couple of film bits. One clip showed the anniversary parade organized for the
‘Palace’ by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. . .
(Variety, January 18, 1967)
January 15, Sunday. Tapes an appearance on a Dean Martin TV show which is shown in April.
January 16, Monday. Bing is fogged in at Burbank airport. When the fog clears, he flies to San Francisco and is rushed by car to watch an exhibition match between Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper at Presidio Golf Club. Bing, acting as honorary chairman of the Lighthouse for the Blind golf tournament, presents the prize to the winner who is Arnold Palmer.
January 19-23, Thursday–Monday.
At the Bing Crosby Pro-Am Golf
Championship at Pebble Beach. The Spyglass Hill course replaces the
Monterey
Peninsula Country Club. Jack Nicklaus is the professional winner and
picks up
the top prize of $16,000. ABC televises the event in color for the
first time
although a storm washes out play on the Saturday forcing the final
round to be
played on the Monday. Celebrities playing include Andy Williams, Bob
Crosby, Guy Madison, Dick Shawn, Phil Harris, Forrest Tucker, William
Boyd, Jim Backus, Dick Martin, Dan Rowan, Ray
Bolger, Dean Martin, Howard Keel, John Raitt, Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Ricky
Nelson, Frankie Avalon, Robert Wagner, Gordon MacRae, Clint Eastwood
and Robert
Goulet.
One phone goof that still makes us both cringe—and easily my most embarrassing at a golf event—happened way back at the old Crosby Tournament, now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. In those days my birthday, January 21, usually fell during the tournament, and this particular year John Swanson, a golfing friend from San Francisco, called our room at The Lodge at Pebble Beach pretty late in the evening to see how I had enjoyed the day. I could tell from the background noise that he was in the cocktail bar and that there was a pretty good party going on. Just as he was about to hang up, he asked me to hold on, because there was someone with him who wanted to say hello.
Well, on comes this voice, and it’s singing to me. Yeah, singing . . . “Happy birthday . . . happy birthday to you. . .” And on and on it goes, through the entire song. I’m sitting there asking myself, “Now, who in the heck is this, standing there in a bar singing this whole song to me at this time of night?” When the singing finishes, I say into the phone, shall we say a little brusquely, “To whom am I speaking, please?” There is a pause, then back comes the answer.
“Bing Crosby here. Happy birthday, Jack. Sorry you didn’t recognize my voice. I guess I must have been a little hoarse. Goodnight now.”
Oh, boy! Where’s the nearest crack in the ground I can slide into and disappear for the next year or two?
(Jack Nicklaus, writing in his book Jack Nicklaus:
My Story, page 276)
January 20, Friday. Bing writes to Tom Johnson, one of the other shareholders in the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Dear
Tom
Very
grateful to you for your nice letter sent early in January, and was happy
indeed to learn from you that our possibilities in the National League pennant
race have been enhanced by the trades Joe was able to negotiate.
I
felt much the same way, but you’re much closer to the picture, and it was good
to get confirmation of my beliefs in your letter.
You
are quite right – I’ve been terribly delinquent with regard to being present at
Pittsburgh once in awhile when the Pirates are playing. I do see them play
every time they’re on the Coast – either in Los Angles or up here in San
Francisco – and always have some nice chats with Bob Rice or Joe Brown, but I’ve
got to get to see them a little more at home.
Certainly
if they’re successful and win the pennant, you have my solemn vow I won’t be
out of the country when the World Series takes place.
Let’s
just hope they get off to a roaring start at the opening bell and keep it up
till October.
All
best wishes, Tom, to you and your family.
As ever, Bing
January 25, Wednesday. Tapes a Hollywood Palace show
with Frances Langford, Don Ameche, the King Family, and Louis Nye, which
is shown on May 13.
January 29, Sunday. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) The American Sportsman
program featuring Bing fishing at Cockermouth with Joe Brooks is aired.
February 7, Tuesday. (10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.) At home in
Hillsborough for photographs for an advertisement for LA-Z-Boy furniture. The
LA-Z-Boy people write to Bing and Kathryn on March 1.
We want you to know that the chairs ordered for your
home and ranch are in process and should be on their way in about two weeks.
I want to take this opportunity to express our thanks
to you for letting us upset your home for two days. Not only did you make us
feel at home, your warm cooperation and hospitality made a real pleasurable
experience, out of what unfortunately, in most instances today is purely
mechanical.
The pictures “turned out” beautifully and we’re sure
you’ll be just as pleased as we are with them.
Best personal regards,
LA-Z-
Moritz F. Brueckner Vice President, Sales
February (undated). Bing and Kathryn go to the Rising River ranch.
February 10, Friday. Bing writes to Priscilla Koernig, Vice President of Club Crosby.
Thanks for your letter. Glad you liked
the fishing film on American Sportsman. It was fun to do - in a beautiful
countryside, with a lovely river and a nice old Scotsman to talk to about the
fish, their habits and the stream.
I didn’t know I had a Hollywood Palace
show coming up on February 11th; I’ll have to watch it.
I don’t generally look at the Hollywood
Palace shows that I’m on because up where we live, we don’t get Channel 7 well
at all, and I’d rather wait until later on when they send me a copy of the film
and I can run it on the projection machine here at home.
It’s
much
better.
Hope this finds you in good health and
spirits.
Always yours - Bing
February 11, Saturday, (5:10 p.m.) Bing and Phil Harris fly in to Montgomery, Alabama on Delta flight 606 en route for a shooting trip.
February 12-15, Sunday-Wednesday. Crosby
and Harris are shooting quail with George Harden Jr. and Bubba Harden
on the Sedgefields Plantation, at Union Springs. Alabama.
February 18,
Saturday. Starting at 9:52 a.m., plays with John Shouse in the first
round of the Seminole Club championship in Florida and they have a net
68. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Stars in a Hollywood
Palace show with Ella Fitzgerald, Alice Faye, Phil Harris, Dom DeLuise, and Hendra & Ullett that airs
today on ABC-TV.
An hour for the grown-ups with Bing Crosby, Ella
Fitzgerald, Alice Faye and Phil Harris. Crosby, Alice and Phil revive old Fox
movie musical tunes. Ella sings rounds with Bing. Alice dances to ‘Mame’. Dom
Deluise’s bank commercial. English comedians Hendra & Ullett talk about the
RAF and Danny Saylor’s pole-climbing act round out the highlights of the show.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, February 18,
1967)
Bing Crosby played host to Ella on ‘The Hollywood
Palace’ …the show was most identified with Bing Crosby, who hosted
approximately once every four weeks and did his Christmas shows as part of the
series. Der Bingle introduced Ella as, ‘The Sandy Koufax of Song, the Brooks
Robinson of Rhythm, the All-Star of Timing - The Peerless One.’ This was their
first professional pairing since the old radio days and they were obviously
enjoying each other. Ella wore a heavily frosted wig and black, strapless
evening gown with a chiffon sheath and a bow at the back. . . The obligatory
medley had Ella and Bing discussing that the best way to get started in singing
was to do children’s songs. Bing joked that he knew every children’s song
(alluding to his late-in-life second family), leading into the medley and then
the two songsters’ theme songs, (Bing whistled as Ella scatted).
(From ‘First Lady of Song’ by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman)
February 19, Sunday. The second round of the Seminole Club championship. Crosby and Shouse finish with 139, well off the pace.
February 22, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn are guests of Thomas
Shevlin at the Bonnette Hunting and Fishing Club at Okeechobee, Florida
Preserve. Their party shoots thirty-two quail.
In and out among the palmettos we dodged, collecting
chiggers, and ostensibly pursuing quail. Bing, however, was more quarry than
stalker in the eyes of several of the attending social lionesses.
Apparently laboring
under the mis-apprehension that their cameras rendered them invulnerable, they
sprang out from behind thickets at odd moments, and snapped their shutters in a
manner ill-calculated to improve our crooner’s aim.
Just as he was flushing
his first large covey of quail, a corpulent matron bounced up from among the
bushes to snap a superb picture of the muzzle of Bing’s shotgun, aiming
directly down her throat, and of the horrified visage behind it.
“Gotcha!” she shrilled
delightedly.
“And very nearly vice
versa,” Bing sighed grimly, breaking his weapon and removing the shells, as a
prelude to abandoning the chase.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, page 35)
February 24, Friday. Bing hosts a two-hour international radio program to mark the 25th anniversary of the Voice of America. He interviews personalities from India, Africa, the Far East, the Arab World and Latin America.
March 14, Tuesday. (7:30–8:30 p.m.) The television show A
Little Bit of Irish, which was recorded in Dublin, Ireland, in September
1966 is televised.
Hosted by Bing Crosby at his most nonchalant, this
pleasing songalog was presented as an affectionate tribute to Ireland, using
local talent to give samples from its musical backlog. . . Crosby himself
strolled effortlessly though such numbers as ‘Dublin Bay’ (sic), ‘Molly
Malone’, Come Back to Erin’, and other folk standards, and wife Kathryn
occasionally acted as hostess with suitable charm. . . Crosby wandered through
the Guinness factory and other venues, like a kindly guide and dodged most of
the pitfalls of sentimentality inherent in the subject. With the U. S. bulging
with Irishmen, and with the Kennedy connection still to the fore, the show
should foster nostalgia and mild pleasure in that particular mart.
(Variety, March 22, 1967)
March 20, Monday. Sells his yacht “True Love” to actor
George Peppard with the yacht being registered in the name of Universal
Studios.
March 24, Friday onwards. Easter. Bing and family are in Baja
California, Mexico. Desi Arnaz has recently moved into the area and both
families interact frequently. Meanwhile Lindsay Crosby has a divorce suit filed
against him by his second wife, Janet, alleging “grievous mental cruelty.”
April 1, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) A Hollywood Palace
show hosted by Bing with Louis Armstrong as the main guest star is shown on
ABC-TV. Other guests are The Goodtime Washboard Three, Red Buttons, and Nanette Fabray. The show had been taped on October 29, 1966.
Bing Crosby hosts another Saturday vaudeville bill,
setting the pace of the hour with pal, Louis Armstrong. Bing and Louis chatter
with ease, sing a Dixieland medley including, ‘Muskrat Ramble’, while Louis
sings ‘Cheesecake’ on his own. Crosby, Fabray and Buttons also do the classic
sketch, ‘Joe the Bartender’ and French comics the Washboard Three round out the
show.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, April 1, 1967)
April 13, Thursday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Guests on The Dean
Martin Show on NBC with Polly Bergen, Don Cherry, and Rowan and Martin. Les
Brown leads the orchestra. The show had been taped in January.
Bing Crosby showed up for our last show of the season
and he and Dean seemed more relaxed and casual than ten Perry Comos. It was
often reported that Dean had copied Bing’s style when he was getting started
(perhaps it was more Bing’s attitude). . . .
For Bing, I suggested a
medley of his hits, He said he’d rather do that with Dean and not do a solo
himself. Greg agreed that since we had two REALLY big stars the medley could be
nice and long. Since they were all Bing’s songs, we didn’t have to rehearse
much, and Bing didn’t ask for any changes. He was the ultimate
professional—memorized everything he had to, didn’t complain about anything,
and disappeared as soon as possible. . . .
The most impressive
thing about Bing was the volume he had out of those mellow low tones. They were
downright loud!”
(Lee Hale, Backstage at the Dean Martin Show)
April (undated). Australian TV personality Hazel Phillips visits Bing
at his Hillsborough home and interviews him for her Girl Talk program.
May 8, Monday. LaVerne, eldest of the Andrews Sisters, dies
in Hollywood after a long illness at the age of fifty-one.
May 13, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Another Hollywood
Palace show with Bing as host is shown. Guests are Barbara McNair, Frances Langford, Don
Ameche, the King Family, and Louis Nye.
Last show of spring has host, Bing Crosby, introducing
his guests, Frances Langford, Don Ameche, The King Family and Louis Nye. On a
nostalgic note, Miss Langford and Ameche recreate radio’s bickering Bickersons
and join Bing for a telephone medley. The huge King Family sings ‘Bill Bailey’
with their host.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, May 13, 1967)
May 19, Friday. In Sydney, Australia, Hazel Phillips’
interview with Bing is shown on the Girl Talk program.
May 29, Monday. Bing and Kathryn fly in a friend’s plane from
Las Cruces to San Francisco.
June 3, Saturday. After a furious row with Kathryn over her
decision to tour in another play, Bing boards a Lufthansa flight for London.
…So
I told him that I had contracted for eight weeks of The Guardsman at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago, and he was
furious! All of which just goes to show that you never can trust a man.
Bing
left on June 3rd for a month in Europe, and I straightway fell into bed with
pneumonia.
…Bing’s
first letter was dated June 3rd, from in-flight aboard Lufthansa:
“I
always seem to be leaving home with deep misgivings, mostly about you. Please
stop agreeing to do everything that others demand. Never say yes until you’ve
decided that the commitment is appropriate for you. And for God’s sake leave
yourself time for rest.
Now
please find my air-travel credit card, which is somewhere in my desk. You’d
best send it to the Connaught Hotel, because I don’t know where I’m going from
there.
Before
I sign off, let me reiterate my plea: Don’t let the charlatans and phonies use
you. It’s degrading!
PS.
If you’re still experiencing difficulty with that piano solo, why don’t you
just play Claire de Lune? It’s similar in type, and at least you know it.”
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, page 55)
June 4, Sunday. Bing flies into London and stays at the
Connaught Hotel. (11:15-11:50p.m.) Makes a “walk-on” appearance on the Eamonn Andrews television
show to surprise Bob Hope.
“The Eamonn Andrews Show” has
repeated last summer’s pattern and kept the good wine to the last. Last
Sunday’s programme with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Jimmy Tarbuck was one of the
happiest and most memorable rip-tickling sessions in the whole series.
(Gerard McCreesh, Irish
Independent, June 10, 1967)
June 5, Monday. (3 p.m.) Plays golf at Moor Park (near Rickmansworth,
Hertfordshire) with Eamonn Andrews and Bob Hope. A photograph of Bing, Phil Harris, Ken Dodd, Rosemary Squires
and others appears to date from this time. Ken Dodd was appearing in
his show "Doddy's Here Again" with Rosemary Squires at the London Palladium then and Dodd later
said that he had sung to Bing.
June 6, Tuesday. Bing is at the races at Epsom. He returns to
the Connaught at 5:45 p.m. and meets British fan Leslie Gaylor. Bing writes to
Kathryn.
Sorry to hear that your pulmonary malaise
lingers on. Check out all possibilities of infection. Some of the women you
treated in Mexico could have been carrying almost anything.
I taped the Eamonn Andrews TV show Sunday
with Bob Hope. The big race is today, and Paddy is wildly optimistic, but the favorite
looks unbeatable.
Our horse has lots of personality, but
he’s just too small. I hope he runs creditably, because he’s been made second
favorite, and we’ll have to slink out of town if he doesn’t finish in the
money.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with
Bing, page 55)
June 7, Wednesday. Bing attends the Press Club pre-Derby
luncheon and then he is interviewed on
June 8, Thursday. Again at the races at Epsom.
June 9, Friday. Bing flies to Gibraltar en route to Marbella
in Spain. It rains for four solid days during Bing’s time in Spain.
June 11, Sunday. Plays golf and drives to Algeciras for mass
at 8 p.m. He writes to Kathryn again.
Arrived in Marbella
from London yesterday. Circled the Rock of Gibraltar as we approached the
airstrip. The whole area is quiet, with tiny houses, poor roads, and no
industry, but the hotel and golf course are simply magnificent.
I had four birdies, and beat a pleasant
Englishman out of lunch. I’ll drive to Algeciras for
mass tonight. It seems odd to attend church at 8 PM, but no one dines here before 11.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with
Bing, page 55)
June 14, Wednesday. Bing dispatches another letter to Kathryn.
I hear that, back in London, Dominion
Day’s race was a mystery. He was listless in the saddling ring, ran the same
way, and wasn’t even breathing hard upon his return to the paddock.
Unfortunately, huge sums had been bet on
him. After what happened in France, Paddy was loath to mention it, but he
believes that the horse had been administered a sedative. I mention this only
because you’re not here to shout it to the press.
By the way, your last letter speaks of pressure
and of punishment. As you must recall, I informed you months ago
that I was planning to spend the summer in Europe.
You elected to perform in The
Guardsman, instead of coming with me. Please explain how that makes me the
author of any pressure that you may choose to feel.
You also asked me what I want you to do. I believe I’ve made that clear from
the outset. Obviously I refuse to play the boss, and forbid you to go where you
will and do what you wish. But I had hoped that you might occasionally consider
my advice, if only because I’ve been around this planet somewhat longer.
It does gall me when you speak of my
trying to break you, as if anyone could. Am I really such a heavy? Do I deserve
such treatment?
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with
Bing, pages 55-57)
June 17, Saturday. Bing writes to Kathryn again.
I have no clue to your whereabouts, so I
trust that this will be forwarded to you. I pulled a muscle in my neck while
playing golf with Alex Hohenlohe (the prince who had
married Honeychile Wilder). A couple of martinis,
three pain pills, and a jar of magic liniment got me home.
I won’t, however, be able to stay to see
el Cordobes fight, because I’m scheduled to visit a
neurologist in London on Monday. It’s sad to abandon the quaint little Moorish
towns of Andalucia, where everyone remembers you and
your delightful role in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. When they ask for
you, I have to tell them that you are off fulfilling yourself.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with
Bing, page 57)
June 19, Monday. Bing has flown back to London to visit a
neurologist for treatment for a pulled muscle in his neck suffered whilst
playing golf in Spain.
June 20-22, Tuesday–Thursday. Bing attends Royal Ascot, having
drinks with Princess Margaret in the royal box. The proceedings are captured by
various newsreels and featured in Pathé News in the UK that week. Meanwhile
back in the USA, Kathryn flies to Chicago to take part in the play The
Guardsman at the Drury Lane Theater. Bing has written her another letter.
I was happy to hear from you, and to be
reassured that you’re still among the living. Royal Ascot offers a splendid
spectacle just before the first race, as the reigning family comes driving down
the straight in six hansom coaches.
I had a drink with Princess Margaret in
the royal box, and informed her that you were off earning my betting money…
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, pages 57-59)
June 27, Tuesday. Arrives at Dublin airport in Ireland with plans to see his horse “Dominion Day” run in the Irish Sweeps Derby on the coming Saturday but finds on his arrival that the horse has been scratched from the race by his trainer Paddy Prendergast.
June 28, Wednesday. Travels to Killarney and spends a couple of days there playing golf.
June 30, Friday. Bing flies from Shannon airport to San Francisco by T.W.A.
July 4, Tuesday. Bing is back at Hillsborough supervising his
children’s 4th of July celebrations at the Burlingame Country Club. He writes
to Kathryn who is in Chicago.
Mary Frances took two thirds in the
swimming races. Not bad considering that she was competing against boys twice
her size. In sports, as in all things, she seems to have the poor louts
mesmerized.
She really rubbed it into Harry, who
couldn’t compete because of all those stitches in his chin from falling off his
bike. I shot a 72 in the afternoon tournament and took the kids to a fireworks
display in the evening. It commenced well enough, with about thirty children
lined up to take regular turns setting off their cherry bombs and skyrockets.
However, in spite of frantic parental
attempts to preserve order, the scene became increasingly chaotic. All too
soon, we were reenacting the Battle of the Bulge.
Only the intervention of Divine
Providence averted widespread mayhem and subsequent incineration, as the
antagonists fired away at each other with Roman Candle ‘bazookas,’ and hurled cherry
bomb ‘grenades.’
Diving into the thick of the fray, I
retrieved our three recalcitrants, and dragged them
off kicking, screaming, and protesting that they were giving better than they
got.
(From My Last Years with Bing,
page 61)
July 7, Friday. Kathryn Crosby begins a run in a play
called The Guardsman in Chicago’s Drury Lane Theater. She continues in the role until August 13. Elsewhere, Bing writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor. Mr.
Gaylor, who lives on the Isle of Wight, had sent Bing an Australian EP of songs
he had recorded on January 28, 1960.
Thanks
for sending me the RCA record containing the new songs I had forgotten all
about, and which you tell me have only been released in Australia recently. I
played them, and you are quite right. They are rather good.
I’ve
only been back a couple of days, but found everything in good order.
I
enjoyed visiting with you at the Connaught Hotel.
Hope
everything is going well for you over on the Island.
As
ever, your friend, Bing
July 10, Monday. Bing takes the children by plane to the Rising
River Ranch. He sends a letter to Kathryn.
Harry was so excited over his forthcoming
visit to the ranch that he rose at 4 AM to mess up his suitcases.
Air West precipitated a crisis by
rejecting his stingray bicycle, but I resourcefully removed the wheels, and
found a spot for it. He refused to let anyone touch his guitar, which he
carried around his neck, or his bag, on which he sat.
I’m taping a TV show on the 24th, and the
director arrived yesterday. Of course Mary Frances spotted a potential conquest,
and had him convinced that she was just perfect for the daughter’s role before
I finally appeared to rescue him.
She has also decided that she is going to
Hawaii. When I objected that I had planned to travel alone, she announced
firmly that she had been packed for a week.
I seized upon the lack of a governess for
her, but she rejected that lame excuse, informing me that she is a big girl
now, who doesn’t need a babysitter.
(From My Last Years with Bing,
page 61)
July 11, Tuesday. Phillip Crosby marries for a third time to
Georgi Edwards (age twenty-three), a former Las Vegas showgirl, in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
Former Las Vegas showgirl Georgi Edwards is one of the
few women around who fails to see the humor in Kipling’s famous old line, “A
woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke.” Georgi was scheduled to
wed Philip Crosby, Bing’s son, at half past eight on the evening of Tuesday,
July 11. At half past eight Georgi was ready and so were the 50 guests
assembled by the lantern-lit pool at the home of an Albuquerque friend,
but Phil was assembled in front of the television set watching the All-Star
Game. Putting first things (to him) first, Phil stuck with the All-Stars until Tony Perez finally did Georgi and the National League the favor of hitting his 375-foot
homer. The couple was married at 9:15.
(Sports Illustrated, July 24, 1967)
July 14, Friday. Bing makes a ten-day visit to Mauna Kea Beach
on The Big Island in Hawaii, taking Harry and Mary Frances with him. Has root
canal treatment for an abscess on one of his teeth at Honakaa. He tells Kathryn
all about it by letter.
On the flight to Hawaii, I had to
entertain the stewardesses, while Mary Frances tripped up forward to regale the
crew with endless riddles and one-liners such as the following:
‘I have a goat that has no nose. How does
it smell?
Terrible.
Did you take a bath last night? No, is
one missing?’
Your daughter also disclosed a surprising
number of zealously guarded and hitherto unrevealed family secrets. We must
henceforth bite our tongues in the presence of that young lady, or consider
removing hers.
She’ll do anything to please an audience.
Sounds familiar somehow. Must be something in the genes, or perhaps in the
water.
My sore eyetooth kicked up on the plane,
so upon landing we raced to Honakao, a plantation
village of 500 people, where a genial product of the Northwestern School of
Dentistry performed a root canal to relieve the pressure on an abscess.
I emerged from my ordeal to find Mary
Frances garbed in a lavender mumu and a pair of
Hawaiian slippers, gifts from some new friends to whom she was teaching the
words and music to Secret Agent Man. She insisted that I be included in
the ensuing photo session, with my jaw swollen like that of an inept pugilist
after ten rounds with Rocky Graziano.
For dinner, Mary Frances wore her new mumu and a ginger lei, and did her own hair in a
loose-flowing arrangement which she evidently conceived to be Polynesian. She
effortlessly captured the maitre d’hotel, but
somewhere between the hors-d’oeuvres and the soup, an overwhelming lassitude
finally set in.
It was midnight at home, and it’s easy to
forget that our imperious woman of the world is still only seven years old.
After her nose dipped into the rice pilaf for the third time, I carried her
straight off to bed.
The following day, I played eighteen
holes with Nelson Rockefeller and a couple of professionals, while Mary Frances
bounced around in an outrigger with his daughter Melinda. The local pro tried
to match our best ball, but we easily beat him for the drinks. We also dined
with the Rockefellers.
Happy is doing a wonderful job of
directing the activities of a clutch of offspring, aged seven to seventeen,
some his, some hers, and the remainder jointly owned.
After dinner, the hotel sponsored a luau.
I performed briefly, before Mary Frances stole the show with a series of
outrageous jokes and a libelous song about her teacher.
The old order changeth,
yielding place to new. You
and I had best be prepared to cede our spot to this representative of the now
generation.
Mary Frances is always picking things up.
She made a bad choice this morning when she seized upon a sea urchin, which of
course stung her in the hand, whereupon she dropped it onto her bare foot, only
to be stung again.
She is showing the marks to everyone in
the dining room, retelling the story in graphic if exaggerated detail,
dramatizing her every response, and coquettishly marveling at her miraculous
survival.
(From My Last Years with Bing,
pages 61-63)
July 15, Saturday. Bing golfs with Nelson Rockefeller and then
dines with him at night. Bing sings at the luau at the hotel.
July 17, Monday. Mary Frances is given a part in a forthcoming
TV show with her father. Bing writes to Kathryn again.
I’m happy to hear that your performance
is garnering such rave reviews. Mary Frances is inviting everyone she meets to
lunch with us, and eating like a stevedore herself.
I anticipated jubilation when she heard
that she had the part in my TV show, but she simply accepted it as her
acknowledged right.
(From My Last Years with Bing,
page 63)
July 24-August 2, Monday-Wednesday. Bing and Mary Frances are in
Los Angeles taping a Danny Thomas Hour called “The Demon under the Bed”
for NBC-TV. Bing writes to Kathryn on a couple of occasions.
July 24th: We’re back in Tinseltown, and ‘Princess Papooli’
is having a glorious time, with hairdressers, wardrobe ladies, and of course
the director hovering over her.
She’s lapping it all up, and lunching and
swimming with Maria Ferrer between rehearsals.
I, on the other hand, am having my
troubles with the sponsor. He is a cigarette manufacturer, and I’m playing a
victim of throat cancer. He wants me to settle for another malady, and of
course I refuse.
The fault is mine for not inquiring at
the outset where the funds came from. If I’d known that it was a tobacco
company, I’d never had accepted the job.
July 29th: Last night Mary
Frances demanded that we dine in a place where she could devour ‘about forty
snails loaded with garlic.’ So I chose a French restaurant, where the little
glutton almost made good her boast…
This morning, I rehearsed with your
daughter for a couple of hours, but it’s rather rough sledding. She is letter
perfect in her own part, but she devotes so much energy to correcting me on
mine that she has little left for dramatic interpretation.
(From My Last Years with Bing,
pages 63-65)
July 25, Tuesday.
(8:15-8:45 p.m.) Bing is heard on the BBC's Light programme being
interviewed by Ken Sykora. A second part is broadcast on August 1. Bing
had recorded the interviews during his recent visit to the UK.
August 4, Friday. Bing stays overnight at the St. Regis Hotel in
New York City prior to flying to Africa where he, Phil Harris, Clint
Walker and Texas Governor John Connally film an American Sportsman
program about sand grouse in the Northern Highlands (near the rim of the
Serengeti plain) in Tanzania. The show is screened on January 28, 1968.
August 7, Monday. Bing and Phil Harris arrive in Nairobi and go to the races. Bing writes to Kathryn.
August 7th: As a consequence
of the 5,000 foot elevation here in Nairobi, it feels cooler than the actual fifty
degree temperature. Tomorrow we fly to Arusha in Tanzania, and then drive to
our safari camp.
The
camera men are planning to film Phil Harris, cooking grouse and making
cornbread. He swears that he’s finally going to hit the big time by replacing
Julia Child.
(My Last Years with Bing, page 67)
August 8, Tuesday. Bing and the American Sportsman party
fly from Nairobi to Arusha in Tanzania before driving to their safari camp.
August 11, Friday. Dr Arjan and Yonnie Chopra host Bing at their house overlooking Lake Duluti outside Arusha, Tanzania. (An article giving background about the meeting will appear in the winter 2025 edition of BING magazine, issue 201.)
August 12, Saturday. The American
Sportsman party is camped at the foot
of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Bing sends an update to Kathryn.
August 12th: Shades of Ernest Hemingway.
We are camping at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, rising at 5 AM and driving for
two hours in Land Rovers over roads that compare unfavorably with our La Paz to
Las Cruces freeway.
Upon arrival,
we sit in blinds, and try to pick off sand grouse as they fly into the water
holes. The fun comes when, like children
at recess, we abandon the cameras to snipe away at guinea fowl and francolin.
Governor
Connally has shot his lion for the film, and a leopard to boot. Meanwhile Cheyenne’s Clint Walker was scheduled to
shoot a cape buffalo.
Day
before yesterday, his keepers established Clint in a blind, shooed beast after
beast in front of him, and watched him miss. Yesterday they repeated the
experience.
But
the first time that Walker fired today, two animals dropped, the only double in
the history of buffalo hunting. The director had become convinced that Clint
couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn when standing inside it, and had therefore
ordered one of the professional hunters to drop a bull for him.
So of
course the legendary Cheyenne Bodie picked that moment to pull off the shot of
his lifetime.
For
my part, if the situation doesn’t improve, I’ll have to ask Walker’s friend to
bag a few grouse for me. There has been so much rain that the birds aren’t concentrating
at the water holes, and the producer is worried sick.
I,
however, am reveling in the abundance of other game, in a climate free from
bugs and excessive heat. You might try convincing your father to import some of
it into Texas.
(My Last Years with Bing, page 67)
August 24, Thursday. Bing and Phil Harris have flown to the UK and they visit York races.
Chicago,
Crosby-style, went down better with Ebor Day racegoers at York than the horse,
as Bing Crosby, singer and racehorse owner paid his first visit to York races
delighting the crowds with his own version of the song after Chicago lost in
the third race.
Heavily
tanned after a safari holiday, Bing walked nonchalantly around the enclosure,
on his way to the tea pavilion, dressed just like his fans wanted to see him,
cool, lightweight checked summer jacket and straw trilby.
For
Bing, accompanied on his flying visit by comedian Phil Harris, it was his
second hit of the day, as he had already picked two winners from the card.
(The Yorkshire Evening Post, August 24,
1967)
August 26, Saturday. Bing is at the Curragh Racecourse, Co.
Kildare, Ireland to see his horse “Dominion Day” win the Blandford
Stakes. Bing stays overnight at O'Meara's Hotel in Nenagh before flying home from Shannon the next day.
August 28, Monday. Arrives back in the USA.
August 31, Thursday. Starting at 2:15 p.m., tapes the opening Hollywood
Palace show of the 1967/68 season with The Association, Jimmy Durante, Ravi Shankar, Diahann
Carroll, Joey Heatherton, and Milton Berle. The show is televised on
September 5.
September 2, Saturday. Bing, at home in Hillsborough, is
interviewed by telephone by John Elwood, a Crosby fan who has a radio show on
WBIM.
September 5, Tuesday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The first Hollywood
Palace show of the season is transmitted by ABC-TV. The show has been switched to Tuesdays from Saturdays.
The “Palace” season debut has traditionally been a
red-hot show and this one was no exception. Bing Crosby, as he has for the past
five years, headlined the show, this time flanked by Jimmy Durante and Milton Berle.
The trio was in great form, and their interplay was a sheer delight. In a ‘lest
we forget’ finale, Crosby warbled ‘Swinging on a Star’, Durante did his ‘So I
Ups to Him’ and Berle came out on Stone Age drag to do one of his old tv-burly
bits. It was an exciting half hour of video vaudeville. . . Crosby was a smooth
as silk host.
(Variety, September 13, 1967)
(Season premiere).
Old timers Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante and Milton Berle ride herd on the gaudy
stage. Berle plays “man in the Box”, Durante reviews an ancient vaudeville
sketch called “Wood, and the three stars reminisce about the better days
singing “Going My Way”, “The Texaco Song”, and Durante’s “So I Ups to Him”.
India’s Ravi Shankar plays the sitar for 8 minutes, Joey Heatherton gyrates to “The
Stars and Stripes Forever,” Diahann Carroll sings a medley, and The Association
group fills out a strong bill in this variety series’ new time plot.
(The Record, September 5,
1967)
September 7, Thursday. Lindsay Crosby is divorced from his second
wife, Janet.
September 8, Friday evening. After her summer theater appearances,
Kathryn had been to Rome with Mother Humiliata for a private audience with the
Pope. On her return to Hillsborough, she and Bing had not spoken for four days
due to a disagreement over Kathryn’s involvement in Catholic dogma. However, a
truce is declared by the time they arrive with their three children at Dorval
Airport, Montreal, Canada, having flown via Chicago.
September 9–12, Saturday–Tuesday. Bing and his family
visit
Bing Crosby is slipping unobtrusively around Expo, on
the third day of a truly incognito visit. Yesterday the “groaner” appeared
unexpectedly at the U.S. bubble with his wife Cathy, and two children.
Mr. Crosby was very
impressed with the display in the U.S. Pavilion, as he toured it with his small
entourage. But he was sidetracked along the way, meeting an old friend of his
and President Johnson’s. “So,” said a PR man, “they discussed policy and just
about everything else but Expo and the pavilion.”
During his stay, Crosby
collected press kits detailing the exhibits within the bubble for his children
to use in a special school project. Other Expo-goers have reported seeing the
singer at the Czech Pavilion and in the vicinity of the Canadian complex.
(Montreal Star, September 11, 1967)
September (undated). Tapes a Dean Martin Show with Lena Horne and Dom
DeLuise that is shown on NBC-TV on October 19.
September 15, Friday. California Seals chairman Barry van Gerbig discloses that a group including Bing and George Coleman has purchased a minority interest in the Seals. Meanwhile, Bing writes to Jean Drapeau, the Mayor of Montreal.
I
know you must have gotten countless letters such as this, in the last six
months, but I couldn’t resist adding mine to the considerable pile.
I
have just returned from EXPO 67, and to my mind it’s quite the most fantastic
function of its kind ever conceived, created and executed by modern man. The
good taste, the ideal location, and the theme behind it all, all are elevating
influences, and La Ronde surely is the finest amusement park ever built. It’s
clean, it’s colourful, and it’s fun.
The many, many people who assisted in this vast enterprise are to be congratulated, and to you, as the moving genius, a special kudo – Most sincerely yours, Bing
September 22, Friday. Cox Broadcasting Corporation agrees to buy
Bing Crosby Productions Inc. for $2 million in shares. Bing is the principal
shareholder. Basil Grillo remains as president of the company.
September 24,
Sunday. Bing takes part in the first Celebrity Golf
Classic at Willow Park Golf Course in Castro Valley, California. His
four-man best-ball team is unplaced. Other celebrities playing include
Phil Harris, Pat Boone, Allan Sherman and Trini Lopez. There are 5,000 spectators.
September 26, Tuesday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Jean-Paul Frereault
in Quebec, Canada.
Thank
you for your note. Sorry we didn’t make connections when we were at
The
entire family enjoyed the whole thing immensely. In our opinion, it is one of
the best things ever put together by modern man, and it’s a great credit to
Canadians and to the people of Montreal in particular who conceived this great
exposition.
I’m
sending a picture which was taken in front of the French Pavilion, I believe.
Thank
you for your interest and support through the years –
Always
your friend, Bing
October 1, Sunday.
(8:15-8:30 p.m.) Bing joins Father Keller on The Christophers TV
program on KCOP to talk about previous appearances together.
October 9, Monday. Bing writes to Dr. Arjan and Yonnie Chopra, whom he met in Tanzania in August. (An article giving background about the meeting will appear in the winter 2025 edition of BING magazine, issue 201.)
My
dear friends:
I’ve
been home in California some weeks now, but found a heap of working awaiting
me, so I'm only just now getting around to some of my correspondence. I just wanted
you to know how much I appreciated your kindness in having Tony and I by for a
drink and furnishing us with an opportunity to see your wonderful home and revel
in the gorgeous view from your front terrace.
You
must be very proud and happy with what you’ve captured there.
I
entertain my three small children with thrilling accounts of the experience you
underwent when the irate elephant chased your car. I embellish the tale a bit, of
course.
We
had a wonderful time in Africa and a successful film, I believe. I yearn to
return.
All
my good wishes - As ever,
Bing
(9:00–10:00 p.m.) A Danny Thomas Hour
called “The Demon under the Bed” starring Bing and his daughter Mary Frances
plus Joan Collins and George Maharis is shown on NBC-TV. The director is Peter
Tewksbury.
Bing Crosby made one of his rare TV dramatic
appearances, on Danny Thomas’ Monday night show for NBC-TV, “The Demon under
the Bed.” Nothing rare, however, about the role for the vet crooner-actor as he
sidled through a characterization of an aging performer packing a load of
juice, seeking self. (“Country Girl,” etc., etc.).
This time he was
followed by a photographer (George Maharis) who hopes to peel off the many
masks and finds the real Charlie Castle in a still shot or two. The gambit
affords director Peter Tewkesbury opportunity to utilize a lot of still photo
gimmickry throughout, but it finally seemed a sort of poor man’s ‘Blow Up.’
Joan Collins was
attractive as Crosby’s wayward wife, and Mary Frances Crosby, Crosby’s
eight-year-old daughter, preemed on TV in a role that consisted mainly of
effusively greeting her old man.
(Variety, October 11, 1967)
Bing
Crosby last night gave a splendid performance in a terrible melodrama, “The
Demon Under the Bed,” on the “Danny Thomas Show.” Danny made it worse with
sickeningly saccharine entr’acte comments. Danny doesn’t help stories with
these intrusions. He murders them. This story, however, died of its own
leukemia.
Bing
played a movie star reeling from a smashed marriage and threatened throat
cancer. “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing,” mourned Bing, hoisting another
drink. A photographer, George Maharis, pursued him through his deliria hoping
to catch a picture of the real Bing. The pay-off was one of Bing with his daughter
(played impressively and feelingly by his 8 year old, Mary Frances). “How’d I
ever get through life without you?” Bing weepingly asks Maharis. Hah!
It
wasn’t even good soap opera. But it was
a marvellous showcase for Bing to emote in—to be serious, heavy, kindly, curt,
hurt, tipsy, distressed and happy. The custom-built plot enabled him to sing.
Mary Frances radiated charm, sincerity and sophistication
(Dwight Newton, The San Francisco Examiner, October 10,
1967)
October 11, Wednesday.
At a cocktail party at Oakland's Edgewater West to herald the opening
of major league hockey. Watches the California Seals beat Philadelphia
Flyers 5-1 at the Oakland Arena.
October 17, Tuesday. Bing meets Shirley Temple Black to discuss a
forthcoming gala and publicity photos are taken.
October 19, Thursday. Golfs with Father Len Scannell at the Lake Merced course in a benefit to fund scholarships. They come second with a 64. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) The Dean Martin
television show featuring Bing, Lena Horne, and Dom DeLuise is shown on NBC-TV.
Bing Crosby clearly wasn’t amused by his encounter
with Horne on her next Martin appearance, aired that November (sic).
Horne was no fan. It mystified her why so many musicians—including his early
conductor Hayton—thought so highly of the legendary crooner, whose unflappably
casual singing was the opposite of her fire-spitting approach. And as a
die-hard Republican, Crosby repelled her politically. The Martin episode
featured a long medley shared by Horne and the two men. They all sat elbow to
elbow, but Horne snubbed Crosby on camera turning her shoulder to him and
focusing her attention on Martin. Crosby glared ahead, glum and pouting.
(Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, by
James Gavin, page 367)
Dean
Martin’s TV Show is an American Institution in a country where programmes run
until they melt.
When
the guests come on there are so many kisses and phoney punches in the chest
that the whole thing has the air of a regimental reunion at which everybody
arrives rather tight. It is always this carefully fostered bonhomie which
spoils these American shows, which are worth watching usually simply because of
the quality of their guest stars. Last night Martin produced Bing Crosby
and Lena Horne—and
how can you miss with them? Well, they did not miss with Lena, for her
performance was, as ever, impeccable. But how could Bing Crosby be wasted on
such a succession of corny situations? It was almost embarrassing to see the
Old Master pushed into a corner of the screen, stretching every effort to be as
agile as his juniors. What do the British networks have to learn even from a
highly rated show like this? Not much! Our light entertainment misses out in
only one way—in the stature
of the stars which are available in Hollywood. But if as little value is
extracted from them as Dean Martin achieved last night, do we need to mourn? I
think not.
(James Thomas, Daily
Express (UK newspaper), October 10, 1968)
October 20, Friday. Bing flies into Miami and stays at the Doral
Hotel.
October 22, Sunday. Tapes The Jackie Gleason Show at the
Miami Beach Auditorium with Alan King and Liberace. The show is transmitted by
CBS on November 25.
October 23, Monday. Bing presides over a gala entertainment for
the “Shirley Temple Black for Congress Committee” at the Thunderbolt Hotel, 101
Bayshore Blvd., Millbrae, California. Tickets are $100 each. The reception
starts at 6:30 p.m. with the dinner commencing at 7:30 p.m. and after the meal,
Bing makes a short speech to introduce Shirley Temple Black. He is accompanied
by Kathryn Crosby. (Note: In 1967 Shirley Temple Black ran for Congress against
California Representative Pete McCloskey, on a platform of defending America’s
involvement in the Vietnam War. She lost but was subsequently appointed by Republicans to
numerous political posts.)
October 25, Wednesday. (11:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m.) Bing has a guest
spot on The Joey Bishop Show on ABC-TV with Kathryn Crosby, Dorothy
Lamour, Regis Philbin and Matt Monro. Bing sings “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral”.
And
so I confessed my dream: I told him that, at the age of six, I decided I wanted
to be Bing Crosby—that I knew every lyric of every song Bing had ever sung, that
nothing made me happier than singing along with Bing on the radio.
So
it had to happen: three months later, Bing was booked to be a guest on our
show. I remember spotting him backstage—this easygoing but towering legend wandering
our hallways—and I truly couldn’t take my eyes off him. Unfortunately, there
were no plans for him to sing that night; he’d simply agreed to come on the
show as a panel guest, along with his beautiful wife, Kathy, and share some of
his great old stories, then leave. But it was all still terribly exciting.
Especially for me. Especially when he walked out and sat right next to me. My
whole life flashed before me—thirty years prior to all of this I was just a
dream-filled kid, freezing on those cold Bronx nights, listening to Bing sing
on my little radio. How did all this happen? Who could have imagined that now,
so many years later, I would be sitting next to Bing Crosby on a big network
TV show in Hollywood? It’s one of those times when you have to pinch
yourself in order to believe it.
The
show’s producers, of course, would have loved for Bing to sing anything that
night, but they were afraid to ask him. Then, as the interview progressed, Joey
had an idea. He would try to talk him into it by using me as his pawn, right on
the air! “Bing, see this kid,” Joey said, nodding toward me. “He’s the biggest
fan you ever had. It would be the biggest thrill of his life if you would sing
a song for him. How about ‘Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral? I was getting nervous. How
would Bing react? Well, he turned, looked directly at me, and simply sang the
song a capella. He sounded great. It was so exciting, my head was spinning. How
could I tell him what he had meant to me all these years? I should have, but I
couldn’t.
(Regis Philbin, writing in How I Got This Way,
pages 5-6)
What many people probably don’t know is that Bing helped launch Regis’ career as a singer! Comic Joey Bishop hosted a late-night talk show on ABC-tv from 1967-1969, and Regis Philbin was his “sidekick” on the show. Johnny Carson had Ed McMahon, so Joey had Regis. One night in October, 1967, Joey had none other than Bing and Kathryn Crosby as his guests. Regis was (and is) an unabashed fan of Bing, and dropped a hint to Joey that he’d love to have Bing sing a few of his favorite songs for him on the show. Joey persuaded Bing to sing “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral” to Regis because of his Irish roots. As Bing began to sing the verse, he suddenly broke out in laughter at the sight of Regis. “I can’t look at that kisser! He looks so receptive,” Bing said. He eventually composed himself and made it through the song. Then came Regis’ big moment. He had wanted to hear Bing sing “Pennies from Heaven”, but Joey said to Bing that “REGIS would like to sing Pennies for YOU”! Imagine a newcomer to singing being asked to perform one of Bing’s biggest hits for him on live TV. Well that’s exactly what Regis did, and he did it surprisingly well. It actually led to a recording contract for him!
(Greg Van Beek, writing in BING magazine #137, p20)
October 31, Tuesday. Has his only recording session for 1967 and sings “Step to the Rear” and three other songs with Ernie Freeman and his Orchestra for Reprise Records. Only two songs are issued. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Hollywood Palace show transmitted today has Bing as the host and Victor Borge, Roger Miller, Gail Martin, and Paul Lynde as principal guests.
Bing Crosby
welcomes Victor Borge, Roger Miller, Mickey Finn, and Dean Martin’s daughter,
Gail, to the vaudeville hour. Bing and Roger Miller run through a medley of road
tunes, then add Victor Borge and Paul Lynde to a number called “I Like Rock ‘n’
Roll Music.” Borge talks and plays his piano. Gail Martin joins Bing for three
songs, Paul Lynde appears as an Indian mystic, and Bing joins the U. N.
Children’s Choir for “Small World” in the finale.
(Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, October 31, 1967)
November 1, Wednesday. Kathryn Crosby’s book Bing and Other Things is published by Meredith Press.
The author was "Splash Day Princess" at three, "Queen
of the Houston Fat Stock Show" at sixteen, and Mrs. Bing Crosby at? "Miss
Fat Stock” (a Bing endearment) has had a hectic life and in these busy memoirs
she effusively recalls her Texas youth (no date to the Junior Senior banquet
etc.), determination to become a movie star (studies at the Univ. of Texas
drama school with the Fantasticks' Word Baker etc.), struggles in
Hollywood...facing up to Harry Cohen etc.). Bing's courtship ("heavenly"
dinners etc.), their harassed engagement (postponed five times because of her
indecision etc.), her final decision..."I felt our marriage would bring
new lilt to his songs" and subsequent life togetherness. She bore three
children, became a professional nurse which she alternated with a stage career,
learned hunting and fishing and to be an avid golf spectator but she never
learned to cook. They spent time with the Hopes (Bob) and saw a lot of Rosemary
Clooney. She and her daughter played in Peter Pan, son Harry was once almost
run over, and she includes creative poems with her Christmas presents. Bing
emerges a benign humorist from this jumbled portrait while Kathryn comes off as
a likable scatterbrain. For those dear hearts who once swooned while Bing
crooned.
(Kirkus Review)
November 15, Wednesday. Bing, Kathryn, and their children tape a
segment of the Christmas edition of the Hollywood Palace show, which is
shown on December 20. They then all fly off to Las Cruces.
November 21, Tuesday (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Bing is the narrator for One
Night Stands, an ABC-TV documentary about the live entertainment circuit as
seen by three groups of performers, Woody Herman and his Orchestra, Johnny
Rivers, and the Bartok-Hunt Circus.
November 25, Saturday. (7:30-8:30p.m.) The Jackie Gleason Show featuring
Bing with Alan King and Liberace is shown by CBS-TV. Sammy Spear leads the
orchestra, Frank Bunetta is the Director.
Comedian Jackie Gleason’s show was something for the
older folks at home, last Saturday night. There was the august piping of Bing
Crosby and dance yet from Liberace (Nureyev he ain’t!). Gleason and Crosby
kicked around a parody medley in good style, and Crosby later returned with
tunes that set the nostalgic tone of the hour—“Dear Hearts and Gentle People,”
“San Fernando Valley,” and “Don’t Fence Me In.”
(Variety, November 29, 1967)
November 29, Wednesday. Interviewed on the Today NBC
television show by Hugh Downs about Bob Hope.
December 12, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn plus their children
arrive in Los Angeles to film a Minute Maid advert as Bing had been asked by
the company to return as a product spokesman. He agrees to be a voice-over
announcer for the company’s television advertisements for its orange juice
while Kathryn and the children are shown on screen.
December 15, Friday. Bing and his family tape their Christmas show
for the Hollywood Palace and this is shown on December 20.
December 20, Wednesday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Hollywood Palace
show with Bing and his family, Adam West, Joyce Cuoco, Louis Nye, and the King Family is
shown on ABC-TV.
…Like
Mitzi’s show, the Hollywood Palace, which was pre-empted Tuesday night by
President Johnson’s conversation with three network correspondents, came over
Wednesday evening as a Christmas special (ABC).
And
no wonder, considering the fact that its host was Bing Crosby, “Mr. Christmas
Himself.” And on hand to assist him in enkindling the jollity of the season
were, among others: his wife and some of his children, the King Family, Adam
(Batman) West, and Louis Nye, one of the truly funny comics.
These
pleasant personalities merged their talents into a combination of fun and
songs, ideal viewing for every member of the family, especially the young ones.
And what about “White Christmas,” the song forever associated with Bing? Oh
yes, he still sings it as only he can.
(Ben
Gross, Daily News [New York], December
22, 1967)
"It’s a little late - after almost twenty-seven years
- to send you a fan letter about ‘White Christmas,’ but I heard you sing it
last night on the Hollywood Palace show and not only were you the first, but
you remain the best.”
(Letter from Irving Berlin to Bing, dated December 21,
1967)
“I never cease to reflect what a lucky break it was for
me when I wound up with ‘White Christmas’ in ‘Holiday Inn.’”
(Letter from Bing to Irving Berlin, dated December 26,
1967)
December 21, Thursday. Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show
with Peggy Lee and others which is shown on January 13, 1968
December (undated). Bing flies to Ensenada in Baja California
to hunt blue quail with Phil Harris.
December 24, Sunday. Bing returns to Hillsborough in time for the
annual Christmas Eve party for the staff and forty-five guests.
December 29, Friday. Paul Whiteman dies from a heart attack. He was seventy-seven. A special agent of the FBI receives a five-page letter threatening Bing and his family. It is again from a Mr. Tompkins.
January 10, Wednesday. At Pebble Beach for a press luncheon.
January 11-14,
Thursday–Sunday. At the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble
Beach which is won by Johnny Pott in a sudden death play-off with Billy
Casper
and Bruce Devlin. For a change, the weather is gorgeous and over 25,000
spectators attend on the Saturday. ABC-TV covers the golf on the
Saturday and
Sunday with Bing acting as chief commentator. Bing and Kathryn stay at
the
Cypress Point Club. Andy Williams, Pat Boone, Ray Bolger, Forrest
Tucker, William Boyd, Frankie Avalon, Bob Crosby, Dick Shawn, Don
Cherry, John Raitt, Richard Crenna, Ernie Ford, Jim Backus, Bob
Newhart, Dean Martin and Phil Harris are among the celebrities
playing. Around this time, Bing writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor.
I received the album “Rare Style”, and
you are right – it does have a nice selection of material. There are about six
or seven songs on there that I don’t remember doing. Of course, some of them
were made so long ago that it’s understandable that I would have forgotten.
I was pleased, too, with the accompanying
material written by Geoff Milne. I’m going to take the album down to one of the
Disc Jockeys here in San Francisco, and see if I can get him interested in
playing some of the tunes.
The musical background on most of these
selections is quite outstanding too. I think a great deal of it was done by
Trotter, but I’m not sure. Yes, it’s true, I’m doing another Longines recording with a good selection of songs, I
believe - most of them standards.
