WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BING CROSBY - PART 1

It is understandable--if also unfortunate--that a man who once dominated American popular culture has largely faded from view.

For virtually any American over the age of sixty, Bing Crosby’s name is likely to evoke a wide range of memories. Though he was by far the best-known popular singer of the pre-rock era, Crosby was also a full-fledged movie star who won a best-actor Oscar for Going My Way (1944) and easily held his own opposite the likes of Fred Astaire and Bob Hope in such lighter fare as Holiday Inn (1942) andThe Road to Morocco (1942). His radio shows were no less successful, and with the arrival of TV in the 50’s, his face became as familiar a fixture in American homes as was his easygoing bass-baritone voice.

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, the first installment of a two-volume biography by the jazz critic Gary Giddins, It contains a list of statistics conveying something of the extent to which Crosby once dominated American popular culture. According to Giddins:

He made more recordings than any other singer, of which 38 were number-one hits, more than any other popular artist. (The Beatles, by contrast, topped the charts only 24 times.)

By 1980, he had sold a total of 400 million discs.

He was one of Hollywood’s top ten box-office attractions in America in fifteen different years between 1934 and 1954.

His best-known radio program, NBC’s Kraft Music Hall, reached an audience of as many as 50 million listeners—at the time, well over a third of the entire U.S. population.

But Crosby’s fame did not long survive his death in 1977. Indeed, it is now difficult to find anyone under the age of forty who knows anything specific about him other than that he recorded Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.” By and large his work is available only on hard-to-find CD’s released by independent European labels, while most of his films are long forgotten.

Though several other artists of his generation—Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman among them—continue to be widely recognized as key figures in American music, Crosby tends increasingly to be overlooked by critics and journalists. He was, for instance, omitted entirely from Ken Burns’s ten-part PBS series Jazz, and is mentioned only in passing in Geoffrey C. Ward’s companion volume to the series.

How could so bright a star have dimmed so fast? Was there less to Bing Crosby than met the ear? Gary Giddins thinks not, and in A Pocketful of Dreams he makes the case for Crosby in unprecedentedly rich and rewarding detail. Though certain chapters could have been trimmed to useful effect (many readers will feel, for example, that far too much space is devoted to Crosby’s less important films), the book as a whole is both finely written and thoroughly engrossing. Still, in telling the story of how Crosby became “a phenomenon in the cultural life of the United States,” A Pocketful of Dreams occasionally dwells on the phenomenon at the expense of the artist.

Giddins is not himself a musician, trained or otherwise; for all his evident appreciation of Crosby’s singing, he lacks the technical knowledge needed to explain fully what he is hearing. And though his discussion of the posthumous decline in Crosby’s reputation is plausible as far as it goes, he is similarly unable to supply a completely adequate musical explanation for why “the most influential and successful popular performer in the first half of the 20th century” should have faded into semi-obscurity a mere quarter-century after his death...

SOURCE

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT WHITE CHRISTMAS

Even though I much prefer the earlier holiday themed musical Holiday Inn (1942), the musical White Christmas is remembered much more. Here are some fun facts about the 1954 movie that you might not know about...

1. White Christmas was intended to reunite Crosby and Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin showcase musical. Crosby and Astaire had previously co-starred in Holiday Inn (1942) (of which ‘White Christmas’ was a partial remake) and Blue Skies (1946). Astaire declined the project after reading the script and Danny Kaye would eventually take the role. Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney starred as the leading ladies.

2. Produced by Paramount Pictures, filming took place between Sep. and Nov. 1953. The movie premiered in October of 1954 and Paramount introduced a new mountain in their logo. That mountain would be in use for all Paramount films until the end of 1986.

3. The choreography was directed by an uncredited Bob Fosse. Fosse appears in three dance numbers including a riveting performance in the Abraham number.

