Kathryn Crosby

For the woman crowned Miss Alabama 2003, see Catherine Crosby.
Kathryn Crosby
Crosby in 1976
Born
Olive Kathryn Grandstaff

(1933-11-25)November 25, 1933
West Columbia, Texas, U.S.
DiedSeptember 20, 2024(2024-09-20) (aged 90)
Hillsborough, California, U.S.
Resting placeHoly Cross Cemetery
Other names
  • Kathryn Grandstaff
  • Kathryn Grant
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BFA)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active
  • 1953–1979
  • 2010
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1957; died 1977)​
    Maurice William Sullivan
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2000; died 2010)​
    Children

    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]

    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

    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

    References

    1. ^ "Kathryn Grant". Retrieved September 1, 2014.
    2. ^ "Kathryn Grant". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
    3. ^ Claesson, Samuel (July 2025). "Kathryn Grant". Classic Images. pp. 36–38.
    4. ^ "Bing Crosby's Former California Estate Is for Sale for $13.8 Million". People. March 29, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
    5. ^ Harris, Beth (September 21, 2024). "Kathryn Crosby, actor and widow of famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, dies at 90". Associated Press. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
    6. ^ "1963 Press Photo Kathryn Crosby wife Bing Crosby nurse cap Queen Angels School". Historic Images. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
    7. ^ West, Richard; Thackrey, Ted Jr. (October 15, 1977). "From the Archives: Bing Crosby Dies at 73 on Golf Course". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
    8. ^ Jim Sparks, "Crews to Start Work on Bridge," Winston-Salem Journal, November 21, 2007.
    9. ^ Martin Griffith (December 2, 2010). "Bing Crosby's widow recovering from accident". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
    10. ^ "Saratoga: Kathryn Crosby to sing in Rodgers and Hart tribute". The Mercury News. May 21, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
    11. ^ Buenahora, Andrés (September 21, 2024). "Kathryn Crosby, Actor and Widow of Bing Crosby, Dies at 90". Variety. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
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