I’m also doing an album for Pickwick
Records, including a couple songs from “DR. DOOLITTLE” - “My Friend the
Doctor”, and “I Talk to Animals”. Also, “High Hopes”, “Camelot”, “Do-Re-Mi”
from “SOUND OF MUSIC”, “Chim-Chim-Cheree”, “Getting
To Know You”, and five others, to be selected.
Both of these albums should be done
before the middle of March, I imagine.
I’m grateful to you, Leslie, for your
continued interest and support.
I hope you’re having some good weather
there this winter. England has been plagued enough with the devaluation of the
Pound and the hoof and mouth disease and one thing and another - certainly you
deserve good weather –
All best wishes, Bing
January 13, Saturday. (9:30-10:30 p.m.) A Hollywood Palace show is transmitted with Bing hosting Peggy Lee, Phil Harris, Lawrence Welk, Milton Berle, Roosevelt Grier and Jimmy Durante. The show had been shown on Tuesdays this season but the ratings were not good, so a switch back to Saturdays was arranged.
The Hollywood
Palace returns to the spot it should never have left, and it also returns to a format
that was best suited to the show, straight vaudeville instead of “theme” shows.
Bing Crosby, the king of HP hosts, celebrates the time change and also the show’s
fifth anniversary with a fine lineup: Jimmy Durante, Peggy Lee, Phil Harris, Milton
Berle, the Solokhins from the Moscow Circus, Rosie Grier and the Fearless
Foursome of the Los Angeles Rams, Roger Brown, Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy and Merlin
Olsen. But undoubtedly the show’s highspot is a l5-minute segment looking back
on past shows with stars like Nat Cole, Ed Wynn, Bert Lahr and Buster Keaton.
(The Edwardsville Intelligencer, January
13, 1968)
January 16, Tuesday. Bing’s business manager, Basil Grillo, is visited
by the FBI and told about the threatening letter they received on December 29.
January 18, Thursday. (8:30-10:00 p.m.) Phillip Crosby appears on The Bob Hope
Vietnam Christmas Show on NBC-TV. Phillip had toured Vietnam with Hope over
the Christmas period.
January 19, Friday. Bing and Kathryn visit Sheep Island in San
Francisco bay. Later in the month, Bing and Kathryn join Trader Vic Bergeron
and his wife Helen on a hunting and fishing expedition in Baja California. Bing
and Kathryn are introduced to the game of scrabble by the Bergerons.
January 28, Sunday. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) The American Sportsman
show with Bing and Phil Harris hunting sand grouse in Tanzania is screened by
ABC-TV.
This fine show for the hunting and fishing crowd is
back and had an all-star cast for the sendoff seg . . . Second part of the hour
featured Bing Crosby and Phil Harris hunting sand grouse in Africa. If you have
to spend viewing time in a shooting blind, it couldn’t have been in more
entertaining company. The Harris-Crosby banter was like a nostalgic visit to
one of those old Hope-Crosby road musicals. And, indeed, the seg even had music
as Harris and Crosby dueted a seemingly offhand ditty on the whole affair to
close it out. Both, incidentally, are excellent shots, proving it by bagging a score
of birds.
(Variety, January 31, 1968)
February 2, Friday. There
had been adverts in the New Jersey press since early January indicating that
Kathryn Crosby was to star in Finian’s
Rainbow at the Meadowbrook Dinner Theatre in Cedar Grove, New Jersey from
February 8 to March 3. However, on this day it was stated in the press that she
had bowed out “because of family duties.”
February 8, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn fly to New York.
February 9, Friday. Records the first part of the Thoroughly
Modern Bing album with “Bugs”
Bower and his Orchestra for Pickwick at Mastertone Recording Studio in Long
Island City, New York.
Working with Bing Crosby was wonderful! He was the
consummate pro—cheerful, prepared, knowledgeable, funny and very creative. . .
. We rehearsed over the telephone—with Bing in Beverly Hills and me in New York
City. It took a matter of minutes to set the vocal keys and musical routines.
Everything was so easy. The following month, I met him in the lobby of a
recording studio in New York City and he said, “Hi, I’m Bing.” And I said, “Hi,
I’m Bugs.” With that, he said “Let’s go!” and we were off.
Bing
requested that only an engineer and I be present—even though all the singers in
the vocal group and the musicians desperately wanted to attend this session. He
knew all the words to all the songs. (A music copyist had made printed lyrics
for him to sing from, but he only occasionally glanced at them.)
On the
first song, “My Friend, the Doctor” (the longest song on the album) we spent
about 25 minutes with vocal retakes. To my chagrin, when the engineer, Warren
Slatten, tried to play Bing’s track, nothing was there! The vocal track was
silent. No Bing, no sound, nothing!
I
was really upset because I had no idea what was wrong with the
recording. What
could have happened? Well, we were lucky. Warren discovered a tiny
piece of
recording tape had somehow become trapped behind the recording head,
canceling
Bing’s vocal track. Bing could not have been more understanding. He
just
shrugged his shoulders and said, “Let’s do it
again.”
Bing
loved to sing and record—it was obvious when working with him that this was his
life. He asked about the musicians, especially the ones who played the ad-lib
jazz choruses. He complimented me on the arrangements and, overall, thought we
had put together a very happy, professional-sounding album. . . .
It
was raining quite heavily and when he offered me a ride to my car, I told him
that would be terrific. While driving on 42nd Street, he told the driver to
pull over to the curb. He opened his door and called out to two nuns who were
walking in the rain. “Sisters, Sisters, can I give you a lift?” It only took a
moment for them to recognize who he was, and you could see how flustered they
became. They were on their way to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, about a dozen blocks
away. They gladly accepted his invitation. Can you imagine the conversation
that took place after the nuns arrived at St. Patrick’s: “Who do you
think just stopped and picked us up in a big black chauffeured Cadillac??!!”
I’ll never forget this incident.
(“Bugs” Bower, writing in Sheet Music Magazine,
July/August 2001)
February 10, Saturday. Tapes a contribution to Ed Sullivan’s tribute to Irving Berlin on his eightieth birthday, which is shown on CBS-TV on May 5. Later takes part in a rehearsal for The Night of the Century (a benefit for the USO being held to open the New Madison Square Garden) which goes on to the early hours of the next morning.
Bing went on first and kept going wrong. They had to do his bit three times. Even then he sang "White Christmas" wrong but they let it go.
(Eric Morecambe, writing in his personal diary about the taping of the Irving Berlin tribute.)
Precisely at 8.00 PM, Bing attired in an
old fishing hat, with about twenty pounds of hooks and badges pinned on the
hatband, and the brim pulled down on all sides, baggy blue-grey slacks with a
rip in them, sports shirt the same color, green striped check blazer with a
couple of pocket flaps tucked half in, a foot long cigar in his mouth, rambled
in followed by his retinue of advisors including Maury Foladare,
his press agent. The first to spot the Old Groaner were the workmen, who rushed
over to have him put his famous signature on one, five and ten dollar bills. He
said a few hellos to various people he recognized, including myself, as he
walked over to Les Brown. Les and Bing listened together to some soft string
sections, then wandered back to the entrance.
“Okay Mister Crosby, if you’re ready,” called
Les. Bing’s eyes widened, he took a long pull on his cigar and waved a “yes”
sign over his head. The intro music started and Bing sauntered to the stairs
leading up to the stage. Halfway up the stairs he tripped on purpose and upon
reaching the stage, he grabbed the hand mike and the famous voice broke into -
SILENCE. They had forgotten to switch on the hand mike while Les and the band
were well into “My Blue Heaven”.
“Stop, stop, stop - dammit, stop,” the program director yelled, almost going
berserk. “Start from the stairs, Bing,” he instructed and with mikes on, Bing
swung - and I mean “swung” - into “My Blue Heaven” followed by a quip that
won’t be in the show…“Better buy Birdseye!”
“Cut, that’s fine Bing, now let’s start
the next number” and Crosby blew a mouthful of smoke into the air and began to
sing “My Cup Runneth Over” unfortunately to Les
Brown’s “Sunrise, Sunset”. Again the Director went berserk. Les passed a
message to the runner to get the arrangements of the new material from Mr. Crosby’s
dressing room. The runner came back ten minutes later to get the key from Bing
who had forgotten he had put it in his pocket. “My Cup Runneth
Over” now finished, Les said, “Bing, one more ‘with love’ at the end and lift
it a little higher.” Bing quipped back, “You want me to use my Dennis Day
notes?” Bing finished for the moment and ambled off the stage to sit and chat
for a minute….
And at that moment, Bob Hope made
his entrance, on this occasion without his putter. He wore a wine colored
sports coat, grey slacks and a Rex Harrison hat. Greeting a few people, he
joined Les and Bing for a few short laughs and lyrics. Then the men went up on
stage to run down the numbers the two do together. The camera director asked
Bob to work closer to Bing and Bing hugged Bob saying: “Is this girlish
enough?” Bob replied, “When I’m doing my line, have the camera on me…and when
Bing has a line, still keep the camera on me.” Bing laughed and said something
unprintable.
The music started and Marian Nelson choreo-director instructed the boys in a dance routine. She
eventually threw her hands up in the air and walked off stage mumbling to
Barbara (Eden) and myself, “They’re impossible…won’t do anything they’re told.”
The music started again, a few lines of patter, and Bob began the medley with
“Will you join me, Dad?” “Buttons and Bows” (Bing) “Please” (Bob) “Two Sleepy
People” (Bing) “Swinging on a Star” (duet) “Thanks for the Memory” (Bing)
“White Christmas” (Bob)… and Bob broke off into “I’m dreaming of a white
boo, boo, boo, boo…to which Bing snapped “You’re stepping on my royalties!”
At that moment, someone started hammering
loudly. Hope stopped the music and yelled up into the rafters, “I told you to
hammer during his part, not mine!” The band breaks up at this crack, and Bob
Hope, wild with fun, tells Les to put some mutes on his trumpet section. Les
suggested putting a mute on Bob’s nose. Bob replied, “If Stumpy (Les Brown’s
kid brother) were here, I’d punch him.” Bing broke it up with, “Junior, anytime
you’re ready to wrap this thing up…”
They finish their medley with ‘Road to
Morocco’ and ‘Put It There, Pal’. Then, before the boys retired to their
dressing rooms to await the stage setting for the boxing sketch, they posed for
a few pictures.
(Fred Romary,
writing in The Crosby Collector, February 1968)
February 11, Sunday. (Starting at 9:00 p.m.) The Night of the Century takes place
at New Madison Square Garden with Bing singing a medley with Bob Hope and
several solos. He receives a standing ovation from the crowd of 19,832. Others appearing
are Barbara Eden and Pearl Bailey. Les Brown is the musical director. Excerpts
are shown on The Bob Hope Show the following night.
...Crosby, looking less buoyant than Hope, none the
less reeled off a medley of his standards and their double routine comprised
singing one another’s trademark song. When Hope essayed “White Christmas,” Bing
ad libbed “Forgive him Irving” (Berlin). They wound up with a medley from their
“Road” pictures. There were a flock of asides such as “I just got back from Cape
Town and all my parts are new” and “Hope was invited to the White House; they
couldn’t get Eartha Kitt.”
(Variety, February 14, 1968)
The new Madison Square Garden had a historic and
glittering premiere last night as 19,832 persons paid $10 to $250 a seat to
attend a “Salute to the USO” and be entertained by the antics of such
performers as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. It was a gay and responsive crowd,
liberally sprinkled with men in military uniforms, which turned out for a fun
night in Fun City but with a noble underlying motive. The proceeds are
scheduled for the benefit of the United Service Organizations…Scores of celebrities were on hand, including Mayor
Lindsay, who showed up in a tuxedo after taping his weekly TV show. …The show was supposed to get
under way at 8:30 p.m., but it was 8:50 before the mayor showed up. It was 9
p.m. when Les Brown and his orchestra struck up the National Anthem,
accompanied by the cadet glee club of the United States Military Academy at
West Point….Hope and his guests, many of them ad-libbing with the help of
“idiot cards” -- much of the big show being taped for a telecast tonight --
were light of heart. Pearl Bailey started her songs with “Poor Butterfly” and
ended with “Mame.” Bing Crosby, Hope’s co-star of the evening, began with
“Cockeyed Optimist” and later joined his partner in a medley of songs…
(Nathan Kanter and Arthur Mulligan,
New York Daily News, February 12, 1968)
February 12, Monday. (Starting at 9:30 a.m.) Completes the
recording of the Thoroughly
Modern Bing album with “Bugs”
Bower and his Orchestra. Bing and Kathryn check out of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel and leave New York for South Carolina for
hunting with Phil Harris. Bing later tells a reporter that "we left the bird population of South Carolina relatively unchanged."
In this uptempo
album, the old crooner shows that he still has much of the fire that ranked him
among yesterday's superstars. Here he is applying his unique style to some
recent top chart riders with interesting results.
(Billboard, January 2, 1971)
Meanwhile there is overwhelming evidence that Mr.
Crosby has lost none of his charm or skill in Thoroughly Modern Bing
(Stateside SL10257). He works his lasting magic on “Talk to the Animals,” “Love
Is Blue,” “Chim Chim Cheree,” and other modern songs of quality plus the oldie
“Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead” with the same ease and warmth that was
discernible in 1928. He even transforms a blatant flag-waver like “What’s More
American” into something tolerable, and is the first singer to hold my
attention throughout “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” without causing a single wince.
(The Gramophone, January, 1969)
February (undated). Bing and Kathryn land at Dallas,Texas, to change
planes on their way home to San Francisco. A photographer captures the event. Bing and Phil Harris later depart for Las Cruces.
February (undated). Whilst Bing is in Mexico with Phil Harris, Kathryn
hosts a dinner at their Hillsborough home to raise funds for the Immaculate
Heart College (a Roman Catholic girls' school) for the construction of a science
building on the school’s planned new campus in Claremont, California. During
the dinner, Kathryn pledges $1 million on behalf of Bing.
February 20, Tuesday. (9:00-11:00 p.m.) A television movie called Prescription: Murder airs. It stars Peter Falk in the role of Lt. Columbo. Both Lee J. Cobb and Bing have turned down the part. The movie is subsequently developed into the Columbo television series that runs from 1971 to 1978 with Peter Falk starring.
“The studio wanted
Bing Crosby to play the part, but I ran across the script someplace—I probably
picked it up on somebody’s desk—and I fell in love with the character.” Falk
said, “I really wanted to play that part, and I went after it. They said I was
too young and was not right. There aren’t that many parts that I really want,
and fortunately Crosby was too busy with a golf tournament to do it.”
(Cynthia Lowry, (AP)
seen in The Anniston Star, February
10, 1972)
March 1, Friday. Tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Sid
Caesar, which is shown on April 20.
March 3, Sunday. Alan Fisher and his wife, Norma, leave the
Crosbys, bored by the lack of entertaining. They are replaced by Norma’s
brother, William Summers, and his wife Valerie. The Fishers go to work for
Charles Engelhard Jr. and his wife at their estate, Cragwood, in Far Hills, New
Jersey.
March 5, Tuesday. Bing arrives home in Hillsborough and
discovers that Kathryn has pledged $1 million to the Immaculate Heart College.
He is not amused. Kathryn is in Palm Beach preparing for a two-week run
of The Guardsman and she and Bing have a difficult conversation about
the matter by telephone. The pledge takes Bing several years to fulfill.
March 9, Saturday. Bing and his three young children arrive at
Spokane International Airport during the morning. They go on to the Ridpath
Hotel and then visit the Gonzaga campus where Bing is awarded the University’s
highest accolade, the DeSmet Medal and he then presents Gonzaga with the
nation’s first Microfilm Research Center. He lunches with college officials and
representatives of the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. Sees his
brother Ted while in Spokane and goes back to Ted’s house to look at the
flowers in the greenhouse. During the evening, he has dinner at the Jesuit
House and visits the Gonzaga presentation of My Fair Lady at Shadle Park
High School. A local TV station,
…Bing’s
reminiscences and his stories about his children, who were seated with their
Uncle Ted in the front row, were greeted with enthusiasm. Bing spoke without
notes but not without the informal facility, the startlingly accurate use of
surprising words, that has become his trademark.
...Obviously
moved, with the medal on his chest, Bing said, “Receiving this medal gives me
the opportunity to say, and really mean, that whatever I have been able to
accomplish, whatever I have done, if it has been worthwhile, is directly
attributable to the principles that were inculcated in me right here on this
campus. I am very grateful, very pleased, and very happy.”
(As quoted in Spireside, the bulletin of
Gonzaga University, spring 1968)
March (undated). (afternoon) Bing is interviewed by telephone by DJ Jack Carney on San Francisco radio station KSFO.
March 11-16, Monday - Saturday. Kathryn stars in The Guardsman at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida with Edward Mulhare. She receives excellent reviews. Bing flies in to see the play.
March 12, Tuesday. The Crosby family’s new Minute Maid advertisements begin showing on television.
On
March 17, Bing Crosby will return to a project that began 20 years ago with a
golf date.
On
that occasion, the singer’s golfing partner was New York’s John Hay (Jock)
Whitney. After the golf match, Whitney offered Crosby a sample of the then-new
Minute Maid orange juice as a thirst-quencher.
That
sold Crosby convincingly on Minute Maid. He bought into the company. Bing was
soon promoting the brand with a 5-day-a-week national radio show. His enthusiasm
also led him to set up a West Coast distributorship and for several years, the
Bing Crosby Minute Maid Co. distributed the frozen orange juice concentrate up
and down the Pacific Coast.
Bing’s
enthusiasm for the juice hasn’t diminished. As a result, he will again lift his
voice to praise the product, this time via television.
The
new Minute Maid commercials take a unique tack. The star himself is an off stage
voice, while his wife Kathy and their three children fill the screen. While his
family (dog included) scrambles through an early-morning breakfast scene making
up the Minute Maod orange juice, Bing’s million-dollar narrates the action,
breaking off for impromptu musical interpolation and snatches of the Crosby
version of “Water Boy.”
The
advertising them started with the premise that anyone old enough to buy (or for
that matter, drink) orange juice would recognise the Crosby voice. Tests bore
out the theory, proving that among transistor-age youngsters as well as their parents,
the ageless Crosby baritone needed no introduction.
(Fort Lauderdale News, March 15, 1968)
March 16-17, Saturday-Sunday.
Bing partners George Coleman in the Latham Reed Memorial tournament at
the Seminole Country Club in North Palm Beach, Florida. They are
unplaced. During his time in Florida, Bing and Kathryn attend a party
at the Palm Beach oceanfront home of insurance tycoon Guilford Dudley.
March 17, Sunday. (3:30–4:00 p.m.) A twenty-eight minute film Bing Crosby’s Washington State is shown on television. Bing narrates. It has been prepared by Cinecrest Inc. of Seattle.
An armchair tour
of Washington State’s sights and sounds is featured in “Bing Crosby’s
Washington State,” a special presentation airing at various times throughout
the week on Channels 11, 4, 7and 9. The famed singer brings his warmth to the
narration of a return visit to his native state, and treats viewers to a review
of the way of life treasured by Washingtonians.
(The Tacoma News Tribune, March 17, 1968)
March 19-25, Tuesday-Monday. Kathryn stars in The Guardsman at The Sombrero Playhouse in Phoenix, Arizona with Edward Mulhare.
March 23, Saturday. (9:30-10:30 p.m.) Phillip Crosby appears on the Hollywood Palace show. Phil Harris is the host.
March 26–28, Tuesday–Thursday. Bing records further songs for Longines at Coast Recorders, San Francisco, which subsequently form part of the second Bing Crosby’s Treasury–The Songs I Love set. Again, Bing sings to the prerecorded tracks laid down by an orchestra conducted by Geoff Love in London. The set is released in February 1969 with an extensive advertising campaign.
Ralph Harding writing in the fanzine “The Crosby Collector”
of January 1969 said: “I have played and replayed all these tracks and paid particular
attention to the ‘new’ and previously unissued tracks. The recording is
excellent and quite up to the standard of the first 16 sides on the first
Longines album issue. Without a doubt, they have captured a very pleasant and
happy balance. No real complaints in this direction. And it would be impossible
to choose any one side that towers above all. Each and every track is good and
excellent Bing. Crosby appears perfectly at home on these oldies - 'standards'
if you like - because they occupy a firm niche in any catalogue.”
March 31, Sunday. Bing, Kathryn and the children dine at Kan's at the Hyatt House where they are joined by Jackie Gleason and his friend.
April 1, Monday, The Crosby family, accompanied by the children's nanny Deidre Buckley, fly to the Crosby home in Las Cruces.
April 4, Thursday. Martin Luther King is assassinated in
Memphis.
April 12–14, Friday–Sunday. Easter. Bing and family at
Las Cruces are joined by the Hearst family, including Patty, who was
later to be kidnapped. They all help to clean the local church. During the next
few weeks at Las Cruces, the Crosbys are visited by Cliff Robertson and his
wife Dina Merrill, John Swope and Dorothy McGuire, Henry Mancini, Bill Harbach, Nick Vanoff, Helmut Dantine
and Edgar Bergen.
April 20, Saturday (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing’s Hollywood Palace
show with Sid Caesar, Florence Henderson, Gene Baylos, Every Mother's Son, the King Sisters and Joe Bushkin airs
on ABC-TV.
Bing Crosby helps
pull down the curtain for the season. Surrounded by a raft of kids, Crosby
begins with “Simon Says,” and joins Florence Henderson for a medley of oldies.
Sid Caesar plays a waiter having trouble with a chef; The King Sisters come on for
a medley of tunes; jazz pianist Joey Bishop introduces his new group, Every
Mother’s Son; and Japanese puppets and comic Gene Baylos round out the bill.
(Color)
(The Indianapolis
Star, April 20, 1968)
On
April 20th 1968, that jaunty, eternally youthful leprechaun from Washington
State ambled on to the now well worn ABC TV stage at the Hollywood Palace, to
offer his special blend of songs and fancy patter. The Groaner glided through
“Where the Rainbow Ends” in good style and in doing this song, billed as
Also
on the bill at the Palace, I found the singing King Sisters, a team in which
Bing likes to exercise his pipes. Crosby worked with sixteen children of the
Palace productions crew, but the best segment found Florence Henderson and Bing
trying to order hamburgers from a snobbish waiter, portrayed by Sid Caesar.
(Fred Romary, writing in BING magazine, August 1968
[#11])
May (undated). Bing narrates a program about Louis Armstrong for the
Armed Forces Radio Service. This is broadcast as part of the American Gallery series on February 6, 1969.
May 3, Friday. Bing is still at Las Cruces in Mexico to
celebrate his birthday.
May 5, Sunday. (7:30 - 9:00 p.m.) The Ed Sullivan
Show
on CBS-TV features Bing’s taped tribute to Irving Berlin on his
eightieth birthday. Other guests include Bob Hope, Ethel Merman, Diana
Ross & The Supremes, Robert Goulet, Harry James, Fred Waring &
The Pennsylvanians, Morecambe & Wise, Peter Gennaro and Irving
Berlin.
Crosby’s “White Christmas,” biggest disk seller of
all-time, was one of the show’s centerpieces in a nifty piece of film editing.
Crosby was first shown singing the number in a b & w clip from the
Paramount film Holiday Inn, for which it was written, and then segued
smoothly to Crosby rendering the song in color on vidtape. . . . Crosby
also was in excellent form on several early Berlin songs, including his first
one, “Marie from Sunny Italy,” “International Rag,” and “Alexander’s Ragtime
Band.”
(Variety, May 8, 1968)
Crosby began at the beginning, with ‘Marie from Sunny
Italy’ and so, was directly responsible for cracking one record that Berlin had
always been proud to talk about - that the song had never earned him more than
37 cents in royalties.
(From A Salute to Irving Berlin by Michael
Freedland)
May 15, Wednesday. Phillip Crosby and his wife Georgi separate. They divorce on October 1, 1969.
May 24, Friday. Still in Mexico, Bing and Kathryn are staying
in Mexico City for a few days but another disagreement about the Immaculate
Heart College persuades Bing to return to Las Cruces alone.
May 26, Sunday. Kathryn returns to Las Cruces where she is
reunited with Bing and they kiss and make-up.
May 30, Thursday. The Crosbys fly back to their Hillsborough
home.
June 2, Sunday. (9:15-9:30 a.m.) A 15-minute TV program "Bing Crosby and the Children" narrated by Bing is shown by KGO-TV in Oakland. This outlines the work being done by the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Oakland.
June 5, Wednesday. Robert Kennedy is assassinated in the
Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles (former home of the Cocoanut Grove).
June 7, Friday. Dennis Crosby fails in his petition to reduce
his child support (for his three children by Pat Crosby) from $700 per month to
$150 per month. His annual income is quoted as $56,000 and the judge raises the
child support to $750 per month!
June 8, Saturday.
The first round of the Swallows Invitational at Spyglass Hill. Bing
plays with Alaistair Hall and they finish 7 up. Bing has a 77.
June 9, Sunday. The second round of the Swallows Invitational at Cypress Point. Bing and his partner finish in a tie for 7th.
June 10, Monday. (Starting at 12:40 p.m.) Bing and Kathryn are at Candlestick Park, San
Francisco to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates lose 8-0 to the San Francisco Giants.
June (undated). Bing and Kathryn plus their children fly to the Big Island in Hawaii where they stay at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel with their friends Francis Brown and Winona Love. During his stay in Hawaii, Bing golfs with Francis Brown and George Coleman.
In
recent weeks, Bing Crosby and his wife, Kathy, have spent an extended vacation
on the Island, taking in the various sites and activities from their Mauna Kea
Beach Hotel headquarters.
At
a recent press outing at the famed resort hotel, Bing met informally with some
of the Big Island writers at the 19th hole clubhouse where he exchanged a few
remarks.
He
made it quite clear to this reporter that he’s not interested in politics, a
field that many celebrities have moved into in the last few years…
Crosby,
who has played frequently on the MKB golf course and has offered his smooth voice
to the musical entertainment at the hotel on an impromptu and unscheduled
basis, also has hunted on the Island’s famed Hualalai Mountain and has visited
Hilo’s Peace Corp Training Center during his visit here.
(Hawaii Tribune-Herald, July 7, 1968).
June 25, Tuesday. Kathryn flies to Honolulu from the Big Island for a TV interview with Bill Verdier in which she discusses her recent book. The interview is shown on ETV on July 12.
June 27, Thursday. (7:00-9:00 p.m.) Kathryn autographs copies of her book "Bing and Other Things" at the Ala Moana store of Honolulu Book Shops.
July 6, Saturday.
Back home, Bing is at the junior hardcourt championship at the Peninsula Tennis Club in
Burlingame where he presents the trophy for the Boys 14 championship.
July (undated). Ted Crosby and his wife plus their two sons visit Bing
and Kathryn at the Hillsborough house.
July 18, Thursday. Bing writes to British fan, John Bassett.
You
were very kind to write me the nice letter which I received lately, regarding
some of the recordings I’ve made in the past, and how that you have been able
to extract entertainment from listening to them.
I do
intend to keep recording a little now and then, although there is not the call
there used to be for my kind of work.
Most
of the things that I plan to do will be albums and things of that nature. The
singles just don’t do very well.
I’m
glad you’ve become a member of the International Crosby Circle. They’ve done a
lot of helpful things for me, and for my career, in the past years, and I’m
very grateful to them.
All
best personal wishes, Believe me to be –
Your
friend, Bing
July (undated). A film crew visits Bing at Hillsborough to film a trailer for his October TV special.
The
new television season doesn’t begin until after Labor Day—but this is prime
time for Bing Crosby and the producers of an hour-long special that will be
shown next autumn.
Bing
casually swung his club and lofted the ball over the heads of the TV crew
clustered on his lawn. Bing comfortably chipped and chatted to the Cycloptic
eye of the camera joshing his three youngsters and thoroughly enjoying every second
of a long, hard day’s work. The
camera was concentrating on production of a short film to be used for promotion
of RCA’s Bing Crosby special, set for NBC-TV on October 23. During
the long hot day he never lost his cool although twice he flubbed a line so
casually that he appeared to have done it purposefully to check the attention of
the crew.
The
camera crew had invaded the privacy of his handsome Normandy chateau at 8:30
a.m. The house perches on about six acres of hillside a dozen or so miles from
San Francisco…
(Stan Maays, Fort Lauderdale News, August 9, 1968)
July 22, Monday. Bing and Kathryn have a few days' vacation at
Long Island (at Locust Valley) where they stay with Martha Lyon Slater. On July 24, they attend a birthday party for
Denniston Slater at La Grenouille on East 52nd Street in New York City.
July 25, Thursday. The Crosbys leave for Switzerland and then
subsequently fly on to Nairobi in Kenya.
July 29, Monday, onwards. They arrive in Nairobi to go on for a two-week safari in Tanzania with Vic
Bergeron (Trader Vic) and Helen, plus Lawrence and Leonora Wood. The safari is
led by Terry Mathews of Mathews Safaris. Bing subsequently makes a private
recording to commemorate the holiday for the participants and Trader Vic
distributes this to many friends. Their camp is at Terrett, sixty miles north
of Arusha in Tanzania and while there, they are visited by Masai warriors. Bing
tapes the warriors singing and plays the results back to them.
Bing
and Kathryn Crosby’s African safari to the Terrett
Metropolitan Area, Kenya. I guess I had been asked ten or fifteen times to join
a safari and always shied away from it as - I don’t know - maybe, just not fun.
But when Bing and Kathy Crosby asked Helen and me to go on safari, along with
Leonora and Lawrence Wood, we accepted, and I have never had a more delightful
time in my life. There were six of us. We had hunted for several years together
in Texas and Mexico, and here in California and were completely compatible, so
we came and went on our safari without any undue strain on one another. Then of
course, Terry Mathews, of Mathews Safaris, Kenya, put this address down in case
in case you want to go on a safari, did a tremendous job for us. There were two
white hunters apart from Terry and his wife. I was never more pleased in my
life! Little things happened here and there - my wife killed a leopard, as you
hear on the record. We all shot our animals and did our things. We had great
duck shoots together, the camp food was excellent, there were always plenty of
game birds to eat as well as animals cooked in many delightful manners. All in
all it was a wonderful holiday we will never forget, and then to add to
this pleasure, Bing and Kathy - who are the greatest of kids for making up
songs - made up this little ditty about the safari - things around the camp and
the whole holiday, and sent me one of the tapes. I thought it would be a grand
thing to give away for this Christmas, and so we are giving this to you with
our best wishes for a very happy holiday,
Sincerely,
Trader Vic.
August 12, Monday. Bing’s party arrives back in Nairobi after a
fortnight’s safari and stays at the Karen Club.
August 13, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn visit Bill Holden's Mount Kenya
Safari Club with Terry Mathews and his wife.
August 14, Wednesday. Plays golf at Karen Golf Club on the
outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, with Dr. Tom Mathews against Peter Leech and Eric
Cecil. Bing and Tom lose three and two. That night, Bing and Kathryn leave for
London.
August 15, Thursday. They arrive in London and stay at the
Connaught for six days. That night they attend the Promenade Concert at the
Royal Albert Hall that features the music of Sir William Walton.
August 16, Friday. Crosby fan Les Gaylor has tea with Bing and
Kathryn at the Connaught Hotel.
August 17, Saturday. During the afternoon, Bing meets Ralph
Harding, editor of The Crosby Collector, at the Connaught Hotel. Later,
Bing goes to see Canterbury Tales at the Phoenix with Kathryn.
August 21, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn leave London for two days
in Portugal before flying to Florida for a short break at Ocean Reef, Key Largo where Kathryn goes scuba diving.
September 1, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn arrive back at Hillsborough.
September 2, Monday. Bing and family dine at Trader Vic's.
September 5, Thursday. Bing is an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Dennis O'Keefe in Glendale, California. Elsewhere, Bing flies into Phoenix for a dove shooting trip with Fred Stent and Bob Goldwater. He stays at the Safari Hotel, Scottsdale.
September 7, Sunday. (8:10 a.m.) Flies from Phoenix to San Francisco.
September 10, Monday. Arrives at Marine
World, at Redwood City near San Francisco to film a TV special.
September 13, Friday. Bing is at Candlestick Park, San Francisco and
he and Willie Mays are each presented with an award by Prescott Sullivan of the San
Francisco Examiner signifying their enrolment in the Ex-Newsboys Hall of
Fame. Bing’s son,
Harry, accompanies him. The presentation takes place before the Giants
game against the Cincinnati Reds, which begins at 8 p.m. and sees the
Reds win 6-3.
September 14, Saturday. Continues the taping of the television special Feelin’
Groovy at Marine World with Anissa Jones and the Young Rascals at Marine
World. The special is shown on February 15,
1969. Michael Eisner, who eventually goes on to become the head of the Disney
organization, plans the production. The director is John Urie and the producer is Ted Fetter.
Mary Frances celebrates her ninth birthday at Marine World and
photographs appear in the press of her with her parents and her
birthday cake.
My
first big break came in 1967, when the top management at ABC wanted to do a
television special promoting a new business they had just entered: - theme parks.
Construction was just being completed on Marine World, outside San Francisco,
but no one in our programming department wanted anything to do with it. I
volunteered, figuring it was a chance to take charge of something. The key, I
concluded, was to build the special around recognizable stars. My first
discovery was that ABC had a commitment to do a show with Bing Crosby in return
for broadcasting rights to his annual golf tournament from Pebble Beach,
California. I flew out to Pebble Beach, and convinced Crosby to serve as the
host for a special about Marine World. Next, we signed the Young Rascals,
who had a hit single on the charts called “Groovin’,” to perform live from the
new park. We named the special Feelin’ Groovy at Marine World, and went
to great lengths to fill it with all kinds of acts, including a water-skiing
elephant. Because no established director would consider such a silly program,
we signed a young commercial director, who saw it as a big break. It was my
first experience of turning to someone unknown and unproven but talented and
hungry. The special did well in the ratings, and it earned me my first notice
from the top ABC corporate executives. I never knew how they felt about the
show itself, but they clearly appreciated its immediate impact on ticket sales
at Marine World.
(Michael Eisner, writing in his book Work in
Progress: Risking Failure, Surviving Success, pages 53-54)
September 16, Monday. Bing completes the taping of the television special Feelin’
Groovy at Marine World. Kathryn and Mary Frances fly to Chicago to
rehearse the play Sabrina Fair.
September 17, Tuesday. Bing writes to Kathryn in Chicago.
“You
escaped to Chicago in the nick of time. If you were available, I’d chase you
all the way to Crystal Springs, with my trusty 28-gauge kicking up dust beneath
your high-stepping foot, In point of fact, I’d be tempted to have recourse to the 12-gauge,
but I remain a true sportsman, even when thoroughly aroused,
I
have just learned that Johnny Longden phoned on Saturday with an urgent message,
which you somehow neglected to pass along. As a direct consequence, our horse Society
ran, won, and paid 5 to 1 to anyone lucky enough not to have married a lapsed Baptist
who doesn’t approve of gambling. It was my one great chance to get even, but oh
well, lucky in love…
If
you really are planning to let Mary Frances give the prologue, I suggest that
you move it to the end, converting it into an epilogue for your own protection.
I’d as soon follow a dog show as that little scene stealer. But on second
thought, anything might be preferable to letting her play a role. She does have
a way of taking over any production that she pokes her nose into.”
September 20, Friday. Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Bobby
Goldsboro, Sid Caesar, and Jeannie C. Riley. The public is admitted for the
dress rehearsal at 3:30 p.m.
September 24-October 13. Tuesday-Sunday. Kathryn stars in Sabrina Fair at the Mill Run Playhouse in Niles, Illinois. Mary Frances also has a part in the play.
September 28, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing hosts the first Hollywood
Palace show of the season on ABC-TV. Guests include Bobby Goldsboro, Abbey Lincoln, Sid
Caesar, and Jeannie C. Riley. Mitchell Ayres and his Orchestra provide the
musical backing. The show has been recorded and was produced by William O.
Harbach and directed by Grey Lockwood.
The Hollywood Palace is in for its sixth seasonal go-round,
thanks in part to Ed Sullivan’s vaudeo spadework but mostly to a crackerjack
production and creative staff that makes the hour flow smoothly. Another plus
is in the rotating emcees of star value, with Bing Crosby as the inaugural host
in his twenty-fifth appearance on the show. . . . Sid Caesar took a turn as
Prof. Ludwig, coach of an Olympic karate team and Crosby helped along on the
tomfoolery. . . Crosby had a quickie interview with Bob Gibson, ace pitcher of
the St. Louis Cardinals who start in the baseball annual today (Wednesday). Der
Bingle announced it as Tuesday. Must be the Pittsburgh Pirate blues!
(Variety, October 2, 1968)
September (undated). Bing records a TV special with Bob Hope at Paramount that is shown on October 23.
For most of the run of the HP, Mr. Harbach did not undertake other television ventures.
“I had too much to do to keep the balls in the air for the Palace.”
However, this situation changed as the HP began its 6th season, at which time Messrs. Harbach and Vanoff collaborated on The Bing Crosby Special for RCA, broadcast on NBC on October 23, 1968. It starred Bob Hope, Stella Stevens, (“a little bland”) Jose Feliciano, (“a new sound”) and The Supremes.
“Nick and I were executive producers. It was produced by Ray Charles. Ray was another alumnus of The Perry Como Show. He produced the choruses for Perry. He put the show together. Marc Breaux directed. (Breaux would also direct Crosby the following year in Goldilocks) I supplied the idea of Bing and Bob getting back into the movies. In fact, Ray Charles wrote a song, ‘Making Movies’, to go along with the concept. He also wrote the Crosby/Hope duet. (‘Believe Me’) I don’t recall why, but the show was filmed at nighttime. The wonderful ‘That Face/Funny Face’ number, in which Bing is on a cherry picker serenading pictures of all the great film stars, was done at 11pm!”
Did Bing balk at that?
“Not at all!”
(Martin McQuade,
detailing an interview with Bill Harbach, in BING magazine, spring 2006)
October 2, Wednesday.
Records a "Paint Your Wagon" medley with Diana Ross and The Supremes
for use on his upcoming TV special on October 23.
October 3, Thursday. Bing and Bob Hope film the patty-cake scene with Dorothy Lamour for the TV special.
October 13, Sunday. Bing writes to Frank Murphy, editor of BING
magazine.
Thanks
for your letter. I’ve sent the photo off to Johnny Jones in Ireland. I hope it
proves suitable for him.
Also,
thank you for forwarding on the gift from your friend, Samuel Sternberg, in Israel.
Very pretty little thing, and I know Kathryn will enjoy it. She’s presently in
a play in Chicago for four weeks - a play in which Mary Frances has a small
part. They should be home soon.
No
real definite news, Frank, about a film in the immediate future. Several things
under consideration, but they are merely conjectural. I have been doing a great
deal of TV work - Specials, and the Hollywood Palace, golf tournaments and
American Sportsman – things like that.
They
don’t sound as important as a good film, but actually, a well received
television show plays to many, many more people than does a film. But I’m like
you - I’d rather be in a film than television, but the right thing just hasn’t
come along.
Thank
you anyhow, for your good wishes, Frank –
Warmest
regards, Bing
October (undated). Bing and Kathryn dine at the Blue Fox in San Francisco.
October 16, Wednesday. Bing records an African Safari medley for his friends. Later, Bing and Kathryn fly to Mexico City to
attend the Olympic Games, which run until October 27. They stay with Merle Oberon.
October 23, Wednesday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Bing Crosby
Special is shown on NBC-TV with guest stars Diana Ross and the Supremes,
Stella Stevens, Bob Hope, and Jose Feliciano. Dorothy Lamour makes a cameo
appearance. The program is produced by Ray Charles and directed by Marc Breaux.
Mitchell Ayres is the musical director. The writers are Bill Morrow and Hal Fimberg. The show receives a 24.6 rating with a
42.2 share of audio in the 30-city Nielsen ratings for the week of October
21-27.
The ‘ole boys’, Crosby and Hope, wander through their
hunting grounds, Paramount Studios, checking the action and newcomers like
Stella Stevens, The Supremes and blind guitarist, Jose Feliciano. Their
repartee has zing on the studio’s western set with Bing playing a ‘flower
sheriff’ advocating love to villain Hope. Musical high spot is an updated
version of ‘High Noon’ by Miss Ross and The Supremes. The ‘Paint Your Wagon’
medley by Bing, Diana Ross and the Supremes comes a close second. Jose
Feliciano duets with Bing and Hope and Crosby join Stella Stevens in a corny
screen test sketch.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, October 23, 1968)
This hour-long Bing Crosby special had its bright
moments, but its format—a lightly-plotted variety show—worked against it
catching fire for any sustained period despite strong contributions by Crosby,
Bob Hope and an excellent guest star roster. . . . Crosby and Hope were
charming in their traditional comedic horseplay, but some of the material was
not exactly appropriate for their years. Whatever their private vigor may be, a
necking contest skit with Miss Stevens had about it a definitely uneasy air.
(Variety, October 30, 1968)
…Crosby, in
excellent voice and obviously enjoying himself, performed in several production
numbers, the highlight being his number with the brilliant singer-guitarist,
Feliciano. Their number “Mama Don’t Allow” was a near-classic. Bing’s closing
number with the Supremes and Feliciano was nearly as good. They spun through a
medley of today’s hits and Bing matched them stride for stride, note for note. Charisma,
man, charisma.
(Don Page, The Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1968)
October 24, Thursday. (Starting at 9:00 p.m.) Bing and Kathryn are present at the opening night ceremonies
of the San Francisco International Film Festival at the San Francisco Masonic Auditorium. Bing introduces emcee Gene
Kelly. They all go on to a party at the Top of the Mark in the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
October 27, Sunday. Lindsay Crosby marries for the third time.
This time his bride is Susan Marlin, a former Miss Alaska.
October 30, Wednesday. Bing tees off at 9:06 a.m. in the pro-am at the Lucky International Golf Tournament at Harding Park, San Francisco. His professional partner is Chi Chi Rodriguez. Bing has a poor round. During the day, he writes to Crosby fan Samuel Sternberg in Israel.
Excuse the long delay which ensued before I got around to answering your nice letter, written in mid-September.
It’s always encouraging to know that I have friends all over the world who enjoy some of the things I’ve done on discs, or in pictures, and you were kind to write and tell me that
you are among this number.
Our good friend, Frank Murphy, in England has done a great deal in my behalf in that country, and, of course, I’m sure that he has been most responsible for keeping news of my activities
current.
I want to thank your dear
wife for doing the very attractive piece of needlework which was enclosed in your letter. It arrived in good shape.
I am especially appreciative of the design, including the oil lamp, and I thank you for the significance of the lamp and what it portrays.
My warmest best wishes to you and your family. – As ever, Bing
November (undated). Bill and Valerie Summers leave the employ of the Crosbys. Alan and Norma Fisher return.
November (undated). During the month, Bing records “The Night Before
Christmas” for use by the Voice of America on their “New York, New York”
program. He also writes to a British fan, Betty Ratcliffe.
I
want to thank you very much for your nice letter and to tell you how much I
appreciate the many years of loyalty in connection with my efforts.
I
don’t make a great deal of records any more – the field is getting a bit
crowded for old-timers like me, but occasionally I get an album out, and I hope
when such an item is issued that it gives you some pleasure and enjoyment.
I
would also be very pleased to say hello to you when and if I come to England
again. At the moment I have no plans to return in the immediate future, but I
always like to go there whenever time allows.
Very
best wishes to you and your family,
Always
your friend, Bing
November 6, Wednesday. Richard M. Nixon is elected president of
the United States
November 18, Monday. (9:00-10:00p.m.) Bing is “roasted” by George Jessel on the syndicated television show Here Come the Stars seen on KTLA. The show has been recorded at the
Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood and other speakers include Dorothy Lamour, Phil
Harris, Morey Amsterdam, Dorothy Kirsten, and Rich Little.
The program with George Jessel and Rich Little was a
lot of fun to do. Jessel has always been a great friend of mine, and I find him
very funny. I know to a lot of people, he doesn’t come off that way, but he’s
such a character, everything he does makes me laugh. Rich Little is
tremendously gifted, it seemed to me.
(Bing Crosby, in a letter to Gord Atkinson, May 10,
1969)
November 21, Thursday. Records four tracks for the Hey Jude,
Hey Bing!
LP with Jimmy Bowen
and his Orchestra at United Recorders Studio,
Hollywood. The session starts at 9 a.m. Later, Bing goes to
Lakeside Country Club for a huge celebration honoring Maurie Luxford,
but has to leave early. He later writes to Mr. Luxford to apologise.
Dear Maurie
I
was terribly sorry I had to cut out before the presentation ceremonies at
Lakeside the other day but I had been told that the presentation of the
trophies and awards was going to be deferred until after the ceremonies. When they
went into the Award Ceremonies, it began to appear that I wasn’t going to make my
plans, so I had to leave.
I
just wanted you to know that I would have liked very much to have stayed on and
been part of the ceremonies, but it wasn’t possible.
I
am elated, however, at the way the function turned out, and I can only say that
it’s a tribute you richly deserve.
Always
my best, Bing
When
I started Amos Records, I got a half-million dollars from Ampex Tape and a
half-million from British Decca for the foreign rights. I also put up close to
a million dollars of my own. The deal got a boost when Ampex heard I was
interested in recording one of its own early investors—Bing Crosby. I wasn’t
just being shrewd: I had always wanted to work with Bing, the top-selling
crooner of them all.
Bing
was pushing seventy and hadn’t cut an album in years (sic). Because the big
song of 1968 was the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” I thought an LP titled Hey
Jude/Hey Bing! with a cover version would be a trip. (Bing’s “White
Christmas,” cut in 1942, is still the most popular single ever recorded.)
Bing
lived along the Pacific in northern California in a big old dusty mansion. When
I went there for a song meeting, he led me to a small den that hadn’t been
disturbed in years. He played me some song ideas on the stereo system, but they
all had a corny sound trapped deep in the past. “Bing,” I said, “if we’re going
to sell records we have to make a modern album.” Bing hadn’t had a
non-Christmas hit since “True Love” with Grace Kelly in 1956.
“Okay,”
he said. “What have you got?”
I
played him three recent hits: “Both Sides Now,” “Those Were the Days,” and “Hey
Jude.” Bing shrugged, said okay.
Bing
then walked us into a vast long-abandoned ballroom so that we could set the
vocal keys for our songs on the piano. Dust flew up as we moved across a
hardwood floor. The piano probably hadn’t been tuned since Roosevelt was
president. I couldn’t tell what keys we were in. “Well, when would you like to
record?” he asked.
“Around
two weeks from now, for two days?”
“Good.
I’ll fly down. I’d like to start at eight o’clock.”
“We
can do that. We usually start at six, but eight’s fine.”
“Gee,”
he said. “six is a little early. I meant eight in the morning. That’s when the tones
are there, you know.”
“Bing,
I was thinking eight at night. I don’t know if I can get a band
at eight in the morning.” We agreed on nine A. M.
When
the day came, I got to the studio at eight-fifty A.M.
“Where
you been?” he asked. He’d already been there an hour.
As
we started cutting our first track, I heard a noise in the miking or board that
was driving me nuts—a weird static I couldn’t locate or remove. I stopped and
asked my engineer to help me hunt it down. I walked out to Bing’s mike stand to
check if it was faulty. Standing beside Bing, I heard it dearly and looked
down. “Bing, are you jiggling something in your pocket?”
He
looked surprised. “Oh, is that causing a problem?”
For
five minutes Bing unloaded about $34 in nickels, dimes and quarters from his
pants pocket. It was a nervous thing he did and didn’t even know it.
We
didn’t get a hit from the LP, but sold about 50,000 albums. After selling 300
million records, Bing had all the pocket money he needed—plus the $34 we
wrapped and shipped back to him after we finished.
(Jimmy
Bowen, writing in his book Rough Mix)
November 25, Monday. (Starting at 9:00 a.m.) Completes the Hey
Jude, Hey Bing! LP with Jimmy Bowen and his Orchestra. The album is issued
by Amos Records.
…A classic example of this trend are the new Bing
Crosby recording efforts, an album and a single lifted from it. The album. “Hey
Jude — Hey Bing” offers a programme of the current chart items. If they weren’t
on the soft-sounding side in their original versions they are now that Bing is
giving them his masterful once-over-easy treatment. Bing is getting much air
play and sales are beginning to take shape right across the country, and it has
been a while, hasn’t it?
(John Murphy, Winnipeg
Free Press, March 15, 1969)
Bing Crosby has lost none of his mellow warmth of
voice in Hey Jude, Hey Bing! (London
(The Gramophone, July 1969)
Bing Crosby joins the bizarre elite of Ella Fitzgerald
and Wilson Pickett who have found the Beatles “Hey Jude” an irresistible song.
Bing makes “Jude” the lead track of his latest album, “Hey Bing”. He also
includes plenty current hit songs to make this Crosby LP a definite winner.
(Daily Mirror (UK newspaper), May 27, 1969)
November (undated). Bing and Kathryn are in Las Cruces. Bing
then goes bird shooting in North Carolina.
November 29, Friday. (8:30-9:00 p.m.) Bing narrates a documentary salute to sportscaster Tom Harmon called "One Saturday Afternoon" on KTLA-TV.
December 3, Tuesday. “Singer Presents Elvis” airs on NBC-TV and
becomes the number one show of the season with a 32.0 Nielsen rating and a 42%
audience share. The show is Elvis Presley’s return to appearing before an
audience after many years of confining himself to movie work.
December (undated). Bing is in Pinehurst, North Carolina making an American Sportsman program about shooting quail. This is shown on March 9, 1969.
December 4, Wednesday. Gives a brief press conference at the Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst during a lunch break while filming the American Sportsman program.
PINEHURST
- Bing Crosby’s spending this week in Pinehurst, quail hunting, making an American
Sportsman color film when weather permits and when it doesn’t, trap shooting at
the Pinehurst Gun Club.
He
likes hunting better than singing or so he did Wednesday at what passed for a press
conference. He was finishing a hasty lunch at the Carolina Hotel in company with
a dozen movie technicians, while the crew chief prodded everybody to hurry.
“The
bad weather has held us up, we have only until Friday and it’s costing us thousands of dollars,” groaned the chief.
Bing,
an amiable fellow, munched his lunch faster to please the chief and answered
questions between bites. Only a couple of reporters and two or three photographers
were there with Tom Howard, Pinehurst, the news director, who had also been baffled
in his efforts by the rain and mist.
In
their midst sat this little guy, wearing hunting clothes and a most familiar smile.
He’s a tanned, wiry, healthy looking sportsman - thoroughly natural, easy to talk
to, with no aura of “show biz” nor any indication he felt himself a Star. Inevitably,
he looked older than in his “boo-boo-boo” crooning days, but his eyes were a bright,
clear, sparkling and youthful blue.
“This
is my first trip to North Carolina, though I have passed through a good
many times. I’ve been to South Carolina a lot - to Aiken, around
Yemassee and north of
Charleston. But now I’m discovering North Carolina and it’s great,” he
said.
(The Charlotte Observer, December 7,
1968)
December 9, Monday. Bing writes to Merle Oberon in Mexico.
Dear Merle
Trader Vic called me a week or so ago – just before I
went east – and told me that he had been talking to you about coming down to
Acapulco around March 1st, and that you had extended an invitation to us to
come - at least, that’s the way I interpreted his conversation. Is this so?
I’ve failed you so many times in the past, that I was
inclined to believe that I was on your “sour” list, but I do want to see that fabulous
place of yours there at Acapulco, if we could fit it in.