4. Vera-Ellen’s singing was dubbed by Trudy Stevens. Clooney’s and Steven’s voices are what is heard in the film. However, when the time came to record the soundtrack album, Rosemary Clooney’s contract with Columbia Records made it impossible for her to participate. Thus, Peggy Lee stepped in. A soundtrack with Crosby, Kaye, Clooney, and Stevens was never made!

5.  The photo Vera-Ellen shows of her brother Benny is actually a photo of Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in The Little Rascals, in an army field jacket and helmet liner.

6. At 18 Vera-Ellen was one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the “smallest waist in Hollywood” and is believed to have suffered from anorexia nervosa. Rumours of her high necked, long sleeved costumes being designed to hide her neck and arms still run rampant. She retired from the screen in 1957 and became more reclusive when her 3 month old daughter Victoria died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 1963.

7. White Christmas was enormously popular with audiences, taking in $12,000,000 at the box office, making it the top moneymaker for 1954 by a wide margin. Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep won White Christmas an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song...

SPOTLIGHT ON VERA-ELLEN

Even to people that watch old movies, dancer Vera-Ellen is mostly known to the world as the younger sister of Rosemary Clooney in the movie WHITE CHRISTMAS(1954). However, she was a great dancer who had many demons that 1940s and 1950s audiences never knew.

She was born Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe on February 16, 1921 in Norwood, Ohio , an enclave within Cincinnati, to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants. She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became very proficient. At 16 she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and embarked upon a professional careerIn 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway theatre debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May at the age of 18. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film WONDER MAN(1945).

She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals WORDS AND MUSIC(1948) and ON THE TOWN(1949), while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, LOVE HAPPY(1950). She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in Three Little Words and The Belle of New York (1952). Then came co-starring roles with Bing Crosby in the blockbuster hit WHITE CHRISTMAS(1954). The warm and fuzzy yuletide favorite WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) is usuallly considered her best-remembered movie in which she played one-fourth of a glamorous quartet consisting of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and (sister) Rosemary Clooney.

Musicals went out of vogue by the late 50s and, as Vera-Ellen was practically synonymous with musicals, her career went into a sharp decline. During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the "smallest waist in Hollywood", and is believed to have suffered from anorexia nervosa. She retired from the screen in 1957. Guest appearances on the television variety shows of Dinah Shore and Perry Como in 1958 and 1959 were among the last of her entertainment career.

Vera-Ellen was married twice. Her first husband was fellow dancer Robert Hightower (from 1941 to 1946).Her second husband, from 1954 to 1966, was millionaire Victor Rothschild. Both marriages ended in divorce. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen Rothschild, who died at three months old of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 1963. Following the death of her child, Vera-Ellen withdrew from public life and never recovered from it. She died of cancer in Los Angeles, California in 1981...

For more on Vera-Ellen's later years go to this article:
VERA-ELLEN: THE LATER YEARS

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND UNUSUAL PAIRINGS

Bing Crosby worked with everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the business in his fifty years of entertaining. However, there are some people Bing did not really work with in the business much, and these pictures show some interesting pictures Bing took with other stars...

Bing with Dean Martin and Groucho Marx

Bing with Dinah Shore

Bing with Oliver Hardy

Bing with Marlene Dietrich

Bing with Gary Cooper

Bing with Cary Grant

COMING SOON: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BING CROSBY

Join us as we ring in the New Year with a four part series called "Whatever Happened To Bing Crosby". The series will examine Bing's impact on the entertainment industry and take a look at why he is not remember today as he should be...

DON'T MISS IT - STARTING DECEMBER 28TH!

THE END OF THE RHYTHM BOYS

After leaving the Whiteman Orchestra in May of 1930 the Rhythm Boys began singing with the Gus Arnheim band at the Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Arnheim began pushing Bing to the forefront as a soloist, and on Jan. 19, 1931, Bing recorded what was to become his first credited solo hit, I Surrender Dear, written by Harry Barris and backed by the Arnheim Orchestra.

