Kathryn Crosby

For the woman crowned Miss Alabama 2003, see Catherine Crosby.

Olive Kathryn Crosby (née Grandstaff; November 25, 1933 – September 20, 2024) was an American actress and singer who performed in films under the stage names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff.^[1]

Kathryn Crosby
Crosby in 1976
Born	Olive Kathryn Grandstaff (1933-11-25)November 25, 1933 West Columbia, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 20, 2024(2024-09-20) (aged 90) Hillsborough, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery
Other names	Kathryn Grandstaff Kathryn Grant
Education	University of Texas at Austin (BFA)
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	1953–1979 2010
Spouses	Bing Crosby ​ ​ (m. 1957; died 1977)​ Maurice William Sullivan ​ ​ (m. 2000; died 2010)​
Children	Harry Crosby Mary Crosby Nathaniel Crosby

Early life and education

Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on November 25, 1933, in West Columbia, Texas, to Delbert Emery Grandstaff Sr. and Olive Catherine Grandstaff (née Stokely).^[2] Kathryn had four siblings. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955.^[3] Two years later, she married widower Bing Crosby, 30 years her senior. The couple had three children: Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel.^[4]

Career

Crosby with her husband Bing Crosby, 1958

Kathryn and Bing Crosby in 1960

Kathryn's film career began in 1953.^[5] She had featured roles such as Princess Parisa in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and in the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (1959). She also played the part of Mama Bear with her husband and children in Goldilocks, and she co-starred with Jack Lemmon in the comedy Operation Mad Ball (1957), with Tony Curtis in the drama Mister Cory (1957), and as a trapeze artist in The Big Circus (1959). However, Crosby largely retired from acting by the 1960s.

On June 16, 1963, Crosby became a registered nurse after studying at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles.^[6][7]

Crosby appeared as a guest star on her husband's 1964–1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show.

In the mid-1970s, she hosted The Kathryn Crosby Show, a 30-minute local talk show on KPIX-TV in San Francisco. Husband Bing appeared as a guest occasionally. After Bing Crosby's death in 1977, she took on a few smaller roles and the lead in the short-lived 1996 Broadway musical State Fair.

From 1985-2001, Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. A nearby bridge carrying U.S. Route 158 over the Yadkin River is named for Kathryn Crosby.^[8]

On November 4, 2010, Crosby was seriously injured in an automobile accident in the Sierra Nevada that killed her second husband, 85-year-old Maurice William Sullivan, whom she had married in 2000.^[9]

On June 1, 2014, Crosby sang in a Rodgers and Hart tribute.^[10]

Death

Crosby died on September 20, 2024, at the age of 90.^[11] She is interred in the family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Filmography

Crosby with Vince Edwards as a guest star on Ben Casey, 1965

• 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