I was in the East lately, and I saw in the New York
paper where you were among the famous people who attended the opening of “Promises,
Promises”. The review of the show was fabulous. It must be a big hit.
We’ve been traveling a great deal since we were in Mexico
City for the Games, but during the musicians’ strike, quite a bit of work piled
up, and I’m going to be hard at it, I guess, from now till Christmas.
Plan
to take the family up to the ranch for a couple weeks at Christmastime.
Hopefully, so the children can be in the snow. They don’t
get to see much wintry weather here in San Francisco.
There’ll be some good duck shooting and other activities
there, too.
I hope Bruno is fit, and not doing too much. I’m afraid
my little lecture fell on deaf ears. He’s just constructed to go at full bore
all the time –
Kathryn joins me in fondest love.
Bing
December 10, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn host an exclusive dinner
party at Chasen’s for the founding members of the President’s Council of
Immaculate Heart College. The Bob Hopes attend.
December 12, Thursday. Bing and his family tape the Christmas
edition of the Hollywood Palace, which is shown on December 21. Also Bing and Bob Hope are taped being presented
with the first annual Show Business Hall of Fame awards by Earl Wilson
and this is included in the show aired on January 4.
December 18, Wednesday. Bing writes to his friend Bert McMurtrie in Tacoma.
Dear
Bert:
Although
I'm sure this letter will cause you some disappointment, I have no other
alternative just now.
I’m
afraid I won't be able to get away for the banquet up there in January. Because
of the musicians’ strike, recently settled, a lot of work I had programmed was
set back, and now they are trying to re-schedule it - and along with the other
things listed for that month, I’m afraid it’s going to be a pretty busy period.
Bert,
I’m wondering if our golf tournament charity fund can't be of some assistance
to you in connection with the maintenance, operation of some of the Boys Clubs
up there that you’re connected with.
We
make quite a few grants in the direction of this type of activity.
If
you could write me a letter, indicating something that is needed up there in a
Two or Three Thousand Dollar price range, I’ll see if I can get the Committee
to approve of the grant. I believe I would be successful.
It
certainly appears that you are deserving of high commendation for the years of
effort you’ve put in in behalf of the projects up there, and I want to add my
thanks to the others you are doubtless receiving –
Always
your friend, Bing
December 21, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing hosts the Christmas
edition of the Hollywood Palace show on ABC-TV with his family, The
Lennon Sisters, John Byner and featuring Glen Campbell.
Bing Crosby plays
his traditional role as guest-host on the annual Christmas show of ABC-TV’s “The
Hollywood Palace” tonight at 9:30. Also on the holiday program will be Bing’s
wife Kathryn and the Crosby children, Harry Lillis, Mary Frances and Nathaniel.
Featured on the Christmas show will be the Lennon Sisters offering a selection
of Yuletide favorites; pop singer Glen Campbell; comedian John Byner and
juggler Nicolai Olkovikov from the Moscow State Circus, who performs while
riding a horse.
(The Daily Record,
December 21, 1968)
Campbell. . . mentioned his singing “White
Christmas” on Bing Crosby’s 1969 holiday show, saying Crosby was “one of the
most wonderful human beings I ever knew.”
(John Cutler, reviewing Glen Campbell’s performance at
a show on November 29, 2001 in the Lincoln Journal Star of December 4,
2001)
The two
occasions on which I met Bing Crosby, the most popular singer of the 20th
Century.
I once
worked for a friend of Bing’s, the Rev. James Keller, who was the founder of
The Christophers. Bing Crosby had appeared, gratis, on The Christopher TV show
several times. But, these appearances always took place in California, not in
New York, which was the city where I worked for Rev. James Keller. So, I had
never had the opportunity to meet Bing, who was my lifelong idol.
After I left
The Christophers, I went on a vacation to California, and came up with the idea
that I ought to try making a phone call to Bing’s office!
My plan was
to explain that Bing Crosby and I had a mutual friend (Rev. Keller). And, to
see whether that fact might possibly open the door for me to meet Bing Crosby
in person. This was early in December 1968.
I managed to
get a phone call through to Bing’s manager (sic), whose name was Leo
Lynn. But, Mr. Lynn told me that Bing would not be in the office for at least a
week. Because, Bing was rehearsing at the Hollywood Palace for that year’s
Christmas show, along with his entire second family.
I was very
disappointed, and I guess Mr. Lynn realized it. So, he suggested that I
actually GO to the Hollywood Palace. And, that I should give the doorman the
message that I had been sent there by Leo Lynn.
The manager
said that there was a chance that Bing might come out to talk to me as a favor
to Mr. Lynn. (I believe that Mr. Lynn also phoned the Hollywood Palace, in
advance of my arrival.)
When I got
to the Hollywood Palace, it was around noon. When I told the doorman that Leo
Lynn had suggested that Bing might be willing to come out and talk to me, the
doorman told me to wait. The doorman then went inside and he evidently spoke to
Bing about me, because in a few minutes, the doorman came back out, and said
that Bing would say hello when he came out for lunch, within the next few
minutes.
Bing finally
came out, wearing a hat to cover his bald head ... and, in those days, he was
still smoking his pipe, so that he looked exactly like the famous Bing Crosby
character, who appeared in the movies, and on radio and television.
Bing had a
gorgeous blonde on his arm (and, to this day, I have no idea who the blonde
was) and I have always been curious. Because, Bing’s wife, Kathryn, and his
second brood of children, were all inside the theater, rehearsing the show with
him, and none of them came out with Bing.
Anyway, Bing
saw me, and came over to me and shook hands. He said, “So, you’re a friend of
Father Keller, eh?” We talked for a few minutes, but to be honest, I do not
recall the conversation, because I was too excited!
Here I was,
actually talking to a man I had admired from the day I first listened to him,
crooning on the radio, when I was little more than an infant!
Somewhere in
the conversation, though, Bing asked me whether I would like to attend the
final dress rehearsal and the actual taping of the Christmas show, which would
be taking place in a couple of days.
Of course, I
was thrilled.
So, Bing
gave me tickets, and after we said goodbye, he, and his gorgeous blonde friend,
jay-walked across Vine Street and went into a restaurant together.
It was only
then that I realized that I had completely overlooked asking Bing for his autograph!
So, when the
night of the final rehearsal and the actual taping came around, I showed up
with a little black notebook, and a red Bic pen. I attended both the rehearsal
and the actual taping.
Bing could not
remember the words to several of his songs, including “White Christmas!” But,
this did not bother him...when he forgot the words, he would simply stroll away
from the other performers, and hum the song while murmuring the words until he
finally got them straight, and then would come back and do the songs over
again. He would then crack some jokes about the situation, the audience would
laugh, and everyone had a good time. Bing apparently did not get in the least
upset about goofing up on stage ... and, indeed, he acted as though this were
the normal thing for him.
Although Bob
Hope did not appear in the actual Christmas show, he did make an appearance
with Bing at the end of the taping, for a promotion of a future show that they
were going to do together.
Two of
Bing’s sons, from his marriage to Dixie Lee, were in the audience, seated a
couple of rows in front of me. But, they were merely spectators, just as I was.
They were not in the show. After the show, Bing beckoned for those two sons to
come up on stage to talk to him, but they both ignored Bing’s invitation. Bing
finally left the stage, and came down into the audience to talk to the sons.
They all shook hands. Gary was not there.
I left the
theater, and went around back to the stage entrance. I waited for Bing to come
out, hoping to get an autograph. One other adult.... a man, accompanied by
several of his children ... was also waiting.
Bob Hope
came out first, and he was alone. As Bob Hope approached us, the man’s children
ran over to Hope, all excited, asking for his autograph. Bob Hope walked right
past them, as though he did not even notice them. So, this turned me off
against Bob Hope, whom I had previously admired greatly, and I did not even
attempt to approach Hope.
Finally,
Bing and his wife, Kathryn, came out...none of their children were with them. I
walked up to them, but it was obvious that Bing did not remember me from a
couple of days before. Bing was about to walk right past me, even though he
could see that I had my little notebook in my hand. But, Kathryn saved the day
for me, and said, “Bing, I think this man wants your autograph.”
Bing then took the book from me, and asked me for a pen. I handed
him the red Bic, and he signed a page in the book for me. He was not in the
least enthusiastic about doing so ... and I am certain that if Kathryn had not
asked him to sign, he would simply have ignored me, just as Bob Hope had just
ignored those children. I was grateful to Kathryn, and I asked her to sign my
book. So, Kathryn signed right under Bing’s signature, and she gave me a
knowing wink and a smile. And, what a smile she had! Perfect, beautiful teeth,
and a twinkle in her eyes. Kathryn’s wonderful smile could easily have lit the
entire dark street that night! So, that is the story of my two meetings with
Bing Crosby.
(Jack Waite’s Encounters with Celebrities,
from the Morbid Curiosity: Celebrity Tombstones Across America web site)
Christmas (undated). Bing and his family, plus Mary Morrow (ex-wife of Bill
Morrow) and New York socialite Anne Slater, are at the Rising River ranch for ten days where they are snowed in for
awhile. They visit Wyntoon (the Hearsts’ Bavarian fairyland) during their stay
at the ranch. Bing writes to Merle Oberon.
Dear Merle
Got your letter up at the ranch, where we came with the
children for two weeks at Christmastime.
We
have two feet of snow here, and the weather is pretty brisk – and as
you can imagine – the children are having a royal old time.
Some of the natives said they thought “White Christmas”
was all right, but they were afraid I overdid it a little. We had two real blizzards.
Lots of duck and geese around, and we’ve had some good
shoots, but after two or three hours out there in the snowdrifts, the hot buttered
rum goes real
good.
I’m
delighted at the prospect that we may be able to come down March 1st
when Trader Vic and Helen are there, and I’m going to work toward that
end.
Kathryn and I send fondest love to you, Bruno and the children
Always yours,
Bing
P.S. Anne Slater, whom I believe you know, has been
with us for two or three weeks, and goes home in a few days to New York.
She’s grand company. As you know, she and Denny have split the blanket.
December 31, Tuesday. Bing and family arrive back at their
Hillsborough home.
January 1, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn welcome Father Robert
Murphy to their home.
January 4, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Another Hollywood
Palace show with Bing as host is screened. Tiny Tim, Bobbie Gentry, Stu Gilliam, Earl Wilson and
Judy Carne are the principal guests. Bing plugs his Hey Jude, Hey Bing!
LP and sings two songs from it. Bing and Bob Hope are presented with the first
Annual Show Business Hall of Fame awards during the show.
Bing Crosby runs
the show and, with the help of Earl Wilson, accepts his first Show Business
Hall of Fame Award along with Bob Hope. Bing, Tiny Tim and Bobbie Gentry match
up for “Cool Cool Cool of the Evening”; Tiny Tim croons a medley; “Laugh-In’s”
Judy Carne sings and dances, and the team of Gentry and Crosby warm up. Also,
there is Stu Gilliam and Moscow State Circus acrobats to round out the hour.
Color.
(The Sacramento
Bee, January 4, 1969)
As for Crosby, the opportunity for Tiny to meet this idol of his came when he was invited to perform on the television program the Hollywood Palace. Tiny had said he would do the show with either Elvis Presley or Crosby. Ultimately, Crosby was selected and the episode was taped in late 1968 and aired in early January of 1969.
“We’re very proud to have here a young fella who represents one of the most phenomenal success stories in show business,” Crosby told the crowd as he introduced Tiny. “For the first time on the Hollywood Palace, the man who made tulips the national flower...Tiny Tim!” When Tiny took to the stage and performed a few songs from the then-recently released Tiny Tim’s Second Album, “Come to the Ball,” My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time,” and “Great Balls of Fire,” he received a lively reaction from a clearly amused live audience. “Verrrry interesting,” said Crosby as he approached Tiny, inciting laughter from the audience. “You have quite a style there. I don’t know how to characterize it. Well, it’s spirited!”
What followed was later described by Tiny as one of the best moments in show business. Though not devoid of humorous moments, such as Crosby addressing Tiny as “TT” and Tiny, despite Crosby’s insistence, refusing to call him Bing, but rather, “Mr. Bing,” it was made clear in the segment that Crosby genuinely appreciated what Tiny had to offer as an entertainer. Playing on Tiny’s encyclopedic knowledge of vintage music, Crosby quizzed Tiny by singing songs from films he had starred in and then asked Tiny to name the film and then sing another song from the same movie. Tiny, true to form, nailed all of Crosby’s trivia questions and the segment closed with Tiny, Crosby, and, oddly, Bobbie Gentry singing a rendition of “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”
(Justin Martell, as seen in an interview in Amoeblog, January 11, 2011)
January 5, Sunday. Bing writes to Frank Murphy, editor of BING
magazine.
Kathryn
and I are very grateful to all of you for sending us the most attractive silver
candlesticks at Christmastime.
We had
a different kind of Christmas this year. The whole family went to the
ranch in Northern California. There was two feet of snow, and it was a great
thrill for the children - to spend ten days in this environment.
We
didn’t open our presents until we returned home early in January. This pleased
the kids very much because they would open a couple every day, and thus prolong
the enjoyment.
I’ve
done a new album lately, which I believe might have some kind of a chance for a
moderate success. At least, it’s the first thing I’ve done in some time that I
had any confidence in.
There
are some very good songs in it, I think. “Little Green Apples”, “Hey Jude”,
“Those Were the Days”, and “The Straight Life”.
The
production is very good on the album – some very fine orchestrations, and
excellent musicianship. I think you’ll like it.
I’ll
have my secretary send you one as soon as it’s printed. It’s due for release
any day now.
Give my best wishes to all my friends there. Kathryn joins me in warmest best
wishes to all of you for a happy 1969 – As ever, Bing
January 7, Tuesday. Bing writes to Louis Prima and his wife Gia.
We
certainly do appreciate the delicious fruit cake you sent us at Christmastime.
I note it comes from New Orleans, so I’m sure it has a little added zing to it.
We all thank you very much.
I
hope 1969 is a large year for you.
Believe
me to be – Always your friend, Bing
January 10, Friday. Bing is interviewed in the grounds of his
Hillsborough home by Russ Coughlan of KGO-TV.
January 11, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn attend the wedding of Bob
Hope’s daughter, Linda, to Nathaniel Greenblatt Lande at St. Charles Borromeo
Church, North Hollywood. Afterwards they are amongst 1,000 guests at the
reception on the rolling back lawns of the Hope estate where a billowing white
silk circus tent has been erected. Guests include Vice President Spiro Agnew,
Governor Ronald Reagan, Danny Kaye, Gregory Peck, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas,
Dorothy Lamour, and Ed Sullivan plus their respective partners.
January 22, Wednesday. Bing goes to San Francisco airport to meet
British golf writer, Pat Ward-Thomas.
Eleven
hours after leaving the damp greyness of London, we descended into the damp
greyness, albeit a temporary state, of California. My connecting flight to
Monterey was cancelled, but the prospect of a wearisome delay at San Francisco
airport was soon dispelled. I was summoned to a telephone, and Bing Crosby said,
“I’ll be along and buy you a drink while you wait.” He had met the
earlier flight on which I was expected, and yet had troubled to come again.
It was
as I had always sensed it would be, relaxed and gentle, with an immediate
feeling of sympathy and warmth. Like many men who endure greatly, whatever
their field of endeavour, there is about Crosby an immediate impression of
balance, of gentleness and yet of strength, of modesty and ease of manner. He
sat, quietly puffing his pipe, as the talk turned to golf from the day, which
his delightful wife, a woman of many accomplishments, not least acting, nursing
and teaching, had spent with a youthful class.
There
was a glow in his voice as tales of Pebble Beach and Cypress Point unfolded;
and of how he came to golf; and of the great tournament, the Crosby National
Pro-Am, that begins at Pebble, Cypress, Spy Glass Hill on the lovely peninsula
tomorrow…
(Pat Ward Thomas, writing in The
Guardian, January 23, 1969)
January 23-27,
Thursday–Monday. The twenty-eighth Bing Crosby Pro-Am
Golf Tournament. Bing watches George Archer win after the first day is
washed
out by heavy rain. Celebrities playing include Dean Martin, Jack
Lemmon, Sean
Connery, James Garner, Phil Harris, William Boyd, Dick Shawn, Mike
Douglas, Ernie Ford, Pat Boone, Clint Eastwood, and Andy
Williams. The event turns out to have the
largest television audience of the year for a golfing occasion. The ABC
contract to televise the tournament expires at the end of the
proceedings and
NBC takes over.
February 1, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn fly to Las Cruces for a
break as Kathryn has been suffering from a nasty case of the ‘flu. Whilst
there, Bing joins up with George Coleman and they fly to Soledad to shoot black
brant.
February 6, Thursday. The Armed Forces Radio Service broadcasts the first in a series of documentaries called An American Gallery about show business personalities. The first episode is called "Satchmo" and is narrated by Bing.
February 10, Monday. Bing and Kathryn fly back to Los Angeles where
Bing is to tape a Hollywood Palace show.
February 14, Friday. Bing tapes a Hollywood Palace show, which is shown on April 5. His son Phillip appears together with the Four Tops, George Carl, Shelley Berman, and Sally Ann Howes.
For musical comedy star Sally Ann Howes, appearing with host Bing Crosby
was a very special experience.
“There are two men I have long dreamed of working with,” the elegant
singer-actress said. “Bing Crosby and Cary Grant.”
Miss Howes said singing, dancing and clowning with Crosby was not only
“much fun,” but startling.
“Bing and I met with choreographer Budd Schwab for rehearsals. We were
to duet ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and a medley of eight English music hall
songs, with some rather trick terpsichore. I presumed it would require
most of the day to work it all out. I was stunned when after about twenty
minutes Bing said, ‘Well, I’m satisfied if you are.’ I gasped. But really, when
we taped it, it went off quite smoothly.”
Miss Howes said that her initial awe of Crosby soon vanished during the
relaxed, easy-going rehearsal. “But I do remember, at one point being suddenly
struck by the realization-‘Good heavens, this is really Bing Crosby!’”
(The Daily
Herald, March 31, 1969)
February 15, Saturday. (7:30–8:00 p.m.) The television special Feelin’
Groovy at Marine World is shown on ABC-TV with Bing, Kathryn Crosby, Anissa
Jones, and The Rascals featured. Sponsorship comes from Star-Kist Foods.
ABC plugged its own corporation’s 40-acre amusement
park in Redwood City. The park’s performing dolphins and seals and water-skiing
elephants were on view as Bing Crosby toured round with Anissa Jones. . . Crosby
was right in the groove with such snappy Adland banter as “large economy size”
to describe a big turtle, and “brushes after every meal” to highlight the
whale’s display of her imposing choppers.
(Variety, February 19, 1969)
This half-hour
Saturday night special was a pleasant enough concoction for the young ‘uns — a guided
tour of the attractions of the new Marine World Amusement Center near San
Francisco with Bing Crosby and his young friend Anissa (Buffy) Jones, which included water
stunts, songs, performing dolphins, seals and whales — and even a water-skiing
elephant. But one can question the propriety of ABC giving over its facilities
to plug one of its own enterprises — and getting paid for it by a tuna sponsor.
Prime Time specials should be more than straight promotion.
(Percy Shain, The Boston Globe, February 17, 1969)
There have been a
number of pleasant moments on the tube of late, among them Bing Crosby and
10-year-old Anissa sauntering through an elaborate promotion of ABC’s new
Marine World, near San Francisco Saturday night. Unlike most of the things, wherein
the camera sits around watching the action, there was a sense of involvement
with dancing dolphins and simpering seals in pell-mell array across the screen.
Bing was his usual urban self and no one can quite toss away a line “I hope to
kiss a cactus” as Bing did when little Anissa asked if she were really going to
see water-skiing elephant.
(Cecil Smith, The Los Angeles Times, February 18 1969)
February 17, Monday. Bing and Kathryn go to New York where Bing
receives the Gold Tee Award for 1968 from the Metropolitan Golf Writers
Association at the National Awards Dinner at the Americana Hotel. The award is
for raising millions of dollars from his annual golf tournament for charities
that provide educational opportunities for young people. During their stay in
New York, Kathryn involves Bing in several dinners designed to raise funds for
the Immaculate Heart College. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Bing guests on The Bob Hope
Special on NBC-TV with George Burns, Martha Raye, and Diana Ross and the
Supremes.
Bing Crosby, a
golf buff from way back and a long-lasting entertainer from just as far,
shattered the chandeliers in the Imperial Ballroom just by being there and
telling a few stories on Phil Harris, who was sitting out front because he “snuck
in” too late to be seated on the dais. Late in a very excellent show, a voice
was singing a Crosby parody on a golf theme when Bing “Snuck up” to the mike
and picked up the song live. Of course it broke up the place. The Groaner had
to wait for a rousing spontaneous ovation to subside before he could finish.
(Bill Lee, Hartford Courant, February 19, 1969)
This was a slapdash conglomeration of song, dance and
joke but the circuit-vaudeville frame was particularly suited to the vet
talents on hand and the proper end purpose of high entertainment was well
served. This troupe was bursting with millionaire (literally) talent and host
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, in a bright and easygoing recreation of a comedy
team, seemed to be having a great time.
(Variety, February 19, 1969)
February (undated). Tapes a Hollywood Palace show with Victor Borge, Guy Marks, Frank Sinatra Jr., Gary Crosby and The Temptations which is shown on March 1.
March 1, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn spend several days with Merle Oberon at her house in Acapulco, Mexico. Trader Vic and his wife Helen are also thought to have been there. (9:30-10:30p.m.) The Hollywood Palace show with Victor Borge etc. is shown. Bing again gently plugs his Hey Jude, Hey Bing! LP and sings “Hey Jude” with Gary Crosby.
Bing Crosby
hosts a men’s club show. Old pals Bing and Victor Borge reminisce a bit, and
then Victor wanders on describing an Oriental poem and tries to teach Bing some
peculiarities in arithmetic. Son Gary Crosby and Frank Sinatra Jr. demonstrate
their inheritance in solos before harmonizing with Bing; The Temptations sing
alone and with Bing; and a juggler from the Moscow State Circus rounds out the
bill.
March 4, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn fly back to San Francisco.
March 8, Saturday. Bing writes to Bert Cross, chairman and Chief Executive of the 3M company.
Thanks
for sending me the pictures depicting the presentation to Maurie Luxford at Pebble
Beach. I’ve kept one copy and sent the other on to him. I know he would love to
have it.
Sorry
the bonefishing weather wasn’t good when you were in the Bahamas. I stopped
down at Ocean Reef, Florida, on my way back from Portugal last fall, and had
two or three days great sport. There were lots of fish, and they’re certainly exciting
on a light outfit.
I
also caught a Permit, which was a fish I didn’t know too much about, but which
everyone said was a rare event in those waters. He certainly was a fighter.
I’ve
been traveling a great deal since the tournament. Just got back from Acapulco.
It’s a pretty place, but it’s very hot and humid – the kind of weather that I
don’t really enjoy.
The
development down there is simply fantastic. Almost as many posh hotels as you
see at Miami Beach.
They’re
putting in two or three golf courses in the area. Supposed to be very fine
lay-outs, but I can’t imagine anybody enjoying golf in that heat. They’d have
to play very early in the morning and in the evening, and certainly in a cart. Walking
around there would be a real chore.
I
guess you saw the article in Sports Illustrated, with the crack attributed to
the Pro, Howie Johnson. I thought it was in very bad taste. I’ve always heard
that Howie Johnson was sort of a punk, and this confirms that belief.
Hope
Minneapolis is shrugging off the mantle of winter by now and that you’re starting
to get some nice weather.
All the best, Bing
March 9, Sunday. (4:00-5:00 p.m.) The American Sportsman program featuring
Bing and Gaylord Perry hunting quail in North Carolina is shown.
March 28, Friday. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, former
president of the United States, dies.
April 4, Friday. Easter. Bing and family fly to Las Cruces.
April 5, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Bing hosts the Hollywood
Palace show with guests Sally Ann Howes, Phillip Crosby, George Carl, Shelley Berman,
and the Four Tops. The show had been taped on February 14.
Hollywood Palace. The head man, Bing Crosby, brings
down the curtain for the variety hall’s sixth season. With help from son Phil,
father Bing croons “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as well as some melodies he
recorded with son Gary. Sally Ann Howes and Bing trot out English music hall
tunes; Shelley Berman phones his doctor after business hours; The Four Tops
sing about “Eleanor Rigby”; and pantomimist George Carl and Moscow tightrope
walkers round out the acts of the hour.
(Wisconsin State Journal, April 5, 1969)
April 9, Wednesday. Bing is named as chairman of the Sight-Saving campaign of the National
Society for the Prevention of Blindness. The campaign takes place in September 1969.
April 13, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn accompanied by son Harry fly
to Mexico City.
April 15, Tuesday. They fly back to Las Cruces. Bing writes to
British fan Jim Harman.
You were very kind to write me recently,
and I’m grateful to you for the kind things you had to say about some of my recent
efforts, and some of the things done in the past.
Glad you liked the show with Bob Hope,
Jose Feliciano and the Supremes. A lot of talent there. And the show was a
genuine pleasure to put together.
I hope when I come to England, we’ll be
able to have a visit. I don’t know just when this will be at the moment,
although it should be some time this summer.
I generally stay at the Connaught Hotel, so if you see in the papers that I’m in
town, give me a buzz there.
Yes, it’s true, they recently released an
album in this country called "HEY JUDE/HEY BING". It's some of the
popular songs of the day done somewhat in the same manner as the young people
are doing them, with probably some new touches that might amuse or entertain
you.
I’m sending a new autographed picture, as
per your request.
Thanking you for your interest and
support.
Your friend, Bing
April 23, Wednesday. Larry Crosby gives the FBI a threatening
letter addressed to Bing in which Bing is asked to send $6,000. Bing is in Baja
California.
April 25, Friday. At a press conference in Los Angeles, Kathryn
officially presents the $1 million gift to the Immaculate Heart College* for
the construction of a science building on the school’s planned new campus in
Claremont, California. Bing is still at Las Cruces but Basil Grillo, Bing’s
business manager, telephones Kathryn to lecture her on the importance of
preserving capital. Kathryn returns to Las Cruces. (*The college closed
in 1981 because of financial difficulties.).
April (undated). Bing has not been able to play golf for many months
because of the return of his bursitis problems.
April (undated). Sells his Sunset Boulevard office building.
May 3, Saturday. Bing is at his home in Las Cruces for his
birthday.
May 19, Monday. At Las Cruces in Mexico, Bing writes to John
Elwood, a Crosby fan who has a radio show on WBIM.
Congratulations on the award you recently
received. Richly deserved, I’m sure.
Glad you like the “Hey
Jude” album. It was quite exciting, working with an orchestra of this type, and
I was thrilled by the arrangements.
Jimmy Bowen is talking
about doing something else, but until I get back from Mexico, where I’m
currently with the family, nothing definite will be decided.
I’m hopeful it can be
worked out, because Jimmy Bowen is a very progressive young man with good
ideas, and excellent taste.
He seems to have confidence
in his ability to cut something by me that will be successful. I personally
think he’s more adventurous than prudent -
Always yours, Bing
June 6, Friday. Bing and his family fly from Las Cruces to
San Francisco.
June 10, Tuesday. Bing and his family fly to Los Angeles to
work on the NBC television show Goldilocks.
June 15, Sunday. (8:00-9:00 p.m.) Phillip Crosby appears on the The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV.
June 16, Monday. Joins Kathryn and their children, Mary
Frances, and Nathaniel, to record the sound track for Goldilocks.
In all
he records four songs which are issued by Walt Disney Productions on a
soundtrack album in due course. Location work for the television show
is
subsequently filmed at Coldwater Canyon in Los Angeles County. Marc
Breaux directs the production and Doug Goodwin is the Musical Director.
The program is eventually shown on March 31, 1970.
June 20, Friday. Work on Goldilocks is completed and
Bing and his family fly home.
June (undated). Interviewed at his Hillsborough home by Norman Banks
of Australian radio station 3AW. The interview is broadcast as “At Home with
Bing Crosby.”
June 22, Sunday. Judy Garland dies in London at the age of
forty-seven. Kathryn and Mary Frances
fly to Corning, New York where they are to appear in the play The Prime of
Miss Jean Brodie.
June 23, Monday.
Attends the closed-circuit showing of the Jerry Quarry-Joe Frazier
fight at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco. Frazier wins in the 7th round.
July 1-6, Tuesday-Sunday. Kathryn and Mary Frances
appear in the play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in Corning, New
York.
July 4, Friday. Bing is at the Rising River Ranch with Harry and Nathaniel. He writes to Kathryn.
July
4th, 1969. Back at the ranch, all is serene. Shasta is sparkling to the north,
and Lassen to the south; gaggles of tiny geese are earning their wings by
taking swimming lessons from their mothers; mallards are nesting at the water’s
edge; and the occasional teal is whistling upriver.
Nathaniel,
in complete uniform, is organizing baseball games in the front yard. A purist,
he has discarded his Pittsburgh cap today because the Pirates have been rained
out.
His
brother has learned how to operate all the heavy machinery, but if I didn’t
insist, neither child would brush his teeth until Alan Fisher caught him next
fall. I’ll pause now, since Harry is desirous of appending a brief missive of
his own.
“Dear
Mom; Today I ran the motor boat. Dad was going fishing, so I dropped him off in
a swamp, and cruised down the river alone, looking for more arrowheads.
When I
thought of him again, it was getting dark, and Dad was trying to keep from sinking
into the swamp. He says I am very forgetful, and other stronger things. I hope
your play goes well, Love, Harry.
PS I’m
sorry that I took all the rest or Dad’s writing space.”
(My Last Years with Bing, page 165)
July 5, Saturday. Leo McCarey, who directed Bing in Going
My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s dies in Santa Monica at
the age of seventy.
July 11, Friday. The play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie has moved to Denver and Bing arrives unexpectedly to see the performance. He also joins in the impromptu party thrown for him by the cast. Bing had previously written to a fan.
How nice of you to write and give me
all the news about the Society of Mayflower descendants in their 350th
anniversary celebration in September.
You know, in September I’ve booked a couple
of jobs - one in Florida and one in Hawaii - which is about as awkward a booking
as one can conceive. I don’t know where I’ll break the jump.
We're going to Africa on a safari and we
won’t return until the 5th of September, so I know that I’ll be really pushed
for the entire month, in order to get these chores in on schedule,
The Tri-Centennial sounds exciting, and
the inducement of a little charge in the punch is difficult to decline - but I fear I must.
I’m grateful to you for your kind comments
about my work in years past, and I note with interest that you are a follower of
Bix. He was some fella. A genuine artist if I ever knew one, and a character to
boot.
Glad you 1iked Mrs. Crosby’s performance
in the play. I haven’t seen it yet. I read the play. It seems like a strong piece
of material to me. Very well written. She has done eight or ten of these tours
now, and I think this is the first real solid play she has had. Most of them
have been comedies, or revivals, but this is a little more current, and good.
All best wishes,
Bing
July 12, Saturday.
Bing goes on to New York and whilst there he visits the Bachelors III
club on the Upper East Side and talks with the owner, Joe Namath.
July 14-19, Monday-Saturday.
The play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is at the Lakes Region
Playhouse, Laconia, New Hampshire.
July 17-23, Thursday-Wednesday. Bing flies from New York on a Pan Am plane to Reykjavik in Iceland. He joins with Bud Boyd (the fishing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle) to make an American Sportsman program about Atlantic salmon on the Laxa River. Stays at the Loftleidir Hotel in Reykjavik. The program is shown on February 8, 1970 and an extract is included in the film The World of Sport Fishing released in 1972. Bing writes to Kathryn.
July 14, 1969. Here
I am with the production crew of The
American Sportsman, an ABC television feature, to shoot a segment on
fishing for Atlantic salmon.
As we
circled over Reykjavik, I was amazed at its spotless appearance. We saw no
slums, no cheaply constructed tract houses, no visible rubbish—just substantial,
shining, white buildings.
Later,
touring by car, I encountered only immaculate streets, with no billboards to
deface the landscape.
We
next flew on a DC-3 to Husavik, on the northernmost tip of the country, threading
our way through green valleys and skirting vast glaciers, with only the
occasional isolated dairy farm as evidence of man’s existence. It would be an
easy country to fall in love with.
We
arrived at our fishing lodge well before lunch, and took a stroll by the river,
reaching its bank just in time to watch one of the guests try to land a twenty-pound
salmon without a gaff or net. He rejected all offers of assistance, averring
that he catches all his fish that way, and then proceeded to lose his prize.
A
renowned expert, he next informed us that he had taken his 600th salmon earlier
in the week. So at dinner that night, when the roast lamb appeared, and a
question arose as to who was to carve the meat, I volunteered for the task,
modestly letting slip the fact that it was the 600th leg of lamb
that I had carved in the course of a long and bloody career….
(My Last Years with Bing, page 165)
July 21, Monday. Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk
on the Moon.
July 24,
Thursday. Bing arrives in London from Iceland and
Kathryn joins him the next evening. They stay at the Connaught. Kathryn
has withdrawn from her tour in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" for the time being leaving the
producer Robert Ludlum "hopping mad".
July 25, Friday. Just after 12 noon, Bing meets Ralph Harding,
the editor of The Crosby Collector at the Connaught briefly before
leaving for a round of golf.
July 26, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn see Sir John Gielgud in
the play Forty Years On at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury
Avenue.
July 27,
Sunday. The Crosbys have dinner with Billy Wilder and
his wife. During his time in London, Bing calls in to see Peter
Lawford, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. who are making the film "One
More Time" there.
July 28, Monday. Bing and Kathryn fly to Athens, Greece,
where they visit the Acropolis.
July 30, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn arrive in Nairobi, Kenya
after an eventful flight when one of the plane’s engines had caught fire. That
night they stay at the Norfolk Hotel before leaving for a two-week safari. This
is Bing’s third safari
Bing Crosby who has millions of fans across the world,
has one Nairobi man high on his own fan list—a professional hunter, Terry
Mathews. When Mr. Mathews lost an eye in a hunting accident in September, he
immediately offered to find Mr. Crosby a substitute hunter for a safari the
singer had booked for this year.
But Mr. Crosby, who has
hunted with Mr. Mathews on two other safaris, promptly replied he wanted no
substitutes. Mr. Crosby with his wife, the actress, Kathryn Grant, two friends,
Mr. & Mrs. G. Coleman and Mr. & Mrs. Mathews, set off in a Kenya Air
Charters plane for Selengai on the start of a fortnight’s trip that will also
take them to the Mount Kenya area.
The hoped-for “bag”
will be made up of pictures and birds. Mr. Crosby, who has spent a lifetime
before the cameras, will be behind one, in the hope of enhancing his growing
reputation as a sportsman by selling his pictures to the US magazine “Field
& Stream.” He said, yesterday, that he had “fallen for East Africa on his
safaris in the past two years.”
He ruled out the
suggestion that he might appear on V.o.K. television during his stay but did
not exclude the possibility of addressing gatherings and clubs, during his
trip. The party arrived in Kenya on Wednesday.
Of his future plans,
Mr. Crosby said he hoped to continue his performances in a series of U.S.
television shows, “The American Sportsman” which depicts various aspects of
society all over the world.
(East African Standard, August 1, 1969)
July 31, Thursday. Elvis Presley opens at the International
Hotel, Las Vegas. It is his return to live performing.
August 9, Saturday. Actress Sharon Tate and four others are brutally
murdered at her home in Beverly Hills. Charles Manson and some of his followers
are eventually arrested for the crime.
August (undated). Bing and Kathryn move from their campsite
to the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, Kenya.
…Then
he adopted an old stratagem. In addition to his safari attire, he donned a
borrowed shuka, and rubbed red dust over his and hands, thus convincing himself
that he had been transformed into the spitting image of a Masai herdsman.
Obviously
his bearers thought that he fell somewhat short of the desired effect, because
they became much too busy rolling in the dust and shaking with laughter to be
of any further use.
Nothing
daunted, Bing put his thespian talents to the ultimate test, strolling about in
full sight of the eland, in the role of a diminutive Masai with no interest
whatsoever in native fauna.
Imperceptibly,
he drew closer and closer to the perplexed animal, which presented a very
difficult shot since it continued to face him.
When
he finally arrived within two hundred yards, Bing whipped his rifle out from
under the folds of the shuka, and dispatched the eland with a perfect through
the neck into the heart,
The
hunting party rushed to the scene, and a bearer made a remark which led to more
laughing and rolling about. Bing demanded a rough translation, a guide finally
gasped out the following: “Bwana may not look like much of a Masai, but he sure
does hunt like one.”
That evening,
there was roast eland for the entire camp. Unfortunately, all the hyenas within
a radius of twenty miles must have felt that the invitation included them.
(Kathryn
Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, page
189)
August 10, Sunday. The Crosbys attend the 9:30 a.m. mass in the
village of Nanyuki. In the afternoon, they fly to Waldena and pitch their tent
on the Thua Luga river.
August 15, Friday. They fly back to Nairobi and dine at the Norfolk Hotel.
August 16, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn fly from Nairobi to Rome
in Italy, arriving at 2 a.m. on the Sunday morning. Their vaccination
certificates have been mislaid and they are both vaccinated against smallpox
again at the airport.
August 17, Sunday. Having had virtually no sleep at the Cavaliere Hilton, the Crosbys
attend an early mass.
August 18, Monday. (11:00 a.m.) Kathryn has arranged to meet
Father Heston at the Vatican and she persuades Bing to accompany her. They are
given an extended tour of the Vatican.
August 19, Tuesday. Bing and Kathryn have a meeting with
Archbishop Paul Marcinkus at the Vatican. From Rome, the Crosbys drive to Porto
Ercole in Tuscany to relax at the home of some American friends. Bing’s
needless vaccination has reacted violently and he runs a fever.
August 21, Thursday. They lunch with the Marchesa Lili Gerini in Rome.
August 22, Friday. This time it is lunch on Lowell Weicker’s
yacht. Weicker was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative,
U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut, and unsuccessfully sought
the Republican nomination for President in 1980.
August 24, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn fly from Rome to New York
City.
August 25, Monday. The Crosbys take an evening flight to San
Francisco. Bing takes Mary Frances to the ranch for the rest of the week,
returning to Hillsborough on August 30.
September 1, Monday. The
Sight-Saving campaign of the National
Society for the Prevention of Blindness is launched and Bing as chairman
of the campaign has taped several TV spots with Kathryn and Mary
Frances in support.
September (undated).
Bing is in Scottsdale, Arizona for several days taking advantage of
Arizona's early dove hunting season. He stays at the Safari Hotel. He
shoots with Bob Goldwater in the Avondale area and at Rick Johns'
ranch.
September 2, Tuesday. Bing checks out of the Safari hotel.
Today’s fast
question, in unison with the early bird shooters, is “Where did all the whitewings
go?” Fast answer: Into the arms of Bob
Goldwater and a bevy of guests headed (annually) by Bing Crosby. They found the
Avondale area in the a.m. then Rick Johns’ ranch to the north, hours later. Der
Bingle, smiling, exited the Safari yesterday.
(Vic Wilmot,
Arizona Republic. September 3, 1969)
September 5, Friday. Mitchell Ayres (age fifty-eight), who has
been Bing’s musical director on the Hollywood Palace shows, is struck by a car
in Las Vegas and killed.
September 14, Sunday. Bing arrives in Miami and checks in at the Palm Bay Club.
September 15-19, Monday–Friday. Tapes a guest appearance on Jackie
Gleason’s television show The Honeymooners in Hollywood with Gleason and
Art Carney in Miami. On September 17, Bing is photographed having a tennis
lesson with instructor Rey Garrido in Miami. At some stage, goes to see the film Midnight Cowboy and attends a party at the Pagoda Restaurant with Jackie Gleason and Maureen O'Hara.
September 19, Friday. San Gabriel Valley Ducks Unlimited show their film "The Wetlanders", which is narrated by Bing, at a Sportsman's Banquet at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The documentary wins the award for outdoor documentary of the year at the 8th annual Outdoor Travel Film Festival.
September 21, Sunday. Kathryn flies to St. Louis to star in The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Sir John Falstaff Theater for four weeks.
September 27, Saturday. Bing arrives in Los Angeles.
September 28, Sunday. Bing tapes part of a Hollywood Palace
show in Hollywood in the morning and Dean Martin guest exchange tapes in the
afternoon.
September 29, Monday. Bing continues to work on the
Hollywood Palace show. Lindsay Crosby, now married to his third wife, Susan,
has a son, Lindsay Harry Jr.
September 30, Tuesday. Kathryn opens in The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at
the Sir John Falstaff Theater, St. Louis. The play runs until October
26. Mary Frances also has a part in the play. Elsewhere, Bing tapes the opening Hollywood Palace
show of the season with Engelbert Humperdinck, Bobbie Gentry, Gwen Verdon, and
Dick Shawn.
I
started singing my ballad of the time, which was probably the Burt Bacharach
song I’m a Better Man, and Bing was standing there, 10ft away, with
his arms folded, watching me. He had his pipe in his mouth and his trademark
trilby. I was pretty nervous because I’d grown up seeing him in those Road
to… films with Bob Hope, and, of course, listening to all those great
records such as White Christmas. So to see him in person was quite
incredible. When I finished singing, he took his pipe out of his mouth and
said, ‘That’s some set of pipes you got there, boy.’ That was all he said.
Quite a compliment though, coming from Bing Crosby. After I finished
rehearsing, I went backstage and met his sons, then Bing. It was the first and
only time we ever met. I’d heard that he wasn’t very sociable, but I found him
to be just like his screen image: the relaxed man next door. We sat down. I
asked if we could have this picture taken together.
(Engelbert Humperdinck, as quoted in the Telegraph
Magazine, 2009)
October 1, Wednesday. Phillip Crosby is divorced from his third wife,
Georgi. He is told to pay $590 monthly for 27 months.
October 4, Saturday. (7:30–8:30 p.m.) The Honeymooners in Hollywood, featuring Jackie Gleason with Bing and Maureen O'Hara as the guest stars, is shown on CBS-TV. Sammy Spear leads the orchestra.
Bing
Crosby, Maureen O’Hara and Bert Parks are on hand, bearing most of the brunt of
the four lucky Brooklynites’ impact on Tinseltown. The Kramdens and the
Nortons, arriving in Hollywood to collect the prize for the song-writing
contest, bed down in Miss O’Hara’s mansion and proceed to make hay on an
unlimited expense account. Crosby, literally following a golf ball into their
lives, becomes the object of composer Kramden’s campaign to get a name crooner
to plug his tunes. But just when the vacationing bus driver thinks he’s got Der
Bingle all sewed up, the contest press agent (Parks) scotches everything by
cutting off the couples’ funds. The usual noisy, slap-stick fun, with a couple
of easy-going numbers from Crosby.
(The
Morning Call, October 4, 1969)
October 6, Monday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Harry Fulmer in Mahwah, New Jersey.
Thank
you for your very kind letter, and all the complimentary things you had to say
about me and my work.
Harry,
as far as I can remember, I never made any record with Russ Columbo. We were in
the Gus Arnheim Band together at the Coconut Grove in 1930 and part of ‘31.
We
had a nightly radio show which emanated from the Coconut Grove, and there were
some things that we did in groups - Russ and I - and we may have done some
things together. I don’t know if anybody ever made any tapes of them or not.
They might have.
Well
they didn't have tapes in those days - but they may have taken some records off
the radio. Other than this, I can’t supply anything that would be helpful to
you in your search.
It
would seem to me, if Eddie Rice doesn’t have it, nobody does, because it’s my
belief he has the most complete collection of anything I’ve ever done.
I’m
sending along the photograph you requested
Always
your friend,
Bing
October 7, Tuesday. (10:00 a.m. – 12 noon) Makes what is
described as “Carrier film with Bill Bailey” at Hillsborough.
October 11, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) The opening Hollywood
Palace show airs on ABC-TV with Sweetwater, Gwen Verdon, Bobbie Gentry, Dick Shawn and
Engelbert Humperdinck as Bing’s guests. William O. Harbach is the producer with
Marc Breaux acting as director. Nick Perito is the Musical Director
Bing Crosby
ushered in the seventh season of the Hollywood Palace Saturday night, an hour
of vaudeville enriched by the dancing of Gwen Verdon and the singing of Bobbie
Gentry but marred by a tedious homosexual monolog by Dick Shawn.
(Cecil Smith, The Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1969)
Bing Crosby teed off the 69-70 term, as he has the six
previous. This time Crosby’s bit included clips from his previous intros, and
Der Bingle performed an original song about the Palace and its guest celebs
through the years. The song was hardly chart material, but served its purpose
of setting the proper motif for the new season.
(Variety, October 15, 1969)
October 14-17, Tuesday–Friday. Bing tapes a Carol Burnett Show with Ella Fitzgerald and Rowan and Martin, which is shown on November 10. Harry Zimmermann is the musical director.
What can I say about
Bing? Wow! My grandmother and I were usually first in line whenever a Bing
Crosby movie (with or without Bob Hope) was showing at our neighborhood
theater. He had a cool demeanor that was very attractive to me, even as a kid,
and he was a natural-born actor. I got to know him when we swapped appearances
on our television shows. He was on my show twice, and I did a couple of his
specials.
In one of the sketches
on our show I played a starstruck waitress, and when Bing and his manager
(Harvey Korman) sit at one of her tables, she goes ape. Totally obnoxious, she
badgers Bing into giving her his autograph, forcing Harvey to take a picture of
her with Bing, wrapping Bing’s arms around her, etc., etc., and finally
ignoring Bing when she spots “a bigger star” coming into the restaurant! Enter
Bob Hope!
We had been hiding Bob
backstage in a dressing room during the show until it was time for his walk-on.
The audience went wild, and Bing’s jaw dropped. It was a complete surprise and
he was delighted.
After the sketch, Bing
and Bob kidded around for the audience, trading insults, with the cameras still
rolling.
Bob: “I’ve just been
looking around for work, and I’m glad you found some. It’s nice to see you on
your feet. You look wonderful, you really do.” (Caressing Bing’s cheek) “You
just come right from the plasterers?” (Referring to Bing’s jacket) “Very nice…these
are coming back, y’know. Do you like my suit? I had this made for me in
Glendale.”
Bing: Where were you at the time?
As I said before. I
couldn’t read music, so I would listen to our special material writers sing the
medleys and original numbers on tape every week in order to learn the vocals.
Both times he was on, we sent a tape to Bing, who also didn’t read music, and
he would show up for rehearsals “note perfect.” He only had to hear it once. And some of the medleys we
did were pretty complicated! What you saw on the screen was exactly what he
was. Mellow, laid-back, and a real class act.”
(Carol Burnett, In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem,
and Fun in the Sandbox)
October 22, Wednesday.
Starting at 12:34 p.m., plays in the pro-am before the San Francisco
Open at Harding Park with pro Lionel Hebert and two others. They are just outside the prizewinners with a 59. Others taking part include Dean Martin, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Willie Mays.
November 6, Thursday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Dean Martin Show
featuring Bing, Eva Gabor, and Dom DeLuise airs on NBC. Les Brown and his Band
of Renown provide the musical support.
Bing Crosby is everywhere on the tube these days. He
strolls on with our host to engage in a spoof on the old radio chatter shows
and the sketch allows the men to play the ‘happiness boys’, crooning a medley
of songs with ‘happy’ in the titles”.
(Los Angeles Herald Examiner, November 6, 1969)
November
10, Monday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The
Carol Burnett Show starring Bing is transmitted on CBS-TV.
The camera found Crosby and Ella sitting on stools,
Carol noticeably missing as she gave these two superstars the room they needed
to work together. The theme of the medley this time was songs from films made
by Paramount, which included “Moon River,” “Buttons and Bows,” “In the Cool,
Cool, Cool of the Evening,” “Swinging on a Star,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” and
“Thanks for the Memory.” Both were in excellent voice, obviously enjoying
working with one another. This segment was preceded by a skit in which Bob Hope
made a surprise appearance, and Hope and Crosby bounced extemporaneous jibes at
one another to everyone’s delight. Bing was energized for his tuning with Ella,
a highlight of any television season.
(Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, First Lady of Song,
page 198)
November 11, Tuesday.
Bing dines at the Brigadoon restaurant in Vacaville, Northern
California and gives autographs to the ladies of the Vacaville High
School Quarterback Club who are meeting there.
November 22-28, Saturday–Friday. At the NBC studios in Burbank, Bing
tapes a television special with Carol Burnett, Juliet Prowse, and Roy Clark that is shown on NBC on December 18. The director is Grey Lockwood and the
show is sponsored by 3M. John Scott Trotter is the musical director.
Crosby Has a
Suspicion That He Ought to Consider Retirement
By
BOB THOMAS, HOLLYWOOD (AP) — “I suppose I really should retire. After I’ve been
40-some years in this business, people are going to start saying, ‘Why the hell
doesn't he quit?’”
Bing
Crosby was talking, not too seriously, I hope. His retirement would leave a
large void in the ranks of the great performers. And there’s really no need for
it. Not when Bing can amble through a television special with his famed nonchalance,
collect the money and hustle back to his family in Northern California or to
his hunting and fishing.
He
was in town for one of his periodic appearances, this time co-starring with Carol
Burnett in “Together Again for the First Time.“ a special which will appear on
NBC Dec. 18. Bing sings “White Christmas.” Natch, and capers with guest stars
Juliet Prowse and Roy Clark.
Bing
spoke rather wistfully about retirement between rehearsals for the special,
then explained why it wasn’t practical:
“I
have some hefty commitments to charities every year. As long as I’m working, I
can donate up to 30 per cent of my salaries to the charities. If I didn’t work,
I would have to take the money out of principal, and that’s not such a good
idea. So
I do about 15 appearances a year. That includes American Sportsman, my golf tournament,
the Hollywood Palace, Dean Martin, Hope, Carol Burnett, Jackie Gleason and some
others. You figure two-three days for each show, and that comes to a couple of months’
work each year. That’s about the way I
like it.”
Bing
added that he spends a lot of time at home with the children in Burlingame,
south of San Francisco. He maintains a heavy correspondence for causes he is
concerned with, notably Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited and other conservation
groups.
(The Waukesha County Freeman,
December 18, 1969)
However, my biggest thrill on TV was the time I got to
work with my total idol, Bing Crosby, on one of his Christmas specials. I flew
from Maryland into Los Angeles for the taping. I couldn’t get a direct flight
and as a result was running late. I got off the airplane and went right to the
rehearsal studio on Sunset Blvd. Les Brown [sic, it was John Scott Trotter],
Bing’s orchestra leader, was there, along with some members of the band. I
walked in with my clothes bag over one arm, my guitar under the other, and saw
Bing lying on a bench. Mind you, we’d never met. He was just stretched out,
resting, while the orchestra rehearsed his charts. He had a ball cap pulled
down over his eyes, and when he heard me come in he raised it to see who it
was. ‘Hey, Roy, how you doin’?’ he said in that familiar drawl. My idol! Of all
the people I ever wanted to be like, to emulate, Bing Crosby was at the top of
the list! He was everything I ever wanted to be, with one of the truly great
voices. In my estimation he could sing a song better than anyone who ever
lived. When he sang, he made it look so easy. Like that was the only thing he
did. Or when he was acting, it was the same thing, as if that was the only
thing he did.
