Kathryn Crosby

Olive Kathryn Crosby ( Grandstaff; November 25, 1933 – September 20, 2024) was an American actress and singer who performed in films, primarily under the stage name Kathryn Grant. She married Bing Crosby in 1957 and subsequently appeared on television with him and hosted a talk show, The Kathryn Crosby Show, on which he occasionally appeared. She returned to acting after his death in 1977.

Early life and education Olive Kathryn Grandstaff was born on November 25, 1933, in Houston, Texas, to Delbert Emery Grandstaff Sr., a high school football coach, and Olive Catherine Grandstaff (née Stokely), an elementary school teacher. She was raised in West Columbia with four siblings, won her first beauty pageant at the age of three, and was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout when queen of the Houston Rodeo. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955, finishing her degree at summer school after moving to Hollywood to begin her career.

On June 16, 1963, Crosby became a registered nurse after studying at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles. She later earned a teaching qualification. She had featured roles such as Princess Parisa in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and in the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (1959). She also played the part of Mama Bear with her husband and children in Goldilocks, and she co-starred with Jack Lemmon in the comedy Operation Mad Ball (1957), with Tony Curtis in the drama Mister Cory (1957), and as a trapeze artist in The Big Circus (1959). When she met Bing Crosby on the Paramount lot, she was newly under contract. However, at his urging she largely retired from acting by the 1960s.

On June 1, 2014, Crosby sang in a Rodgers and Hart tribute.

Personal life and death She married widower Bing Crosby on October 24, 1957 in Las Vegas; she was 23 and he was 54. The couple had three children: Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel. He died in 1977;

She died on September 20, 2024, at her home in Hillsborough, California, at the age of 90. She is interred in the Crosby family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Filmography

So This Is Love (1953) – Showgirl (uncredited) Arrowhead (1953) – Miss Mason (uncredited) Forever Female (1953) – Young Hopeful (uncredited) Casanova's Big Night (1954) – Girl on Bridge (uncredited) Living It Up (1954) – Manicurist (uncredited) Rear Window (1954) – Girl at Songwriter's Party (uncredited) Unchained (1955) – Sally Haskins (uncredited) Tight Spot (1955) – Girl Honeymooner (uncredited) Cell 2455 Death Row (1955) – Jo-Anne 5 Against the House (1955) – Jean, Young Woman in Nightclub (uncredited) The Phenix City Story (1955) – Ellie Rhodes My Sister Eileen (1955) – Young Hopeful (uncredited) Storm Center (1956) – Hazel Levering Reprisal! (1956) – Taini The Wild Party (1956) – Honey Mister Cory (1957) – Jen Vollard The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) – Anne Martin The Night the World Exploded (1957) – Laura Hutchinson Operation Mad Ball (1957) – Lt. Betty Bixby The Brothers Rico (1957) – Norah Malaks Rico Gunman's Walk (1958) – Clee Chouard The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) – Princess Parisa Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – Mary Pilant The Big Circus (1959) – Jeannie Whirling 1001 Arabian Nights (1959) – Princess Yasminda (voice) The Bing Crosby Show (1965) – Stephanie Great Performances (1971) – Lise The Initiation of Sarah (1978) – Mrs. Goodwin This Is the Life (1979) – Joyce Williams Queen of the Lot (2010) – Elizabeth Lambert