I’ll
never forget, we were also supposed to do a duet of ‘Moon River’. Bing and I
would get there early, or stay late, to rehearse our parts. This one time we
were sitting by the piano, working on the harmonies, when his lovely wife,
Kathryn, came into the room. Understand, all of my life I worked with trios of
tenor singers, which allowed me to do a lot of switching of parts. If I got too
high for one guy, he could drop down and another could take over. The upside of
that type of singing is the production of beautiful harmonies. The downside for
me was that I didn’t know a legitimate part from Adam. Well, Bing was trying
his best to teach me my part, but the harmony I sang wasn’t the harmony
written. He sat there, played block chords on the piano, and finally looked up
to me after I hit another note I wasn’t supposed to, stopped, turned to Kathryn
and said, ‘You know what his problem is? He was raised on that Presbyterian
harmony!’
(Roy Clark, writing in his book My Life in Spite of
Myself, pages 147-148)
On Wednesday, November 26,
author Philip Evans interviews Bing at the studios regarding Bix Beiderbecke.
December 3, Wednesday. Immaculate Heart College sponsors a dinner
at the Hilton Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles in honor of Cyril Magnin (“Mr.
San Francisco”). Kathryn Crosby had volunteered Bing as master of ceremonies
without asking him and subsequently Bing had said that he was otherwise
engaged. Kathryn acts as MC instead and from the stage commits Bing to pick up
the check for the function. Basil Grillo nearly falls off his chair.
December 4, Thursday. Bing
visits the wounded Vietnam veterans at the Army’s Letterman General Hospital in
the Presidio, San Francisco. Around this time, he writes to his godson Herb Rotchford Jr.,
then attending the University of Washington.
It seems to me the government is making noises like they want to get out of Vietnam. I hope they’re serious about this, and I know you hope so, too. It would be a great relief, I’m confident. It’s a silly war, and it doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Just costing a lot of lives, and a lot of money. Nobody can give you a valid reason why.
Also, Bing writes to golf writer Pat Ward-Thomas
in England.
Thanks for your letter. I’m glad you
enjoyed yourself on your tour round California.
I knew you’d find Palm Springs colorful
and interesting. Of course, the golf courses down there are a little too flat
for my taste, but that’s the best they can do, with the terrain available.
One thing you can always depend on down
there is good weather, and that’s important at my time of life.
I’ve heard from Michael Bonallack, and we’re sorry that he isn’t going to be able
to come, but I’m delighted that Bruce Critchley has
indicated that he can make it.
Would you have him write me, Pat, just as
soon as he can. We’re sending out the invitations, and I don’t have an address
for him.
I‘d like too, to be sure that he’s going
to be definite because I want to get him a good Professional partner. Maybe
Casper. I don’t know if Casper is obligated to anybody else yet or not, but it
doesn’t appear that he is.
Yes, I must take advantage of your kind
invitation to play some golf with you up there in the country in England
I have had a few successful outings since
last we played, and some not so successful, but I think with a little work, I
can get the game back to a point where I can break 80 regularly.
Of course, now with the shooting season
going on – ducks, pheasant, quail, geese – I’ve hung the sticks up until that
is over.
Happy to hear that Johnny Dawson took you
and Jeanne around and showed you all the attractions of Palm Springs. He’s a
great fella, and was a marvelous golfer.
I never saw a smoother swing. More like
MacDonald Smith than anyone I can recall.
I like to extol his virtues in this way
because I beat him once in the semi-finals of the Arizona State Amateur.
Candor, though, compels me to admit that Johnny was off that day.
Love to you and Jeanne from Kathryn and
I.
Always yours,
Bing
December 11, Thursday. Tapes the Hollywood Palace
anniversary show, with Mac Ronay, Mary Costa, Sergio Franchi, and Leland Palmer plus the
Nick Perito Orchestra, which is shown on January 3, 1970.
December 18, Thursday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) NBC-TV shows the recently
recorded special Bing and Carol–Together Again for the First Time
featuring Carol Burnett as Bing’s guest. Bob Hope makes a surprise appearance.
[This] was an
average holiday network video special—over produced and under-written. Whatever
strengths Bing Crosby may have as a TV host were lost in this elaborately
hollow televaude special. The show was, on occasion, appealing but its
patchwork structure worked against any sort of sustained risibility. Roy Clark
tried to pull off one of his ‘Hee-Haw’ grinning and picking sessions with
Crosby but the latter’s languid style slowed it to a walk. One segment, in
which “Jingle Bells” was presented as written by three different current
composers, was intermittently amusing. Basically the concept was funnier than
its execution.
(Variety, December 24, 1969)
The
Bing Crosby-Carol Burnett hour, “Together Again for the first Time,” was one of
the most enjoyable offerings in which either of those stars has participated in
a long time.
This,
because it substituted an element of freshness for the stale formats of so many
Christmas shows. First of all, it had no
one theme, being a mixture of song, comedy, music, nostalgia and whimsy…The
program had several novel highlights. One of these had the stars singing “Jingle
Bells” as it might have been written by the lyricists and composers of “Gentle
on My Mind,” “Hello Dolly,” and “The Music Man.” Another gave us a pantomime with
Carol as a charwoman in a department store and Bing as a janitor on Christmas Eve…a
lovely conceit.
The
hour also include Bing and Clark in a joint session of country tunes. But the topper of the proceedings was the
medley of songs – the great oldies of the 1960s. And - if you were inclined to
bet that the list would include “White Christmas,” the Irving Berlin ditty forever
associated with Crosby---well you’d have been the winner.
All
in all, a completely enjoyable, a highly entertaining variety program.
(Ben
Gross, Daily News (New York), December
19, 1969)
At this same time, Nick Vanoff was also producing a
television Christmas special for Bing Crosby. Joe Lipman and I were hired as
arrangers for the John Scott Trotter orchestra. At our first music meeting,
John and Bing told us what songs we each had to arrange and just as we were all
about to leave, Bing said, “Wait a minute — I’d like to have a new arrangement
made on ‘White Christmas.” I knew Joe heard him, but he kept walking right out
the door. As a result, I was trapped. I tried to explain to Bing that his
record and existing arrangement of that song was an international treasure and
it should not be touched. He shook his head and said it was now too high for
his voice. The fact that it could be easily transposed down to whatever key he
desired made no difference to him He went on to say that he was tired of that old
arrangement. I could see I was losing, especially when he asked, “You write all
that jingle bells stuff for Como, don’t you?” I nodded and he added, “I know
you’ll write something really pretty for me.” He patted me on the back and left
the room.
I was very concerned
about how to go about fixing something that I felt was not broken.
Sensing my frustration, Nick Vanoff walked me down to a corner bar and bought
me a drink. It was a great therapy. I was so relieved when I learned, a week
later, that Bing and his entire staff loved the new arrangement I wrote for
“White Christmas."
(Nick Perito, writing in his book “I Just Happened
To Be There”, page 193)
(9:00-10:00 p.m.) Bing makes an unbilled guest appearance on the Bob Hope television show on NBC. The main guests are Andy Williams, Elke Sommer and Anthony Newley.
…Elke also appears
as Mrs. Santa Claus, unhappy at being left alone on Christmas. Bing Crosby
returns Hope’s earlier favour by appearing in this skit.
(The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,
December 18, 1969)
December 24, Wednesday. The staff’s annual celebration takes place
at the Hillsborough house. Kathryn has recently had her appendix removed.
December 30, Tuesday. Bing replies to a letter from Dr. Arjan and Yonnie Chopra. He had met them in August 1967 when he was in Tanzania. (An article giving background about the meeting will appear in the winter 2025 edition of BING magazine, issue 201.)
Dear
Friends:
I
appreciate very much your nice newsy letter.
Surprised
to hear that you’re emigrating to Canada but I must say outside of your lovely
country, Canada is my next favorite.
Marvelous
people there. Very genial, public-spirited, and hospitable. I think you'll
enjoy living there.
If
you come through San Francisco, we’d love to have you out for a drink or a dish
of tea. Our phone number is 347-8077, and our address in San Francisco is 1200
Jackling Drive, Hillsborough, California.
Yes,
Kathryn did some work with the flying doctors when we were in Kenya last
August, on some of their field trips. She found it very illuminating and a
gratifying activity.
We
had a marvelous safari in Kenya with the best bird shooting I’ve ever
encountered any where in the world.
We
plan to go back next year, and our professional hunter, Terry Matthews, is
seeking a block somewhere near the Serengeti — so it’s quite possible we’ll be
landing in the new airport you described in your letter.
Certainly
we’ll be flying in to Arusha from Nairobi.
Our
hunter is seeking this block, but as yet he has not received official
confirmation, though he is hopeful.
What
part of Canada are you planning to settle in. I have many friends up there, and
would like to put you in touch with some of them when you get here.
We
send you all our warmest wishes for 1970 -
Always
your friend,
Bing
January 3, Saturday. (9:30-10:30 p.m.) The Hollywood Palace anniversary show with Mary Costa, Sergio Franchi, and Leland Palmer plus the Nick Perito Orchestra airs on ABC-TV.
Bing Crosby hosts “Hollywood
Palace” and presents Metropolitan Opera soprano Mary Costa, Sergio Franchi, the
Establishment, singer-dancer Leland Palmer, comics Patchett and Tarses,
pantomimist Mac Ronay, and the Kuban Cossacks, folk dancers.
(Tulare Advance-Register,
January 3, 1970)
January 5, Monday. Bing writes to his friend Frank Konigsberg of the International Famous Agency.
Dear
Frank:
Another
note in connection with the K.H.3 Geriatricum-Schwarchaupt.
Talking
to my contact here in the United States, he told me that the reason the problem
developed in Customs is because the carrier was probably trying to take too
much of the arthritic medicine in with him.
He
suggested that he could carry a couple of months’ supply in his pocket, and
shouldn't try and carry any more. This way, there’s probably no risk of a baggage
search.
Do
you want to tell your operator to give this a try and let me know the results.
I’m
sorry to get you and your staff involved in all this high international drama,
but I would like to get the material if it’s at all possible - and if it doesn’t
involve great personal risk.
As
ever, Bing
January (undated). Bing is shooting at the Marysville Duck Club, near Yuba City, California.
January 10, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn fly to San Antonio and
then drive to Woodsboro in Texas where they are hosted by Lawrence and Leonora
Wood for several days of quail shooting. Bing later records a song called
“Hunting in Texas” with special lyrics describing the experience.
January 13, Tuesday. Kathryn receives the University of Texas Most Distinguished Alumna Award in Austin, Texas. Bing and Kathryn go on to Robstown, Texas to visit Kathryn’s Aunt Frances (Mrs. Frances Sullivan). They meet at the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. F. (Mac) MacCallum. They then fly south with Lawrence and Leonora Wood to Armstrong in Texas for another hunt.
January (undated). Bing tapes the final Hollywood Palace
show in Los Angeles.
January 19, Monday.
Bing is interviewed by John Stanley on station KQED-FM, San Francisco.
Stanley had earlier interviewed him at his home and written about it in
the San Francisco Examiner of January 18. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing makes a cameo
appearance in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In on NBC-TV. The featured
guest is Peter Lawford and other stars making cameo appearances are Sammy Davis Jr., and Ed McMahon. Bing also writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor.
Thank
you very much for sending me the recording of “The First Snowfall”. I had
forgotten all about this song, or had forgotten that I ever recorded it. I’m
glad that you like it.
I
haven’t any albums planned in the immediate future, Leslie, although I was
considering doing some real old-timers, going back to the 20’s – songs about
the southern part of the country. There were a lot of good ones written in
those days. If I could get an arranger interested in doing something clever
with them, we might go ahead with that project.
They’re
asking also about another Hawaiian album. This kind of thing seems to go very
well.
Glad
to hear that they had some of the films on over the Christmas holiday, and that
they were well received.
We are
also considering a new Christmas album, but it’s tough finding new material
that will stand up. Most of the things that I’ve been associated with
have been recorded in two or three different ways, and there isn’t any use
doing them any more.
I
haven’t any plans to come to London soon, Leslie. I did talk to Humperdinck about doing a show with him, but have since
abandoned the project.
Hope
this finds you well and happy –
Always
your friend, Bing
January 21, Wednesday. Bing joins David M. Sacks to form Electrovision Productions Inc., which is to produce multimedia sight and sound experiences of various cities.
January 22-25,
Thursday–Sunday. Bing is at the $150,000 Bing Crosby
Pro-Am Tournament at Pebble Beach which is won by Bert Yancey in good
weather.
Bing and Curt Gowdy act as commentators on NBC-TV on the Saturday and
Sunday,
and the telecast, starting at 1:30 p.m. on January 25, attains the
highest
audience rating of any golf tournament to date. Among the celebrities
playing
are Howard Keel, Andy Williams, William Boyd, Forrest Tucker, Hank
Ketcham, Clint Eastwood, Frankie Avalon, Glen Campbell, Pat Boone,
Tennessee Ernie Ford, Phil Harris, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, and
Bob Newhart. Bing and Bert Cross of the 3M company host a cocktail
reception at 6:30 p.m. at Del Monte Lodge on January 24.
January 26, Monday. Bing flies in to New York.
January 27, Tuesday. In the Grand Ballroom of Waldorf-Astoria in
New York, Bing takes part in a $1000 a plate benefit with Bob Hope, Johnny
Cash, Ray Bolger, Johnny Carson, and Raquel Welch for the Eisenhower Medical
Center, which is being built at Palm Desert. He and Hope sing a medley. Extracts
are shown on Bob Hope’s television program on February 16. $2million is raised
at the benefit that is attended by 1300.
…But
what you are all waiting to hear about, of course, is our boy, Bing Crosby.
Well, he was splendid. He looked great, he sang great and he clowned great. And
he could have easily won the best dressed list in his white tie, top hat and
tails. Solo, he sang “Love’s Been Good to Me”, and the piece written for him by
Lyn Duddy of the Gleason staff, “There’s Nothing I
Haven’t Sung About”. Duetting with Rapid Robert Hope,
he sang “Buttons and Bows”, “Please”, “Two Sleepy People”, “Swinging on a
Star”, “Thanks for the Memory” , “White Christmas”, “The Road to Morocco”, and
“Put It There Pal”. Later, in a salute to Mamie
Eisenhower, Bing and Bob called Raquel (Welch) and Ray Bolger out onto the
stage and they sang parodies to “You’re The Top”, “The Girl That I Marry”, “Mame”, and “Once In Love With Mamie”.
The
house took to their feet and saluted Bing with a standing ovation that went on
and on…then swarmed the stage to shake him by the hand. It was also a great
memory night for the Old Groaner.
Both
Bing and Bob said, “Let’s do it all over again, next year!” We hope they do.
(Fred Romary, writing in The Crosby Collector, March 1970)
January 28, Wednesday.
Bing takes family friend Anne Slater to see Neil Simon's play "The Last
of the Red Hot Lovers" at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in New York.
February 7, Saturday. (9:30–10:30 p.m.) Hosts the final show of The
Hollywood Palace series on ABC-TV. This pre-recorded program consists of
edited highlights of earlier shows with the Crosby segments being the only new
material.
At the final Hollywood Palace television show Bing
was the emcee. It was appropriate because he had been the emcee of the very
first Palace show seven years earlier. This final show used only film
clips of the many stars that had appeared on previous programs, and Bing sang a
few songs in between. Shortly before we started taping, I was asked to go
backstage to Bing’s dressing room for a little conference. I expected the usual
comments that singers generally make like slowdown the tempo of the ballad—or
hold back the volume of the brass. Shortly after I got there, Bing walked into
the room and we began to chat. He said he was very happy with me and all that I
was doing with the orchestra. After a short pause, he took a deep breath, and
with a very serious look on his face, he said, “How much are you willing to pay
me to keep quiet about the accordion?” Well, that really made me laugh. He
definitely enjoyed my reaction. Milt Gabler, the head of Decca Records and an
old friend of mine, obviously told Bing about a solo accordion album I had made
years before on Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca. I then realized that Bing
also remembered our first meeting on the Ed Sullivan Show, when he sang
“True Love.” At any rate, we had a marvelous time doing that last Palace
show, and it was the beginning of a relationship that continued for seven more
years.
(Nick Perito, writing in his book “I Just Happened To Be There”, page 194)
Hollywood
(AP) – The “Hollywood Palace” television springboard for Raquel Welch, Dean Martin.
The King family and Phyllis Diller, closed its doors for the last time after
Saturday’s performance.
“It’s
been a good run,” says Bing Crosby, host of the first show, the last and others
in the six-year old ABC variety series.
Six
hundred fans a week have crowded into an old, heart-of-Hollywood theatre for
the Palace’s melodic, sentimental or comic attractions. Jimmy Durante sang “Inka
Dinka Doo” with Mrs. Miller, Buster Keaton and Gloria Swanson meeting onstage
for the first time, did a skit. Ed Wynn.
Peddling his piano-bicycle, played “Tea for Two” while Eydie Gorme, riding on
top, nearly fell off.
What
killed “The Hollywood Palace”?
Producer
Nick Vanoff says switching the program from Saturday to Tuesday, for half a
season in 1967, hurt its momentum. But it leaves the air with higher audience
ratings than when this season started.
Star
hosts are no longer a novelty, an ABC-TV executive says, and even Ed Sullivan’s
variety show has been getting weak ratings after more than 20 years on the air.
(Associated Press,
February 8, 1970)
February 8, Sunday. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) The American Sportsman program with Bing and Bud Boyd fishing for salmon on the Laxa River in Iceland, is shown on ABC-TV.
Singer Bing Crosby
and Bud Boyd, the outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, went into the
north-central region of Iceland to fish for salmon near the city of Husavik. The
desolate landscape, barren as the moon, provides the backdrop for the perpetually
daylight fishing trip. A twilight-like sky between midnight and 3 a.m. is the
only indication that “night” had arrived.
Axel Gislason, the gillie (guide) takes Crosby and Boyd to the Laxa River
with its volcanic bottom for some of the finest salmon fishing in the world.
(Longview News Journal, February 8, 1970)
February 16, Monday. (9:00-10:00 p.m.) “The Bob Hope Special” is screened by NBC-TV
and features extracts from the Eisenhower Medical Center benefit in which Bing
and Bob sang a medley together.
The Special’s strong point was nostalgia, particularly
fitting for the occasion. Carson introduced Crosby and Hope for a reprise of
the ‘Road Boys’ and the twosome clowned their way through an appealing turn of
doing each other’s songs and heckling asides. Warmest bit came when Bolger,
Miss Welch, Crosby and Hope saluted Mamie Eisenhower in song; camera stayed on
the former First Lady during ‘Mame’ and ‘Once in Love with Mamie’ while quartet
sang away off-camera.
(Variety, February 18, 1970)
A
white tie, $l,000-a-plate dinner for a cause was turned into an entertaining
and often moving television hour by Bob Hope, in what he called “a very
personal special.”
The
dinner, broadcast on NBC Monday night, was held last month in a Manhattan hotel
for the benefit of the Eisenhower Medical Center, and was attended by distinguished
guests from government, the church, the military, industry. There were astronauts,
a cardinal, a golf champion and some Medal of Honor winners. Interest focused
on Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower and David and Julie Nixon Eisenhower.
Hope
kicked off the entertainment with a string of topical quips. Hope and Bing Crosby
sang and exchanged insults, Bob and Raquel Welch exchanged cue-card remarks,
Ray Bolger danced.
There
was a short fashion show—it didn't help the program—and Johnny Cash sang, but
the climax came when the stars joined the West Point Glee Club to serenade the
former first lady with “Once in Love with Mamie” and “Mame.”
Like
Hope’s Christmas shows of his overseas tours, it was a pretty ragged hour of television
when compared with the usual product and yet it projected a special warm
quality that Hope seems able to give to things in which he is personally involved.
(Cynthia Lowry, Associated Press syndicated article as seen in The Waukesha County Freeman, February
17, 1970)
February 19, Thursday. Bing records two songs from Goldilocks
with the Jimmy Haskell Orchestra for possible distribution by Monument
Records. They are not issued until many years later.
February 26–27, Thursday–Friday. Bing commences taping a TV special
called Cooling It which is shown on April 13. (8:00–8:30 p.m.) Bing
guests on The Movie Game syndicated television show with Margaret O’Brien, Raymond
St. Jacques, and Rosemary Forsyth. Sonny Fox is the host. Army Archerd also takes part. Bing is supposed to help his team if they cannot answer a question.
One of filmdom’s all-time greats, Bing Crosby, makes a
rare appearance to play the game with Margaret O’Brien, Raymond St. Jacques and
Rosemary Forsyth. Viewers have as much fun as the guests as they try to answer
questions based on clips from movies, old and new. A feast for film fans of all
ages.
(Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1970)
March (undated). Bing buys a new Rolls Royce car from
March 23, Monday. Bing is at Santa Anita to watch the races.
March 27-29, Friday–Sunday. Easter. Bing and family are at Las
Cruces.
March 31, Tuesday. (8:30–9:00 p.m.) Goldilocks, a
television show combining animation with filmed scenes involving Bing and his
family, airs on NBC-TV.
This update of the familiar children’s folk tale was a
puzzling network, prime time, programming anomaly. For one thing, it was aired
at 8.30 p.m. EST, later than would be indicated by its pre-teen approach to
both the story and its affixed message. For those grammar school scholars who
stayed up, its half-hour length and lack of new directions were not worth the
effort.
While it might take a
Scrooge to fault its tacked-on brotherhood message, it’s a fair guess that an
average video-wise tyke would find the moral appeal, simplistic in the extreme.
(In this version, a demagogue bobcat tries to run Goldie out of the forest
because she is different than the animals. Papa Bear - Bing Crosby - makes an
impassioned plea for tolerance and turns the tide). Adults might consider that
in these ecologically oriented times, the presence of humans in the forest is,
at best, a mixed blessing.
Technically, the show
had considerable gloss, including a couple of pleasant, original tunes. The
mixture of animation and live actors was well handled and the acting was
passable. While the idea of putting Bing’s daughter in as Goldilocks is cute,
Miss Crosby is no thespic heavy weight, even by kid standards.
Finally, there was one
very heavy in-show plug for a record of the show that could be bought for $1.98
(regular price $3.98) only at the sponsor’s carpet stores. It was narrated by
Bing and was done with no separation from the story. This is the sort of
marginal commercial pitch that raises the hackles on parents’ necks.
(Variety, April 8, 1970)
The story of Goldilocks was brought to the home
screen by NBC Tuesday night in a delightful blend of animation and live action.
In this retelling, with Bing Crosby and members of
his family, the simple fairy tale took on a new dimension. It became something
of an ecological morality play.
Mary Frances Crosby played Goldilocks in her
encounter with the three bears – who were none too happy at the prospect of a
human in the forest. A new addition to the story, a militant bobcat, warned
that “when people move in, this place won’t be worth living in.” Crosby as Papa
Bear sang a song about “The Human Race” and its rat race.
People, the bobcat warned bring pollution and cut
down trees. But as in all fairy tales – and television – all ended well.
Bing’s voice has gone a little raspy, nevertheless
he renders a song better than most singers today and is missed.
(Jerry Buck, Associated Press,
April 1, 1970)
April 12, Sunday. (4:00-5:00 p.m.) The final American Sportsman program
of the current series is shown and features Bing and others talking about
conservation of our natural resources and environment.
April 13, Monday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) A Bing Crosby special Cooling
It is shown on NBC-TV. The guests are Dean Martin, Flip Wilson, and
Bernadette Peters. The director is Marty Pasetta and Dick DeBendictis is the
musical director. Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos are the producers and writers.
After a rather soggy start, the Bing Crosby Special,
‘Cooling It’, righted itself and built into the best Crosby TV outing in quite
a while. Using a musical comedy format to embrace the leisure time motif,
Crosby fronted the easily paced hour as glib commentator-host. Highlights were
Crosby’s ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head’ done with imaginative double
screen effects and a Crosby-Peters ‘Turn Around’ segment that had some pointed
writing. . . Flip Wilson’s ‘Geraldine’ in drag character, pumped great verve
into a contrived skit that had Crosby and Dean Martin breaking up over Wilson’s
camping, after which Martin and Crosby did a showmanly lazy man’s medley for a
good climax.
(Variety, April 15, 1970)
Bing
Crosby presided Monday night over an amiable NBC variety special dedicated to
leisure and the pursuit of same. “Cooling It” (appropriately sponsored by an
air-conditioning company) was a beautifully designed show and an appealing
showcase for mellow old pro Crosby and his guests; Dean Martin, Flip Wilson and
Broadway cutie Bernadette Peters.
Few
programs this season have been as fresh and inventive visually, and there was
imaginative special material accenting the theme as well as some pleasing settings
of familiar music.
Not
all of the comedy measured up to the look and sound of the hour, but Wilson’s
portrayal – in drag as “Geraldine” – of the last worker in a fully leisured
society in contract negotiations with the last boss, Martin, was hilarious.
(Jerry Coffey, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 15,
1970)
April–May (undated). Bing and family are still on vacation at Las Cruces.
April 14, Tuesday. Bing flies from Las Cruces to La Paz to meet Mary Morrow who is coming to stay for a while.
April 21, Tuesday. At a luncheon at the Pierre Hotel, New York,
the Peabody Award is awarded to Bing for his outstanding services to
broadcasting. It is not known whether Bing was actually there. The awards
have been given since 1940 and the awards program is administered by the
University of Georgia. The citation reads:
Legendary figure in American broadcasting for over four decades, an early radio celebrity, heard through the sale of 300,000,000 recordings, seen in 58 major movies, now shown frequently on television, durable television star, the pioneer of televised golf classics, a philanthropist through millions given to youth and public causes . . . A Peabody Award to a broadcasting personality beloved around the world.
April 30, Thursday. Inger Stevens (Bing’s costar in “Man on
Fire” with whom he was allegedly romantically linked in the 1950s) dies from a
barbiturate overdose.
May 18, Monday. Bing and his family go fishing off Las Cruces
on the Dorada and Mary Frances catches a 132lb. marlin after a 32-minute
battle.
May 29, Friday. San Francisco Experience, the first
film in the new Electrovision technique opens in the Ghirardelli Square
Theater, San Francisco. It has an introduction by Bing.
June 3, Wednesday. Bing and Kathryn fly from San Francisco via
Panama to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
June 4, Thursday.
Arriving at Buenos Aires airport at 6 a.m., they are surrounded by
reporters and both give brief interviews. They move on to the Plaza
Hotel before being driven to the townhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Reynal where they have dinner.
June 5,
Friday. They travel to a private airport where they are to fly to
Abolengo to stay at one of the King Ranch properties and take
part in a partridge shoot. Again, many reporters are present and a local
TV personality called Pipo Mancera persists in asking Bing to appear on
his TV show. Mancera even climbs on to the wing of the Cessna 310 as it
starts to taxi and Bing agrees to appear on his show later during his
stay in Argentina.
June 6, Saturday. After a day of shooting, a barbecue is held
at the ranch at Abolengo and Bing sings several songs to a guitar accompaniment.
June 7, Sunday. Bing goes to Carmen. Kathryn is ill in bed.
June 8, Monday. In Buenos Aires, President Juan Carlos Ongania is overthrown in an army coup.
June 9, Tuesday. Kathryn is feeling better and she and Bing
lunch at Carmen before going partridge shooting in the afternoon. Later that
week, they return to Buenos Aires.
The day was misty,
but the partridges were plentiful. I wasn’t getting my gun up fast enough, and I
missed a lot of birds. Kathryn, on the other hand, was shooting spectacularly,
and it wasn’t long before he had me down at least ten to one. I missed a beauty
that popped up right in front of me, and she knocked it down. This is known as wiping a fellow’s eye, and she was
grinning like a jackass eating thistles. The gauchos had never seen a woman
shoot before, and they applauded each of her feats with enthusiastic bravos and olés, while completely ignoring me. I finally attracted their
attention by getting a few birds down, but Kathryn’s streak continued, and it
wasn’t long before she had wiped my eye again, and again, and was beaming like
a genuine little smart ass.
(from Bing’s diary,
as reproduced in My Last Years with Bing,
pages 233-235.)
June 12, Friday. Bing and Kathryn tape an appearance on a Saturday morning TV show in Buenos Aires called “Sabados Circulares de Mancera”. Kathryn narrates the history of the Pardo Maternity hospital and Bing sings several songs with a rhythm accompaniment. The Crosbys donate their fee to Pardo Maternity. The show is transmitted on June 13.
We
returned to Buenos Aires to stage a television show for the benefit of Maternidad
Pardo, an obstetrical hospital which treated mothers who couldn't afford proper
care.
The
program was presented live, with no rehearsal, and of course in Spanish.
Given
my specialization in charitable begging, I was chosen to narrate the history of
the hospital, and to explain the need for donations. I also joined Bing in a
series of duets, in which, as ever, he relied on me for most of the lyrics.
After
the first song, he explained, in his own inimitable Mexican Spanish, “Dispensen,
por favor. Caterina es muy timida cuando canta.”
I
appreciated the sentiment, but felt that the message was superfluous. There was
no crying need to inform the audience that I was terrified. After all, this was
television. They could see it for themselves.
The
show was a triumph, Bing was high as a kite, and I was collapsing in nervous
exhaustion. I am told that we attended a formal dinner, and went night-clubbing
thereafter, but my first recollection is of awakening on the plane, four hours
into the long flight back to San Francisco.
(Kathryn
Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, Page 235)
In 1970 Bing and Kathryn Crosby went to Argentina to
check out the horses, among other things, and as they prepared to come back to
the States, a TV host named Nicholas “Pipo” Mancera cornered them at the Buenos
Aires airport and got Bing to agree to be on his weekly Saturday morning show,
“Sabados Circulares.”
Mancera
was known for ‘la camara sorpresa,’ surprising guests with his roving
camera. In one of his shows he was at the bedside of a celebrity
when he woke up, scaring the daylights out of him. He also had a
technique of asking intimate, sometimes irritating questions to catch his
‘victims’ off guard.
Back
at the studio, at the beginning of the show, he asks the Crosbys what side
of the bed they each sleep on, if they have pet names for one another,
barraging them with mundane and silly questions. Bing submits to this odd
state of affairs without so much as a blink. Kathryn was to say in a
later interview that the reporter was intrusive, but harmless.
Although
not as fluent in Spanish as Kathryn, Bing understands just about every word. In
fact, the entire one hour program is spoken by Bing, Kathryn and Mancera in
Spanish. Against the backdrop of a sound stage, accompanied by piano
and bass, Bing sings song after song --“Where the Blue of the Night….,” "Pennies
from Heaven,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” to name a
few. He’s tanned and relaxed and takes the whole thing in great
stride.
Bing sings a Spanish tune, glasses on the tip of his nose. Never hesitant or faltering, he reads the lyrics and remarks, “I never sang with my glasses on before.” Aside from Bing’s luscious voice, one of this show’s pleasures is seeing an unrehearsed, spontaneous Bing, gracious to perfection, bemused by the host, glad to have his wife by his side, soldiering through this very strange situation. All the while, Mancera hovers around, never letting up, questioning, commenting, requesting song after song – he’s in heaven with Bing as his guest.
(Maureen Solomon, writing in BING magazine, spring 2011)
June 13, Saturday. The Crosbys
fly back to San Francisco with Miss Uruguay and Miss Argentina, both of whom
are going on to take part in the Miss Universe pageant at Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
June (undated). Bing goes to see Perry Como perform at the International Hotel in Las Vegas.
June 28, Sunday. (8:00-8:30 a.m.) Bing takes part in a Christophers TV program and reads “The Christopher Prayer for Parents” and “Prayer for Peace”.
July 6, Monday. Bing takes his son Harry to see the San Francisco Experience film at the Ghirardelli Square
Theater, San Francisco.
July (undated). Bing and Kathryn plus
their children are at the Rising River ranch.
July 12, Sunday.
The Crosbys and their children attend Cooley's 6th Annual Junior Rodeo
at Cooley's Circle 7 Ranch in McCloud Northern California. Harry and
Nathaniel take part in the
calf-riding contest.
July 16, Thursday.
Bing takes Nathaniel to Pittsburgh for the
dedication of Three Rivers Stadium. It is said to be the first time he
has attended
a game in Pittsburgh for thirteen years. (Starting at 7:30 p.m.) Bing takes part in the
pre-game ceremonies. The Pirates lose 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds in
front of a crowd of almost 50,000.
July 24, Friday. Bing writes to (1) British fan Leslie Gaylor and (2) sportswriter Jim Murray.
(1) Thanks
for sending me the material about Louis Armstrong, and the Special Issue
celebrating his birthday. This is a big year for Louis. He’s being honored with
quite a few functions, and you may be sure he well deserves them. One of the
greatest men I ever knew. Marvelous musical talent.
I
don’t know anything about any new possible albums, Leslie. The record companies
put these things together, and I never hear about it until later. I don’t have
any plans to make anything new – at least, no definite plans. I have another
big year planned for television – about 15 or 16 appearances, as I did last
year.
I’m
doing a dramatic show in September for what they call “Movie of the Week”. It
appears on television. It’s an hour and a half show. It’s a very good play – I
hope it turns out well.
Then
I have a big Special planned, and guest shots with Flip Wilson, Dean Martin,
Don Knotts, Bob Hope and others. Looks like a busy year.
Hope
you’re keeping well.
Always your friend, Bing.
(2) Thanks for the
book, “The Sporting World of Jim Murray”.
Having your book
on my shelves completes my sporting library. I’ll now be able to dine out for
some time using quotes.
Hope to encounter
you soon on the sporting scene – Always your friend, Bing
July 28, Tuesday. Bing and his son, Harry Jr., arrive in
Nairobi in Kenya for an African safari vacation.
July 31, Friday. They fly from Wilson aerodrome, near Nairobi
to their camp to join several friends.
...Harry was
growing impatient, and I feared that I’d been stealing his show, so when we
sighted a prime buck amid a herd of kongoni. I sent him off on a stalk with a
native bearer, and anxiously awaited the results.
I watched
as the buck spooked and raced into the bush. For an hour, I thought they’d lost
him, but then I heard a rifle shot, and the bearer returned to inform me that
Harry had dropped the beast with one round from a distance of 185 yards.
I drove
him back to the prize, which Harry was guarding proudly, as well he might for
it dressed out at 360 pounds, and fed our camp and the surrounding villages for
a week.
On the
7th day, a guide picked up buffalo tracks. For two hours, we followed them up a
mountain ridge and some very rough country.
When we
reached the top, I sighted a buffalo, so I hid the Land Rover, insisted that
Harry stay with it, and started off after the animal on foot, accompanied by
two guides.
I had
walked only a few hundred yards, when there was a call to lie flat, which I
immediately did. Then I heard the guide sing out, “He’s right over there on the
far left.”
I hauled
out my tripod, mounted the rifle on it, and tried to sight the creature in its
scope. Usually my color blindness permits me to penetrate any sort of
camouflage, but all that I could make out was a mottled gray shape in the gloom
of a thicket, and I wasn’t about to fire at so uncertain a target.
While I
was pondering the matter, the beast spooked, and went crashing away through the
brush, with me hot on his heels.
I
blundered straight into the whole herd, and suddenly they were stamping and
thudding all around me. It looked as if I was going to have to jumpshoot
several of them with a weapon ill-suited to the purpose.
The buffalo
weighs a ton, mean and fast, and will charge anything when annoyed, which he
always is. I lay as low as possible, and never did manage another shot, which
suited me just fine,
After
twenty minutes of this sort of diversion, I’d had just about all the fun I
could stand, and I counted it a moral victory when I finally reached the Land
Rover alive.
(Excerpt
from Bing’s diary, as reproduced in My Last Years with Bing, page 239.)
August 11, Tuesday. An article by Bing, substituting for the vacationing Jack O'Brian in his syndicated Voice of Broadway column, highlights the plight of the Atlantic salmon due to the fishing policies followed by Denmark.
August 15, Saturday. Bing and Harry fly from Kenya to Rome,
where they have a celebrity tour of the Vatican. Bing is growing a beard for a
forthcoming TV role. Their next destination is Copenhagen in Denmark where Bing
meets the US ambassador, Guilford Dudley. They also visit Count and Countess Bernstorff at Bernstorff Palace.
August 20, Thursday. Bing and Harry arrive at London airport and
during their stay in the UK, they have a day at the races.
August 23, Sunday. Bing and Harry leave London airport en
route for home.
August 28, Friday. Writes to Bert Cross, Chairman and CEO of the 3M company.
Thanks
for your note. I, too have been away a lot – having just got back from a
lengthy trip overseas.
I’m
glad that some progress has been made in connection with our association with the
telecast of the Pebble Beach Tournament.
I
understand completely the manifold problems which confronted Walker and Hunter,
but from my people, I understand that some of these problems have been
alleviated.
I
hope we can work it out completely in a short time –
All
best wishes, Bing
August 29, Saturday. Bing flies to Vermont to film Dr. Cook’s
Garden.
September 1, Tuesday. Bing has again agreed to act as the chairman of the Sight-Saving campaign of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness which starts today. He has taped several TV spots with Kathryn and Mary Frances in support of the campaign.
September (undated). Films Dr. Cook’s Garden (a Paramount production for television) with Frank Converse. Location shots are filmed at Woodstock, Vermont. Ted Post is the director. The film is based on a Broadway play by Ira Levin and it is eventually shown on ABC-TV in January 1971.
Woodstock (UPI) - Paramount Studios had to buy a set of antique
cars to straighten out a license plate hassle caused during the shooting of a
television show.
Paramount was in Vermont filming a television drama starring Bing
Crosby, and a local auto dealer loaned them two old cars for the shooting. For
the sake of authenticity, the dealer put tape over the initials “NCD” that signify
dealer plates.
Crosby was driving in Woodstock between scenes when he was stopped
by a conscientious state trooper, who confiscated the plates on grounds they
were illegally altered. Both Gov. Davis and Motor Vehicle Commissioner James
Malloy called the barracks before the situation was straightened out.
Paramount ended up buying the cars and getting their own plates.
(September 18, 1970)
September 6, Sunday.
Bing attends mass at Our Lady of the Snows in Woodstock and goes
unnoticed because of the goatee beard he has grown for his role. During
his time in Woodstock, he participates in a clay pigeon shoot with
members of the rifle club at South Woodstock.
September 8, Tuesday. Bing’s three young children are involved in
a car crash with another vehicle at the intersection of California 44 and
Airport Road, Redding, North California. The vehicle in which they were
traveling was being driven by their grandfather, Delbert Grandstaff. They are
all taken to Mercy Hospital, Redding. All have cuts and bruises but Mrs.
Grandstaff (age 68) has a fractured clavicle and eight broken ribs.
Kathryn flies there immediately. Bing is still in Vermont.
Mother
had eight broken ribs and was doing very well in the hospital. I was very proud
of her, and we checked the children – they were all stitched up nicely, and
Mary Frances refused to let them shave her hair off, and she held her own very
well, I thought. But then I talked with mother, and she said, “Take the
children home,” because Bing was away doing a picture and would naturally be
distressed, so I got them home and school started the day following. They
were in school and Harry said, “I don’t want people to think I’m coming for
sympathy with my head bandaged.” They looked like Coxe’s Army limping a little
bit. Mary Frances had a cut on one arm. I said, “But darling, since you’ve had
the accident, you might as well get the sympathy!” so they were fine!
(Kathryn Crosby, in an interview with Norman Banks of
Uacquarie Broadcasting Network, Australia)
…It has survived
some near tragedies as well as some real ones. Five years ago Kathryn’s parents
were taking the three Crosby children on a brief excursion. There was a confusing
detour that emptied unexpectedly into a new freeway, a blur of high-speed
traffic, a crash. Kathryn’s mother saw the crash coming and wrapped herself
around Harry, preventing him from flying through the windshield. Five days
later she died of her injuries. The other children, belted in the backseat,
were badly battered and had to be dug from the wreckage of the car. But the
ambulance driver was later to write to the Crosbys telling them that he had
never before seen children handle themselves so well under stress.
(Australian
Women’s Weekly, September 25, 1975)
September 11, Friday. Bing flies from Vermont to Nemacolin in
Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania for a hunting weekend.
September 13, Sunday. An
embolus moves to Mrs. Olive Catherine Stokely Grandstaff’s lung and she dies 19
seconds later. Bing flies to Redding from Pennsylvania and makes all the
funeral arrangements.
September 15, Tuesday. The
funeral of Mrs. Grandstaff takes place in the tiny chapel at Burney,
California. Bing soon schedules flights from the ranch to Los Angeles where the
family are to work on the TV Christmas show.
“You
don’t mean it, “I objected. “The children can’t possibly learn their lines, and
sing, and dance. They haven’t begun to heal yet.”
“Remember
what your mother said. We must make every effort to stick to a normal schedule.
Besides, we have a formal obligation, and thousands of people depend on us.”
“You
mean, the show must go on?”
“In
a word, yes. Further grieving won’t help your mother, and it will harm
many fine friends.”
Somehow
we taped the program.
(Kathryn Crosby writing in My Last Years with Bing, page 243)
Elsewhere Decca Records awards Bing a platinum record of
“Silent Night” on a plaque that notes Bing’s sales of more than 300,650,000
records.
September 18, Friday. Bing tapes his contribution to the John Wayne television special Swing
Out, Sweet Land which
is shown on November 29. The contract which is addressed via Frank
Konigsberg indicates that Bing will be paid $7500 for his services with
a sliding scale starting at $3750 for repeats of the special.
September 20, Sunday. Starting at 11:45 a.m. Bing and his
family together with Melba Moore, Jack Wild and The Doodletown Pipers rehearse their
Christmas show in NBC Studio 3, Burbank. They also do the pre-recording for the
songs.
September 21, Monday. The taping of Bing’s Christmas show commences
in NBC Studio 2 at Burbank. Bing reports for makeup and wardrobe at 7:30 a.m.
Alan Calm acts as Bing stand-in during set-ups for the taping.
September 22, Tuesday. The second day of the taping of Bing’s
Christmas Show. Bing reports to makeup at 8:00 a.m. and works until 7:00 p.m.
September 23, Wednesday. Bing reports to makeup at the NBC studios
at 7:30 a.m. and between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. there is a still photo
session for the cast in the NBC Photo Gallery. Work on the Christmas show
concludes at 5:30 p.m. The show is subsequently televised on December 16.
September 30, Wednesday. Driving back from the Rising River ranch, a
stone falls off a gravel truck in front of Bing and cracks his car windshield.
He has to submit an insurance claim.
October 2, Friday. Bing goes to Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada to shoot sharp-tailed grouse with Jack and Mary Morton. He stays at the Morton home. He writes to Kathryn.
“…Therefore
we decided to enlist the aid of Big Red,
a life-sized plywood replica of a white-faced cow. True to its name, it is
painted scarlet on the outside, with the occasional white spot, while inside
there are leather straps at the front and back.
I put
my arms through the front ones, Jack followed suit in the rear, and we headed
for the geese. I was definitely a method cow, who stopped frequently to
simulate grazing. I also bobbed the head up and down, while Jack continuously
flicked the tail.
I approached
the geese on the bias, and the sentinels gradually lost interest, but I almost
blew the whole scam by roaring with laughter when I considered how ridiculous
we must look.
When
we arrived within 15 yards of the main gaggle, I whispered now, and we pulled our arms out of the straps, letting the cow fall
abruptly to the ground. We each fired three times, bagging as many geese.”
(My Last Years with Bing, page 245)
October 7, Wednesday, Bing is in Lethbridge on a short shopping tour.
October (undated). Bing’s favorite dog, Remus, disappears and is later
found in a ditch. She has to be put down.
October 10, Saturday. (10:30-11:00 p.m.) Guests on the series premiere of The Robert K. Dornan Show on KTLA.
October 19-24, Monday-Saturday. (Starting at 8:00 pm.) Kathryn plays the lead in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas in Austin supported by a student cast. Bing has insisted that she fulfill the obligation.
November 5-6, Thursday-Friday. Tapes The Pearl Bailey Show
with Pearl, Louis Armstrong and Andy Williams, which is shown on January 23,
1971.
Think
of it—his name has been a household word for many years. We know him as a
wonderful father and husband, and we know his voice as the sound of “White Christmas.”
Who goes through any Yule season without hearing that song crooned by Bing
Crosby? He is a man of many sides—a movie star who loves to fish. He is
easy-going, and yet he is the hardest worker on any set where he appears. He is
the first to arrive in the studio, even before some of the crew. Then when work
is over, he is the last one to put that pipe in his mouth, slant his jaunty hat
and saunter away. He is a man with a great sense of humor,
and he is a dream of a human being.
I know
of one time when I managed to keep Bing a while after a taping.
The
occasion was the first show in my series for ABC a couple of seasons ago. It
was a wonderful show to do with Bing, Louis Armstrong, and Andy Williams.
Our theater was the Hollywood Palace, which had a pretty good patio. I had
arranged in advance to cook for all the crew and guests on the show. I sent
some of my staff members out to rent tables and all the trimmings. Personally,
I don’t like to stand up and eat. Old folks used to say that if you did that
the food would go right to your feet. Actually, I don’t need anything to go to
my feet because usually my feet are hurting too much for added
attractions.
I had
done all my cooking on Thursday night after rehearsal— chicken, macaroni and
cheese, and rice pudding. I had the staff bring in a bar and we had some kegs
of beer there as well. I was prepared for seventy or eighty people, which is
what we had.
Some
of the things had to be warm, so I asked a friend to bring the food down in the
evening. I had to be at the theater all afternoon. I wanted to be sure that
everything was hot if it was supposed to be hot. I am a real bug about
that. Fortunately we had beautiful weather, so the patio was perfect. We were
prepared for the possibility that we might have to move into the balcony
section of the theater, which had a place large enough for us all.
Bing
sent for Katherine, his wife, who is one of the most wonderful women I ever met
in my life. The office staff were all prepared to help out in the evening,
starting around ten, for this fabulous dinner I had prepared. Actually, I had
let them off from work about three so that they could get some rest and have a
few hours off.
The
whole thing was a fantastic success! Everyone had a wonderful time. No one made
a move to leave there until between one and two in the morning.
I
remember about one o’clock Bing was sitting there with his third dish of rice
pudding, just shaking his head back and forth and saying how good it was.
Katherine couldn’t believe it, because Bing is usually so eager to get home
after a show. That party was such a success that I decided to do the same thing
every week. I got the thing down to a science with my cooking on Thursday after
rehearsal and the big party at the theater for seventy or eighty people on
Friday night after the taping. I’ll never forget how wonderful the whole thing
made me feel. Doing that cooking was a small way of showing the gratitude I
felt for all of the talented and dedicated people who worked so hard to make my
show successful.
(Pearl Bailey,
writing in her book, Pearl’s Kitchen)
November 10, (9:00-10:30 a.m.) Records a ten-minute “African Safari”
medley describing his trip to Kenya earlier in the year. He uses the
facilties at Valentine Recording Studio, Valley Village, Los Angeles.
Joe Lilley handles the session and among the nine musicians are Paul Smith on piano, Shelly Manne (drums), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Tony Terran (trumpet) and Babe Russin (tenor sax).
November 13, Friday. The Recording Industry Association of
America certifies Bing’s album Merry Christmas as a “gold” album
as it has achieved $1 million in sales based on the manufacturer’s wholesale
price.
November 15, Sunday.
Bing and Kathryn attend the Fol de Rol Ball in the Civic Auditorium in
San Francisco. The proceeds go to the Opera Guild.
November 16, Monday. Bing sings four Christmas songs with an
orchestra conducted by Les Brown at Mercury Sound Studio West on Mission
Street, San Francisco, in his only recording date of 1970. Jack Halloran and
the Voices of Christmas also provide support. The tracks are eventually issued
by Daybreak Records on the LP A Time to Be Jolly.
November 17, Tuesday. Bing and Curt Gowdy are at Gray Lodge,
Gridley in California filming a promotional film for Ducks Unlimited. Two of
Bing’s hunting dogs are used in the film. Elsewhere, Bob Hope is the subject of
This Is Your Life on
November 19, Thursday. Tapes an appearance on the Flip Wilson
Show that airs on January 7, 1971.
November 29, Sunday. The John Wayne television special Swing
Out, Sweet Land is shown on NBC and Bing has a guest spot. He plays Mark
Twain in a short sketch in which he philosophizes with freed slave Frederick
Douglass (portrayed by Roscoe Lee Browne). The special is a journey through
American history and is packed with guest stars. It is the most expensive
single show ever produced for television costing the sponsor, Budweiser, over
$2 million. The show achieves a 39.3 rating and is number one in the ratings
for the week. It is estimated that 77 million people watch it.
Bing Crosby, portraying Mark Twain, and Roscoe Lee Browne as Frederick Douglass seemed ill-at-ease in contrived conversational gambit. Lucille Ball, looking lovely, delivered a message by Paul Keyes concerning freedom and the Statue of Liberty. Dan Rowan and Dick Martin performed as the Wright Brothers in a minor bit.
(Variety, November 30, 1970)
NEW
YORK (AP) - Big John Wayne mounted an all-out attack Sunday night: 90 minutes
of NBC time in a television variety special that mixed history, drama, song,
dance, comedy and a heap of preaching.
“Swing
Out, Sweet Land,” the vehicle for Wayne’s first appearance as a TV star, had a simple,
direct theme, expressed by Glen Campbell in the opening moments when he sang “This
ls a Great Country,” and in the final moments as the huge cast sang “God Bless
America.”
It
was well-intentioned, hopeful, and frankly patriotic. But, despite the biggest
turnout of stars since the last Emmy awards broadcast, it just didn’t work very
well.
Probably
the problem was size, with too many big guest stars to be fitted into appropriate
niches. There were the “Bonanza” brothers playing Peter Minuit and an Indian
chief haggling over the price of Manhattan island. There was Bob Hope,
clutching a golf club and entertaining the troops at Valley Forge. There was
Lorne Greene, as Washington, explaining his silver-dollar-throwing prowess to
Jack Benny which led, of course, to a Benny miser joke. Dean Martin was presented
slyly as the inventor of the cotton gin. Tommy Smothers was a printer’s devil
given a chance to read an editorial on dissent.
Rowan
and Martin did one of their nonsequitur conversations as the Wright brothers.
Red Skelton was a printer—without any good lines. And Lucille Ball read a
prayer as the voice of the Statue of Liberty.
Johnny
Cash, Leslie Uggams and Roy Clark sang. Ann-Margret danced. Dennis Weaver played
Abe Lincoln's father. Bing Crosby was made up to look like Mark Twain and
talked about the brotherhood of man. Wayne got into the saddle once and then
roamed around a ghost town talking about the good old days. The Boston Tea
Party was staged; a huge set showing the United States split in half to show
the Civil War. It was all on a very large scale.
But
it missed. Despite the lofty sentiment and ideals, nothing that was done
touches the viewers’ emotions, more is the pity.
(Cynthia
Lowry, for [AP], as seen in Mexico Ledger,
November 30, 1970).
December 13, Sunday. The New York Times contains an in-depth
interview with Bing by Judy Stone.
… Crosby strolls in, wearing a light tan bush
jacket and darker trousers, fairly conservative for a man noted for his color
blindness and oddball sloppy dress. The open blue shirt matches his eyes. He’ll
be 61 on May 2, but he doesn’t appear much older than he did in all those
movies where he amiably played himself. In fact, he looks better. I had never
thought of him as handsome, but he is. More so without the famous hairpiece,
less callow, more thoughtful. Baldness becomes him. (Remember how the man
crooned, “Moonlight becomes you…”?)
…Crosby’s major investments now are in
real estate and oil. He still owns 16 percent of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but
long ago sold his stable of racing horses and other property to help pay
$1,000,000 in taxes when he inherited Dixie’s half of their community property.
Although Kathy and the children still do an annual commercial for Minute Maid
orange juice, he sold his stock in the company years ago. He no longer puts up
the purse even for the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Amateur Golf Tournament he
founded. This January it will be $170,000, the highest in history, with NBC-TV
picking up the tab. The profits, about S150,000, will again go to charity,
helping to support California youth centers and student loan funds in 50
colleges in 25 states.
Bing Crosby Productions, which had a good
profit record in TV including gains from “Ben Casey,” “Slattery’s People” and
“Hogan’s Heroes” and a poor one in movies with “The Great John L.” and the
controversial “Abie’s Irish Rose,” was sold to the
Cox Broadcasting Company in Oakland in exchange for stock. Bing recently became
half-owner of Electrovision, which produces, in
multi-media sight and sound, 1970-style visits to colorful cities with all the
substance of old Fitzpatrick travelogues.
Crosby laughs agreeably at stories that
say he is the financial brains behind his fortune. “Not at all. I have
tremendous interest in it, but no faculty for it. It’s always been someone like
my lawyer who has advised me.”
He says he really is lazy, but he won’t
consider complete retirement. He did 15 TV shows last year and worked 90 days,
which gave him ample time for his fifth safari to Africa.
There’s quite a lineup for next year
already. With a mischievous chuckle, Crosby revealed that he will play a
sinister doctor on ABC’s Movie of the Week, “Dr. Cook’s Garden”, do another of
ABC’s “American Sportsman” shows, and he’ll collect a platinum record for the
sale of his 300-millionth record on Flip Wilson’s program, Jan. 7 on NBC. He’ll
be on the opening night of Pearl Bailey’s new ABC series Jan. 23, and his
admiration for her talents—from singing to cooking—is unbounded. “I never saw
a women with so much, zeal and drive and talent,” he said. “She and Louis
Armstrong will do a very nostalgic number together.”
Bing’s made a lot of music and movies
with Satchmo, but he had never read Armstrong’s story
in Ebony in 1961. In it, Armstrong said, “The movie stars are friendly
to Negroes. When we finished “High Society”, Bing gave me a golden money clip
which I use, inscribed; “To Louis from Bing” and when he had a baby girl, I
sent him a telegram, “Now you have jazz”. He has a whole wall of my records and
every record he makes, I buy. But we aren’t social. In fact, I’ve never been
invited to the home of a movie star—not even Bing’s.”
Crosby’s eyes clouded and he admitted he
was very troubled to hear that. “I was with him a lot when we worked but he was
always so busy. I never went home then either, probably. I wish I had read
that. I would have had him to my house in the morning. I love him. He’s a great
man. I wish I hadn’t been so neglectful. It was neglectful. That’s all it was.
There are white people I’ve never had to my home either—because I’m not very
thoughtful. If they want to fish or play golf or something, I’d probably have
them along, but we entertain very little.”
… He did vote for John F. Kennedy, who
later made his historic bypass of Sinatra to stay in Crosby’s Palm Springs
home. “I liked Kennedy’s image. I thought he was very bright. He had a lot of
class, a lot of charm, a lot of charisma and still he was a man’s man. But
politicians always seem to me kind of phony. And I think the lobbying in
Washington is disgraceful—including the gun lobby. I think Nixon is trying to
do a good job. I certainly think we ought to pull back internationally, get out
of Vietnam if we can do it with some face-saving and leave them in a shape
where they at least have a chance of surviving.
There is one politician he would like to
portray—Ben Franklin, whom he considers, one of the few great American
statesmen. Of the 53 films (and four Mack Sennett
shorts) Crosby has made, he most enjoyed the two major “priest” movies, “Going
My Way” and “Bells of St. Mary’s”. “I’m not a professional Catholic,” Crosby
says, “but I am a practicing one. I can’t see anything more important than
faith.”
…Before he gets much older, he would
still like to make more movies, “but most of the scripts I get are porno,
message or violence.” An American company suggested he play Scrooge, but he
turned it down when he heard about the British film and he thought Albert
Finney was magnificent in it. “Anyway, I don’t think I would have been
believable as Scrooge for a minute. Everybody knows I’m just a big good-natured
slob.” If he has any regrets about his life it’s that he hasn’t been more
energetic as a writer. “I didn’t have the industry, the recall or the inventive
powers, but I would have liked to put together a golf book and the publishers
are always after me to do a biography. I wasn’t really satisfied with “Call Me Lucky”
although I thought Pete Martin did a good job. But everything’s been covered.
I’m not a very interesting subject really,” said Bing Crosby philosophically.
December 14, Monday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing makes a cameo
appearance in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In on NBC-TV. The featured
guest is Debbie Reynolds and other stars making cameo appearances are Phyllis
Diller, Rich Little and Jilly Rizzo.
December 16, Wednesday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing’s Christmas
television show airs on NBC-TV, sponsored by Bell Telephone. Guests include
Melba Moore, Jack Wild, and Bing’s family. Marty Pasetta directs the show and
Nick Perito is the musical director. The show tops the Nielsen ratings for the week ending December 20.
Bing Crosby’s ‘Christmas Show’ played it pretty
straight as standard holiday season fare, with a good bit of his own family on
view as the magnet for family viewers. It was a pleasant show without any
particular highlights, one that concentrated on the homey aspects of the
Yuletide spirit.
The show played more
like a record album than a TV show, with a mixture of traditional Christmas
songs and new material written by the scripters, Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos,
with an assist from Rod Warren. The latter’s ‘Love in the Large Size’ sung by
Melba Moore as the opener, was the best piece of material on the show.
Otherwise, Crosby and
the Doodletown Pipers moved through the musical salute in competent fashion.
Special material about a Salvation Army lass and a street corner Santa (Miss
Moore and Crosby) and a longish ‘Feast of Fools’ episode, featuring Jack Wild and
Crosby’s daughter Mary Frances, were different without being impressive. Both
segments maintained the mood of the show, however and that mood also sustained
the Crosby family’s rather uncertain singing during the closing carols and
Christmas favorites’ medley, which included the inevitable ‘White Christmas’ -
effective as ever.
The closest thing to
comedy was Crosby’s lighthearted glibness, but the warmth and sincerity of the
musical tribute was sufficient to make the special an easy-to-take hour.
(Variety, December 23, 1970)
Buz (Kohan) worked on five
specials with Bing and found him to be a fascinating man who loved language. He
seemed to have led two different lives – the first with Dixie and the 4 boys -
the second when married to Kathryn when he had apparently become a more
likeable person. Buz recalled how he would write long
involved pieces for Bing and that Bing loved the challenge of doing them.
He was like a stage mother with his kids on the show. Buz
recalled Bing’s frugality, as he would arrange to have the Christmas
decorations from the show sent to his home for use there. The customary
presents to the crew were not noted for their generosity either. Buz famously dashed off the “Peace on Earth” segment for
the Bing and Bowie duet in 1977, the background to which was more fully
described in the Washington Post in December 2006.
(Author interview with Buz Kohan, June 19, 2007)
December 20, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn throw a dinner party at
Hillsborough at which Kathryn tries to marry off Mary Morrow to her friend
Dr. Sullivan. She is unsuccessful.
December 21, Monday. Flies into Los Angeles to tape an appearance
on The Arte Johnson Show–Ver-r-ry Interesting, which is shown on
March 18, 1971.
December 24–25, Thursday–Friday. At home in Hillsborough with family
and relatives. There are forty-five guests at the Christmas Eve party for staff
and friends. His older sons visit on Christmas Day.
Our Christmas parties followed a joyous routine.
Shortly after our arrival, butler Alan Fisher would bring in a large punch bowl
of “holiday cheer.” After we were sufficiently cheered, Uncle Bing would
announce that we should all retire to the living room to sing Christmas carols.
He always hired a pianist to accompany us in our festive sing-along. People
don’t sing together much these days. More is the pity. I recall that the kids
in the group always were just a little bit hesitant at first, not sure if they
should join in. But, at the strenuous urging of Uncle Bing, myself, and the
other adults on hand, they eventually got with the program.
As you might imagine,
the musical session was always closed by Uncle Bing. He would stand next to the
piano and sing “White Christmas” with a simple piano accompaniment, sans toupee
and any pretense. I can see him still, hear him still, and it is a memory I
return to every holiday season.
When dinner was
announced, we’d all troop down the hall to the dining room. I counted 23 of us
that first year, the first time the family had gathered together in ages. Uncle
Bing seemed as thrilled as we all were to have the clan under his roof.
(Carolyn Schneider [Bing’s niece], writing in her
book, Me and Uncle Bing, p130)
January 1, Friday. Joseph J. Lilley dies of cancer at the age of 57 just after returning from a New Year’s Eve party at Bob Hope's house. Bing, Bob Hope, Irving Berlin and Johnny Mercer are among the honorary pallbearers at the funeral at St. Charles Catholic Church, Hollywood on January 4.
January 6, Wednesday. Bing arrives back at Hillsborough from Los
Angeles where he has been taping more of the Arte Johnson TV show, which is
shown in March.
January 7, Thursday. (7:30–8:30 p.m.) Guests on the Flip
Wilson Show on NBC-TV and is presented with the platinum disc for record
sales of over 300 million. George Wyle directs the orchestra. Other guests
include The Supremes.
So
those old fogies, the ancient, decrepit guys above 30, are still around trying
to snare some of Mr. Nielson’s ratings? Well, away with them! Off with their
heads! Who wants to hear or see these antediluvians? For this is the time of
youth and…but hold on a minute! Something is wrong.
For if
you tuned in on TV or glanced at the program listings for last night you found
that despite the idea that youth is all, the old time stars and old attractions
dominated most of the shows.
Consider,
for example, the, Flip Wilson hour on NBC-TV. This appealing new comedian had
scheduled in his line-up such attractions as the Supremes and comedian David
Steinberg. Good enough.
But
whom did Flip sign to back up these attractions? What heavy talent artillery
did he bring up in support? Answer: Bing Crosby, who is old enough to be the
grandfather of some of the most popular rock performers of today.
Bing not only appeared as
a comedy guest of Flip but also joined him in a medley of Western songs - songs
that brought Crosby a platinum record as evidence of his having sold over
300,000,000 platters. Among these include “Don’t Fence Me In” “I’m An Old
Cowhand” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”. These are still pretty good ditties…eh?
Crosby proved again that the old-timers are still with it.
(Ben Gross, The Daily News, January 8, 1971)
January 14-17, Thursday–Sunday. At the $170,000 Bing Crosby Pro-Am Tournament
at Pebble Beach. The NBC-TV coverage on January 17 (which follows the Super
Bowl) is seen by 11.5 million people and is ranked by Nielsen as not only the
top ranking golf tournament of 1971, but also of all time. The winner is Tom
Shaw. Among those taking part are John Raitt, Bob Newhart, Clint Eastwood, Pat
Boone, Glen Campbell, Dean Martin, Hank Ketcham, William Boyd, Vic Damone, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Howard Keel, Andy
Williams, Ray Bolger and Max Baer. The Victory Show takes place at 7:00 p.m. at
the Monterey Fairgrounds on January 17.
My worst moment probably
came at Pebble Beach during the Bing Crosby tournament one year. On the eighteenth green I
had a long putt, about thirty
feet. I looked up at the announcers’ booth at the
tower on the eighteenth green and saw Bing wave to me and sitting next to him was Phil
Harris. Then I noticed that all the cameramen
were the same guys who did my show every week. Every camera, every eye was on me. I got so nervous that all
the adrenaline drained from my body, and
when I finally hit the putt, the
putter grazed my toe and the ball
ricocheted off at a right angle. There seemed to be about two
hundred people in wheelchairs all around the
green, and when I missed the shot, they all went “Ooohhhhhhh!”
It sounded like a giant up
chucking. I looked back up at the tower and saw that all the cameras
had been turned away. Even
on the biggest stage I’ve never felt
quite so alone.
(Andy Williams, writing in Moon River and Me, page 187)
January 19, Tuesday. (8:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.) Dr. Cook’s Garden
is screened by ABC-TV and the program is rated fourth most popular of the week
by Nielsen.
‘Doctor Cook’s Garden’ was an unusually satisfying
entry in ABC’s ‘Movie of the Week’ series . . . For Bing Crosby, the title role
was an acting triumph. In his long list of films, ‘Garden’ was only his second
straight acting role (the other was ‘Country Girl’ in 1955’) and he has indeed
come a long way since his first ‘doctor’ film - ‘Doctor Rhythm’ in 1938.
Playing a part that easily could have been hammed-up, Crosby let the fictive
character take over—no small trick for a star with a forty-year identity as a
singer and light comedy artist.
(Variety, January 27, 1971)
NEW
YORK (AP) — The bedside manners of Drs. Bing Crosby and Robert Young were seen
in tandem Tuesday night on ABC.
On
the warmth of his role, Robert Young won hands down, playing the kind of family
doctor in “Marcus Welby M. D.” that we all wish we had.
Crosby,
on the other hand, played his first dramatic role on television in a macabre
tale of a small town doctor who practiced selective pruning on the townspeople
as diligently as he weeded his garden.
The
Movie of the Week, “Dr. Cook's Garden,” was adapted from the 1967 Broadway play
by Ira Levin, author of “Rosemary's Baby.”
Crosby’s
bedside manner is warm as toast at first, as he ministers to the needs of the sick,
spurning rest and vacation. It turns chilly when his protégé returns to town
with his new medical degree and discovers that the doctor has been killing
patients he considered undesirable for the town.
Crosby’s
acting ability was first rate, carrying him believably through the nuances of the
role. He was in turn dedicated, proud, scoffing, pleading and finally vicious,
determined to kill his protégé by poison if he could and with a garden hoe if
need be.
It was a well done show, and Bob Markell’s production was enhanced by being filmed in Woodstock, Vt. The picture postcard setting was a counterpoint to the bizarre plot.
(Jerry Buck, AP Television-Radio Writer, as seen in The Waukesha County Freeman, January 20, 1970)
Although it was never distributed for theatrical
release, this 1971 television movie must be included because it contains one of
the performer’s most memorable acting portrayals. . . . An enormously effective
horror film produced for television by ABC and Paramount, Dr. Cook’s Garden
is of particular interest because it is the first time the performer ever portrayed
a villain. There can be no doubt that Doctor Cook was a deranged individual,
but Crosby’s performance in the role is far above most other portrayals of
screen psychos.
(The Films of Bing Crosby, page 251)
January 20, Wednesday. In New York, Bing tapes an appearance with Louis
Armstrong on the David Frost TV show that is shown on February 10.
Bing
said he is enjoying life, that he is making occasional television appearances
and had been interviewed on David Frost’s TV show. He was surprised to hear
Frost is more popular in the US than in his homeland. “He was marvellous to
work with,” Bing said. “He appears to be genuinely interested in you and when
you say something funny he falls about. In that sense he’s a great guy to work
with.
“Louis
Armstrong was on the show,” Bing said, “and I was glad to see him looking so
well. In January I was on another show with Louis and Pearl Bailey and he was
so feeble after complicated abdominal surgery that we had to lead him about.
But six weeks later there was a big change, he had put on weight and he was
more like the old Satchmo.”
(Robert Musel, UPI Senior Editor, March 22, 1971, writing following Bing’s visit to London.)
Later, Bing is the guest of honor at a dinner held by the Committee for Atlantic Salmon Emergency at the Waldorf Astoria, New York. About 800 attend and Bing sings a song about the salmon, which he has composed. Curt Gowdy is the master of ceremonies. Subsequently, Bing and author Richard Buck give radio interviews. Bing and baseball legend Ted Williams are photographed holding placards outside the venue.
Bing Crosby Movies Banned to Many Danish Schoolchildren
Copenhagen
(AP) - Thousands of Danish schoolchildren have been told their supply of Bing
Crosby movies is being cut off because of his support of the campaign to end
Danish commercial fishing for salmon off Greenland. Fischer Hansen, who
organises film shows for children in several Danish towns, said he would remove
Crosby films from his list and seek a nationwide boycott of the singer’s movies
and records. Crosby is a leading supporter of the “Save the Atlantic Salmon” campaign
American sportsmen are pushing. Denmark is the only fishing nation that has
refused to sign the convention banning salmon fishing in the mid-Atlantic,
where the big fish feed before returning to North American rivers to spawn.
(January
29, 1971)
January (undated) The Crosbys fly from New York for a few days holiday on the Pinebloom Plantation in Albany, Georgia at the home of Willard (known as "Al") Rockwell and his wife Connie. They join a party shooting quail that includes Dan Galbreath and Bing records a special song about the visit.
January 23, Saturday. (8:30–9:30 p.m.) Bing guests on the
premiere of The Pearl Bailey Show with Louis Armstrong and Andy Williams
on ABC-TV. The director is Dean Whitmore and the script is by Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos. Louis Bellson (Pearl’s husband) is the musical director. The show
had been taped at the Hollywood Palace on November 5, 1970.
. . . It was all Miss Bailey, despite presence
of guests, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Louis Armstrong. . . Crosby came on
for a solo of ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’, followed by an up-tempo, tricky
medley with La Bailey. Same format approach was followed by Armstrong and
Williams in their turns - a solo bit, then shared medley with PB. In all
instances, except Crosby, the star was on camera, during the solo and dominated
the medley portions with asides, sheer dynamics or bits of comedy business.
. . . Finale for male guests was a clever ‘I Don’t
Want to Sing That Song’ bit, with everybody doing the other guy’s stock in
trade, culminating in the trio doing ‘Hello Dolly’ when Miss Bailey demurred.
(Variety, January 27, 1971)
January (undated). Bing and Kathryn travel to
Horseshoe Plantation near Tallahassee, Florida to shoot quail and Bing later records a song called
“Shooting Quail at Horseshoe” with special lyrics describing the experience. Their hosts are George and Edith Baker. George Coleman and Peter Ward are also in the party.
January 29, Friday. The Crosbys fly on to the Lambert Ranch in Texas.
January 30-31,
Saturday-Sunday. The Crosbys spend the weekend with Mr. and Mrs.
Lawrence Wood at the Refugio Ranch, near Corpus Christi, Texas. They fly home on the Sunday.
February 2, Tuesday. Bing flies to Los Angeles to work on an
upcoming Bob Hope TV show at NBC Burbank.
February 5, Friday. Bill Morrow, Bing’s writer and friend, dies
of lung cancer at the age of sixty-three. He had undergone major surgery fourteen months previously.
February 6, Saturday. Bing tapes his appearance on the Bob Hope Special, which is to be shown on February 15. He receives $10,000 plus expenses.
February (undated). Bing goes to Las Cruces.
February 10, Wednesday. (8:30–10:00 p.m.) The syndicated David
Frost Show features Bing and Louis Armstrong as guests. The program had
been taped in New York on January 20. Bing and Louis sing “Blueberry Hill”
together.
David’s
guests are Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. Bing introduces two of his hit
recordings (‘White Christmas’ and ‘When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of
the Day’), discusses his mother’s influence on his life, his association with
Paul Whiteman and his work with a conservation group which is trying to set
controls on the fishing of Atlantic salmon. Louis discusses his friendship with
Bing and the films they made.
(‘TV Guide’ 10th February 1971)
Do you realise that
this Bing Crosby’s 50th year as a paid performer? Well, I certainly
didn’t, until he revealed this fact of the David Frost Show last night. He was joined by te legendary Louis “Satchmo”
Armstrong, he of the gravelly voice and the shining teeth. This viewer has commented
on the Frost conversational periods so many times that he decided to bypass it just
once. But this was such a fascinating program with the two great old-timers, he
couldn’t resist tuning in. And once he did that, he was hooked. And incidentally
one wonders how many of the rock singers or trumpet players of today will still
be around 50 or even 10 years from now.
(Ben Gross, Daily News, February 11, 1971)
Bing writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor again.
Thank
you so much for sending me the beautiful book, “The Guinness Book of Records”.
I
noticed a little item in there about the platinum record which I received some time
back. I know that this is all the result of your tireless efforts to accomplish
this result – and I thank you.
Leslie,
I haven’t any plans to make an album in England. There just isn’t that much of
a demand for things I record nowadays, and I don’t think anybody would be wise
to invest a lot of money in producing an album for this reason.
Likewise,
I don’t plan to do a Spectacular there either. There was some talk about doing
a film with Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope and I, but this hasn’t been able to get
off the ground. Maybe some day we’ll work something out. I’ll probably be in
England in the spring or summer. No definite plans yet, but it’s likely.
All
best wishes, Leslie, to you and your family.
As
ever, Bing
February 15, Monday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) The Bob Hope Special
featuring Bing, Petula Clark, Teresa Graves, and Jo Anne Worley is shown on
NBC. Les Brown is the musical director.
Probably the most interesting aspect of the fifth of
six scheduled Bob Hope Specials this season was his top guest and old ‘Road’
playmate, Bing Crosby. Both these showbiz giants are getting on. But time has
done less to diminish Crosby’s charm as a singer which is still not to say that
he still has his old vocal power or that his fabled insouciance fits as well as
it did. It’s just better that his normally relaxed style fits better with his
frankly lined face. Perhaps the chief key to how the two have changed is the
skit during which Crosby offers less than first class accommodations to Hope,
at his Pebble Beach golf tournament. In the old days on the ‘Roads’, the two
scufflers would have settled for a sandwich and a broom closet and a chance to
vie for the affections of Dorothy Lamour but these days their squabbles revolve
around middle class status feelings. . . . Altogether, the special was not
unpalatable, but did awaken nostalgia for a time when Hope and Crosby were at
or close to No. 1, and 2nd still tried harder.
(Variety, February 17, 1971)
February 18, Thursday. Bing returns from Las Cruces.
February 22, Monday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing makes a cameo appearance in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In on NBC-TV. The featured guest is Peter Lawford and other stars making cameo appearances are Sammy Davis Jr. and George Raft.
March 8, Monday.
Bing has flown to New York and sees the Muhammad Ali fight against Joe
Frazier taking place at the nearby Madison Square Garden on closed
circuit
television at Radio City Music Hall, New York. Frazier wins on points.
March 9, Tuesday. Bing arrives at London airport. He tells a reporter that he still cannot play golf because of his bursitis problem.
March 10, Wednesday. Bing leaves London airport for Africa for a photographic safari, where he first flies to a camp near Isiolo, Kenya and then to Garba Tula and Benone. His kidney stones are troubling him. He writes to Kathryn.
“…It was
on to Benone and a camp on a river where the elephants arrived each evening to drink
and bathe. I crept very close, but it was too dark for pictures, or even for headlong
flight in the event that they objected to my presence.
I settled
for pursuing the vulturine guinea fowl, who were strong flyers, but preferred
to lead me a wild chase. They ran me ragged, leaving me too exhausted even to
attempt a shot.
In
this area, the natives are Somalis, descendants of the Hamites, who are
mentioned in the Bible. A sixteen-year-old named Ibaris has adopted me, rides
in my truck, and delights in hearing his voice on the dictaphone.
Last
night he paid me the ultimate compliment with the gift of a quart of milk. He also
pointed out pairs of his tribesmen, making a hundred-mile trek to the Tana
River, carrying only a teapot and a handful of grain.
I love
sing to duets with the African golden oriole, the first three notes of whose
song are those of the ballad All of Me.
There is also the boo-boo bird, technically known as the dueting shrike, who
works in pairs and in close harmony, while I do my poor best to form a trio.”
(My Last Years with Bing, page 269)
March 12, Friday. Bing joins four others (including Bob Hope)
to offer $10 million in ransom money for American prisoners of war in Vietnam.
The idea is said to originate with a San Francisco builder, John G. Fairfax.
The matter does not proceed.
March 18, Thursday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Arte Johnson
Show–Ver-r-ry Interesting featuring guests Bing, Elke Sommer, Peter
Marshall, and Billy De Wolfe is shown on NBC-TV.
’Ver-r-ry Interesting’ was far from that. ‘Laugh-In’
stalwart Arte Johnson, projecting his now familiar characterizations of German
soldier, dirty old man, square Russian and deadly dull professor, stumbled on
the traditional bugaboo that inhibits second bananas stepping into the star
role - the mechanics of doubling as host and chief comic at the same time…Bing
Crosby had a good vocal spot with a special piece of material, ‘There’s Nothing
That I Haven’t Sung About’ with lyrics that reflected most of his song hits
over the years. A later Rhythm Boys reprise (with Marshall and Johnson) bombed
out, however. . . Typical of the mishandling of Johnson’s special was a finale
that had him saying goodbye, which was followed by a poignant ballad ‘I’m a
Secret, Secret Man’ which would have made a good opener as sung by the star. It
was a strange ending to an out-of-kilter showcasing.
(Variety, March 24, 1971)
March 22, Monday. Bing leaves Nairobi, Kenya en route for
home and lands at Geneva, Switzerland later in the day.
March 23, Tuesday. Bing is staying at the Hotel Richemond in
Geneva.
On Tuesday evening, just as I pulled up
to the entrance of the Hotel Richemond, out he strolled,
playing the role of Bing Crosby to perfection. We dined on Rolande’s
exquisite Tafelspitz und Apfel
Strudel, sipped on a savory ‘64 Bordeaux, and sat entranced as our eloquent
guest, comfortable as an old shoe, warbled a few bars to newly-born daughter
Dania. He brought us up to speed on jokes from the jungles of Nairobi and
Hollywood and gave a report on recent golfing conquests.
As well known as he was, and as much as
he was adored, for the most part the Europeans left him alone, a luxury of privacy
hard to come by in the States and much appreciated by traveling luminaries.
Bing was fond of an occasional cigar, especially the vaunted Cuban species, so,
the next afternoon, we sauntered around the corner to Davidoff’s, one of the
world’s leading importers of these top-quality hand-rolled tobacco tubes. After
much browsing and sniffing, he emerged looking like the cat who swallowed the
canary and clutching a fistful of Monte Cristos,
about as expensive as they come.
I couldn’t resist. “You’ve come a long
way, Mr. Crosby.”
“How do you mean?’ he chuckled as we
ambled across the streetcar tracks and toward the passage leading to my studio.
“Well, back in the early thirties,
remember? You used to do a fifteen-minute broadcast every evening for Cremo Cigars.” Though hardly a candidate for the spittoon
set in those tender years, I was an avid listener.
He guffawed and chided my memory for
trivia but did agree that he had indeed “come a long way.” The Cremo was a nickel cigar.
(Hank Ketcham,
writing in his book, The Merchant of Dennis (the Menace))
March 25, Thursday. Bing arrives by air in New York.
March 29, Monday. (8:30–9:00 p.m.) An American Sportsman Special "A Quest for Survival"
is shown with Bing talking about Ducks Unlimited and William Shatner visiting the Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center in Maryland to discuss the plight of the American Bald
Eagle.
April 2, Friday. Bing writes to Louis Armstrong, who is in Beth Israel Hospital in New York. (7:30–8:30 p.m.) Bing is seen in The Record Makers on NBC-TV. The subjects are drawn from people listed in the Guinness Book of Records and Bing had recorded his contribution early in March.
Dear
Pops
I
just got back from Europe and while there, I read in the newspapers of your
illness and your hospitalization.
I’m
saddened to hear that you have been stricken again, Pops. When I saw you on the
David Frost Show, you seemed so fit, and full of pizazz that I thought you had
licked all your ailments and were soon going to be back on the scene, up to
your old tricks.
I’m
hopeful that this hospitalization and rest will put you back in form again.
I
think of you often, and I always recall, with pleasure, the times when we get
together for an appearance, or a visit. They’re too infrequent, it seems to me,
and when you get back to work, we’ll have to change all this.
While
in Kenya, in East Africa, I spent some time around the Somali tribe. They’re a
nice bunch of people, and one night the Boys Choir came over and gave us a
serenade. They sang one song that sounded like it came right out of New Orleans
– only I know that they had it first. I didn’t dig the words, but the beat was
there.
I
know you’ve got the best doctors in town, Pops, and you’ll soon be bouncing
around again.
All best wishes – your friend, Bing
April 3, Saturday. The Crosbys depart for their spring break
in Las Cruces.
April 11, Sunday. Kathryn and young Harry fly to Philadelphia for appearances on the Mike Douglas TV show.
April (undated). Bing flies to Los Angeles for business
meetings and a recording session with Henry Mancini.
April 24, Saturday. Lennie Hayton dies at the age of 63 in Palm
Springs. Bing opens the fishing
season at the Rising River Ranch before returning to Las Cruces. Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands visits the Crosbys in Las Cruces. Merv Griffin joins Bing and Desi Arnaz for a fishing trtp.
April 29, Thursday.
Bing, Kathryn and Mary Frances are presented with plaques by Enos
Curtin, Chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of
Blindness, for their work in taping "eye-care" TV spots in support of
the Society.
May 13, Thursday. (9:00-9:30 a.m.) Harry Crosby (age 12) guests on Dinah's Place, a talk and cooking show hosted by Dinah Shore. He sings and plays his guitar.
May 14, Friday. Bing writes to radio presenter Gord Atkinson in Ottawa, Canada.
Dear
Gord:
Thanks
for your birthday wishes, and for the nice note you included.
Glad
to hear that you were able to do a little feature on my work over the AM and FM
stations up there on Sunday, May 2nd.
And
I’m pleased to hear that you caught the David Frost Show and you found it
enjoyable viewing.
Hope
your Montreal Canadiens are able to get over the Chicago Black Hawks in
the
Stanley Cup play-offs. They’re going to be tough, though Bobby Hull
seems to be playing desperately to close his career out with a win in
this
series.
I’m
a long time fan of his. He’s been a great and colorful athlete through the
years.
Warmest
best wishes.
Bing
June 4, Friday. The Crosbys return to Hillsborough.
June 13, Sunday. Frank Sinatra gives his last performance
prior to his announced retirement.
Bing writes to him:
“The frantic schedule in which you have been engaged,
professionally and socially, for the last twenty-five years must be a
bone-breaker. I’d have been in traction long ago.”
(Bing, as quoted in Frank Sinatra—An American
Legend, page 326)
June 14, Monday. Bing and his son Nathaniel arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii for a short
break and to see the
Electrovision movie Bing Crosby's Hawaii Experience at the Waikiki Beachcomber hotel. At night, Bing and Nathaniel watch the Kahauanu Lake Trio perform at the Surf Room.
June 16, Wednesday, Gives a press conference at the Waikiki Beachcomber hotel. Goes on to Mauna Key on the Big Island.
June 21, Monday. Bing is interviewed on CBS-TV Morning News by
Belva Davis of KPIX/SF.
June 22, Tuesday. Bing is visited at his Hillsborough home by Father
Dussault and Father Twohy from Gonzaga in connection with further proposed
charitable donations.
June 25, Friday. Bing is in Columbus, Ohio and is about
to fly to Canada when a severe electrical storm strikes. He is delayed until
the next morning and then he flies to the airport at Sept-Isles, Northern
Quebec, before boating to Mingan for a fishing holiday on the Riviere-Saint-Jean. His hosts are John and Dorothy Galpin. Senator William B. Saxbe of Ohio is also in the party. Bing has to shoot a starving
black bear that invades the campsite in search of food.
July 1, Thursday. In Montreal for the opening of the
Electrovision movie The Hawaiian Experience at La Ronde, Man and his
World. Stays at the Chateau Champlain (room 2513) and is interviewed by Adrian
Waller of the Montreal Gazette.
But in the true style of a modest man, Crosby
confesses that his latest attempt at recording was a disaster. “My voice
doesn’t belong to the music they’re writing today. It’s as simple as that. . .
. I made some records two years back and they were very coolly received
throughout the world. It was very disappointing. But that’s the way it goes,
eh?”
Crosby also confesses
that many of those who made it yesterday wouldn’t make it today. Himself
included. . . . “It’s a simple fact. I served a purpose once. If I set out
today, I wouldn’t possibly have that purpose to serve, if you get what I mean.
. . .”
But what about his
greatest rival—Frank Sinatra? . . . “He’s a real pro. But d’you know something.
He won’t retire. He’ll be back. He’s just taking a rest. He wants to lie down a
while. When he’s done that, he won’t be able to resist the temptation to get
back. You watch.”
(Adrian Waller, The Gazette, July 3, 1971)
July (undated). Kathryn Crosby takes French lessons at the Sullivan Language School in Palo Alto, California.
July 6, Tuesday. Louis Armstrong dies. Although Bing does not attend the funeral on July 9 in
New York, he is named as an honorary pallbearer together with Ella Fitzgerald,
Pearl Bailey, Johnny Carson, and Dizzy Gillespie.
July 8, Thursday. Bing is interviewed by John Gilliland for a forthcoming Pop Chronicles series which is broadcast in 1972.
July (undated). Bing and Phil Harris are at the Bohemian Grove, near Monte Rio, California.
July 10, Saturday. Bing uses Bohemian Club notepaper to send a handwritten letter to Lucille Armstrong.
Dear
Lucille –
I
send you my heartfelt condolences on the passing of Louis last week. The too
infrequent times I spent in his company were joyous experiences and I know of
no man for whom I had more admiration and respect. He was a true genius, but
more than that, he was a warm and genuinely sympathetic human being. I will
always be proud of the fact that I had a chance to work with him.
Always
your friend
Bing Crosby
Mrs. Armstrong duly replies.
Dear Bing
What can I say to you? You know and
you felt the way Louis always loved you. Your letter is one I’ll always
cherish, as I do your warm friendship.
Affectionately,
Lucille Armstrong
July 20, Tuesday. At Coast Recorders Studio in San Francisco,
Bing makes a private recording of a song called “On the River St. Jean” using
special lyrics and parodies of well-known songs. No doubt intended to be sent
to his hosts on his recent trip to Canada.
July 21, Wednesday. (5:00 p.m.) Bing’s Rolls Royce stalls due
to a clogged gas line on the Route 280 Freeway at Westlake and causes a huge
traffic jam that produces press comment. He also writes to Crosby fan Jean-Paul
Frereault in Montreal.
Sorry
I missed seeing you when I was up in Montreal on the occasion of the opening
show, at the
Yes, I
suppose it would have been nice if I had sung a song for the sound track which
accompanies the film, but they just didn’t want to get anything too personal in
the film, or any known entertainers. They would rather keep it more or less in
the form of a documentary.
I’m
glad you liked it though, and I hope that people in Montreal all get to see it
and enjoy it as much as you did.
I’ve
been told it’s likely they’ll be getting out an album with the soundtrack of
the film, and I hope when it comes out that you’ll be able to get a copy for
yourself.
If
none are available, let me know, and I’ll see if I can dig it up for you.
I’m
sending along a picture of the family, in accordance with your request. I hope
it pleases you –
All
best wishes from your friend, Bing
July 29, Thursday. Starting at 8:00 p.m., Bing is at Dodger Stadium to see the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5.
August 4, Wednesday. Leaves San Francisco by plane for Scotland.
August 5, Thursday. Arrives at Prestwick Airport in Scotland at 9:30 a.m. en
route to Gleneagles for a week’s golf. He has not played for two years until
the last month or so. He gives his handicap as 7. As he leaves the Pan American
plane, he receives a bagpipe welcome and a large crowd greets him.
August 8, Sunday. Golfs at Gleneagles with George Coleman, Hank Ketcham, Virgil Sherrill and Barry Van Gerbig on both the King’s and
Queen’s courses and then goes to church in the evening. During the day, Bing is
interviewed by Renton Laidlaw for the
August 9, Monday. Starting at 10:15 a.m., Bing golfs on the Old
Course at St. Andrews with Jim (J. K.) Wilson, his partner there in 1950, and
cartoonist Hank Ketcham. They all lunch in the Royal and Ancient afterwards
before going to St. Andrews Golf Club where Bing lets it be known that he would
be interested in presenting a trophy for competition among golfers over the age
of sixty. Mr. Wilson (a past captain of the club) agrees to take this offer
forward. A large crowd gathers outside the clubhouse and Bing has great
difficulty in leaving for his hotel.
We were fellow members of the Royal and
Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews, and it was on those pastures we later
played as a threesome with a local stonemason, the chap who edged out H. L.
Crosby in the third round of the British Amateur fifteen years earlier. It was
a thoughtful, sentimental journey for the two former competitors, and while
they were reminiscing, hacking their way through gorse and heather, the boy
cartoonist was quietly putting together an impressive string of numbers.
Although we cautiously arranged the game
to be a private one, by the time we reached the twelfth hole, there were a
hundred or more enthusiastic Scots in the gallery, politely reacting to each
shot, rooting for their hometown boy, applauding the fluid swings of Misterr Crrosby, and wondering
just who was that white-haired chap in the plaid cap?
As we approached the famous Road Hole,
the wicked seventeenth, the crowd was so thickly clustered around Bing that he
couldn’t safely swing his club.
‘Somebody’s going to get hurt if I
continue,’ he murmured. ‘You’ve got a great game going, so you and Tim finish
out and I’ll meet you at the clubhouse.'
Whereupon he dissolved into the crowd,
clattered over the Swilken Bridge, and quickly
disappeared behind the ominous gray walls of the R & A. By the time the
gallery realized that we were only a twosome, I was on the 18th and two-putting
for my par and a round of even fours, my very best effort. Yes, we were under
clear blue skies and, no, the wind was not a factor. True, this was a friendly
game, not a competition—but just a doggone minute, you guys! I shot a 72! My
career round! And I’m as proud as a Palmer or a Nicklaus!
So let’s hear it for me!
Whew!
It was almost nightfall—gloaming, if you
please—the telephone operators had alerted the township, and by now the castle
was surrounded by eager-eyed fans, many with pencils and pieces of paper, and
all of them chanting for a glimpse of their idol of idols. There was no easy
escape route, so the hall porter arranged for a decoy operation. A car and
driver arrived, and shortly thereafter two gentlemen climbed into the back seat
and waved to the staring bystanders as they were whisked away toward the
village.
During this little charade, Bing and I
stood at the service bar, away from doors and. windows, thoroughly enjoying the
hospitality of two young lassies who insisted that while waiting we sample a
variety of different whiskies stocked by the club. We needed little prodding to
participate in this pursuit of spirituous knowledge, and by the time we made
our exit, there was narry a soul stirring in the
neighborhood.
(Hank Ketcham,
writing in his book, The Merchant of Dennis (the Menace))
August 12, Thursday. Drives down to Muirfield where he plays 27 holes and
then takes the 7:05 p.m. flight from Edinburgh to London where he stays at the
Stafford Hotel. The main purpose of his visit is to promote Electrovision.
August 14/15, Saturday/ Sunday. Golfs at Sunningdale with Ian Cooper, Andrew McCain and Mr. Dalton.
August 16, Monday. Drives to Brancaster in Norfolk to see his friend Pat Ward-Thomas. Golfs at Royal West Norfolk Golf Club with Ward-Thomas, Tom Harvey and Bobbie Selway.
By
most standards the clubhouse at Brancaster is a spartan place, existing solely
for the purposes of playing golf and providing essential sustenance ... I had
no thought of apology in mind, knowing that Bing, a devoted Anglophile,
appreciated the simple values of British golf. He loved the game for its
intrinsic merits and not for the rewards it might bring or for the publicity
sought by lesser members of his calling.
Whenever,
or wherever, one played with him ... one was soon aware of the quiet pleasure
he took in amiable talk, gentle ribbing with his friends, and chatting
afterwards over a few "potables" as he called them. There was nothing
of the legendary star of show business about Crosby the golfer, either on the
course or, for that matter, off it. His manner towards anyone, however humble
or exalted their status, was always constant.
(Pat Ward-Thomas, The Lay of the Land)
August 17, Tuesday. Thought to have played Huntercombe Golf Course near Henley-on-Thames. Bing sends a handwritten letter on Stafford
Hotel notepaper to the Gleneagles Hotel.
Dear
Friend,
Thank
you so much for sending on the articles of clothing which I left at Gleneagles.
I am unable to account for my failure to bring these things along with me,
other than to suggest that my extreme eagerness to get to Muirfield was
responsible. Unhappily, the quality of my golf that day hardly justified the
urgency.
Always
yours, Bing
August (undated). Golfs at Royal St. George's Golf Club at Sandwich in Kent.
August 19, Thursday. Interviewed by Sylvia Margolis for the
August 20, Friday. Bing flies out from London airport en route to
Normandy in France. He goes on to Munich, where he again promotes Electrovision
and also arranges tickets for the 1972 Olympic Games.
August 30, Monday. Bing arrives by air in New York from
Europe and goes on to Pittsburgh.
August 31, Tuesday. In Pittsburgh, Bing attends the Pirates night game
against the Philadelphia Phillies and takes part in a ceremony honoring Hall of
Fame third baseman Harold “Pie” Traynor. The Pirates win 7-5.
September 1, Wednesday. Bing is in Montreal, again promoting
Electrovision.
September (undated). A son, Kevin, is born to Lindsay and Susan Crosby.
Bing writes to Crosby fan Michael Crampton in the UK. Michael is organizing a meeting
for the International Crosby Circle and wants a tape message from Bing.
Having
just returned from Northern California I will not be near a tape machine until
the last of this month – too late except for this message by mail.
The
new set up for the Circle sounds quite promising, and I fully appreciate your
continued support.
They
are after me to do a record date soon, new numbers I think. And we will tape
our annual Christmas TV show next month.
Golf
on Scotland’s beautiful courses filled two weeks of my vacation. I did a job in
London, and went on to Munich to see about tickets for the Olympic Games. Then
to Pittsburgh to sign papers as a director of the Pirates. They head their
division of the league, and may have a good chance at the championship, which
comes off in October.
Please
give my best to all,
Sincerely,
Bing
September 7/8, Tuesday/Wednesday. Sings six Christmas songs (with
Les Brown conducting the orchestra) for Daybreak Records in San Francisco as
his only recordings of 1971. Jack Halloran and the Voices of Christmas provide
support. The tracks are amalgamated with those recorded on November 16, 1970,
and issued as an album called A Time to Be Jolly. Bing goes on to his
Rising River ranch in Northern California.
“A Time to Be Jolly”
Crosby joins the new Daybreak label (handled by RCA),
with his first Christmas package in many years! An exceptional one it is! With
fresh material, Crosby is in top vocal form with the title tune as well as with
“Christmas Toast” and “I Sing Noel.” Delightful package, it should prove a heavy
seller for the season.
(Billboard, November 6, 1971)
September (undated). Films an American Sportsman program about white winged doves in Reynosa in northern Mexico with Phil Harris, which is shown on January 9, 1972.
September 17, Friday. Bing and Phil Harris fly out of McAllen airport in Texas en route for California.
…
“The hunting was great,” he said. “We had all the shots you could want.
However, I think we should come back a week earlier next time. I believe we were
about a week late.”
Crosby,
Harris and the ABC crew stayed in Reynosa while they were here to eliminate the
problems of carrying all the filming equipment back and forth across the
international bridge daily.
They
hunted every day, even in the mud and rain generated by tropical storm Fern.
Mexico’s top game control man flew up from Mexico City to see that everything
went smoothly and the visitors got what they came for.
Calvin
Bentsen of McAllen, who helped coordinate the crew’s activities while they were
here, said the Mexican officials gave the visitors the fullest cooperation
possible.
“I
wish my name was Crosby,” Bentsen said. “I’d get along a lot better over here.”
When
asked if they had time to celebrate Mexican Independence Day in midst of the
serious business of filming, Crosby replied, “Yes, we fired a few salutes.”
Harris,
who didn’t emerge from his room until late in the Friday morning for a picture
taking session, appeared a little the worse for wear following the previous
night celebrations. Someone asked if he imbibed a bit last night.
“Yeah,”
Harris allowed. “I had one or two.”
(Tom
Smithy, The Monitor, September 19,
1971.)
September 21, Tuesday. Bing and his four sons from his first
marriage are photographed together at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles
where Bing has been introducing the new International Quadraphonic System.
Apparently, Dennis Crosby is connected with the company concerned. It is said
that this is the first time that they have all been together in ten years.
(Dorothy Manners, The San Francisco Examiner, September
30, 1971)
...The best part of the evening was a private cocktail
gathering for only about 40 guests held in the presidential suite of the hotel.
Bing, in high good humor, showed up in a baby blue dinner jacket to match his
baby blue eyes. Kathy was in a long black chiffon gown, her hair all arranged
in curls close to her head. She kissed all the boys as well as greeting their
wives and assorted girl friends. The photologs couldn’t get enough pictures of
Bing and his sons together. Kathy begged off posing with the family group even
after they asked her to join them, saying, “No, just you Crosby fellas pose in
the picture. But be sure I get some copies to frame.”
(Modern Screen,
January 1972)
September 24, Friday. Starting at 10:30 a.m. in NBC Studio 2, Bing
and his family rehearse for their annual Christmas show and pre-record some of
their songs with the orchestra and with Robert Goulet and Mary Costa.
September 25, Saturday. Rehearsals continue for the Christmas
special.
September 26, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn have an 8:00 a.m. call
at the studio as they continue work on the annual Christmas show. Taping
commences and continues until 8:30 p.m.
September 27, Monday. Another 8:00 a.m. call for Bing as he
tapes “The Cop and the Anthem” with Robert Goulet. Work ends at 8:00 p.m.
September 28, Tuesday. Mary Frances tapes her dance spot for
the Christmas special during the morning and Bing comes in at 12 noon to
complete his work on the show.
October 2, Saturday.
Starting at 4:00 p.m., Bing is at Candlestick Park watching the
Pittsburgh Pirates lose 5-4 to the San Francisco Giants.
October 3, Sunday. Starting at 4:00 p.m., again at Candlestick Park to see the Pirates beat the Giants 9-4 in the National League playoffs.
October 5. Tuesday.
(7:30-8:30 p.m.) Makes a brief appearance on the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS-TV
as the 50th annual Photoplay awards are being presented.
October 7, Thursday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) The Dean Martin Show
featuring Bing and Rip Taylor airs on NBC-TV. It is produced and directed by Greg Garrison. Les Brown is the musical director.
Dean Martin’s fourth show of the new 1971-72 TV season
had something special. That something was the appearance of the old groaner himself
- Bing Crosby. Bing worked five segments of the program, which amounted to approximately
half of the full hour show. He was boffo all the way.
Bing and Dean opened the show with a rousing rendition
of “Put Your Hand in the Hand” (done twice) and “Lay Some Happiness on Me”. From
there these two engaged in some comedy patter and then went into a Cow Milking Sketch
that brought the audience to howls of approval. Bing seemed to get a bigger kick
out of it than anyone. Songs as well as seemingly wild ad libs were sprinkled
throughout.
Midway in the proceedings Bing and Dino again teamed
up for what was undoubtedly the high spot of the show. This was a medley of
some of Der Bingle’s top hit songs and it was a delight. There is a great
camaraderie between these two - very, similar to the groaner’s teamwork with Bob
Hope…
One of the highlights of the weekly Dean Martin outing
is the Lane Family Sketch. This is one of the best written comedy spots in TV
today. Bing was prominently featured in this sketch also and brought his part
off with charm. The central figure in this sequence is Kay Medford who is truly
“beautiful”…
Bing wasn’t through though. He still had one more
appearance and this was in a lip sync segment in which he burlesqued various
singing stars of the past and present. One, of all people, was that of Tiny Tim…
The real standout of this bright and well paced
program, however, was Bing. The old master brought class to every portion in
which he appeared.
(Bill Osborn, writing in BINGANG magazine, November 1971)
October 9, Saturday. The Pittsburgh Pirates start their World Series matches against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and lose 5-3.
October 11, Monday. Following a one-day delay because of a rainout, Game 2 of the World Series sees the Pirates lose 11-3 at Memorial Stadium.
October 12, Tuesday. (starting at 1:00 p.m.) Bing is with his son Nathaniel in Pittsburgh to see the World Series games. Game 3 results in a win for the Pirates 5-1.
October 13, Wednesday. Bing golfs at Oakmont Country Club and has a 77. Later at 8:15 p.m., Bing is at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium to throw out the first ball in Game 4 of the World Series. A crowd of 51,378 witnesses the first ever World Series game under floodlights. The Pirates beat the Orioles 4-3.
October 14, Thursday. The Pirates beat the Orioles 4-0 at Three Rivers Stadium.
October 16, Saturday. The series switches back to Baltimore and this time the Orioles win 3-2
October 17, Sunday. At Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates win the World
Series by beating the Orioles 2-1.
October 19-22, Tuesday-Friday. Bing tapes a Carol Burnett TV show that is broadcast on November 3.
November 1-2, Monday-Tuesday. Bing is filmed golfing at the Road Runner Golf and
Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is part of a pilot for a weekly ABC television series
called Swinging with the Stars which is hosted by Dale Robertson and
features golf pro Jim Chenoweth. Bing, with a handicap of seven, plays against
actor David Wayne. The pilot is not accepted for a series.
November 3, Wednesday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) The Carol Burnett Show
with
Bing and Paul Lynde as guests is transmitted on CBS-TV. Dave
Powers is the director and music is provided by the Peter Matz
Orchestra.
Ole
Groaner Bing Crosby visits Carol and helps her pay tribute to noteworthy forms
of drama: the old-fashioned meanie picture, and the daytime TV dramas.
Otherwise known as soap operas. Pail Lynde also makes a guest appearance, teams
with Harvey Korman as Meanie and Moe about to toss poor Carol and her drunken
father (Bing Crosby) into the streets until handsome Lyle Waggoner comes to
their rescue. On the music side, Bing sings “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”
and duets with Carol on “Get Happy” and “Sing.”
(Hartford Courant, November 3, 1971)
November 10, Wednesday. (10:00–11:00 a.m.) Bing is at KQEC in San
Francisco taping a contribution for a
November 15, Monday. An internal White House memorandum indicates
that Bing is to be invited to attend a Christmas Season Evening at the White
House on December 18 and that he will sing “White Christmas” as a surprise
item. It is understood that Bing did not eventually attend.
November 18, Thursday evening. Bing and Gaylord Perry attend the
declaration ceremony for the new half-million dollar gym at Woodside Primary School near San
Francisco.
November 29, Monday. (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Bing guests on the syndicated Monsanto Presents
Mancini lll television show with Henry Mancini, Hoagy Carmichael and Michael
Landon.
Bing Crosby and Hoagy Carmichael did a low-key rundown on some of Hoagy’s songs (“Ol’ Buttermilk Sky,” “Skylark,” “Lazy River”) backed by Ellis Larkin-ish solo piano of Mancini.
(Variety, December 6, 1971)
December 13, Monday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing makes another cameo
appearance in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In on NBC-TV. The featured guest
is Carroll O’Connor and Janet Leigh also has a cameo spot.
December 14, Tuesday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing’s annual Christmas
television show is aired on NBC. Called Bing Crosby and the Sounds of
Christmas it receives a 31 percent rating by Nielsen and comes fourth in
the ratings for the week ended December 19. Mary Costa and Robert Goulet are
the principal guests with Kathryn Crosby and the children. Marty Pasetta directs
the show, Bob Finkel is the executive producer and Ray Charles is the musical
director.
Bing Crosby with gaily arranged Christmas numbers
beautifully produced, with Costa duoing with Crosby on everything from “Jingle
Bells” to “One Horse Sleigh.”
(Variety, December
15, 1971)
Crosby’s show, for the most part, wasn’t a prize winner. His guests
were Robert Goulet, opera star Mary Costa, a boys’ choir, Kathryn Crosby and
three young Crosby offspring. An opera star was a bit much for what was
supposed to be a free and easy outing, and Goulet, who for the record is a
pretty easy-going sort in person, always seems to have trouble loosening up
when they point a camera at him. As for the Crosby kids, if they’ve got any
talent it’s well disguised. Actually, the best performer was old Bing himself.
He was in fine form in a vintage role as a tramp trying to get arrested and he
had a cute turn with Kathryn impersonating dancing dolls. It looked like the
kind of show where the host might have fared better without guests.
(Bob Shiels, Calgary Herald, December
16, 1971)
...Crosby’s “The Sound of Christmas” came
along first, looking a lot like a sparkly family Christmas card. Robert Goulet
and Mary Costa were along as singing guests. But what Bing called “The House
Band of Casa Crosby” were the real stars of the show – wife Kathryn and
children Mary Frances, Nathaniel and Harry. There were ornate settings with a
decorated Christmas tree, frosted window panes and other traditional trimmings,
but the hour had a pleasant amateur quality about it.
(Cynthia Lowry (AP), December 15, 1971)
Mr. Finkel
produced several of Bing’s 1970s shows and found him to be “a delight.” They
came together through GAC and were comfortable with each other within five
minutes. He said that Bing had a great command of language and Mr. Finkel treasures the many hand-written letters from him. He
always found that Bing was far more interested in sports results than the
script of the show. His wife, Kathryn, was wonderful in the way she looked
after their children on the show.
Mr. Finkel
mentioned that Bing was seriously color-blind and on one occasion, Bing was
taking Mr. Finkel to the racetrack. Bing was
driving an old car and as they drove along, Mr. Finkel
queried how he coped with traffic lights. Bing replied, “Well, it’s easy, if
the light on top is illuminated, it’s green, if the one on the bottom is lit,
it’s red, er, no, it’s green, er...”
At that point, Mr. Finkel said, “Let me out of the
car!”
(Author Interview with
Bob Finkel, July 15, 2007)
December 16, Thursday. Bing and his family star in a show for Laguna
Honda Hospital. The show is titled “A Night at the Old San Francisco Orpheum
Theatre”. Vince Silk is the MC and the Jack Fisher Orchestra provides the
musical support. Prior to the show Bing and his family are interviewed on
KCRA-TV for the Sacramento news program.
Bing
sang “A Time to Be Jolly” and the whole family joined him. Then he introduced
Kathryn, Harry, Mary Frances and Nathaniel. They sang a song together, then
Kathryn and Mary Frances did “Never Never Land” and Kathryn did “I Won’t Grow Up”
with her two boys—both songs from Peter Pan. Harry played guitar and
sang a solo while Bing sat down on stage and watched. Then Harry accompanied
his dad on a Christmas song. Kathryn then joined Bing in a medley of songs
about bells—“Bells of St. Mary’s”, “If I Were a Bell”, etc. Then Bing closed
their part of the show with “White Christmas” —the family joining him at the
end.
(Priscilla Koernig, writing in BINGANG magazine, May
1972)
December 20, Monday. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Dear
Gord:
Thanks
for your letter, and for the enclosures.
I
thought the fella there on the paper gave me a most complimentary review for “Dr.
Cook’s Garden”.
Also
appreciate the beautiful calendar.
Sorry
you didn’t get down to San Francisco when you were in Las Vegas. It’s just a
jump, you know, but maybe we’ll get back to Ottawa some day soon.
I’d
like to see it in the summer. I’d like to see it in the winter – they say it’s very
beautiful.
Best
wishes to you and your family for the holiday season.
As ever, Bing
December 24, Friday. At home, Bing gives a short interview by phone
to Shaw Taylor and this is broadcast live on “Late Night Extra” on
Christmas. At home in Hillsborough near San Francisco. Bing gives Kathryn a new silver Mercedes Benz for Christmas.
December 26, Sunday. Bing sings a parody of "White Christmas" at halftime during the Redskins vs. 49ers playoff game at Candlestick Park. The 49ers win 24-20.
December 31, Friday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Jean-Paul Frereault in Ville de Laval in Canada.
Dear
Jean-Paul:
Thanks
for your nice note. I’m very glad that you liked the Christmas show.
The
children always get a big kick out of doing this chore, and I thought it turned
out to be a very pretty show to look at.
Harry
will be delighted that you found his part of the show - when he played the
guitar - to be the most entertaining portion.
I
don’t think it would be possible for us to get an LP album issued, containing
the elements of the show.
The
record companies are reluctant to do this kind of thing. Maybe some years ago
it could have been done, hut not any more.
I’m
sending along a little picture that was taken while we were doing the show, and
I hope you like it.
Always
your friend.
Bing
January 3, Monday. (11:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m.) Guests on the Merv Griffin television show on CBS with Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, and David Butler.
Merv
Griffin had a very enjoyable program last Monday night when he had as his
special guests Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and veteran film maker David
Butler.
Bing
and Bob were in fine style as they reminisced their way through experiences
while making the many “Road to…” pictures. We were again struck with Bob Hope’s
ability to find the funnyside of life and his quick wit. Also quite in evidence
was Bing Crosby and Bob Hope’s mutual respect and regard for each other. A very
excellent program.
(E.
M. Beard, Greater Oregon, January 7,
1972)
January 9, Sunday. Bing arrives at Pebble Beach and allocates the amateur players to their professionals for the Bing Crosby Pro-Am. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) The American Sportsman
program features Bing and Phil Harris hunting white-winged doves in northern
Mexico.
Deep in Mexico we’d wrapped up a dove hunt segment for
“The American Sportsman.” Bing Crosby, Phil Harris and our producer were cleaning
up the last of the birds I’d cooked.
“Best thing I ever ate.
Let’s cook another batch,” Bing noted. I explained the lengthy process of
cleaning more birds and cooking them over our open grill, but Bing countered
with, “I’ve got the time.”
By the time I’d bowed
to that persuasive line two more times, it was black dark, the crew had long
been gone and I’d learned a lesson: “I’ve got the time” is a very useful line
that most of us should use more often. We reached our motel at midnight, facing
an early flight the next morning. Word that Bing and Harris would be taking the
plane brought out a crowd. None of us was in particularly spry condition, but
Harris was really dragging as we walked along the fence toward the plane. My
wife, Mary, edged over, nudged him and stage-whispered, “Hey, Phil, walk pretty
for the people!”
He did that, racking
his shoulders back, with high fives and handshakes and “Howdy y’alls” the rest
of the way. During the years following, I heard “Walk pretty for the people”
from Mary a few other times, usually directed at me.
(Grits Gresham, writing in Guns & Ammo magazine,
as reproduced on the web site, www.gunsandammomag.com/gun_columns/grits_0212/)
January 10-12, Monday–Wednesday. The Crosbys watch the practice rounds
at Pebble Beach. Bing writes to golfer Charley Penna.
Thanks
for the head covers received at Christmastime.
I
have three youngsters around the house who are playing golf now, so they grab
all my old ones. These just received will keep me in shape for the ensuing
year.
Hope
all is in good shape with you and your family.
Getting
ready to have the tournament again pretty soon. The TPD becomes increasingly
difficult. They would like to cut the amateurs out entirely if they could get
away with it – but I fight them at every turn.
Had
a nice note from Toney. He seems to be flourishing. Hope 1972 is a good year
for you, Charley –
Always
your friend, Bing.
January 12, Wednesday. Bing is appointed as the national campaign
chairman of the 1972 fund-raising drives of the Arthritis Foundation. Bing is
said to have had arthritis himself for several years. He records several
different commercials for fund-raising purposes.
January 13-16,
Thursday–Sunday. At the Bing Crosby Pro-Am Tournament
at Pebble Beach which is won by Jack Nicklaus after a sudden death
play-off
with Johnny Miller. The weather is so balmy that the greens have to be
watered
for the first time in the tournament’s history. Celebrities taking part
include
astronaut Alan Shepard, Glen Campbell, Ernie Ford, Pat Boone, Ray
Bolger, Phil Harris, William Boyd, Max Baer, Hank Ketcham, Jack Lemmon,
Howard Keel, Andy Williams,
Clint Eastwood and Robert Stack.
January (undated). Bing and Kathryn are at the King Ranch in Texas where they join Lawrence and Lenora Wood, and Anne Slater to shoot quail. They then fly to McAllen in Texas to shoot quail on the first day and then pheasant on the second day at the Cook ranch. Bing goes down with Hong Kong 'flu at some stage.
January 22, Saturday. Bing flies from San Francisco to Los
Angeles to prepare for a TV special.
January 25, Tuesday. 10:30 a.m. Bing reports to the NBC
studios in Burbank to make a TV special called Bing Crosby and his Friends.
Wardrobe fitting is at 10:30 a.m. and rehearsals commence at 11:00 a.m. with
Pearl Bailey, Carol Burnett and a stand-in for Bob Hope. At 4:00 p.m., Bing and
the cast start pre-recording the songs for the show. Bing’s work concludes for
the day at 8:30 p.m.
January 26, Wednesday. Bing and his stand-in Alan Calm report to
NBC Studio 2 at 9:00 a.m. and taping of the TV special begins at 9:30 a.m. and
finishes at 8:30 p.m.
January 27, Thursday. Bing attends for makeup at 8:30 a.m. with a
9:00 a.m. start on the taping of the TV special. The final session of the day
ends at 7:00 p.m.
January 28, Friday. The last day of taping for the TV special. Bing goes into makeup at 8:30 a.m. and all work is completed by 12:45 p.m. The show is televised on February 27.
Almost
a year after Bing was a guest on my show I taped a special with him. Again, we
were rehearsing during the week for a Friday night taping. I kidded Bing,
telling him that he shouldn’t plan on dinner Friday night because I was
bringing that wonderful meal again. We laughed and I don’t think he took me
seriously.
Well,
Thursday night as I started home from the studio in the car I was thinking
about what I could for Bing, because I really meant to go through with it. I
knew that I would not be cooking just for him, because for sure there would be
a few others around. Just before I stopped at the market I opened my purse and
counted out exactly thirteen dollars. That was it. I had wanted to cook for six
or eight people because I knew good and well that the director and maybe some
of the writers would smell that food and want to try a little bit.
I went
into the market with my thirteen dollars and decided to see how I could make
that work. I picked up six sweet potatoes, but they weighed too much. I put
them down and picked up four. I figured I could cut them in half if I
had to after Bing had a whole one. Then I thought, “Gee, I’ll pass by the meat
counter now so I can lay a couple of ham hocks on Bing.” I asked for four, but
when we got them on the scale it turned out that I was only going to buy two.
Don’t forget, I had my thirteen dollars measured out pretty well. I picked up
some string beans and then I was still trying to figure out what to do about
meat. I figured chicken was about the cheapest thing I could buy, and I did
want to have plenty. I picked up three cut-up chickens. When I got to the cash
register, I was holding my breath. It came out to $12.83 with tax,
Friday
night after the show, I made a grand ceremony out of opening up that meal for
Bing. He just expressed his approval, put his pipe down, and wiped out
everything.
(Pearl Bailey,
writing in her book, Pearl’s Kitchen)
January 29, Saturday. (5:30-6:00 p.m.) Bing and Dean Martin appear on Lee Trevino’s Golf for Swingers television show on KCAL-TV.
…Each
week two celebrities compete. They play three holes. On each, Trevino can take,
at the celebrity’s option, two of his shots, but not two in a row. By the same
token, if one chooses that Lee drives for him, the other must start for himself.
Saturday
afternoon’s show pitted Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. It was a show worth catching. And so were the
three lovely caddies. One proved so distracting that Martin blamed her for a
skulled tee shot.
(James Doussard, The Courier-Journal, January 31, 1972)
February 4, Friday. Bing writes to Crosby fan Jean-Paul Frereault in Ville de Laval in Canada.
Dear
Jean-Paul:
Thanks
for sending me the tape containing the old song done by Maurice Chevalier, and
also the song, “Calling All Hearts”.
I
haven’t any idea when or where this was done, but as you say, it was for a
Catholic charity, I would think it was done somewhere in the late 40’s in
Hollywood.
Sorry
I can’t be more explicit.
I’m
sending along an autographed program of our 31st annual tournament at Pebble
Beach. I hope this proves a suitable souvenir for you.
Warmest
regards,
Bing
Crosby
February (undated). Bing goes shooting for quail for two days with Phil Harris and the Colemans on Louis B. Maytag’s Sedgefields Plantation in Union Springs, Alabama where they are the guests of George and Amaryllis Harden. They use George Coleman's Jet-Commander plane.
February 7, Monday. Bing returns to Hillsborough and he and the children depart for a week at Sugar Bowl, near Lake Tahoe.
February 20, Sunday. Bing, Kathryn and the family leave for Las
Cruces, Mexico.
LAS CRUCES, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
Bing
Crosby is at the wheel of the yellow Volkswagen jeep that thumps and bumps
along a deserted road. He stops to gaze out at the Sea of Cortez and says,
happily, “It’s kinda quiet here.”
The
very private Las Cruces Club is so quiet that muggings and pollution are as far
distant as the moon. There are no telephones or television. Armed Forces Radio
and smuggled in yellow newspapers provide whatever link with the outside world
the residents require. Here, people like Crosby, Merv
Griffin, Edgar Bergen, Phil Harris and Alice Faye come to get away from it all.
Las Cruces is in the middle of nowhere. To get there one must fly in by private
plane or air-taxi from La Paz, 28 miles away. By car, it takes two to three
dusty hours along roads that don’t exist. But Las Cruceans
have no intentions of paving roads. That might encourage visitors and that’s
the last thing they want.
Bing’s
peaceful home, which he boasts cost only $40,000 to build, is not far from the
grand, two-storey, six-bedroomed casa of Abelardo L. “Rod” Rodriguez, Las Cruces owner and son of a
former Mexican President. However, aliens are not allowed to own property in
Baja, so it all belongs to Rodriguez, architect of Las Cruces and two other
Baja resorts. Crosby and other private home dwellers invest in Las Cruces and
act as directors while the 180 members of the 20-bedroom club pay $300
initiation and $250 annual dues for the privilege of roughing it, fishing and
resting in luxurious surroundings.
“We
spend about four months out of the year here”, says Bing settled on his terrace
adjoining a tiny cactus garden planted by Kathryn, his wife. Bing discovered
Las Cruces about fifteen years ago while working his way South down the coast
of Baja in search of fish. Instead, he ran into Fisher, already a resident, who
spoke of schools of dolphin and marlin which abound here. Bing came, liked it,
and built his home nine years ago.
“My
wife has a teachers’ certificate, so she can hold classes for our three kids in
the morning. She started teaching children of the workmen, but that didn’t work
out. We weren’t here long enough throughout the year, so they have to go to
school in La Paz.”
At Las
Cruces, the Crosbys are pillars of the community.
They visit the tiny chapel that Rod built, every Sunday without fail. They give
church parties every second week and host a big fiesta for the children on
Easter.
“Kathryn
is a registered nurse, so if the men get hurt she gives them antibiotics,” Bing
says, his voice as soothing as the gentle breeze that wafts over his terrace.
“When
we first came down here, there was a rumour about TB in the kitchen. Kathy
wanted to give the workmen a Mantoux test, but they
were scared of the needle. Finally we brought our own kids to the clubhouse
office and she injected them while the workmen stood around and watched. That
started to shame a few of them into getting shots. But then we gave shots to
our Irish governess and she had a bad reaction. Those workmen wouldn’t come
near Kathy for a while. But now they come up here voluntarily for insulin shots
and other medication.” Like other residents, the Crosbys
are up at 7.0 am and bed by 9.0 pm.
Says
Bing, “There’s not much night life here, but we love it. My wife doesn’t play
bridge and we both hate cocktail parties.”
When
he’s not hitting golf balls on the practice tee, he keeps busy, walking,
playing tennis and reading. When a school of marlin passes by, he heads for the
“Dorado”, a 38-foot Chris Craft which replaced his
old boat, “True Love”.
“If we
need fish for dinner, I go out at 5.00 pm. Otherwise it’s not fresh
enough. And I never come back empty-handed.”
(Unidentified press clipping)
February 27, Sunday. (10:00–11:00 p.m.) Bing Crosby and His
Friends
special is shown on NBC-TV with Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey, and Carol
Burnett as the guests. The program is directed by Marty Pasetta,
produced by
Bob Finkel and Nick Perito is the musical director. NBC-TV later states
that
the show is watched by 34 million viewers per average minute. It comes
7th in the weekly Nielsen ratings with 26.6 and a 46% share.
The Crosby brand of amiable showmanship got a nice
workout in ‘Bing Crosby & His Friends’, an hour-long special that made good
use of its guest stars within a ‘friendship’ continuity that was a noticeable
departure from the vaudeville format of too many celebrity specials.
With Bob Hope, Carol
Burnett and Pearl Bailey on top, Crosby got them all on camera during the theme
setting opening song, ‘You’ve Got Good Friends’ and segued from that into a
couple of skits that kept all four stars up front in derivations of the same
theme. The sketches were pegged on the stars playing themselves in good-natured
pre-show camaraderie, which they maintained in later musical specialties with
Crosby. Under Bob Finkel’s direction, the show flowed naturally from one
segment to another, coming over as a group effort of friends enjoying
themselves in an aura of informality and it all worked, disarmingly, well.
Hope and Crosby traded
banters as they reprised some of their ‘Road’ songs. Miss Burnett and Crosby
did “Saturday Morning Confusion” with homey connotations, and Miss Bailey did,
‘Here’s That Rainy Day’ solo before all four were again united for a medley
that again stressed the chumliness aspects in humorous fashion. Crosby cannily
used two songs with young record buyer appeal for his solos, coming over well
on ‘Desiderata’ and the closing, ‘In My Own Lifetime’.
Much has been said in
the past year about musical-variety being a worn out format on the tube; this
pleasant hour illustrated that star-studded specials can still cut the mustard
when a little thought is expended on how to use big names in an ingratiating
way.
(Variety, March 1, 1972)
Nine specials finished in the top 40, with Bob
Hope (second) and Bing Crosby (seventh) spearheading an NBC
Sunday night of specials that won the night for that web
(Variety, March 8, 1972)
February 29, Tuesday.
The Crosbys fly to Los Angeles where Bing is
to tape a Flip Wilson show. Bing looks in at Amigo Studios, North
Hollywood where Count Basie is laying down the instrumental tracks for
the Bing 'n Basie album and publicity photos are taken.
February/March
(undated). Films a cameo role in Bob
Hope’s film Cancel My Reservation.
March 2, Thursday. Phillip Crosby weds actress Peggy Joyce
Compton (aged 31). She had become pregnant and they divorce within the year.
Their son, born on September 27, 1972, is named Phillip Crosby Jr. (Peggy
subsequently marries actor Jack Klugman in 2008).
March 3, Friday. Tapes an appearance on the Flip Wilson show
which is subsequently shown on NBC-TV on March 16.
March 14, Tuesday. Records the first part of the Bing ‘N’
Basie LP singing to prerecorded tracks at Coast Recorders Studio, Bush
Street, San Francisco, for Daybreak Records.
… We spent a three-day session making an album with Bing
Crosby. I don’t remember who got that one through, but I was very thrilled at
the idea that we were going to be doing something with the Bingle.… He had put
his own personal touch on so many fine tunes that had become standards down
through the years. Whenever old Bing took to a tune, there was never any
question about who that was. His personal touch was a standard in itself. We
did eleven tracks during those three sessions. There was no problem running
them down; but they didn’t run out as great as I had hoped. I don’t really know
what happened that everything didn’t come off better than it did. I really
don’t know, but I don’t think that was really Bing’s schtick.… But I was still
very happy about the whole thing, because it gave me a chance to do work with
him.
I really think Bing was
right at home when he could have his pipe and Pops [Louis Armstrong]. I think
that was really his life, anything he and Louis could do. They fit so good.
That’s what I was thinking about all during the while we were in the studio
those three days. If old Louis just would have walked in there on any of those
numbers, everything would have fallen in place.… Bing and Pops were something
together.
(Count Basie, Good Morning Blues, p362)
March 15, Wednesday. Again in the recording studio working on
the Bing ‘N’ Basie LP.
March 16,
Thursday. Completes the Bing ‘N’ Basie album.
Interesting that Bing sounds better today to many than
in his Paul Whiteman days over 40 years ago when his keys were about a third higher.
He could be more adventurous range-wise back then. He used to feature ‘Old Man
River’ in D flat, going to a top F. On this new LP wisely tunes are mainly
up-tempo. Crosby reportedly sang to tracks prerecorded by the Basie band. Sam
Nestico’s charts are swinging. Something should have been done about that final
top D flat on ‘Put Your Hand in the Hand’. Otherwise album is highly effective
- simple with charm. The slower ‘Sugar, Don’t You Know’ by Louis Bellson is a
great new number.
(Howard Lucraft, Variety, July 14, 1972)
This release is likely to do considerably more for
Crosby’s reputation than for Basie’s. That’s usually the way it works when a
jazz group teams with a popular vocalist. On the other hand, it is Crosby’s
reputation that is in considerably greater need of a boost than Basie’s, so
perhaps in the long run it’s a fair shake for everyone.
This is probably Crosby’s
sleekest work since 1958 (sic) when he did a Verve album with Buddy Bregman
(MGV 2020). It was a fairly big seller, and this one may do well also if
atrophy hasn’t taken too great a toll on Bing’s audience. He is in fine voice
all the way, and the choice of material is from among the best contemporary
tunes, excepting two ringers (Hangin’, Day), which are the sort of nonentities
that singers use to open TV variety specials.
Although Crosby isn’t
now and never has been a jazz singer, he is nevertheless at home in the jazz
idiom. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and even Duke Ellington as far back as
1932 have all found in Crosby an amiable, compatible and swinging stylist. The
voice has deepened to the point where you can almost count the vibrations at
some points. To me, this has enriched his sound. Unfortunately, it comes at the
expense of the upper reaches of his relatively limited range. Aside from that,
things are pretty much the same in Crosbyland.
The pairing with Basie
provides him with a perfect showcase…Although Basie and Crosby work well
together, the “meeting” actually took place within the circuitry of a mixing
console and not in an eyeball to eyeball studio confrontation. Each recorded
their portions separately, meeting only briefly for some picture taking. The
Crosby-Armstrong-Billy May LP of a dozen years ago was similarly produced. The
results are nevertheless enjoyable on this one however, with Basie doing much
to make this a credit to Crosby’s discography.
(Down Beat, December 7, 1972)
There is a veritable meeting of the mighty in the
shape of Bing ‘N’ Basie featuring Bing Crosby with Count Basie and his
orchestra (Polydor 2932 007) and it is remarkably pleasant to give Mr. Crosby
his just pride of place again here so soon after welcoming the three Coral
reissue albums of vintage Crosby-ana. His voice is showing its age nowadays as
in the case of Frank Sinatra, but it is still miles ahead of any other singer
in terms of individuality, phrasing and mellow relaxation.
Mr. Crosby deals with
some superior examples of modern pop songwriting such as “Gentle on My Mind”;
“Everything Is Beautiful”; “Snowbird” and “Little Green Apples” with his
customary aplomb and expertise, and he receives some wonderful support from Mr.
Basie and his orchestra. The Count makes some characteristically effective
contributions from the piano keyboard and controls the superb powerhouse of
musical sound under his command so that Mr. Crosby is never overshadowed or
overwhelmed as could have been the case so easily. In this latter respect,
arranger Sammy Nestico deserves full share of credit for his part in an
outstanding album.
(The Gramophone, November, 1972)
“Have a Nice Day” we are advised is a lyricized
version of the Basie instrumental (Johnny Mercer, who added the words, also
contributes the affectionate liner notes here). Bing, who obviously needed
neither the bread nor the exposure, coasts pleasantly enough through “Gentle on
My Mind”, “Little Green Apples” and other relatively new material. The band, in
splendid shape, gets a chance to blow here and there.
(Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times, June 4,
1972)
(8:00-9:00 p.m.) The Flip Wilson Show
is screened with Bing, Tim Conway, and Melba Moore as guests and
George Wyle leading the orchestra.
Bing Crosby, Tim Conway and Melba Moore rally round to help The Flip
Wilson Show wind up its second season. Bing sings a medley of the three songs
he sang when he was 12—back in 1916—the first time he ever performed in front
of an audience.
(The Lowell Sun, March 16, 1972)
March 20, Monday. Kathryn Crosby is featured in advertisements in the Los Angeles Times for Sullivan Language Schools.
March 22, Wednesday. The This Is Your Life
television
show on ITV in the U.K. features “flying doctor” Micky Wood. Bing sends
a tribute that has been filmed outside his Hillsborough home.
March 23–May 4. Bing and family are at Las Cruces. They now have a
thirty-eight-foot Chris Craft, the “Dorado,” which has replaced his former boat
“True Love.”
March 26, Sunday. (4:00–5:00 p.m.) Bing narrates an American
Sportsman program about the Guide Dogs for the Blind school in San Rafael.
John Scott Trotter is on the school’s board.
April (undated). The Crosbys travel to Acapulco in Mexico.
Bing golfs at Tres Vidas. Kathryn plays tennis with Don Budge.
April 8, Saturday. Bing and Kathryn are in Guadalajara for a picnic and columbaire (a shooting competition involving pigeons).
April 22/23, Saturday/Sunday. Bing’s Oscar, which was on display
at Gonzaga, is stolen and a statuette of Mickey Mouse is put in its place by
the thief.
May 2, Tuesday. Bing’s Oscar is returned by a student who
had taken it for a prank.
May 4, Thursday. The Crosbys return from Las Cruces. Bing goes to his Rising River ranch as the trout season has started.
May 16, Tuesday. Plays in the California Golf Writers Association tournament at Los Altos and has an 84. Later, Bing is inducted into the California Golf Writers Association Hall of Fame.
May 19, Friday. Writes to Louisa M. Ogg in La Mesa, California.
Dear Miss Ogg
Thank you very much for the
old records which I received the other day – and also the copies of sheet
music. Brought back memories of the past. Very kind of you to remember me in
this fashion, and I appreciate it.
I really have no need for
further records for my collection, Louise. I did have a fire some years ago,
but everything wasn’t lost, and those that I did lose, were replaced by the
record companies – so I am in pretty good shape in that direction.
I do thank you for the
thought, though. All best wishes for your health and happiness.
Sincerely yours
June 1, Thursday. Golfs on the Lake course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
June 3, Saturday. Bing and Dallas financier Troy V. Post announce
plans for a golf tournament, the Bing Crosby International Pro-Am Fiesta, to be
held November 7–12 on Post’s private course in Acapulco. It is said that
thirty-six Mexican and U.S. professionals will compete for $56,000 in prize
money and a Mexican charity will receive an additional $15,000.
June 4, Sunday. Starting at 3:00 p.m., Bing watches the Pirates beat the Giants in two games (4-3 and 9-1) at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.
June 15-18, Thursday-Sunday. The US Open is held at Pebble Beach and Bing is there as honorary general chairman to watch the action. Jack Nicklaus wins.
June (undated).
The Crosbys host a dinner dance in honor of Angie Reynal Withers, Bing's
goddaughter, who is to marry Dick Thieriot on September 30. Mr.
Thieriot becomes Editor and Publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle
when his father dies in 1977.
(Bing)
was staying out of the way while I tried to organize our one big bash of the
year, a dinner dance in honor of Angie Reynal, Bing's goddaughter, the
off-spring of Juan and Jeanne Reynal.
The
groom was Dick Thieriot, who was later to head the San Francisco Chronicle. He
and his bride were beautiful young people, who contrived to make most of the
preparations for the event comparatively easy for an awkward party giver.
Mary
Morrow flew north to create the decorations, my sister organized the ceremony,
Alan Fisher planned the menu and the music, while I hung around, wringing my
hands, and later taking undeserved bows. Bing danced with all the ladies, and
forgot to complain, although the festivities lasted until 4 AM.
(Kathryn Crosby, My Last Years with Bing, page 297)
The Bing Crosbys’ fiesta
at their glorious house in Hillsborough, Cal., was a party that really picked up
the marbles. Bing and Kathryn gave the Mexican gala for Angelica [everyone
calls her Angie] Reynal and Richard [everyone calls, him Dick] Thieriot, who are
being married on Sept. 30. Angie is the daughter of Juan Reynal, the famed polo
player, and Mrs. Reynal of Buenos Aires. Dick is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Thieriot of Hillsborough. Everyone calls them the very social Thieriots.
The driveway to Casa Crosby was ablaze with a wealth of
colored candles and the courtyard of the French Norman house was decorated with
huge Mexican paper flowers entwined on six enormous limestone urns holding ivy
topiary towers 12 feet high. Caramba!
There was a great arch of flowers over the carved front doors
under which Alan Fisher, the Crosbys’ butler extraordinaire greeted all the
snappy folk. Fisher was trained at Buckingham Palace, you know, and once worked
for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Some people say he’s the biggest snob in
northern California. Actually, he’s the biggest snob in northern - and southern
- California.
Naturally there was a full moon - and it was a fabulous
night. [Even God cooperates with Fisher - who is above weather.] The San Miguel
Mariachi Band, smartly led by Salvador Padilia, played on the galeria [that’s
Mexican for balcony] overlooking the terrace.
Ten tables for eight were set up in the beautiful Sparkford
room, which the Crosbys carted over intact from the 11th century Coombe Abbey
in England and which serves as their drawing room on the average ho-hum day.
The tables were covered with wildy colored floor-length cloths with the masses
of candles pyramided in. the center.
The bride-to-be looked adorable in printed silk with just a
teensy bit of midriff exposed, - and Kathryn Crosby was sumptuous in go-light
green jersey with butterfly sleeves encrusted with chalk beading. Jean Louis worked
a long time over that one…
Mary Frances Crosby looked every inch her daddy’s girl in blue
and white batik made especially for the party by Cerda of Guadalajara, who
else?
At the foot of the
garden, a stage had been erected to hold an enormous heart with an arrow
through it and the initials "A" and "D." The display of
fireworks was dazzling, too. And who can overlook the life-size papier mache
Mexican holding 200 giant balloons which threatened to sky him at any
minute? It would have been the balloon ascension to end them all.
(“Suzy Says”, Chicago Tribune, July 1, 1972)
July 7, Friday.
Starting at 8:30 p.m., the Crosby family are at the Flint Center,
Cupertino to watch Margot Fonteyn and Karl Musil perform in Swan Lake.
July 8, Saturday. Margot Fonteyn and Karl Musil come to lunch at Hillsborough. Bing and Kathryn drive them back to Cupertino and stay to watch the evening performance of Romeo and Juliet.
July 14, Friday. Bing writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor and
to comedian Ted Ray.
Thank you so much for sending me the copy
of Ted Ray’s recent book. I found it very well written, very enjoyable, and was
particularly entertained by his description of the encounter at the Maidenhead
Golf Course, when Hope and I played Ted and Donald Peers. That was quite an
event.
I’m enclosing a little letter to Ted Ray
which I’ll thank you to forward on to him. I do not have his address.
Glad to hear that the “Bing and Basie” album is getting some plays over in England, as a
result of your interest in my behalf.
I think there are some great arrangements
in the album, and of course, the Basie Band, to me,
is one of the finest. They have been together so long, they play almost like
one man, when they are in an ensemble section.
I do appreciate all the other things that
you do for my records over there, Leslie. You are certainly my prime
representative in this field in the United Kingdom - if not in the world.
At the present, I don’t have any plans
for an album. There are some things that have been submitted to me, but they
really don’t sound like they could be successful, so I’m sort of standing by.
We do plan to be in England sometime
around the end of July, first of August, on our way to Africa for another
safari. We are going to go home by way of Munich for the Olympic Games.
Possibly I’ll see you on one of these times coming through London. I hope so.
Take care of yourself
Always yours, Bing
Leslie Gaylor, my United Kingdom representative for recordings, social events, and general exploitation, has sent me a copy of your book, “Golf, My Slice Of
Life.”
It’s a great little book, Ted, and I certainly enjoyed it very much, particularly was I entertained by your description of that chaotic
scene at Maidenhead Golf Course, when Hope and I played with you and Donald Peers.
I’ll never forget
the sound of those slices and
duck hooks, rattling off
the balbriggans and the greatcoats of the spectators who refused to get out of the way.
I ought
to do a book, myself,
about golf,
but I lack the zeal.
Sometime I’ll get around to it,
possibly.
Gaylor tells me also that you have been very kind to plug some of my discs
on your radio show, and I want to thank
you for this.
Hope you’re flourishing, Ted
-
Always your friend,
Bing
July 27, Thursday. Phillip Crosby is in St. John’s Hospital. Bing
becomes involved in sorting out the hospital bill.
July 30, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn plus daughter Mary
Frances, and Kathryn’s nephew, Billy Meyer (age eighteen), leave San Francisco
for London en route to Africa.
July 31, Monday. (3:15–4:40 p.m.) Having arrived that day at London airport, Bing meets Leslie Gaylor, Ralph Harding and other fan club members in London at the Stafford Hotel. He declines to be photographed without his toupee. Bing stays at the hotel until August 3.
…Bing settled in a comfortable armchair and for the next
80 minutes, we all had a wonderful, relaxed chat about every subject relating
to Bing. We talked about the Mack Sennett shorts, Bing’s early films, the
alleged Bing and Russ Columbo movie, records and recording sessions, his golf
activities, anecdotes about Carole Lombard, W.C.Fields, Norman Taurog, John
Scott Trotter, Buddy Cole, the private recordings he has made including the
four private recordings made by Bing about his African safari vacations, his
fishing and hunting expeditions, the forthcoming Crosby films book due to be
published in the not too (I hope!) distant future, his children, Jimmy Durante,
Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus and the last British Open ... in fact the
conversation flowed thick and fast with Bing giving and cracking out the
information and your Editor piling on the questions ... hence the title of this
article.
Bing took it all like the great character he is. Often
the humour came through and he would throw back his head and roar with laughter
at some amusing crack or side issue. Referring to one of his earlier films, “We’re
Not Dressing”, Bing related the real story behind “Droopy” the bear, who played
a part in that film. It seems that Norman Taurog, who directed this movie, had
a pretty tight budget and an even tighter schedule. He managed to find an
animal trainer who possessed a tame black bear. The trainer convinced Taurog
that the bear would get along with Bing, with Carole and the rest of the cast,
and would be able to perform the tricks necessary without any bother at all.
Came the day of shooting and the bear was hopeless - quite incapable of
performing what was required. Taurog, in a fury, held up the production and
told the trainer to take away the bear and bring it back when it could perform
the scenes that Taurog required. As time went on, Taurog realised that he was
getting nowhere with the bear and his impatience began to get very evident. So
much so, that on one occasion, his assistant director slapped the “dumb bear”
on the jaw ... whereupon, Bing said (giving a perfect imitation) the bear
started to cry. Eventually, as Bing explained, they managed to get some footage
of the bear. Not much and not good, but enough to carry Taurog through the scenes
he needed. By the end of the movie, Taurog was thoroughly annoyed about the
bear and couldn’t (pardon the pun) bear the sight of the animal.
The picture ended and Bing, Carole, Taurog and the rest
of the cast threw an end-of-the-movie “cast party” (a necessary habit of those
early movie days) and when the party ended and Norman Taurog returned to his
house in the early hours of the morning, what should be chained to his front
porch but ... “Droopy” the bear. It seems that Carole Lombard, who had a
wonderful turn of humour, purchased the bear from the trainer and presented it
to Taurog (without his knowledge) as a gift. Taurog was stuck with the bear.
And Bing, wisely, never did go on to tell us the fate of poor old “Droopy”.
Bing’s admiration for the late Carole Lombard was
evident. He spoke of her in the highest possible terms. Others whom he
obviously had great admiration for were Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Durante and Ben
Lyon – all whom he discussed at some length. Bing spoke of Armstrong’s illness
and related how on one TV show in which he appeared with Louis and Pearl
Bailey, Satch had to be supported on to the set and was in a pretty bad way.
But as Bing said, he seemed to make a remarkable recovery for the David Frost
Show. Bing confirmed what we all know — that Louis was a really great guy to
work with…
(Ralph Harding, “The Crosby-Harding 80-minute Chat Show”.
As printed in The Crosby Collector,
June/July/August 1972 Issue)
August 1, Tuesday. Bing golfs at Sunningdale with Simon Broome
of the Stafford Hotel. Kathryn and Mary Frances join Nadia Nerina for lunch at the
Royal Festival Hall to discuss a career in ballet for Mary Frances.
August 3, Thursday. The Crosbys visit the Tutankhamen Exhibit before
the British Museum opens for the day. They join a party that includes Princess
Margaret. Later, they fly from London airport to Africa.
August 4, Friday. Bing, Kathryn, Mary Frances and Billy Meyer,
arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, for a safari, which is again led by Terry Mathews.
They all fly to the Tana River area in Coast Province and during their two-week
stay there, Mary Frances shoots a twelve-foot killer crocodile.
Bing Crosby never feels better than when he is on
safari and since he discovered East Africa, five years ago, he’s made a point
of coming back as often as possible. “We eat better, sleep better and generally
feel more relaxed when we’re here,” he told me the other day before he left on
what he reckons to be his seventh safari. “I came back twice, one year, you
know.”
By
now, Bing should be settling into the safari routine—in bed by nine and up
about seven. . . . “I am to do a little bird shooting, perhaps shoot something
for the pot but I’m not interested in doing the ‘big five’ or anything like
that,” he said as we sat in the lounge of his Nairobi hotel. Wearing his
familiar pork pie hat, Bing paused to light his ever-present pipe, then went
on. “It’s the first safari for our daughter, Mary Frances and she’s very
excited about it. She’s brought along a Polaroid because we’ve found that
people are happier about you taking their picture if they can have a print.”
Bing
has brought along a number of cameras, both still and cine and he aims to get
through plenty of films. “We make a big album of each safari. I make a
movie—I’m not very good at it but it’s fun—We show it to friends when we get
home.”
(East African Standard, August 8, 1972)
August 11, Friday. Bing sends a postcard to Andrew Montague, 1725
Kearney, San Francisco (the author of a book called Shotgun Shooting)
saying:
Dear Monty - Your pupil is doing quite well. 15 sand
grouse 1st day. She thinks she should do better! We are on the Tana River near
Garissa, and the shooting is really fabulous. Quite the best I’ve had. Best to
Peter.
August 20, Sunday. The Crosbys fly back into Nairobi from
their camp. Billy Meyer has to fly home from Kenya to attend football camp.
August 23, Wednesday.
(10:00-11:00 p.m.) A documentary about Louis Armstrong called "A Boy from New
Orleans" is broadcast on NBC-TV. Bing is the narrator.
August 24, Thursday. The Crosbys fly from Nairobi to the
Seychelles for a brief visit with friends.
August 26, Saturday. The Crosby party flies from Nairobi to
Rome, Italy.
August 27–September 10, Sunday–Sunday. Bing and Kathryn attend the Olympic
Games in Munich, West Germany. They stay at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof and are
joined there by son Nathaniel (aged 10), fresh from his first solo
transatlantic trip.
September 5, Tuesday. Arab guerrillas storm the Israeli compound
at the Olympic Games. Nine hostages are killed.
Shortly
before midnight, we watched on television as a gun battle at the airport took
the lives of the nine hostages, five of the commandos, and a German policeman.
The
1972 Olympics had been spoiled for the Crosbys, as for most of the world. All four
of us flew to London, where we dropped off Bing, and headed straight home to
Hillsborough.
(Kathryn
Crosby, writing in My Last Years with Bing, page 309)
September 12, Tuesday. Bing arrives at Heathrow, London, and goes
to Scotland for golf. Kathryn, Mary and Nathaniel fly home.
Bing
Crosby, dressed in brown shoes with no socks, a blue shirt, and an orange
bathrobe striped in red, sits in his hotel room overlooking the bleak, Scottish
beauty of St. Andrews golf course, puffing at the brown pipe clenched in his
teeth.
He has been
up since 7 a.m. Not for any particular reason, but just because it is a habit
and he gets restless if he stays in bed any longer.
“I do a
little scratching and a little bending in the morning to loosen up,” he says,
“but basically I’m a lazy person.” The voice is deep, melodious, familiar.
His
breakfast tray lies discarded on the bed and the dressing table is littered
with his collection of golfing hats. He never plays without one.
Bing
Crosby, the enduring legend of show business, a star for more than 40 years, a
man who is a millionaire several times over and whose record sales have topped
350 million, is in St. Andrews for a few days of his favourite
game.
After a
safari in Kenya and a visit to the Munich Games with his wife Kathryn and their
two eldest children Harry Lillis, 14, and Mary Frances, 13, he had put his
family on a plane for home in San Francisco at Heathrow Airport and flown
directly to Scotland.
The only
problem was his wife had taken the toothpaste. “And I’m fresh out of it,”
he sighs.
He is 68
now. “Not so young anymore. My handicap is up to six.” A small man, brown, firm
and a little lined with startling blue eyes and fine honey coloured
hair, except on top where the toupee usually sits. There his head is freckled
by the sun, and just a bit wispy.
“I don’t
know why I ever started wearing the thing; it just happened. My wife and kids
prefer me without it, but I always wear it on television. People have an image
of me, and would find it a little jarring if I looked different. I do about 17
television specials a year and my Christmas show with the family.
“I don’t
work so hard anymore…perhaps 100 days out of 365. Nothing too debilitating. I
don’t really sing enough now to be in good form. Sometimes I try a high note
and it doesn’t come out so good.
He
shrugs…not really bothered. “I did an album of old favourites
with Count Basie earlier this year. There is not much
call for me to make new records.”
He appears to be a patient, contented man
totally un-preoccupied with himself, amiable and unassuming. “The one little
worry I have is my history of kidney stone attacks. It means I have to go easy
on milk, cream and cheese.”
His passions are hunting, fishing and
golf, which he plays three times a week outside the shooting and fishing
seasons, if his week is uninterrupted by work. And he loves to sing.
(Scarth Flett, Sunday Express, September 17, 1972)
September 14, Thursday. Golfs at Carnoustie, and during his stay in
Scotland also golfs at Dornoch. Is interviewed by Renton Laidlaw for
September 15, Friday. Golfs at St. Andrews in the Bing Crosby
Trophy for Senior Golfers and is partnered with “J. K.” Wilson again. Later,
Bing presents the Bing Crosby Trophy (a silver rose bowl) to the winner, John
Robertson, who had a net 69.
September 16, Saturday. Golfs at St. Andrews again.
September 17, Sunday. Arrives back in London.
September 18, Monday. Tapes the Parkinson show for
… Then, at that moment, Bing wandered on
to the set and went through a few lines with Michael Parkinson, merely to test
sound, positions and to work out a minor detail or two. After a few minutes,
Bing decided to run through the song he was to sing, “White Christmas."
It was a fascinating experience. Bing hummed a line or two, spoke the words,
came in when he felt like it and then halfway through the song, he stopped and
wandered over to the bandleader.
“You’ve changed the introduction,” said
Bing. “This is not the same introduction that you played before!” Prior to Bing
starting the song, the bandleader had doodled around with the intro - and Bing
was right - the intro was different. It threw Bing and he started again. Bing
went right through “White Christmas” softly as if he was singing the song to
himself. As he finished, he put in his whistle and tapped his cheek rapidly to
get that melodic vibrating effect. It worked and sounded delightful. There was
a round of applause from the studio technicians who had stopped everything they
were doing just to listen. I stood at the foot of the stage a few feet in front
of Bing and watched his every move. Bing went back to the stool, hitched
himself up with one leg dangling and went through “White Christmas” once again,
same whistle, same cheek patting, same easy relaxed style.
No one was doing any work or seeing to
their equipment. Hard-bitten technicians, normally blasé about the
entertainers, were watching and listening to every word Bing uttered. At the
end of the song, Bing got a great round of applause.
It was quite an experience to watch this
legendary star work - except that it didn’t seem like work. Bing wandered
around for a while, exchanged a line or two with Michael merely for sound and
camera testing and wandered off-stage, back to his dressing room.
(Ralph
Harding, writing in The Crosby Collector, Christmas 1972 issue)
. .The
only other person I know who travelled free by cab in London was Bing Crosby.
We sent a limousine to pick him up at his hotel and bring him to the Television
Centre. The driver rang up in a panic to say that Mr. Crosby had jumped into a
cab. When the great man arrived I asked him why he had chosen a cab instead of
a luxury car.
“I
like cabs,” he said. I don’t know why but I decided to pursue the matter.
“What
is it you like about them?” I said.
“Well,”
he said, “the drivers know what they are doing, they are very friendly and I
must admit that in all the time I have been using them I have never had to pay
a fare.”
I
said he had just defined the difference between being famous and a superstar.
Then a doubt crept into my mind. There must have been the odd occasion when you
got in the cab and the driver didn’t know who you were?”
“Sure
it happened, but when it did I took care of it,” said Bing.
“How?”
I asked.
“Well,”
he said, “if I thought the driver wasn’t sure, I pushed back that little window
dividing us and sang three bars of “White Christmas”. After that, he knew who
he had in the back of the cab.”
(Michael Parkinson, writing in an article entitled
‘People In My Life’ for Saga magazine, March 1997.)
September 19, Tuesday. Bing meets Frank Murphy from the
International Crosby Circle at the Stafford Hotel in London and records an
interview for him. During his stay in London, Bing golfs at Sunningdale and at
Swinley Forest.
September 21, Thursday. Bob Hope’s film Cancel My Reservation
is released.
Hope’s one-liner voiceovers frame, sustain and prop up
the fumbling plot, in which the funniest scene is a lynching nightmare
featuring smiling cameos by John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Flip Wilson and others. It
lasts about a minute; the whole film runs a tiring 99 minutes, hindered
severely by a foot-dragging next-to-closing sequence where Hope and Miss Saint
are trapped in a cave.
(Variety, September 20, 1972)
September 24, Sunday. Flies into Woodvale airfield, near Formby in Lancashire. (11:15 a.m.) Bing (handicap quoted as 8)
arrives at Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club in Lancashire to golf in the Texaco Pro-Am, a charity
event for the National Society for Cancer Relief, with Gary Player and Bruce
Forsyth (handicap 10). A crowd of 6,000 watch the golf with many other British
stars such as Bobby Charlton, Max Bygraves, Jimmy Tarbuck, and Tony Jacklin
taking part. Flies back to London after the event.
The road to the clubhouse was a lavish production
glittering with stars. And the biggest star of them all, swinging Bing Crosby,
stole the show.
The “Old Groaner” played
Pied Piper to a huge golfing crowd at Southport yesterday with a new Road
partner—British comedian Bruce Forsyth. And what a laughter-filled road it was,
with the nonchalance of Bing, and shades of Hope humour from Bruce. They won
the biggest gallery of the day from the 6,000 crowd at the Southport and
Ainsdale course where they teamed up with South African golfer Gary Player in
the £5,000 Texaco Pro-Am Tournament.
The crowd roared with
laughter at the first tee as Bruce told fans clamouring for Bing’s autograph;
“For two of his, you get one of Sinatra’s.” They roared again as pipe-smoking
Bing told the inevitable funny story about Bob Hope. And there was more mirth
after Bruce sank a difficult putt from the edge of the first green for a birdie
and Bing bowed in exaggerated admiration. At the next hole, the two delighted
the crowd by putting simultaneously.
When it was over, Bing
was full of praise for his partner. Together they had made a net score of 65.
And Gary, who scored 71, smiled; “It’s been a real fun day.” Incidentally, when
the laughing was over, Peter Oosterhuis took the £750 first prize with a 66.
And Lionel Platts, Bobby Charlton (handicap 10) and Brian Cheesman (5) won the
better-ball team competition.
(Daily Express, September 25, 1972)
October 4, Wednesday. (11:30 p.m.-1:00 a.m.) Bob Hope guests on the taped
Dick Cavett show on ABC-TV and Bing makes a special guest appearance.
October 19, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn attend a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Zoo at the Stanford Court hotel, San Francisco.
October 29, Sunday.
Bing is heard in Act 1 of John Gilliland's "The Pop Chronicles Presents
the 40's" series on KSFO Radio. This had been taped in 1971.
October 30, Monday. Bing writes to golf writer Pat Ward-Thomas in
England.
Sending along a clipping containing an
interesting and welcome announcement about the United States Amateur
Championship. I’m sure this
will make you happy, as it does me.
Sorry I missed you when I was over in
England and Scotland in September.
I put up a Cup down at St. Andrews for
the Seniors - 60 an over - and it turned into a very successful competition.
Had a great field. In fact, had to turn away some applicants because we just
couldn’t handle them.
We were lucky, too, to be blessed with
marvelous weather - a whole week of sunny, windless days.
I also played in the R & A versus the
Town, but only managed to get a half. Missed a little four-footer on the last
green that deprived us of an outright win. The same putt that Doug Sanders
missed, they told me. Identical. Really had a curve to it.
Had dinner with Tom Harvey while I was in
London. He’s looking well. Told me he’s
not playing much golf, which surprised
me. The way he plays, he should be out there all the time.
I hope that you’ve overcome your aches
and pains and are back on the links, although the weather is probably too cold
now anyhow.
I’m
sponsoring a big Pro-Amateur Tournament in Acapulco in Mexico at a place called
Tres Vidas, a very lush 36
hole lay-out with marvelous facilities.
It’s
an Amateur-Pro with half Mexicans and half Americans in both categories. Going
to have an entry field of around 300.
So you see, I’ve become quite
international - with the Seniors at St. Andrews, and the Pebble Beach
Tournament, and now Mexico. I think this will be about as far as I’ll go though.
While I was at St. Andrews, I was able to
slip over for a round of golf at Carnoustie and
enjoyed it immensely, but the highlight of the trip for me, I think was a
junket we took up to the north of Scotland.
We chartered a plane out of Dundee and
flew to a course up north of Inverness called Dornoch.
It’s a lovely course, right on the sea, by a beautiful little town with nice
hotel facilities and a very good restaurant. We landed on the grass about half
a mile from the first tee.
Had a very good round - because the
weather was benign. I’d hate
to play it in a big wind, because it’s
wide open.
Had some good golf around London, too. Sunningdale, of course, and a couple times at Schwinley (sic) Forest.
This, I think, is my favorite course. Not
too difficult for an aging crooner. In marvelous condition, and of course, very
few players. You really have to play with a member, I guess, to get on there,
and if you let them know, they set out a very succulent lunch.
Pat, I hope you’re keeping well. Probably see you in the
spring
Warmest best wishes
Bing
November 1, Wednesday. The Crosbys tape their annual Minute Maid
advert.
November 7, Tuesday. Republican Richard Nixon is reelected president of the U.S.A.
November 8-11, Wednesday-Saturday.
The $45,000 Bing Crosby Fiesta International Golf Tournament takes
place in Acapulco, Mexico and is won by Allen Miller.
November 17, Friday. At a luncheon staged by the Pacific Pioneer
Broadcasters at the Hollywood Palladium honoring the Armed Forces Radio &
Television Service, Bing accepts a Carbon Mike award for his Command
Performance broadcasts for the Services overseas. Edgar Bergen and Dorothy
Lamour are also present.
…It was appropriate
then, for Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters to honor Bing at the same time they
saluted AFRTS. The Carbon Mike Award, for excellence in radio, is PPB’s highest
honor. On accepting the Carbon Mike, Bing Crosby said, “I loved those radio
days. I wish they could all come back.”
(Valley News, November 24, 1972)
“Hi Bing – I’m the guy from the
The occasion, on November 17th 1972, was a
spectacular presentation in the Hollywood Palladium. Bing, commemorating 30
years involvement with the American Armed Forces Radio Service, was to be
presented with their trophy and I was just one of those 1,500 folk invited to
lunch and look up at the stars on the top table. So went my first ever meeting
with ‘The Old Groaner’.
(Brian Willey, writing in BING
magazine, summer 2014, [#167])
November 24-27, Friday–Monday. Bing and his family tape their annual Christmas show at the NBC Studios. Bing writes to Ray Campi.
I
have your letter with accompanying material about your project for a radio
program to be called “Hollywood Heritage”.
I’m
currently involved in some other ventures of generally the same character and I
don’t think I would be able to commit myself to anything additional along the
same lines.
What
you describe, however, seems to me to be something very much worthwhile, and I
wish you all success with it.
Maybe
at some time later, I could be a contributory factor. I hope so. I wish you
lots of luck,
As
ever, Bing
November (undated). Bing, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin plus respective
wives dine together at Chasen’s.
December 3, Sunday. Bing and Phil Harris fly in to Williamsburg, Iowa where they are to hunt pheasants
for an American Sportsman program, which is subsequently shown on
February 4, 1973. They stay at the Holiday Inn.
ABC-TV picked Eastern Iowa to film
a segment of its American Sportsman series, shipping Bing Crosby and Phil
Harris in to chase down a few pheasants. Much to their dismay, the birds are not to be found in numbers large enough to
make a whole program.
Part of the problem was bad
weather and too much standing corn – a condition all too familiar this season.
And, because they're working on a film deadline, they had to move from the Amana
area to more favourable territory in southern Iowa.
KCRG’s George Patrick interviewed
the ABC party in November and reports that not only birds a bit scarce, the
bitter cold made hunting uncomfortable and filming almost impossible.
Both Crosby and Harris appeared to
be good hunters and men who enjoy the sport, Patrick reports. They seemed to
take the sport a lot more seriously than others, he said, because they don't
get the opportunity to hunt as often.
Both stars were outfitted with 28-gauge
shotguns, which says something about their shooting ability in a sport where an
abundance of holes are blasted in thin air with 12-gauge weapons.
For the American Sportsman effort,
the party brought out a pack of retrievers, pointers, spaniels, etc., to help
produce the best possible conditions.
(Ken Sullivan, Cedar Rapids Gazette, January 28, 1973)
December 4, Monday.
Bing and Phil Harris have dinner at Seven Villages Restaurant in
Williamsburg, Iowa. Elsewhere, President Richard Nixon writes to Bing
and
Kathryn as follows:
Dear Kathy and Bing:
As I look back to our
victory of November 7, I realize how much I owe to those who with their talent
and support helped us to roll up a majority of landslide proportions.
I shall, of course,
always be proud of the fact that so many were willing to play a part in the
campaign, and I am especially grateful to you for your efforts. You may be
assured that over the next four years I shall do everything possible to make a
record which all Americans, regardless of party, can view with pride as we
celebrate our nation’s 200th Birthday in 1976.
With appreciation and best wishes,
Sincerely, Richard Nixon
The letter is addressed to 200 Jackling instead of 1200 Jackling, but reaches the Crosbys safely.
December 9, Saturday. Bing and Phil Harris are at the Wingover Ranch in Keokuk, Iowa after filming an episode of The American Sportsman.
December 10, Sunday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) The annual television
special called Christmas with the Bing Crosbys
is shown on NBC,
sponsored by Bell Telephone. Guests include Sally Struthers (of “All in
the
Family”) and David Hartman (of “The Bold Ones”). The director is Marty
Pasetta
and the producers are Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos. Bob Finkel is
executive producer. Musical support is by the Allyn Ferguson Orchestra.
The show is placed
3rd in Nielsen’s weekly ratings with a rating of 34.4 and an audience
share of
50.
This year’s Crosby clan Christmas show tried for a
number of ambitious sequences, only one of which was worth the effort. The
misfires took a considerable edge off the homey hour, aimed at the family
trade. After establishing the Crosby’s at home, with Bing singing, ‘There’s No
Place Like Home for the Holidays’, the remainder of the hour was dovetailed
into the caroling trek by the family and its guests. A sequence involving David
Hartman as Scrooge and Crosby as the ghosts of Christmas past, present and
future, using super-imposed images, did not work pictorially…the show righted
itself with a pleasant song with rudimentary terps about, ‘When You’re Living
With Santa Claus’, done by Mrs. Crosby and the three kids. Ballet star Edward
Villella then stole the show with a moving dance version of Anatole France’s
“The Juggler of Notre Dame’, voice-over narrated by Crosby. This led to a
finale of traditional carols and Crosby’s patented ‘White Christmas’…
The feeling persisted
that the adult target was being missed, except for Villella’s stint, the hour
concentrated on young - perhaps too young - viewers.
(Variety, December 13, 1972)
One
word best describes why Bing Crosby’s NBC-TV Christmas show Sunday night was so
superb: Creativity. It was a beautifully-assembled hour which radiated tremendous
pains and effort to truly reflect the goodness of the holiday season. The hour
was much more than Bing singing “White Christmas” or wife Kathy and their
children singing and acting or David Hartman with his toothy grin shaking everybody’s
hand or Sally Struthers clowning around or Edward Vilella doing a ballet
number.
First
impressive thing was a production operatic number involving Hartman as a very
convincing Scrooge and Crosby as Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come. It
came off very well…
…For
those following the lives of the Crosby Clan, it was a nice look at Harry, Nathaniel
and Mary Frances, three youngsters who are growing up amazingly fast. They did
their roles well in sketches and song. There seemed to be a slight strain on
the faces of Bing and Kathy. Otherwise, Bing’s voice came across as well as
ever. All of the music was appropriately picked for the hour.
(The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 11,
1972)
December 13, Wednesday. Bing takes Nathaniel to watch the Minnesota Vikings work out at Stanford.
December 14, Thursday. Bing and his family star with Rudy Vallee
in the Fourteenth annual Christmas party and revue at Laguna Honda Hospital for
the disabled and chronically ill.
(Dick Alexander, San Francisco Examiner,
December 15, 1972)
...Crosby seemed humbled by his audience, and stood
with his hands stuffed into the pockets of a gray blazer, singing to those
whose pockets are now empty. After an introductory number with the family,
Crosby entertained requests for “some of the old songs.” From all parts of the
auditorium, titles were shouted out by those who could remember, and could
still shout.
“Everytime it rains,”
Crosby began, the years showing no effect on the great voice, “it rains pennies
from heaven...” He followed that with a half dozen other favorites, including
“Dream Your Troubles Away,” “Stardust,” “My Blue Heaven” and “True Love.” It
had been so long since Crosby had sung some of those “old ones,” he
occasionally forgot a line or two, but nobody seemed to notice. Or care.
Each song in the medley
began and ended with the accompaniment of loud cheers, whistles and applause by
the many for whom each number brought back special memories of a certain
someone or something in their past. Those who couldn’t yell, whistle or clap,
merely smiled a knowing smile that showed they remembered too.
At the end of the show,
Crosby sang “White Christmas” with more sentiment and emphasis than one could
ever remember hearing, and a warm feeling settled over the auditorium.
Gradually the cheers and applause subsided and were replaced with silent
admiration. It was then that you had to read between the lines on those faces
to know it was more than just one song for one Christmas; “Thanks”
they seemed to be thinking, “for the memories.”
(Duffy Jennings, San Francisco Chronicle,
December 15, 1972)
December 16, Saturday. An interview with Gary Crosby is published
in TV Guide.
TVG:
Some say he was an insensitive, even cold, father.
GC:
Absolutely wrong. He was tremendously sensitive and he cared deeply. He just
had a rough time showing it.
TVG:
What was your mother like?
GC:
Shy. Except on her own turf. Maybe that’s why she stayed home so much. She was
just as sensitive as he was, but she showed it. She was the one with the
hugging and kissing. She might hit us when we got out of line, but she was very
warm and open. If she was sad or happy or angry you knew it. A word could make
her laugh or cry.
TVG:
Did your parents get along?
GC:
She had a temper – big as any I’ve ever seen. And there were different times,
times when they’d laugh and have fun and be in each other’s arms. Times when
she’d drink, times when she wouldn’t and other times when she “didn’t feel
good.” I never heard the word “cancer”.
TVG:
What was your father’s attitude toward her illness?
GC:
Nothing was ever wrong. Not when she drank. Not ever. We blocked a lot of it
out. He never blocked anything out. His attitude was “I see it and I’ll handle
it.”
TVG:
What were you like?
GC:
Big mouth. I got to thinking I was a clown. I had to do something to get
somebody to pay attention. She’d get the switch out. They kept telling me, “The
Crosby name doesn’t make you into a nice guy.” But still I couldn’t keep my
mouth shut.
December 19, Tuesday. In Spokane, Ted Crosby has a serious heart
attack and is clinically dead for seven minutes before being revived. Bing
speaks to Ted’s son Howard and offers financial help, which is not eventually
needed. Ted has a pacemaker installed.
December 23, Saturday. Bing is at the San Francisco 49ers playoff
football game against the Dallas Cowboys and sees the Cowboys win 30-28. At
half time, he is coaxed on to the field for a chorus with Ernie Ford on “I Left
My Heart in San Francisco”. Bing then leads a community sing on it the second
time around and the whole proceedings are captured by the TV broadcast. (11:00
p.m.–12:15 a.m.) Bing’s taped appearance on the
December 28, Thursday. Bing records two songs in San Francisco for
Old St. Mary’s Church, which are issued on a limited edition LP called Christmas
Star to raise funds for the church. Bob Moonan accompanies Bing on the
organ with help from the Old St. Mary’s Choir.
December 31, Sunday. (2:00-2:30 p.m.) Bing narrates and introduces a television compilation called You Can Still Change the World that has been produced by The Christophers. The program celebrates the 20th anniversary of weekly television broadcasts by The Christophers. Roberto Clemente is killed in a plane crash while taking relief supplies to the earthquake area in Nicaragua. Clemente was a star Pittsburgh Pirates player.
January 3, Wednesday. Bing has a business meeting with 3M
executives at Carmel. He also writes to Bill Little of the Peoria Star Journal in Illinois.
Dear Mr. Little:
If I have any
philosophy of life, it would be a professional one.
I’ve always found
that being a good listener is a great asset. If you listen a lot, people will
think you are very deep, very profound, and very deep – and you’ll find by
listening that you pick up a lot of things you’d miss, if you’re talking all
the time.
Of course, you have
to listen to the right people, and I’ve found that my selection of people to
listen to has been a very fortunate one.
I hope that this is
of some use to you for your profile –
Warmest best
wishes,
Bing
January 5, Friday. Bing and son Harry go to the Marysville Duck
Club, near Yuba City, California.
January 15, Monday. Takes his son Harry to the San Francisco Sports and Boat show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
January 22, Monday. Bing leaves for Pebble Beach.
January 24, Wednesday. (Starting at 6 p.m.) The welcoming dinner
for the Bing Crosby Pro-Am takes place at the Monterey Fairgrounds.
January 25-28,
Thursday–Sunday. Bing attends the Bing Crosby Pro-Am
at Pebble Beach, which is won again by Jack Nicklaus after a play-off.
Celebrities playing
include Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Phil Harris, Jack Lemmon, Tennessee
Ernie
Ford, Howard Keel, Alan Shepard, Hank Ketcham, Robert Stack, Glen
Campbell, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, and Harry James. The TV
coverage is on ABC-TV and Bing is the host-commentator. During the
tournament,
Bing gives two very long interviews to
The main interviews with Bing himself were reserved to take place in
January 1973. By then he would be on the Monterey Peninsula hosting his Pro-Am
Golf Tournament on the cliffside fairways and greens that slope to the sea at
Pebble Beach, Carmel, California – and therefore captive in one location for a
while.
A modest apartment in Cypress Point Golf Clubhouse was the setting for
the marathon interviews. “Hi, make yourself at home – I’ll be right with you,”
he said, and then seated beside a crackling log fire, he busied himself stoking
up his pipe before the long and exacting probe into his memory bank. I took him
at his word for a few minutes and wandered out onto the balcony. Fairways lined
with pines and cypress trees greeted my gaze and beyond, the Pacific Ocean. Mrs
Kathryn Crosby joined me in admiring this breathtaking view. “I saw three
whales spouting yesterday,” she informed me.
“They migrate at this time of the year and it is such fun to watch out
for them.” I would have quite liked to stay out there with her and watch but my
really big fish was ready to talk.
Bing, amidst a cloud of smoke, began. He talked casually, sometimes with
the pipe clenched between his teeth, and had no difficulty in recalling events
of the past. Some of the questions were searching, but nothing fazed him.
Suddenly the phone rang. There was an appointment for him to keep. We
had been talking for two whole hours. “Haven’t got any more time today – see
you for a couple of hours tomorrow though – how about ten in the morning?” With
a handshake and a smile he was off out onto the greens to host his galaxy of
golfers.
He wasn’t there exactly at ten the following day. An unscheduled date
with a TV camera crew had got him out at eight-thirty that morning. “Phew, I’ve
only got to sit and talk to you haven’t I?” he said when he finally appeared.
“Let’s get started, I’ve only got till midday. Where did we get to yesterday?”
Out poured the smoke from the pipe and we were off again.
A few days later I realized there were a couple more things I needed to
know about and phoned him for a brief meeting. “Tomorrow morning, make it
early, say eight o’clock, for the day is going to be busy.” I arrived just
before time and, as Bing was not yet there, I decided I would like an impromptu
photo of him and got my camera ready.
When he entered the room he saw what I was about to do, held up his hand
and pointed frantically at his head. “Oh no, not without my rug on – you can
catch me later when I am outside.” It was then I realized that, having never
seen a picture of him without hair or a hat, it was a grossly unwelcome action
to take a picture at this informal occasion He told me he avoided wearing
a hairpiece if at all possible – a hat was so much more convenient. I was
amused by the term ‘rug’, for I recalled reading somewhere that he used to refer
to his toupee as a ‘divot’ – a great term for a golfer to use. I meekly packed
up my camera, asked my questions, recorded the answers, and then left him to
prepare for the active day ahead.
(Brian Willey, writing in BING magazine,
summer, 2014 [#167])
January 28, Sunday. Larry Crosby's wife, Elaine, dies at St. John's Hospital.
January 29, Monday. Bing and Phil Harris fly in to Brooks County Airport at Falfurrias, Texas.
January 30/31, Tuesday/Wednesday. Bing is at the McGill Brothers ranch in Brookshire, Texas with Phil Harris to look
for quail. George Coleman is also in the party.
February 4, Sunday. (11:15 a.m.–12 noon) An American Sportsman
program about Bing and Phil Harris shooting pheasant on the Roland Holden place
near Williamsburg in Iowa is shown.
Last Sunday’s
American Sportsman with Bing Crosby and Phil Harris hunting pheasant was a fine
show and Bing and Phil put on a great comedy act,
(Don Page, The Los Angeles Times, February 10,
1973)
They were the original song and dance men of the outdoors: one a movie personality, raconteur and legendary imbiber; the other a master crooner, Academy Award-winning actor with a wit drier than Death Valley. Each an original, each made in America.
Phil Harris was from Indiana. He could make you laugh on sight. Often wearing a headband, which in those days was a symbol of rebellion, and sometimes a black state trooper’s jacket, which was not, Harris walked the high wire separating good and bad taste like a Wallenda. But whatever he said or did, it was styled with so much charm that only a noviciate could find fault.
Crosby, from Tacoma, Washington, was his straight man — quiet, dignified and blessed with a voice made by a celestial florist. Bing’s honeyed tones complemented perfectly the gravel-bed that ran through Phil’s throat. When they sang together, Vaudeville was reborn — comical, lyrical and touching.
Once a year we held a reunion on the ‘American Sportsman’ television series. Cameras and good times rolled as we followed bird dogs across sun-burnished fields and flying fish across golden oceans. We were adult children let loose with fly rods and shotguns in Nature’s favorite playgrounds. Hunting and fishing were our excuse to join laughter and memory.
Phil drank whiskey like Picasso painted, which was all the time. Yet his constitution compared in strength and clarity — if not in humor — with the one written by our forefathers. Never, to my knowledge, did he fumble a line or a glass; and when he swung a 20-gauge on a bird he was world class.
“These get-togethers are among my favorite times,” Bing once told me. “I love that guy (Harris). His approach to life is so right — never sweat the small stuff.”
Crosby and Harris appeared on the ‘American Sportsman’ 16 straight years. It was for outdoor fans a ritual no less anticipated than Bing’s annual Christmas show on NBC-TV was by the rest of America. When they came on ‘The Sportsman,’ hunters and fisherman would stop whatever they were doing, sit down and be lifted by the routine of Mister Crosby and Mister Harris.
In the middle of a hunt, they might break into their act. It was drawn straight out of a Minstrel show:
“Oh, Mister Crosby?”
“Is that you, Mister Harris?”
“Indeed it is, Mister Crosby, and how is your day going?”
“Poorly, Mister Harris.”
“Oh really, and why is that, Mister Crosby?”
“I forgot my socks, Mister Harris, and my feet are turning blue.”
And sure enough, the camera would pan down to Bing’s boots and bare ankles, whereupon a chuckling Mister Harris would offer Mister Crosby something liquid to warm his toes.
They’re both gone now, and with their passing we lost a strand of magic. Crosby died on a golf course — his second favorite place to be.
Once, I called Phil’s wife, actress Alice Faye, who lived in Palm Springs, and asked if she knew where I might reach the man. She answered that she hadn’t a clue. “But when you finally get hold of him,” she said with a lilt in her voice, “tell him for me to straighten up and fly right.” Harris passed away in his sleep. I hope he was dreaming of white-winged doves dipping and dodging against a blue desert sky.
(Curt Gowdy, writing on the ESPN web site in 2001)
February (undated). Bing contributes a tribute to the Roberto Clemente
Memorial Album.
February 9, Friday. Bing writes to British fan Ken Crossland.
Thanks
for sending me the very attractive little Sheffield University booklet. Should
be a useful item.
Glad
you liked the Michael Parkinson Show when it was televised.
It was
fun doing this show. He’s a great guy. Certainly treats his guests with great
understanding and consideration.
I hope that 1973
is a good year for you at Sheffield.
With best
respects, believe me to be -
Sincerely yours,
Bing
February 16, Friday. Bing takes his children off on a skiing trip
and then to Malcom and Margaret McLean’s Sehoy Plantation in Alabama.
February (undated). Kathryn goes into an anaphylactic shock
following a penicillin injection. It is discovered that she is extremely
allergic to tobacco. Bing never smokes again in her presence. Bing nurses her
for four days and then departs for Vera Cruz in Mexico.
March (undated). Frank Sinatra refuses to contribute to the
fourteen-part series on Bing’s life that is being prepared by
March 15-20, Thursday-Tuesday. Bing records his 1973 Christmas show at Sun Valley, Idaho, with his family and guests Michael Landon, Connie Stevens, John Misha Petkevitch and John Byner. The director is Art Fisher and the producers are Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos. Bob Finkel is executive producer. Nick Perito is the musical director.
KETCHUM
-- While most of Ketchum slept Sunday morning, the First Security Bank, Main
Street, was robbed.
But
it was not the usual “heist.” Stolen from the vault was the “Christmas Star,”
the "fair maiden" taken hostage was Connie Stevens and the entire
scene was reminiscent of a nickelodeon adventure.
All
was part of the taping of Bing Crosby's traditional Christmas special, a
musical variety program starring the Crosby family, Miss Stevens, Michael
Landon, Olympic skater Jan Misha Petkevich and John Byner.
Staged
as a melodrama in a musical format, the program segment had a ready made
setting at the recreated “old Western” bank, complete with antique metal
tellers’ cages, plush furniture and spitoons.
For
shots on the bank's boardwalk and Main Street, a bushy Christmas tree was
installed at the corner, converting March 18 into Dec. 25; Ketchum Police
Department; State Police and Blaine County Sheriff's department officers routed
traffic to side streets, and car engines were silenced.
The
taping utilized compact, video tape cameras - a new innovation designed to
provide added mobility. Aside from a short dialogue on the boardwalk, the
singing was lip-synced to a pre-recorded audio tape.
Later
in the morning, worshipers at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church had a little
extra company and the addition of Christmas carols to the service. Other area
landmarks to be incorporated into the taping include Dollar Mountain, the red
and white Ketchum-Sun Valley Transit Bus, the Elkhorn carousel ice rink and the
Sun Valley Mall area.
A
Teram Inc. production for NBC, executive producer for the program is Bob Finkel
and the director is Art Fisher. An airing date in December has not yet been
set.
(Terry Campbell. The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho, March 20, 1973)
March 19, Monday. Bing replies to British fan Olive Gregory.
I do
appreciate very much the thoughtful kindness that moved you to write me recently
- well not recently, I see it has been a couple of months ago, and my reply is
long since overdue - and I want to thank you for the letter.
I’m
very glad indeed that you saw the Michael Parkinson Show. This was fun to do.
He’s a nice man to work with.
I am
sorry that some of the people who came to the show were disappointed that I was
not willing to stay behind and sign autographs.
There
were so many and I had an important engagement elsewhere, and I just couldn’t
stop at that time to sign autographs. It gets so involved when there are so
many people. I suppose they understand this - or they should.
Glad
you got a couple pictures of the tournament at Southport. That was a great
trip. I enjoyed playing there very much. It’s a nice golf course and I had
great fun with Bruce Forsyth and Gary Player.
I’ve
been hearing about all the exposure that I’ve gotten over there in England in
recent months both on the radio and television – and now
These fellas have been over here for three or four months,
interviewing various people and getting material for the show. I think after
that program is finished, nobody in England will want to hear anything more
about me at all. But maybe not.
I certainly
have some wonderful friends in England and I’m proud to number you among them.
All
best wishes to you and your family.
As
ever, Bing
April 1, Sunday. Bing leaves for Las Cruces. Kathryn remains at
home to nurse Bridget Brennan who is dying of cancer. Bridget has been with the
family for eleven years.
April 8, Sunday.
Thank
you for your very nice letter. You are very kind.
I’m
glad to hear you report that the
It
might be stimulating. It might even be deflating, and all of us can stand a
little of that in this business.
Thanks,
too, for the very nice birthday card. Warmest wishes to you and your family.
As
ever, Bing
April 12, Thursday. Bing returns to Hillsborough from Las Cruces
to discuss problems arising with his daughter’s education. Kathryn wishes Mary
to attend a school in Mexico.
On Monday, April 23rd, as our Easter vacation ended,
Bing forced himself to sit all day with Bridget, and the two conversed as if she
were in perfect health…Bing kissed Bridget’s forehead, she gave him a hug, and
he left her forever.
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in My Last Years with Bing,
page 317.)
April 24, Tuesday. Bing leaves for Las Cruces again.
April 26, Thursday. Bridget Brennan dies at 2:40 a.m.
May 2, Wednesday. Bing is still at Las Cruces for what he
thinks is his birthday.
May 8, Tuesday. Bing returns to Hillsborough and soon
departs for the Rising River ranch for trout fishing.
May 24, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn fly to Las Cruces together
for a holiday, without the children on this occasion. Whilst in Mexico, they
visit Guadalajara and Matancitas.
June 3, Sunday. Bing and Kathryn arrive home in Hillsborough.
Meanwhile, radio station KXL of Portland, Oregon, commences a thirty-nine week
series called “The Crosby Years.” John Salisbury is the presenter and Bing
contributes many comments from interviews undertaken at his Hillsborough home.
One exchange goes as follows:
Salisbury:
The question, which always seems to come up with regard to famous people is,
what’s he really like? If anybody were to ask you what is Bing Crosby really
like, what would you say?
Bing: Oh I’d
say he’s one of the, one of the boys, one of the fellows. Quite ordinary. Got a
good ear for music, good ear for rhythm, which was none of my doing, you get
that from your parents. I think I’m probably a little insensitive to things I
should do. People said I’m kind of cold. But not inwardly I’m not. I feel very
deeply for people who are … who don’t have things they’d like to have, like to
be able to help them, but I don’t show it, I guess. I can play fair golf, or
used to. I have very bad taste in clothes, I’m very romantic, very sentimental,
terribly sentimental. I can cry at a newsreel if I see some troops going
overseas and see a few young faces, and think about what they’re going into, I
get misty-eyed. Very impressionable. Little overweight. That’s about it.
June 8, Friday. Bing records “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” and “It’s
Not Where You Start” at
June 17, Sunday. An interview with Bing is published in the Family
Weekly magazine.
…Sometimes people ask how I’ve raised
Harry, Nathaniel and Mary Frances compared to my first batch of children.
Actually there’s been very little basic difference. When we raised my first
batch of children I was a lot busier, had to travel much more, be on location
for several months and didn’t spend as much time with them as I do this group.
Also, we sent the first group away to boarding school, whereas this group goes
to a public high school down the street. But otherwise, the methods, the
discipline and regime are the same.
I think in this day, more so than when my
first children were growing up, it’s especially important for parents to be as
close as they can to their children and see something of them every day. We
take all our meals together except lunch, when they’re at school. There’s so
much permissiveness today—all children have to do is spend five minutes with
the wrong companion and all the good work you’ve done can be undone. Today you
have these groups who believe they can break the law and otherwise misbehave.
If your kid gets into a group like that and doesn’t participate, they call him
“chicken.” It’s tough for a child to cope with that. So, if you can keep as
close a relationship as possible with the children at this stage. I’m sure it’s
helpful. You need authority and discipline if you want any respect from your
children for your beliefs, opinions and ideas.
I try to be a strict father, but there
are certain limits. Kathryn wants them to do a lot of homework, and I do too;
but sometimes if there’s a good football, baseball or basketball game on—say,
the play-off games—and they’re on at night, I’m for letting the boys watch it
on TV. But I’m strict in other things. Harry’s 14 now. He’s allowed one night a
week, preferably on the weekend, when he can stay out on a date until 10:30 or
11 p.m. Mary Frances is 13, and she’s not allowed that privilege yet. I suppose
that’s kind of strict for these times, but they don’t seem to mind.
…We find withdrawing privileges the most
effective way to maintain discipline with our children—withdrawing recreation pleasures,
trips they’ve been looking forward to…My own father was never very strict. He
let us do anything in the world. My mother was very strict, and we all had to
cooperate and conform. We were a large family and anyone who got out of line
was really asking for trouble from Mom! But we never resented having that kind
of discipline, and I’ve followed much the same thinking with my children.
.
I also think children who have affluent
parents are a special problem. They have to be taught how to cope with this
situation. I’ve explained to my kids that they have a special responsibility
because they have some affluence to enjoy a lot of things other kids can’t
enjoy. The result, I believe, is that they are unusually generous and open.
Then there are problems like the drug
scene. Kathryn, being in the nursing profession, had all the literature on
drugs and has always seen to it that the kids are kept up to date on the whole
—what drugs can do to your health, etc. There haven’t been any instances in our
neighborhood, or with people with whom we are personally acquainted, but Mary
Frances is very well posted and so is Harry. What will happen to them if they
get with the wrong group, if they are dared and called “chicken”? I don’t
know—all I can do is pray.
June 25, Monday. Bing is in New York for several days, (10:30 a.m.)
Takes part in a press conference in the 2nd. Floor Auditorium, McGraw-Hill
Building to announce The New York Experience Electrovision movie. Bing
is then interviewed by various TV news crews including one from CBS and he
repeats the CBS interview when it is discovered that the camera has jammed.
In the evening, he attends the
Rainbow Room where he is photographed with Mrs. Louis Armstrong. During his stay, he goes to the theater several times and sees Seesaw, Pippin,
and A Little Night Music.
A new
venture for him is a partnership in a company, Electrovision
Productions, which has created multi-screen shows, “The San Francisco
Experience” and the “Hawaiian Experience.” Now, a third tribute has been
fashioned, “The New York Experience,” which will be presented here by the
Trans-Lux Corp. in a new theater being built
specifically for it 75 feet underground in the new McGraw-Hill building at 1221
Sixth Ave.
Crosby
flew in to lend his personal presence to the formal announcement of “The New
York Experience” movie. Movie actually is too limiting a term for this
production, which will have images projected on a number of screens and unusual
extra effects like billowing fog, Chinese lanterns descending from the ceiling
and speakers under the seats to give realism to the rumble of the subway
trains, and the rattle of the taxis.
The
production will be a love letter to New York City and Crosby seconded its
feeling. “I’ve walked all over New York,” he said, from Battery Park to Yankee
Stadium. Whatever is happening here that people complain about, the same things
are happening in other cities. New York can never decline. It’s like London.
There’s too much here. There’s everything here you want.”
This
very welcome visiting fireman had kept to his reputation for being an early
riser by showing up at 9:30 a.m., an hour before the ceremony, chewing
reflectively on a mint and ready for conversation.
I
asked right off, “Did you have breakfast yet?” “Yes, I did,” he replied. And
what did he have? “Oh, grapefruit juice, scrambled eggs, coffee.” Ah-ha,
gotcha! On the TV commercials he’s always plugging Minute Maid orange juice. He
laughed and said, “Well, I vary sometimes.”
(Ernest Leogrande, New York Sunday News, July 1, 1973)
July 6, Friday. Bing writes to Pat Sullivan, the
President of the Club Crosby.
Thank you for your letter, and I’m
pleased to learn of your efforts to increase the membership and improve the
quality of the Club’s publication, “BINGANG”.
I think Bob Roberts is probably your
greatest source for material - although a man named Vernon Wesley Taylor, Box
475, Federal Station, Portland, Oregon, 97207, seems to have quite a voluminous
collection, and possibly could supply you with some additions to the list
you’re compiling.
There are others too, but Roberts and
Taylor seem to be in possession of a great deal of data.
Yes, I have made a record this year - a
song called, “It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish” from the
Broadway musical, “See Saw”, and they’ve backed it up with a song called, “Tie
a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree”.
I don’t know when this is going to be
released. Daybreak Records was issuing it in England in connection with a l4 week
I’m going to have my secretary look
around and see if she can find any photographs that would be useful for the
Journal.
All best wishes to you and the Club.
Your friend, Bing
July 17, Tuesday. Kathryn takes daughter Mary to Mexico City
and they decide to enroll her at the Vallarta school.
August (undated). Ted Crosby and his wife plus their sons Howard and
Edward, visit Bing and Kathryn at Hillsborough. Howard and Bing play golf
together at Burlingame Country Club.
August 7, Tuesday. Bing writes to British fan Albert
Samples.
Many
thanks for your kind letter of July 10. I’m very happy to hear I’ve been able
to provide you with some entertainment and amusement over the years, and also
that you have been listening to the 14-week
Those
fellas from the
Warmest best wishes. Bing
August 13, Monday. Bing is seen in newspaper coverage with ice figure skater Janet Lynn.
He has recently become honorary chairman of the Southern Californian
Committee for the Memorial Fund of the Ice Figure Skating Association.
August (undated). Goes to Alaska for fishing for the American Sportsman television program. Fishes at various locations including Admiralty Island, Pavlof Bay, Baranof Island, Lake Eva, and Mitchell Bay.
We
met Bing and his guide, veteran Pacific North-west pilot and outdoorsman “Buzz”
Fiorini, when the plane landed (in Ketchikan, Alaska). Fiorini’s own
single-engine, pontoon-equipped Cessna was tethered to a dock nearby. We bought
a few items for our plane ride at a dockside grocery store. The shop’s jukebox
played an old number of Bing’s, “Don’t Fence Me In.” An elderly Eskimo stood
beside the cash register, his weathered face wearing a smile.
“Know
who’s singing on the jukebox?” I asked him as I paid for my supplies. He shook
his head, still smiling.
“I’m
famous everywhere,” Bing said and laughed.
The
weather was perfect for the two-hour flight up the coast and the Inside
Passage, up Clarence Strait, across Surnner Strait, over huge Kupreanof Island,
across Frederick Sound, and, finally, to the jagged outline of Admiralty
Island. Buzz put the small plane down gently on Thayer Lake–about halfway up
the west side of the rugged island–and we taxied slowly to the white sand beach in front of Thayer
Lake Lodge. The family-owned lodge was big and built of logs by our wonderful
hosts, the Nelsons. We ate a marvelous dinner there and sat around the huge
stone fireplace talking about fishing, as all anglers do, until bedtime.
In
the morning Buzz flew us across Chatham Strait to Pavlof Bay, where we fished
the mouth of an unnamed stream running down the slopes of Chicagof Island. With
the float plane safely anchored and fastened to the trunk of a huge pine, we
waded close to the mouth of the stream.
And
all around us jumped coho salmon…Then I heard Bing shout and saw him strike a
fish. His fly rod doubled over, and a wild coho salmon hurled itself from the
surface of the pool and somersaulted across the current in a series of
spectacular jumps.
“Ole.:”
Bing yelled as the fish tore line from his reel and headed upstream. He
grinned, pounding up the bank in bulky waders to pursue the streaking salmon. Fromhis
pipe trailed a plume of blue smoke that lingered behind him. He was as happy a
man as ever fished.
By
the time he landed his coho—it was about six pounds—they’d been battling for 33
minutes and everyone had become involved. Nelson had come downstream to
photograph the fight, as did 1. Buzz waded into the water with a net, waiting
for the salmon to tire. When the fish was finally netted, Bing was flushed with
pleasure and breathing hard from the exertion. He was 70 years old that summer,
but his life in the outdoors had kept him a fit man.
We’d
fished for three days, taking cohos, rainbows, and sea-run cutthroats from the
river mouths of Admiralty and Baranof islands. After dinner, at the end of the
third day, we gathered again at the fireplace. Buzz leaned toward us. “Okay,”
he said, “tomorrow we get a treat, one of the greatest trout around—the Dolly
Varden.”
…Dolly
Varden are not restricted to Alaska by any means, but in Alaska, and across the
northern Pacific to Japan and Korea, they are sea-going trout. Farther south
they can be found in northern California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Nevada,
where they are primarily lake fish.
I
have no idea where Buzz took us to find those beautiful trout. We flew north
from Thayer Lake and landed on a remote mountain lake about 20 minutes later. A
stream fed the lake from one end, and another stream headed down the steep
mountainside. A slight current flowed from one end to the other, making the
narrow lake feel like a river. Leaving the tethered plane, we all waded along a shallow
shore casting flies out toward the deeper water.
We
began catching Dolly Varden almost immediately. They struck savagely at
streamer flies and - after a few acrobatic jumps - fought a strong, twisting,
underwater battle. Most fish were in the three-to four-pound range, hard to the
touch from the icy cold water and brilliant in the morning sunlight. I caught
most of mine on the same white marabou streamer I’d been tossing to coho salmon
for days.
Bing
was doing very well with one of his old-favorite wet flies, a red-and-yellow
Mickey Finn. He was hip-deep in the slow-moving water, casting slightly
upcurrent and letting his fly swing a bit down and across the pull of the
water. When he got a strike he set the hook with a snap of his wrist then
grinned widely as the colorful trout turned somersaults across the water. The
smoke from his ever-present pipe floated near him in the still morning air.
I
fished some more as Bing moved slowly up the shore. Then Nelson eased himself
beside me and gave me a nudge. “Listen to that,” he said quietly, looking at
Crosby. Alternating between striking, fighting, and releasing the multicolored
trout, Bing was singing softly. ‘
“Hello
Dolly. . .,” he crooned the lines from the Broadway musical.
“Oh
hello Dolly ....”
Nelson
and I couldn’t have wiped the smiles off our faces if we’d tried.
Nobody
seems to know just who named this beautiful trout after Charles Dickens’s
fictional lady character, but I know whenever I see or hear of this lovely
fish, I will think of Bing Crosby.
Bing
is gone now, but I hope that–somewhere–the Dolly Varden are rising happily for
his battered Mickey Finn.
(Jack Samson, November/December
1998 issue of American Angler)
ADMIRALTY ISLAND, Alaska — Hovering on the edge of a
snow‐fed stream in water so cold it hurt to drink it, hordes of sea‐run Dolly
Varden trout smashed our flies recklessly.
Fighting hard, and
often using a peculiar rolling motion in an effort to escape, the fish, which
ranged from halt a pound to 5 pounds, were clearly visible against the gravel
bottom of the stream where it emptied into a small lake.
In two hours of
angling we caught and released 40 or 50 of them, keeping only a few for supper,
the largest a three‐pounder taken by Bing Crosby, who may have coaxed the trout
to its demise with his mellifluous rendering of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'!”
We—the party also
included Jack Samson of Manhattan and a pilot, Buzz Fiorini—had left Bob and
Edith Nelson's Thayer Lake Lodge, which is about 50 miles south of Juneau on
Admiralty Island, in Fiorini's Cessna 185 float plane shortly after 8 that
morning, flying east across Chatham Strait to Baranof Island and the Dolly
Varden stream…
(Nelson Bryant, New
York Times, August 21, 1973)
August 23, Thursday. Kathryn and Mary fly back to Mexico and Mary
passes an entrance exam for the ballet with flying colors.
August (undated). Goes to Guadalajara, Mexico, to make arrangements for
the Bing Crosby Open Golf International Classic golf tournament to be played in
December at the San Isidro Country Club. The tournament is for the top 25 women
golfers of the United States and has a $100,000 purse at stake. Buys a
3-bedroom house at the Bosques De San Isidro residential development at the
Country Club. He is an honored guest at two separate lunches given by
Guadalajara Visitors and Convention Bureau and by the National Tourism Council.
Bing golfs at the Atlas and San Isidro courses during his visit before departing
for Mexico City.
August 27, Monday. Writes to Bert Cross, Chairman and CEO of the 3M company.
Got
your recent letter about the Seattle Kings Football Team. It was good to hear
from you again and to know that you have an interest in Professional football.
I’m
sure Seattle is going to eventually wind up with a franchise. It’s a growing
community, there’s lots of sports interest – but, Bert, I’m involved in a
couple of things just now and I wouldn’t want to expand in that direction any
more.
Well,
we had a tough struggle getting the 1974 Pebble Beach Tournament on the schedule.
It
was mostly due to a misunderstanding and failure of the people at Monterey to
apprise me of the emergency that would be created by having the tournament down
there the same week-end as Washington’s Birthday. I had no idea this was such a
critical period for the area.
Todd
Thomas was a formidable force in the negotiations that eventually worked it all
out.
Hope
you’re in good form – Always your friend, Bing
September (undated). Bing
and Kathryn give a dinner for Bruno Pagliai, who is in the process of
divorcing Merle Oberon. Other guests include the Richard Thieriots and
the Sheldon Coopers.
September 7, Friday. Bing leaves home for Africa for a safari and to make an
American Sportsman film in Tanzania on the rapidly diminishing number of
cheetahs.
September 8, Saturday. Bing arrives in London at Heathrow.
September 11, Tuesday. Bing leaves London Heathrow airport for
Africa.
September 12, Wednesday. Bing arrives at Nairobi airport in Kenya.
September 29, Saturday. Bing flies from Wilson aerodrome, near
Nairobi in Kenya to Seronera in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania where he is to make the American Sportsman show about cheetahs.
October 2, Tuesday. Bing flies from Lake Manyara, Tanzania to
Wilson aerodrome, near Nairobi in Kenya.
October 3, Wednesday. Bing flies from Nairobi, Kenya, to London.
He sleeps most of the way and only wakes as the flight arrives in London.
October 4, Thursday. Bing is interviewed by Vincent Mulchrone of
the Daily Mail at 7 a.m. as he waits in the V.I.P. lounge at London airport for
a flight to Geneva in Switzerland.
October (undated). Bing stops over in Paris.
October 9, Tuesday. Bing arrives back at London Heathrow airport.
October 10, Wednesday. At Lingfield Races (near East Grinstead),
Sussex, England.
October 12, Friday. At the Connaught Hotel in London, has a short
meeting with fan Leslie Gaylor and then is interviewed by Judith Simons of the Daily
Express. At 10:15 a.m. leaves the hotel for the airport. Flies from
Heathrow on his way to his Hillsborough home.
October 18, Thursday. Bing in Hillsborough is interviewed by
transatlantic telephone line on the
October 21, Sunday. Bing leaves for Southern Alberta, Canada with Phil Harris to make an American Sportsman program in
pursuit of the sharp-tailed grouse. The program is shown on February 24, 1974.
October 24, Wednesday. Kathryn Crosby writes to Priscilla Koernig,
vice-president of Club Crosby.
Things have been very exciting this year.
Bing has just returned from Africa,
Paris, Switzerland and London - and by that time he expected the children to be
all settled in school. And for a miracle they are!
Harry, at fifteen, is doing a lot of work
in choir and studying music, harmony and theory outside of school. He’s also
doing very well in Latin, Geometry and English, and all those good things.
Nathaniel at eleven is in the 7th grade,
and just took a young lady to a dance for the first time.
Mary Frances is in Mexico City. Seems to
be adjusting very well. Going to school all in Spanish, and making lots of nice
friends.
We have an exchange student this year.
Her name is Marie Teresa Caso. Mary Frances is living
with her parents and brothers and sisters in Mexico, and Marie Te is our intercombio, or exchange student. We couldn’t have a
sweeter child living with us. Nathaniel is becoming very gallant, and Harry’s
even teaching her how to play the guitar.
It’s going to be an exciting year for us.
I am working with ACT, and Harry and I did the Mike Douglas Show.
We had a lot of fun, and I will be
touring, I think, in the spring with the play, “I Do, I Do”.
It’s
going to be a good year for all of us. I hope it’s going to be a good year for
all the people who follow Bing’s career and care about him as we all do here.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Crosby
October 27, Saturday.
(5:00 a.m.). A motorist loses control of his
vehicle and knocks down the fence at Bing’s Hillsborough home waking
the whole
household. The car comes to rest against a tree. Elsewhere, Bing and
Phil Harris fly home from Southern Alberta where they have been making
an American Sportsman program.
November (undated). Bing is featured as "Mr. Hunting and Fishing" on the front cover of the Field & Stream magazine. This is the first celebrity cover in the 78-year history of the magazine.
November 2, Friday. Bing writes to British fan, Bert
Bishop.
Thanks
very much for your letter. I’ve signed the enclosed picture and am returning it
herewith…
Bert,
don’t you ever have any concern about busting up to me and saying hello if you
see that I’m in England. I am always happy to see friends and followers -
people who have enjoyed the things that I’ve done. It’s gratifying to know that
my efforts have been useful.
Glad
to hear there’s a possibility that the Michael Parkinson Show is going to have
a re-run - and also nice to know that the song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” is making
some noise commercially.
One of
the real reasons for my doing a new record was that I received a lot of mail
from England from different people saying that it looked like a
year was going to go by without my having a record release. And, of course, I
had to remedy that!
One
more thing, Bert. You’re wrong about Leslie Gaylor not being aware of my
presence in England. He did indeed show up, and we had a nice chat, and he
brought along some pictures to be autographed and some news about
records, etc. He’s always full of information.
Take
care of yourself –
Always
your friend, Bing
P.S.
Yes, I did have a couple of winners at Lingfield. In
fact, a horse that I bred and sold, finished second. He’s a two-year-old and
should win next time out. He’s called Clanrick.
I sold him to an Englishman named Lord Carnarvon when
he was a yearling. He was about 50 to 1 and only got beat a zip, racing from a
very bad post position.
November (undated). Bing is in south Alabama "bird shooting."
November 5, Monday. Arrives in Pinehurst. North Carolina prior to playing in a pro-am.
November 7, Wednesday. Golfs in the Joe DiMaggio World Pro-Am tournament at Pinehurst, North Carolina. Other celebrities taking part include Richard Arlen, Fred MacMurray, James Garner, Robert Sterling and Alan Hale Jr.
Bing Blends Into
Crowd
PINEHURST
– Bing Crosby has to be the least flashy, least pretentious of all the
so-called Hollywood stars.
Yet,
he is definitely number one, the King of them all, has been for forty years. He’s
an entertainer who has become synonymous with Christmas, thanks to a recording
made 30 years ago. His overall appeal to the general American public surpasses
even Bob Hope, who has been far more active than Crosby in the last decade.
Yesterday,
a small gallery showed up at the ungodly hour of 9 a.m. to watch Bing Crosby tee
off in 40-degree weather on the famed No. 2 Course here, where the Joe DiMaggio
World Celebrity Pro Am was being played.
The
on-lookers had to peer twice to make sure it was really Der Bingle, the famous
crooner, that they were looking at. He was so darn ordinary looking. He was
wearing a very drab pair of greenish-brown slacks, an ugly off-green
turtle-neck sweater worn under a wrinkled navy blue cardigan. His head was
covered by a scotch-blue golf hat with a “World Open” emblem on it. His golf
shoes could have used a shine.
Now
approaching the 70-year mark, Crosby walked with a very slight limp and his
face was deeply wrinkled and without a trace of a tan.
And
then there was his golf equipment: A very ordinary green vinyl golf bag that
would retail for about $20 at a sporting goods store. He had no headcovers over
his golf clubs. (His clubs, however, were first rate quality.)
Crosby
is an excellent golfer for a man of his age. He has a smooth, slow, machine-like
swing. Yesterday he split the fairway everytime with his tee-shots, which carry
and roll about 200 to 225yards. Although he picked up on a few holes, had he
played every shot his score would have been around 85 and that’s not bad considering
the weather and the fact that No. 2 Course is one of the world’s hardest…
…He
said very little throughout the round yesterday, confining his remarks mainly
to compliments or consolements to his playing partners, one of whom was former
touring pro Jim Ferree, who grew up in Winston-Salem. Mostly, the perpetually-relaxed
looking entertainer puffed on his familiar pipe and kept his hands in pockets
to keep them warm. Occasionally he would whistle a tune, the name of which
could not be distinguished.
His
only bit of show biz antics came on the 18th hole where a big crowd
had gathered. He pitched a wedge shot from about 40 yards to about six feet of
the flag stick. The crowd roared its approval and Crosby acknowledged with a graceful
bow that in turn resulted in more applause. He later missed the putt, however…
…Asked
about his professional career, the singer replied, “I am now confining myself
mostly to television specials, sports shows, such as the American Sportsman,
and lots of charity and promotional events.”
He
said he had no new albums this year, only one single. “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around
the Old Oak Tree.”
Why
that particular song?
“I
don’t know, it just seemed like a good one to do,” he said.
He
will have another family Christmas special this year, he said, adding, “I’m not
sure when it will be aired, probably during the week of Christmas.”...
(Jim Schlosser, The Greensboro Record, November 8, 1973)
November 9, Friday. Bing arrives home via Los Angeles, Alabama and
North Carolina.
November 12-14, Monday–Wednesday. Filming the Minute Maid commercial
at Hillsborough. This is delayed because of poor weather. Mary Crosby departs
for her school in Mexico City immediately after filming is completed. Bing is
unhappy with the decision to enroll at the school and his relations with Mary
Frances become strained with Bing refusing to answer her letters.
November 18, Sunday. Frank Sinatra begins his comeback after his
“retirement” when the television show “Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back” is aired by NBC.
November 25, Sunday. Bob and Dolores Hope visit Bing and his
family at their Hillsborough home for a Thanksgiving Dinner.
November 28, Wednesday. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Dear
Gord:
I
appreciated very much hearing from you recently, and I was much interested in
the good life you’ve developed for you and your family there in Ottawa.
I
have always heard that it was a beautiful city - truly representative of what
makes Canadians such a substantial and responsible people.
Glad
to hear also of the great progress of CFMO-FM. You have taken a direction that
is not easy to develop successfully, and what you’ve accomplished must surely be
a milestone in Canadian media.
I’ll
be glad, Gord, to sit down with you and do an interview any time you can get
out to San Francisco. I’m in and out of the area, but I'm here most of the
time.
I
probably should suggest that January would be the best, after Christmas and the
tournament and everything is out of the way.
I’m
wondering how much time you would need for such an interview, and if you came
with an exact idea in mind of just what points you wish to cover, it shouldn’t take more than a morning, I wouldn’t think.
When
you’ve been able to arrange a schedule which would be best for you - with
several alternate dates suggested – drop me a line, and I’ll try and get
together with you on the telephone and we’ll set it up.
All
the best to you and your family -
As ever, Bing
November (undated). Bing films a spot as one of the hosts for
December 4, Tuesday. Bing is honored at the Annual Sponsors Dinner
of the San Francisco Ducks Unlimited committee held at the Bohemian Club in San
Francisco. He is presented with the 1973 Weatherby Conservationist of the Year
award.
December 6, Thursday.
Presents a plaque to Ted Durein at a lunch at Trader Vic's. Durein is
managing editor of the Monterey Peninsula Herald and is honored for his
work on the Bing Crosby Pro-Am for 25 years.
December 9, Sunday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Bing Crosby’s Sun Valley
Christmas Show featuring Connie Stevens, John Byner, John Misha Petkevitch,
Michael Landon, and the Crosby family is shown on NBC-TV and attains the record
audience of 49,270,000. The show reaches No. 3 in the national TV weekly ratings. The sponsor is again Bell Telephone.
The latest Bing Crosby TV essay into celebrating a
holiday was hardly a Christmas present. This year his entire (second) family
was on camera and, attractive as they may be, they can’t even begin to match
the old man’s talent. Apart from that, the rest of the show was lackluster. Set
in ski resort Sun Valley, it came as no surprise that the whole thing was
downhill. It had about as much of the spirit of Christmas as a soggy snowball.
Michael Landon proved
his voice is pleasant enough but not of professional quality. Connie Stevens is
at least a pro, but not good enough to overcome the sloppy and pointless
situations the writers put the cast into. Crosby is undoubtedly one of the
great entertainers America has produced in this century, but he should avoid
holidays. His otherwise impeccable musicianship and good taste seem to
disappear on such occasions. And all that fine mountain scenery - snow and ice
- failed to put enough substance into the show to make it worth the hour.
(Variety, December 12, 1973)
I find it interesting to note how the coming
of a holiday allows us to rediscover the American notion of family. Any old
holiday will do, but Christmas is especially powerful in this respect.
Last night, it was the Bing Crosby family
which got together to entertain us with “The Bing Crosby Sun Valley Christmas
Show” (WBAL, Channel 11).
It was a fun hour, light-hearted enough to
remind us that the season is one that is supposed to bring us all closer to one
another and that sort of thing. Such a show doesn’t require much in the way of
performances, particularly when the members of the star’s family are not noted
as professionals.
Even the guests seem to be having a good time
and there seems to be little pressure.
This is due, in part to the format, of
course. Sun Valley resort-type areas do not lend themselves to the high pressure,
fast paced, belt-it-out hours of studio spectaculars. The Crosbys and their
guests played the relaxed atmosphere to the hilt.
Michael Landon sat by the fire and sang a
nice ballad and in between verses, we saw lovely, lyrical shots of Michael
riding a horse through the virgin snow. Connie Stevens, dressed in ermine, sang
a nice ballad and walked through the virgin snow. Jolm Byner, who is a very
funny mimic at times, did some comedy bits and fell down in the same snow.
The whole cast got together for a rollicking
narrative story-song which allowed every one to do something fun and funny. And
the guest ice-skater, Jan Mischa Petkevitch, performed beautifully on the ice
skates.
It all made me wish that there was some snow
outside and that is something I do not often wish for. When the carol section
came along, as I knew it would, I found myself singing along with the group. (My
children were muttering about my strange behavior by this time).
Mostly, I suppose that I wished that I were
there in Sun Valley with them, tramping through the virgin snow. But then TV is
just a fantasy anyway, isn’t it? That’s what I was supposed to wish for.
Maybe next year I can save my money and take
the crew to Sun Valley. But I wouldn‘t count on it…
(Horace M. Newcomb, The Baltimore Sun,
December 10, 1973)
December 10, Monday. Bing again writes to British fans, Bert Bishop
and Ken Crossland.
Dear
Bert,
Thanks
for your letter. I did indeed receive the pictures which you described, and I
very much appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending them to me.
I
suppose the racing season is over now in England - at least the flat season, so
there won’t be any more starts for Clanrick, but if
you see anything about him in the Sporting Life - he may have raced after I
went through England in October - let me know about it.
The
word “klutz” is probably a Jewish expression, meaning lackadaisical, or inept,
or maladroit - I think that’s the way it’s intended in the song.
Glad
to hear about the new releases on some of the old material. That’s about the
only way we know whether anything like that is being released is if somebody
hears it over in England.
I
don’t think they do much about it over here.
I
don’t know whether 1969 was a vacant year or not for releases. Somebody told me
that I had made one every year until last year, when we had “Tie a Yellow
Ribbon” come out. So I just went along based on that information.
I hope
all is going well for you and your associates in the ICC. We certainly
appreciate all the things you do for me and my work. Say hello to Leslie Gaylor
when you see him, or hear from him.
Warmest regards, and best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year –
Always yours, Bing
Dear
Ken,
Thanks
for your letter, and for the Christmas gift - the very attractive little diary
commemorating the wedding of Princess Anne.
Yes, I
knew Michael Holliday well. His popularity was just starting in America when
his unfortunate passing closed his career.
I
think he had great potential - this young man. Very appealing personality and a
genuinely good singer.
Sorry
I missed the tournament at St. Andrews this year, but it just wasn’t possible
to fit it in. I heard it went off very well indeed.
Warmest
regards to you and your family – As ever, Bing
December 13, Thursday. Takes part in the annual Laguna Honda
Hospital show again and accompanied by Kathryn, Harry and Nathaniel, sings a
medley of his hits. Bing and Kathryn sing “My Cup Runneth Over” and Bing
finishes by singing “White Christmas”.
…With
the squire of Hillsborough for their sixth yearly visit were the Crosby family
and a neat package of entertainers who kept the hospital’s packed auditorium
humming for nearly two hours.
Bing
was his usual casual self even adding to the Crosby legend of forgetting the
words to some of his better known hits. When he couldn’t remember the lyrics to
“Love in Bloom,” he remarked: “Jack Benny plays it better than I sing it.”
The
patients, of course loved the Crosbys and the five acts on the variety bill.
Those who could, showed their appreciation with applause. Others who were less
hale gave approval with a smile or a nod of the head to the music.
(The San Francisco Examiner, December 14,
1973)
Bing writes to an Australian fan Shirley
Naylor.
Thanks for your note. Glad
you liked the Christmas card and all the other things.
We did the Laguna Honda
Show again and it came off very well. Mary Frances wasn’t there because she’s
in school in Mexico. Also studying with a Mexican ballet.
You seem very well taken
care of by Patricia Sullivan and Priscilla Koernig with items. If you need
anything else, let me know.
Do want to wish you and
your family a joyous Christmas and a Happy New year.
As ever, Bing
December 19, Wednesday. Ted Crosby (who wore a heart pacemaker)
dies in Spokane, apparently of a heart attack, at the age of seventy-three
following minor prostate surgery. The funeral takes place on December 22.
SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 20 (AP)—E.
J. (Ted) Crosby, brother of Bing Crosby, died in a Spokane hospital yesterday,
apparently of a heart attack. He was 73 years old.
Mr. Crosby worked for a time for The Spokane Daily Chronicle and
the Washington Water Power Company. Most recently he was a local representative
for North American Weather Consultants, a Santa Barbara, Calif.,
weather‐modification equipment firm.
Survivors include, besides the entertainer and another
brother, Bob, the bandleader, Mr. Crosby's widow, Margaret; two sons, Howard
and Edward, and three daughters, Sister Dolores Crosby, Mrs. Robert Ferguson
and Mrs. Crosby McManaway.
(New
York Times, December 21, 1973)
December 22, Saturday. Bing, Avery Fisher, Helen Hayes, and Jose
Ferrer are featured on a radio show “New York, New York” transmitted by the
Voice of America. The Crosby and Grandstaff clans arrive at Hillsborough for
the Christmas festivities.
December 25, Sunday. Dixie’s father, Evan Wyatt, dies at the age
of 92. Bing’s ill-health prevents him from attending the subsequent funeral.
December 29, Saturday. Bing is coughing badly and Kathryn takes him
to see Dr. Hanfling. He is diagnosed as having pleurisy.
December 31, Monday. Bing starts to cough up blood and Kathryn
drives him to Burlingame’s Peninsula Hospital, where doctors initially treat
him for pleurisy and investigate a lung abscess and lesion.
I
spent all day there with him, while he underwent a series of X-rays. It was
unnerving to see the man who had always been so wholly in command of his world
and mine, lying on a gurney, in one of those hideous short night-gowns, and
freezing, because of course the doctors and nurses always set the temperature
to suit themselves, and they continually move about fast enough to remain
reasonably comfortable in an Alaskan winter.
I
found my ailing husband a blanket, and stood by helplessly, trying to stifle a
presentment of worse things to come.
I spent
that protracted last night of the year at Bing’s bedside. It was not my
happiest New Year’s Eve.
(Kathryn Crosby writing in My Last Years with Bing,
page 323)
January 3-6, Thursday–Sunday. The Bing Crosby Pro-Am takes place and the winner is Johnny Miller. The event is shortened by hail and rain and Miller is declared the winner after fifty-four holes. A herd of deer damages the fifth green as well. Bing misses the tournament as he is still in the hospital. Celebrities playing include Robert Stack, Glen Campbell, James Garner, Clint Eastwood, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Oleg Cassini, Bob Newhart, Mac Davis, Jack Lemmon, Hank Ketcham and Andy Williams.
Meanwhile, Bob
Hope and Phil Harris had stood in for him and hosted the annual party at the
Crosby, and someone had recorded it and brought it so Dad could watch it. It
was pretty funny, but some of it was bawdy and graphic. For instance, Hope had
his hand in his pocket at one point. “Get your hand out of your pocket,” Harris
said to him. “They called the search off last Wednesday.” The jokes got worse
from there. Dad generally loved a good off-color joke as much as anyone, but he
was a devout Catholic who at that moment was making peace with God in the fight
for his survival. When he heard the show, he got his rosary out; he was
seriously embarrassed and horrified and actually mad.
(Nathaniel Crosby, 18 Holes with Bing,
pages 160-161)
January 9, Wednesday. Bing remains in hospital.
BURLINGAME, Calif.
(AP) – Bing Crosby’s’ doctors believe he has an abscess and lesion in one lung
that might be the result of pneumonia. The 69-year-old singer has been hospitalized
11 days with fever and chest pains. His condition was reported stable and satisfactory
Wednesday. Tissue samples were taken from the lung lesion Wednesday. Tests for
cancer were negative.
(The Waukesha County Freeman, January 10,
1974)
More Tests Due For Bing Crosby
BURLINGAME, Calif.
(AP)-— Ailing singer Bing Crosby will undergo a probe of his diseased left lung
to help pin down the cause of a lesion that has failed to respond to normal treatment,
his doctor said Friday. Crosby’s condition continued satisfactory.
Dr.
Stanley Hanfling, Crosby's family physician, said the bronchoscopy test the
singer will undergo Saturday is frequently used on patients with lung disease.
The
69-year-old entertainer, hospitalized here on New Year’s Eve for pleurisy later
diagnosed as pneumonia, was cheerful and walking around talking to other
patients at Peninsula Hospital -- with his intravenous tubes following on a
rolling pole.
(The Waukesha County Freeman,
January 12, 1974)
January 12, Saturday. Mary Frances returns from Mexico to see her
father in the hospital and a reconciliation takes place.
So when Mary was invited to spend her 13th year as an
exchange student living in the home of a large Mexican family, Kathryn was
delighted, supportive. But Bing was not.
“He got a little sulky
about it. For four months all my letters and phone calls to him went
unanswered. But I kept on writing, telling him about all I was learning and how
I understood how he was ‘too busy’ to write. What I was really saying, between
the lines, was, ‘Look, I know you have to stay mad at me because you made a
stand and you can’t back down from it. I just want you to know I understand —
and if you do change your mind, I promise I won’t call you on it.’”
Her veiled communiqué
was answered when Bing phoned her one day, his voice shaking, “I’m about to
have an operation,” he said, “and I want to ask you a favor. I want you to come
home.”
“Of course I’ll come
home,” I told him. Then he shocked me by saying ‘I’m sorry about the way I
acted, but that’s just the way I am. I’m not going to change now. But I want
you to know I really love you — and I NEED you now.’” Mary’s eyes mist at the
memory. “That was such an incredibly hard thing for him to do — apologizing
like that, admitting his need.”
Bing survived the
operation — the removal of a lung — and though he pretended to continue to
disapprove of Mary’s time in Mexico, “after the year was up” — she smiles
cagily — “he was bragging to EVERYONE that his daughter was bilingual.” They
were set in a pattern: he, keeping up his strict, taciturn facade; she, using
her quietly learned empathy to help him keep up that front, despite her secret
knowledge of his vulnerability.
(Mary Frances Crosby, as quoted in an article “My
Father, Bing Crosby” by Sheila Weller in McCall’s Magazine, July 1980)
January 13, Sunday. After two weeks of tests, Bing undergoes
three and a half hours of major surgery. Two-fifths of his left lung and an
abscess the size of a small orange are removed. The tumor is a rare fungus
called nocardia. He is left with a thirty-five inch scar on his back. It is
revealed that Bing would have died within five days if the operation had not
been undertaken.
The
doctors found a growth in Bing’s lung, and the surgery to remove it was lengthy
and delicate. The whole family feared it was cancer, but the growth turned out
to be benign. Although his first months of recuperation are a dim memory of
pain and drugs, Bing tends to dismiss it casually. “I’ve had two or three major
operations,” he told me, “and this was just another one as far as I was
concerned. Not very pleasant, of course, but what can you do about it? Get the
best doctor you can and hope for the best. Worrying isn’t going to improve
anything. The surgery severed some nerves, and it will be quite a while before
all the feeling returns. It shortened my backswing in golf and elevated my
score a little.”
(Australian Women’s
Weekly, September 25, 1975)
January 17, Thursday. Bing comes out of intensive care. About 1000
letters a day are flooding into the hospital. Larry Crosby later reveals that
more than 10,000 letters and telegrams were received.
Bing Crosby Now
Recovering
BURLINGAME,
Calif. (AP) -- Bing Crosby has moved out of the intensive care unit and is back
in his hospital room recovering from lung surgery.
He
is able to sit up, walk around and eat a solid diet, a spokesman in Peninsula Hospital
said Thursday. He added, ‘This indicates he is really progressing very well.”
Crosby,
69, has been a patient since Dec. 31.
Two-fifths
of the singer’s left lung was removed Sunday because of a growth which initial
tests indicated was caused by a rare fungus. Pathologists have not identified
the specific bacteria, the spokesman said.
(The Waukesha County Freeman,
January 18, 1974)
He had to hire extra help to send letters of thanks and in all it takes two months to deal with the mail received. Governor Ronald Reagan writes:
“Nancy and I have been deeply
concerned and were relieved to learn of your successful operation. Have a
speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”
January 27, Sunday. Goes home to recuperate and gives up smoking
completely. His recovery has been delayed as he has suffered a cracked rib in a
fall at the hospital.
February 10, Sunday. (2:30–3:30 p.m.) The American Sportsman program features Bing observing the lifestyle of the cheetah on Kenya’s Serengeti Plains.
February 11, Monday. Bing writes to a Dave Molitar in Seattle.
Dear
Mr. Molitar:
Thank
you for your kind wishes concerning my recent hospitalization. I appreciate it.
I’m
not in the music business any more, and have no publishing connections, so I
don’t think I could be of any use to you in connection with the music your son
has written.
The
music business - the recording business – is so frantic these days, I wouldn't
know how to advise you to enable you to get some contact with a publishing
organization.
It
seems to me there are thousands of songs coming out every month. If you can
make a connection with somebody who is active on the current scene – get him
interested in some your son's material - that is the best way, of course. But
that's difficult, too.
I
wish I could be of some definite help, but I’m afraid I can’t –
Very
best wishes,
Bing
Crosby
February 15, Friday. Bing writes to Canadian broadcaster Gord Atkinson.
Dear
Gord:
I’ve
been hospitalized since the first of the year and only recently came home and
started going through my mail.
Of
course, I was out of contact all of January - or early January - so there was
no opportunity to arrange a meeting for you to do your interview.
If
you want to pick it up again, we can try and reschedule. Why don’t you send me the
questions by mail. You mentioned that you could do this, in your letter.
And
then we’ll talk about a date. You could call me, probably around the first of
March. My phone number here is 415 347-1910. And maybe we can work something
out, if it’s no too late.
Sorry
about the inability to make the January 15th commitment, but it wasn’t to be
helped
All best regards, Bing
February 18, Monday. Bing writes to John Bassett in the UK, the
editor of BING magazine.
Thank
you so much for the two copies of the “LP-OGRAPHY”. Very useful thing for me to
have—as I told you in previous correspondence, and it certainly looks like you
had an awful lot of work putting this thing together. There are
a number of things listed that I didn’t even know existed or that were in
circulation. Sometime
I’m going to get somebody to really make a study in depth of all the material
that’s floating around in which I was involved, and see if I can procure it for
my files. I
certainly want to have a copy of everything that was released publicly.
I’m
recovering satisfactorily after the operation. It was something quite serious,
but if I take my time in a couple of months I’ll be in circulation again.
The
record you speak about was made for a friend of mine who is the Organist at Old
St. Mary’s Church on Grant Avenue in San Francisco. He also leads the choir
there and he does all the rehearsing for me and the family when we’ve got
something to do on television or a benefit. He
wrote one of the songs, and it was just a scheme to raise a little money for
St. Mary’s Church. I don’t know if it’s going to go into general circulation or
publication or not. I’m
sure you can get a copy if you write to the Old St. Mary’s Gift Shop, Old St.
Mary’s Church, Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California. It’s
really not much of a record. I just popped in there one morning to cut it in an
effort to be of some use to my friend.
From
what I read in the papers, it must be very grim over in England just now. We,
too, have our problems—although nothing as
serious as the condition you’re currently obliged to endure. I hope it
improves.
Sending
along the picture you requested, and also the autographed copy of the
“LP-OGRAPHY”.
All
best wishes to you and the family -
As
ever, Bing
February 19, Tuesday. (8:30-10:00 p.m.) Bing is given the Distinguished Merit Award at the first
ever American Music Awards show at the Earl Carroll Theatre in Hollywood. A clip from Holiday Inn showing Bing
singing ‘White Christmas’ is used on the show and this is followed by Bob Hope
expressing his hopes for Bing’s speedy recovery from the recent lung surgery.
Governor Ronald Reagan presents Kathryn with Bing’s award. The show airs on
ABC-TV.
February 24, Sunday. (2:30-3:30 p.m.) Bing and Phil Harris are featured on the American
Sportsman program shown today shooting grouse in southern Alberta.
February (undated). Norm Blackburn, the historian of the Lakeside Golf
Club of Hollywood, visits Bing at his home to tape his recollections of the
club.
February 28, Thursday. Bing writes to Norman Wolfe of the Florida
Times Union-Jacksonville Journal.
Thank you for your very kind letter. I
was interested in what you had to say about the old radio shows that are now
available and on sale.
I’m going to have to get somebody looking
into this and see if I can acquire copies for my files.
I’ve always wanted to have a complete
file of everything that has ever been released publicly.
I’m grateful to you for reminding me
about it.
Thanks also for your kind comments about
me and my work through the years. It’s gratifying to know that I’ve been able
to amuse and entertain people in this country as well as abroad.
Very best wishes to you –
Always your friend, Bing
March 15-17, Friday–Sunday. The first Bing Crosby International Classic
under the Ladies Professional Golf Association takes place at San Isidro
Country Club, Guadalajara. The winner is Jane Blalock.
April 2, Tuesday. Kathryn opens in the American Conservatory Theatre production of Broadway at the Geary Theatre in San Francisco.
April 4, Thursday. Bing writes to Dick Taylor of the Golf
World magazine.
That
was a marvelous article you wrote about the San Isidro LPGA event. Had a lot of
good laughs in it, but you really treated us very kindly and I’m sure it was a
very big boost for the tournament and for the area.
I
couldn’t get down there, because of illness, and maybe I could have eliminated
some of the foul-ups, had I been there.
I’ve
been in Mexico a lot, and I’ve learned that when you’re organizing a function
of this kind, you can’t just tell any of the staff once what you want, because
they’ll say “yes” but you have to follow up on it – every day and see if it has
been done.
They
are a cheerful, happy people, but you just can’t pressure them into any
deadline situation.
I
just hope that the girls weren’t too disappointed and that we’ll be able to get
them back again.
Something
like this is an undoubted boost for the popularity of golf in Mexico. As you
know, it’s just starting to take shape down there in a substantial way, but
there is a developing middle class in Mexico which has some affluence and which
is looking for some way to entertain themselves. This never existed before.
Something like this is bound to accelerate the growth of the game.
Well,
I just wanted you to know that I certainly appreciated the article. It was
beautiful.
Warmest
best wishes to you and your staff - As ever, Bing
April 5, Friday. Bing leaves San Francisco with Mary and
Nathaniel for an Easter vacation in Las Cruces. He spends fourteen days there
in superb weather and each morning he walks the three-mile round trip to the
club.
April 11, Thursday. Bing is photographed hitting balls at a
golf range in Las Cruces. He tells reporters that he intends to return to work
soon.
I include the following excerpts from Bing’s diary of the trip:
“From San Francisco, I flew in the Falcon jet to La Paz, and thence by DC-3 to Las Cruces. I spent 14 days there in superb
weather.
Each morning, I
walked the three-mile round trip to the club,
and played tennis while I was there. The whole Hearst family, minus
the kidnapped Patty of course, is
visiting Desi Arnaz.
It’s
their first respite
since the event, and
they’ve been gradually recuperating in spite of reporters and an attendant FBI agent, who turns out to be a decent sort.
He needed to keep up on the latest news, so I tuned in on the Armed Forces Network which, as it
transpired, was just describing Patty’s participation in the Hibernia Bank holdup.
That was the end of the Hearsts’ vacation. I got onto the ship-to-shore phone, and arranged their immediate transportation back to Hillsborough. Of course
the Hibernia Bank is owned by good friends of the family, an ironical twist which the news hounds have fortunately yet to uncover.
Harry has 25 scorpions in a mason jar, which he plans to transport back
to school for a biology paper. They may occasion certain difficulties with customs upon our return.
He has also been busy with his guitar. Last night a guest at the hotel
gave him $120 for playing a number upon request.
I’ve made him donate it to the nearest charitable fund. I won’t have anyone
running around here complaining that the eldest Crosby kid clipped him. One
strolling player in the family is quite enough.”
(As
quoted in My Last Years with Bing, page335-336)
April 19, Friday. Bing returns to Hillsborough.
April 23, Tuesday. Bing writes to British fan Edward Hale.
Dr. Hanfling turned over your letter to me inquiring about a
song that I was supposed to have sung when I was hospitalized not too long ago.
I
don’t recall anything particularly, except there was a girl named Linda who was
my nurse for quite awhile, and I think I sang snatches of an old song to her
called, “Linda”.
No
recording is available, of course, and no tape ... although I think I did
record that song years ago when it was popular but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Sorry I
can’t be of more substantial help to you – Best wishes, Bing
May 1, Wednesday. Bing flies to Guadalajara.
May 17, Friday. Bing writes to British fan Leslie Gaylor.
Thank
you for your letter, and answering the questions you propose - I’m coming along
fine healthwise. I’m down in Baja California now
playing a little tennis, some golf, and walking daily and I feel in another
month or so I’ll be back just as good as new.
I
think I’m going to do a couple of TV shows. They have a comedy show planned
with Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey, Carol Burnett and myself, but it hasn’t been set
yet.
Also,
I’m going to do the Christmas show. Probably a couple of guest shots too.
I’ve
got an album under consideration, doing some old songs from around the time of
Al Jolson. Some of the real old hits - Southern songs -with probably a modern
type of accompaniment. I think Sonny Burke is interested in this.
Glad
to hear “Yellow Ribbon” is still getting some play. It’s a cute tune, and I’m
glad to hear, too, of the re-releases on MCA Records.
I
think it’s a good idea that you’ve compiled a list of things that might be good
for album suggestions. I don’t really know what to select, when I go about such
a chore, but you, having an objective position can do better.
Yes,
I’ll probably he coming to London this summer or spring.
Kathryn
is busy in the theatre. She does three plays for ACT, and they alternate them
on different days of the week. She’s doing “Cyrano de Bergerac”, “Broadway” (a revival),
and a new show called “Tonight at 8:30” about Noel Coward’s work.
I’m
delighted to hear that the country over there is getting back to normal. You’ve
certainly had a tough struggle.
We
have our problems, too, as you well know - but it’s getting better.
Take
care of yourself
All
the best, Bing
*In
checking, I find I don’t have the album you mention – “I’ll Sing You a Song of
the Islands”.
May 23, Thursday. The
May 27, Monday. Bing’s sister Catherine Mullin dies of lung cancer in a Watsonville hospital.
On
Memorial Day weekend, I decided to call Auntie Kay in Watsonville and see how
things were in California. She said that she was doing fine, and that when she
had seen Uncle Bing a few weeks earlier he was looking much better, and was
starting to make plans for a new album. We had a nice visit, twenty minutes or
so, and I promised to check in again in a few weeks. Three days later, Mary
Rose called to tell me that Auntie Kay was dead, of lung cancer. She was only
in the hospital for 36 hours, and never told anyone she was sick. Later that
day, Uncle Bing called me to tell me how shocked and saddened he was, and it
was the most upset I ever heard him. He assured me that he had NO IDEA she had
been ill, he would have taken her to the Mayo Clinic, got the best doctors,
etc, etc. But they were so much alike, Kay and Bing, stoic in the face of
adversity, not wanting people to fuss over them. She had a great personal
dignity which was at the core of who she was.
(Howard Crosby, writing in BING magazine,
winter, 2003)
June 15, Saturday. Bing returns to Hillsborough.
June 20, Thursday. Bing writes to Connee Boswell.
Dear
Connee:
Thanks
for your Father’s Day Card. I see that you still have your marvellous sense of
humor, and I got a big kick out of the card you sent.
Hope
you’re well and happy and all your interests are progressing satisfactorily.
All the best, Bing
June 22, Saturday. Bing, Kathryn and their two sons fly to
Guadalajara. They stay at their new home on the fairway at the Bosques de San
Ysidro Country Club.
July 15, Monday. Gord Atkinson, a noted Canadian broadcaster,
visits Bing at his home in Hillsborough and tapes recollections for a forthcoming radio series
for
“I seem to be coming along fine. I play eighteen holes of golf whenever I want and some tennis and badminton and I do a lot of walking and that’s good. My weight is back to normal, 150-151 all the time. So just because I might be a little short of breath sometimes maybe I get tired easily, more easily than I used to, outside of that, I think I’m back on the beam. At the time I didn’t realize how sick I was. I just went in there for observation and from then on I was more or less sedated and never realized the operation was going to be a serious one.
It’s a thing called a noearchosis. A rare fungus. Can be picked up anywhere. The prevalence of the disease is greater in central California than any place else. Of course I do a lot of shooting in that area. I’d picked it up there but it is very rare. Could be picked up anywhere and nobody could really put a finger on where I caught it. It formed an abscess on the lobe of the left lung which had to be removed. They went in the back and took out about almost two-fifths of the left lobe. It was benign and of course it makes me a little short of breath as I said. It is a serious operation because they have to go very deep and through the ribs. Have to spread the ribs and they cut a lot of nerves and a lot of muscle so recuperation is slow but eventually it will be all right.”
(Bing, speaking in an exclusive interview with Gord
Atkinson, subsequently broadcast in Gord Atkinson’s The Crosby Years,
www.whenfm.com)
July 26, Friday. Bing goes to Los Angeles for various
rehearsals.
August 2, Friday. Bing leaves for Los Angeles to prepare for a
TV special and returns to Hillsborough the following day.
August 7, Wednesday. It is reported that Bing has written to
the
August 8, Thursday. President Nixon resigns and is succeeded by
Gerald Ford.
August 10/11, Saturday/Sunday. Bing records a television show at
the Palace Theater, Hollywood, with Bob Hope, Sandy Duncan and Pearl Bailey.
The show airs on October 9. Bing later writes to Pearl Bailey:
Dear
Pearl,
A
great joy as always, working with you. You sure do pump up the proceedings with
your drive and infectious humor. And the rice pudding! Delicious! Kathryn loves
her shawl (or is it a throw rug). I hope the opus when stitched together by
Marty turns out well — Well, watch your delivery!
Affectionately,
Bing
The rehearsals, pre-taping
sessions and studio show took place on Aug. 10-11 at the Palace Theatre in
Hollywood. Thanks to Larry Crosby, who graciously invited us, Priscilla and I
were there for the entire event—a total of some 15 hours of LIVE Crosby. Except
for two one-half hour lunch breaks, Bing was there continuously either
performing, rehearsing, watching the other performers, or sitting in the
audience chatting with crew and cronies. This was, in short, a fan’s dream come
true—a high point in my personal Crosby memory book.
When Bing strolled out on
stage to record his first number, a great new song about growing old with
lyrics tailored especially for him, it was a nervous moment for everyone. (Editor:
The song was “No Time at All”) First of all, having heard some disturbing
rumors about continued ill health, we were concerned over how he would look.
Secondly, we were concerned over how he would sound only 8 months after removal
of 2-thirds of his lung. The answers came immediately and decisively—Bing couldn’t
possibly have looked or sounded more super. It was one of those moments of
genuine joy, and I recall that I couldn’t stop smiling or nudging Priscilla to
exclaim again and again—‘he looks wonderful!’ Bing has gained weight and is
heavier than he photographs and, as always, the richness and deepness of the
in-person voice is startling. Later in the show Pearl Bailey summed it all up
in her inimitable way with quip, “Bing baby, I swear they didn’t take something
out of you in that hospital, they put something in!”
Many times Bing was draped
over a seat in the aisle directly across from us exchanging stories with the
producer and crew, and it was almost like seeing a caricature—that’s how true
to form he was. He was dressed in the most God-awful pair of plaid pants with
colors of blue, red, purple, yellow and you name it; green socks; and a golf
cap which he removed occasionally to scratch his head—no toupee. He seemed
genuinely happy—whistled, danced, broke into song compulsively, and was
literally convulsed with laughter several times in antics with Hope.
During rehearsals, Bing is
loose, spontaneous, and funnier than Hope. In front of a live audience, it’s
the reverse. Bing tightens up and follows the script, Bob is all charged up and
the ad libs just flow forth. It’s a shame that so
much of the fun and spirit of the rehearsals is lost in the TV version. You can
appreciate the fun Bob had singing “Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your
hair, you certainly know the right things to wear” to toupee-less Bing in his
plaid pants versus the TV version sung to Bing clad in tuxedo and toupee.
After seeing the show on TV,
I had even more disturbing feelings about this matter. I think it was Groucho Marx who recently lamented the passing of the live
performance, and I have to add my own small voice to that lament. Perfection
was obviously the goal—over 15 hours of rehearsals and pre-tapings to produce a
1 hour telecast! The cost of perfection, however, seems to be the removal of
genuine humor. Humor comes essentially from spontaneous quips and muffs—all
lavishly present at the pre-taping but “perfected” out of the final production.
This trend already dominates our entertainment media so thoroughly that it
takes an experience such as we had to recall that radio and early TV was not
like that. I think it is a serious loss.
The new songs (recorded
effortlessly, by the way in 2 or 3 run-throughs) were the solo, “No Time at
All,” a number with Pearl and Sandy called “Delivery,” and the opening and
closing theme, “Feels Good.” The philosophy in Bing’s solo is: “Maybe—if I
refuse to grow old, I can stay young till I die.” Some of the lyrics are:
“When your best years are
yester
the rest are twice as dear”
and
“I’ve had the troubles and
fears of seventy years
But the only thing I’d trade
them for is seventy more”
Bing had a great deal of
trouble getting started in the right key for “Blue of the Night” in the medley
number during the live taping and had to be coached from the sidelines. It was
frustrating for him because he had reservations on the 9:40 final flight to San
Francisco. Bob quipped, “Can you imagine having to stop a show in order to
teach him that song—I just can’t believe it.” Bing received a long standing
ovation at the end, and he did miss the plane.
(Pat Sullivan, writing in the December
1974 edition of BINGANG magazine)
Bing
subsequently writes to Pat Sullivan.
Dear Patricia:
I was very happy to see you
and Priscilla at the pre-taping sessions and the studio show of the television Special
done last month.
I thought it turned out
rather well. The material was very good. The writers, particularly Ken and
Mitzi Welch, are very clever.
I don’t know of any plans to
record any of the numbers, Patricia. There might be, after the thing has been
on the air and somebody has heard the songs. They might think about it. Or I
might even explore the possibility with some of the recording companies in Los
Angeles.
You know, of course, that
both Larry and I are grateful for all the things you’ve done for us in
connection with the publication of the semi-annual journal, and I appreciate
that it is indeed a chore that involves a great deal of work, and time, and
effort.
I’ve been talking about
recording plans with two or three different people. An outfit in England. Sonny
Burke of Daybreak Records to do an album of some of the old Southern songs, and
there’s also a discussion about doing some of the Broadway show tunes that
haven’t been kicked around too much. Things by Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein,
Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and
some of the other great writers. We’ll see if anything develops. I hope
so.
I like to get something out
every year, and I should get going soon if I’m going to meet this schedule.
Very best wishes to you and
all the members
Most sincerely yours,
Bing
August 16, Friday. Bing takes part in the ground-breaking
ceremonies at Henry Schmidt Park at Santa Clara. Schmidt was a former college
and professional American football defensive tackle.
August 26, Monday. Bing golfs at San Isidro, Guadalajara, Mexico. (9:00-9:30 a.m.) Kathryn Crosby commences hosting a weekday mornings half-hour talk show for KPIX-TV which is aimed at housewives. Trader Vic is her first guest.
September 1, Sunday. The Jockey Club issues a certificate
indicating that Bing is the owner of a chestnut filly called Guggenslocker. She
foaled on June 23, 1974 out of Cotton Bay ll by Primera. Bing transfers
ownership to Kjell M. Quale of the Green Oaks Stud Farm on January 5, 1976.
September (undated). Harry Crosby commences his studies at
Bellarmine in San Jose. He commutes each day - a one hundred mile round trip.
September 9, Monday. British record producer Ken Barnes visits
Bing at his Hillsborough home to discuss a recording project.
On the morning of 9 September I arrived at the Crosby
home and was greeted by the English butler, Alan Fisher, who showed me into
Bing’s study. He went in ahead of me to announce me. From within the room I
could hear the familiar voice reply, ‘Fine—have him come in.’
After a few seconds of general
conversation—mainly concerned with the different climates of San Francisco and
London—I became less overawed by Bing’s presence. He seemed quite normal and,
of course, the fact that he was not wearing the familiar hairpiece somehow
suggested that I was granted a rare privilege in seeing the man—the real
man—behind the legend.
His height was pretty
much what I expected it to be—about five feet eight inches (although it had
been publicized as being anything from five-ten to five-eleven). I was rather
disturbed to see how much weight he had lost since the recent operation. Yet in
spite of this there was something about him that was decidedly robust. I would
say it had something to do with that rich and strong-sounding speaking voice
and his quite eloquent choice of words and phrases. In fact, the voice was the
most familiar and reassuring thing about him. Even in speech it always seemed
to be lingering on the edge of melody. There was also something rhythmic about
his conversational delivery as he sat there blowing out certain words like
unburst bubbles.
(Ken Barnes writing in The Crosby Years, page
36)
September 12, Thursday. Bing and Kathryn land at Spokane
International Airport just before 11 a.m. They are subsequently greeted at
Jesuit House on the Gonzaga campus by Father Dussault and they lunch with old
friends in the Cataldo Dining Hall. Bing then handles a 45-minute press
conference starting at 1:45 p.m. in the Crosby Library as he launches Gonzaga’s Second Century
Endowment Fund campaign. He meets students in the library lounge before
visiting the Pacific Northwest Indian Center and, briefly, the Expo ‘74 World’s
Fair. Takes off from Spokane International Airport at 4:30 p.m. for San Francisco.
September 17, Tuesday. Bing writes to Ken Barnes.
I’ve been giving some thought to your suggestion about a possible album to be made in England, and there are a number of approaches, in addition to the one which you suggested, called ‘Bing Is Back On The Ball’.
I don’t know if I quite like the title as it sounds like I’m coming back from a long layoff or a long period of unsuccessful attempts—which is not exactly so.
But I like the material. I like the idea of the optimistic type song, and I like those that you have listed.
Of course, anything that I made for Decca is barred because of contractual situations.
I am sending a copy of a letter I recently wrote Sonny Burke with a couple of suggestions for albums, and I wonder if something
like this might appeal to you.
I think in the hands of a fella like Pete Moore something very unusual and listenable could be developed.
The titles listed in the letter are just a sampling. There are many more songs of similar character that can be considered.
For instance, in the show category, songs like ’Do I Hear You Sing’, ‘Do Do Do’ and ‘Yours Sincerely’ —three great songs. Also ‘With a Song in My Heart’.
The song that I spoke to you about that is used in the television show which will be telecast
October 9th is called ‘No Time At All’. It’s a philosophical song and it was done in a Broadway show called ‘Pippin’.
Let me know what you think of all these suggestions.
I’m still not ruling out the album you suggested. I just want you to think of the other things too.
If it’s going to be done, I’d like it to be done sometime before Christmas—a good deal—maybe a month or so before Christmas, because that would be the best time for me to get over to England.
I’ll appreciate a word from you—
All best wishes, Bing
(As reproduced in The Crosby Years, page 37)
September (undated). At his home at Las Cruces, Baja California, Mexico.
October 1, Tuesday. Bing has recently returned from Mexico and
he spends the morning taping TV promos for the next Pebble Beach tournament. He
lunches with ABC’s Chris Schenkel at Castlewood.
October 2, Wednesday. Bing writes to International Crosby Circle
member Michael Crampton in Leeds in the UK. Michael has been organizing an
annual meeting for the ICC since 1966.
Very happy to
receive your letter, and to learn of the good work you’re doing with the ICC.
I’m very grateful to you and all the members of ICC for your continuing
interest.
Unhappily,
I was unable to get a cassette off to you in time for the October 6th function.
I only returned from Mexico today and it just isn’t possible to get anything
recorded and to England in time for the meeting.
In
lieu of a cassette greeting, I would like to substitute this letter, and in the
letter, I want to reassure everyone in the ICC that I’m feeling well again and
have some recording plans for an album to be made in England under the auspices
of Ken Barnes - arrangements by a fella named Pete
Moore. You may know these people.
I’ve
heard some of the work that they’ve done and it’s quite outstanding.
They’re
coming to California this week, and I’m going to meet with them in an attempt
to select some material.
I have
a show which I taped a month or so ago with Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey and Sandy
Duncan for CBS here, and I’m hopeful that it will be released also in England
at a later date. It’s a very good little show, I believe. Nothing spectacular,
but some very good song material, especially written for the piece.
Let me
know when you’re going to have the 25th anniversary affair, and I’ll certainly
get a tape off in time to make the date.
All
best wishes to everyone
As ever, Bing
October 9, Wednesday. (9:00–10:00 p.m.) Bing Crosby and His
Friends featuring Bob Hope, Pearl Bailey and Sandy Duncan is screened by
CBS-TV. The show had been recorded in August and was directed by Marty Pasetta.
Bing Crosby, resurfacing after a serious illness
earlier this year, was in fine and typical fettle on “Bing Crosby & His
Friends” special on CBS-TV. Shot with a mixture of informality and proscenium
stage glitter at the Hollywood Palace, the show got good mileage out of old
friends Bob Hope and Pearl Bailey and new friends Sandy Duncan and writers Ken
& Mitzie Welch.
The Welches, whose
specialty is special musical material, including collages of myriad song hits
into a cohesive capsulized whole, contributed most of the material that gave
the special a workable format - and the performers responded winningly, within
that basic framework. Crosby opened with ‘Feels Good, Feels Right’, setting the
show’s mood, and from there on in, the headliners moved freely in and out of
camera range with natural ease.
Highspots were a
self-descriptive ‘Delivery.’ with Crosby, Bailey and Duncan explaining their
styles musically, a well-staged song-and-dance audition sequence by Duncan, and
Bailey’s reprise of her big band singing days with terps as well as vocal on
‘After You’ve Gone’ .Hope and Crosby did their usual friendly insult patter,
and all the stars combined for a medley of Crosby song hits, packaged in
fragmentary form by the resourceful Welches. The hour evolved into effortless
entertainment as well as a showmanly reminder or Crosby’s class throughout his
career.
(Variety, October 16, 1974)
Bing can still handle a
tune and comedy
Bing Crosby is a better singer at 70 than a lot of men
are in their 30s. That was proven without a question on Wednesday night when
Bing presented the first of his specials for this season. He looked fit; he
performed with the same ease that we have known of him for the past umpteen
years, and more important he handled his singing chores with the same ease that
he did in his long list of motion pictures.
Somebody,
in watching the show, commented that Bing doesn’t realize his age. That’s
probably just as well for he goes along as if he were 20 years younger.
If
there were any weak spots in his show it was Sandy Duncan’s attempt to
vocalize. She’s a very good dancer, and has a most expressive face, but when it
comes to vocalizing she has a long way to go.
Bob
Hope arrived on the scene bright and early in the show, having been introduced
by Bing as the “Henry Kissinger of Toluca Lake.” He and Bing always have fun.
Pearl
Bailey, who just last week stood in front of some 42,000 people at the Oakland
Coliseum and sang the Star Spangled Banner without any accompaniment, showed up
also and although she was only on hand a short time, managed to show the old
Bailey professionalism.
Seeing
Bing on television is quite a treat. He has limited his appearances and as a
result he becomes must viewing when he decides to appear. Of course, he,
Kathryn and the kids are seen frequently on television doing their orange juice
commercials, usually right from the Crosby backyard, but he doesn’t often give
us a treat like he did Wednesday night.
It
has been suggested by a number of people that Bing ought to do a solo show. And
stand up there and sing all the old and new goodies he does so well. We’d
agree, it would be one of the musical events of the decade. You’d never think
that Bing was a hospital patient less than a year ago. He looks fit. This is
probably due to those five-mile walks he takes over the golf course near
Chapalita in Guadalajara, Mexico.
(Bob Foster, San Mateo
Times, October 10, 1974)
October 10, Thursday. Ken Barnes and orchestra leader Pete Moore
visit Bing at his home to firm up the keys and routines for a planned recording
session on October 14.
October 13, Sunday. Bing telephones Ken Barnes to say that he
cannot make the recording date fixed for the next day. A fresh date is agreed.
October 17, Thursday. In his only recording date of 1974,
starting at 10:30 a.m. at Johnny Mercer’s own “Heritage” recording studio at
Oak Street in Burbank, Bing sings “The Pleasure of Your Company” and “Good
Companions” with Mercer and a rhythm section led by Pete Moore for United Artists
Records under Ken Barnes’ direction. It is Johnny Mercer’s last recording
session. The remainder of the album is to be completed by Bing in London in
February 1975.
We
just got back a couple of days ago and what with catching up on unfinished work
and overcoming the dreaded “jet lag blues”, I thought I’d better wait until my
head was clear before writing to you with all the facts.
First
of all, I have to tell you that the trip was a complete success.
Professionally, Bing is a joy to work with and contrary to what I was led to
believe, he is a hard and conscientious worker. Someone I know who had worked
with him on previous occasions told me that he would never do more than three
takes of a song.’ Be that as it may, all I know is that on our session, which
took place on the morning of October 17 at Johnny Mercer’s own studio, Heritage
Studio in Burbank, Bing worked hard for almost five hours on just two songs. He
and Johnny were in great form. Two great jazz singers showing everyone that
experience is still the best teacher. Our young recording engineer, Tom
Oliver—who is more accustomed to recording rock groups like Steppinwolf,
etc.—was full of admiration for the way Bing and John worked together. His
mother, he told me, was a Crosby fan from way back and it was her birthday the
following day. Bing obliged by signing a birthday card for Mrs. Oliver.
…As
for Bing, any doubts we may have had about the condition of his voice following
the operation earlier this year were dispelled as soon as we heard him sing.
Firstly the TV show of October 9 revealed that his sustaining power was better
than it had been on records of the last few years. Secondly, the first
of our routining sessions which took place at his home
gave an even stronger indication of his vocal potential as far as this new
album project is concerned.
What
Pete and I were most concerned about was Bing’s range which, on certain records
we had heard suggested that he had lost much of his power in the upper
register. If this was true, the operation seems to have rectified it. As far as
I can tell, Bing’s range seems to have expanded by at least a full note at the
top of his register. His most comfortable top note is really B flat, but during
our rehearsal sessions he was hitting C with apparent ease and even nudging up
to D without too much strain. Also his tone is much rounder than on records of
the last few years. He sounds more like he used to back in the 1940s.
But
the most remarkable thing of all was the surprising volume of his voice during
these rehearsal sessions. His voice actually sounded much bigger in person than
it appears on record. So I made a note of this when it came to recording him
with Mercer. Instead of using the usual intimate filter mike that, I am sure,
most producers use when they record singers, I decided to put Bing on an
AKG omni-directional mike (the kind one would use to record trumpets or
trombones). This meant that he would have to stand much further away from the
mike itself in order for the sound to be properly absorbed. I’m happy to say
the experiment paid off. Bing now sounds as he should.
The people at United Artists who have heard the
tracks are wildly delighted at the results. They say Bing sounds better than he
has for years. There is no question that he is certainly singing better…from a
stylistic as well as vocal standpoint. It seems to me that he is paying far
more attention to the words these days.
(Ken Barnes writing to Crosby
fan, Les Gaylor, as reproduced in BINGANG, December 1974)
October 22, Tuesday. Bing writes to Henry Schmidt.
Dear Schmidty:
Sorry
I had to sneak out right in the middle of your talk - which was a very
entertaining talk indeed, by the way, but I was overdue down in the City and I just
had to take off.
It was
a thing I had been committed to do some time previous and as it was I was a
little late, but they understood.
I was
so happy for you at the function. I thought it was very well done and the Mayor
and the City Council-men of Santa Clara did very well by you indeed.
If you
get a picture or two of the affair, send me one.
Both
the boys were sorry that they couldn’t get over there, but Harry is having such
a hard time with the heavy work schedule that Bellarmine
has laid on him that he just doesn’t want to miss a single class.
Schmidty, again I want to tell you how much I believe you
deserve the tribute they gave. I hope you continue in good health and spirits
for a long time –
Always
your pal, Bing
October 24, Thursday. Goes to see Shirley MacLaine's show "If They Could See Me Now" at the Circle Star in San Carlos in San Mateo County.
October 25, Friday. (9:00-9:30 a.m.) Bing is interviewed
with Phil Harris on Kathryn’s morning television talk show in San Francisco.
October 31, Thursday. Gord Atkinson again visits Bing at his home
in connection with The Crosby Years radio program.
November 3 onwards. In very hot temperatures, Bing tapes his
Christmas show with Mac Davis and Karen Valentine plus Kathryn and the
children. Marty Pasetta directs and the producers are Buz Kohan and Bill Angelos. Bob Finkel is executive producer. Peter Matz acts as musical director.
November 18, Monday. Bing Crosby Enterprises signs a contract with Raymond Rohauer in Hollywood for a compilation film of Bing’s early Mack Sennett shorts with a linking commentary by Bing.
November (undated). Bing, Phil Harris and Curt Gowdy are in Easton, Maryland filming an American Sportsman show about goose-hunting. This is shown on January 19, 1975.
November 25, Monday. Bing films a commercial with his family for
Minute Maid at Visalia, near Fresno, California. That night, a surprise forty-first
birthday party is held for Kathryn at the Hillsborough house. Bing sings at the
party, as does Hermione Gingold.
When
I finally arrived in mid-afternoon, the family was on location in an orange
grove. There was plenty of time to talk — it required two days to make a
60-second commercial —and only Bing turned out to be difficult to explore. He’s
a very private man who can say — with some justification — that “all the
questions have already been asked; what more is there to say?” But if the
questions have been asked, not many answers have been given. Where other stars
are endlessly on record with their private views, Bing has guarded his own
zealously. Politics, for example.
“I
don’t like to associate myself with political figures,” he told me. “What does
the average actor know about politics, anyhow? It’s a private thing. I think
the only public move I ever made in a political sense was when I went to a
dinner for Shirley Temple Black; but that’s only because I’ve known her a long
time and thought she was qualified for the job she was seeking. But basically I
don’t think an actor should use what influence he has to get somebody to vote
for a candidate.”
…He
feels that his voice has come back totally from last year’s surgery, and his
new record album, along with his work on two TV specials since his operation,
certainly bears him out. “My range,” he says, as if he were talking about
someone else, “is pretty good, and that’s partly because I’ve started to
practise a lot. That was one thing I never did much, but I discovered that
throat muscles are like any other muscles—if you don’t use them, they get
stiff.”
…The
Crosby family — which scarcely needs the money — continues to do the Minute
Maid commercials because, says Kathryn, “we think it is particularly important
for our kids to feel they’ve at least partly earned their own way.” Throughout
the long, frequently boring hours on the set in and around Visalia, the Crosbys
kept the atmosphere light and breezy. Kathryn probing and prodding, Bing mostly
reserved but slipping in an occasional zinger, Mary effervescing, Harry
wisecracking, Nathaniel listening.
When
it was all over, there was a surprise 41st birthday party awaiting Kathryn back
in Hillsborough. The children told Kathryn they were going to take her out to
dinner as a birthday gift, and they managed to keep her upstairs until the
guests had infiltrated the Crosby music room. It was a good evening.
Bing
doesn’t normally sing at parties, but he did at this one - “and that,” says
Kathryn, “was a very real gift he gave me.” It was all there that night — the
family gathering, good friends, the open affection, the group singing.
Activities out of some dim, forgotten, and romantic past. But things the
Crosbys — with all their wealth and fame and years in a tough and often venal
business — have somehow managed to keep alive inside their own family.
(Australian Women’s Weekly, September 24, 1975)
On November 25th, the entire family flew to a ranch some 70 miles south of San Francisco, to shoot our Minute Maid commercial amid genuine orange groves, using time photography to portray the process by which the fruit achieved juicy maturity.
The script called for Bing to fly above the trees in a tiny plane, while another of like size flew wingtip to wingtip with it.
The doors were removed from both planes. Bing sat petrified in the cockpit
of one, while a photographer hung by a strap from
the other.
The latter’s instructions were simplicity itself. Addressing a participant always terrified of flight, and now winging his way
just inches above a forest of trees, the cheery camera man shouted, “Action, Mr. Crosby. Just look nice and cool!”
That evening, I had to lure Bing into the
plane for our return flight to
Hillsborough, and to support him on his exit. He was moaning that he would never leave the ground again, no matter what the circumstances.
The Minute Maid executives had flown back with us, and Bing next revealed his own devious nature, as they joined him in a plot against his
resident schemer.
It chanced that November 25th was not only the date of our annual commercial, but also my very own birthday, a circumstance which had slipped my mind in the midst of all the surrounding tumult.
Our butler, Alan Fisher, warned me to remain upstairs, because plumbers were repairing a series of fixtures. “You might hear a bit of noise,” he added. ”Pay no attention to it.”
When I finally descended the stairs, a scowling Bing awaited me. “Take a look at the mess those repairman have made in our living room,” he growled. ”The whole thing will have to be refinished tomorrow.”
He swung open the door, and there were 60 people awaiting my arrival. Hermione Gingold started the singing with Second Hand Rose, and Beverly Sills, who normally refused to participate in popular songs, hummed along until Bing chimed in, and then soared far above us all. It was my most elaborate birthday party of all time.
(Kathryn Crosby, writing in
My Last Years with Bing, page 341)
December 15, Sunday. (8:00–9:00 p.m.) Christmas with the Bing
Crosbys airs on NBC-TV and is very popular, rating third of the week with a
31.4 percent audience share. It is also rated number six out of 381 prime time
specials broadcast during the season. The sponsor is again Bell Telephone.
Bing Crosby presented his 39th. annual Christmas show
on Sunday night (15), featuring the whole Crosby clan and a couple of guest
stars. Best word to describe this “Bell System Family Theatre” special is
‘cute’. With a big living room set as Xmas central (with tree, fireplace,
etc.), the Crosby’s and guests Karen Valentine and Mac Davis broke away to
musical versions of traditional Christmas stories by O. Henry and others. The
special music was pleasant and sometimes clever and not the sort of stuff to
put a strain on the talents involved. Needless to say, next-to-closing was a
medley of Christmas songs, with Bing heading the whole cast, capped by “White
Christmas.”
(Variety, December 18, 1974)
December 16, Monday. Bing and his family take part in the annual
show at Laguna Honda Hospital for the disabled and chronically ill before an
audience of 650.
Bing Crosby, now 70, entertained some of his oldest
fans at his annual Christmas show for the patients at Laguna Honda Hospital
yesterday. In return for the show—and past shows—the hospital’s volunteer
organization presented the crooner and his family with a plaque that will be
placed at the entrance of the Gerald Simon Theatre at the hospital. The plaque
thanks the Crosbys for the “enjoyment and heart-warming pleasure” they’ve
brought the folks at the hospital. Crosby promised that “to show our
appreciation, we’ll rehearse all year so we’ll be better prepared for next
year.”
Before the show, Crosby told
the audience of 650 that it was getting harder and harder to find time to
rehearse as the kids grow older and their interests diversify, but he promised
a performance “full of zest” anyway.
Then Crosby, his wife
Kathryn, and the three Crosby children, Harry, 16, Mary Frances, 15, and
Nathaniel, 13, made good on the promise with several family numbers, some
duets, a medley of old Crosby standbys and Christmas carols. The show also
included a dance troupe, a clown, a cable car bell ringer, a dog act, a Dixieland
band and Arthur Duncan, a singer and dancer from the Lawrence Welk show.
Publicist Davey Rosenberg made a brief appearance as Santa Claus.
Crosby, who forgot a
couple of lines from some of his older songs, brightened as the Jack Fisher
band began the show-closer, “White Christmas.” “I know the words to that one,”
Crosby said, and so did some members of the audience who sang along.
(San Francisco Chronicle, December 17, 1974)
December 21, Saturday. Bing and his family fly to Las Cruces for Christmas.
December 25, Wednesday. (9:00-9:30 a.m.) Bing guests on the Kathryn Crosby TV Show.
Accompanied by Bob Moonan on piano, he sings three songs. The show had been
recorded in advance.
December 26, Thursday. Jack Benny dies of pancreatic cancer.