The Grove had its own broadcast equipment, and Bing's voice could be heard throughout California. Increasingly crowds came to the Grove to hear Bing solo, and the Rhythm Boys as a group receded to the background. As Bing's solo career began to rise, he began skipping performances at the Grove, and this behavior led the manager to dock his pay. Crosby walked out in protest, and took the Rhythm Boys with him. The manager persuaded the local musicians' union to ban the trio for breach of contract, and the Rhythm Boys dissolved.

The Rhythm Boys performed together only one more time, July 4, 1943, on an NBC radio broadcast hosted by Paul Whiteman., "Paul Whiteman Presents." A musical excerpt of this program was included on the MCA CD anthology Bing: His Legendary Years. The entire program is available from collectors...

ORIGINAL STORY BY STEVE LEWIS

AUDIO ASPIRIN: MUDDY WATER

35 YEARS AGO: BING'S DAUGHTER SHOT MARY MARTIN'S SON

NEW YORK (AP) — Thirty-five years ago viewers learned the truth.

They got the answer to the question that bedeviled them for months.

They found out who shot J.R. Ewing as 90 million of them massed in front of half the nation's TVs watching "Dallas" that evening of Nov. 21, 1980.

Not that it really mattered whodunit. What mattered was, the issue was settled. The mystery solved. "Dallas" fans could finally move on.

So could "Dallas," which, by the time the shooter's identity was disclosed, had rocketed from its prior status as a mere TV hit to the far reaches of cultural blockbuster-dom.

A saga of the Texas tycoon Ewings, "Dallas" was epic, ostentatious, outrageous and addictive, with its at-each-other's-throats clan ruled by J.R. Ewing, a charmingly loathsome oil baron. As embodied by Larry Hagman, J.R. was a bottomless well of corruption who deployed a Lone Star twang, cold hawk eyes and a wicked grin.

By the evening of March 21, 1980, "Dallas" devotees were already smitten with his villainy. But then, on that third-season finale, "Dallas" threw them a curve unlike anything witnessed before: J.R. was gunned down by an unknown assailant and left for dead on his office floor.

Thunderstruck fans were left with the awful possibility (and somehow it seemed like a possibility) that the series' leading man — its main attraction — might have been disposed of. And even more unsettling: They were left in the dark as to who pulled the trigger.

Obvious persons of interest included Sue Ellen Ewing (played by Linda Gray), J.R.'s long-suffering, cheated-upon wife, and his sniveling arch-enemy Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval).

Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s sexy scheming sister-in-law/mistress, was also an attractive candidate.

But "Dallas" producers, who had cooked up the "Who Shot J.R.?" twist as an effective way to satisfy a last-minute order by CBS for two extra episodes to close out Season 3, hadn't even settled on whodunit when they decided that the deed be done. Or, if they had, they weren't talking.

Mary Crosby says she had no idea. When she got the script, Crosby, who played Kristin, thought only, "What a great way to end the season. And J.R. certainly deserves it!"

To ensure the big secret stayed a secret to everyone, including the doer, everybody got a turn on-camera pulling the trigger.

"It was a really fun day," Crosby recalls. "The producers got to shoot J.R. The makeup artist got to shoot him. Larry got to shoot himself."

Then, after they wrapped, Hagman, ever the jokester, changed into a novelty-shop vest and toasted the company with a glass of Scotch. As he drank, liquid spouted from numerous "bullet holes" in his chest.

"There was never a dull moment with Larry," Crosby chuckles.

The mystery, unleashed on viewers in March, ran rampant much longer than intended: An actors strike would shut down all TV production and push the start of the networks' Fall 1980 season into November, imposing an extra three months for the nation's favorite guessing game to rage.

"It was extraordinary that people cared after all that time," says Crosby.

But care, they did! Viewers scarfed up Who Shot J.R.? merchandise including T-shirts, coffee cups and beer. They put money down betting on who the culprit would be. They devoured publicity about the stunt, including a sprawling Time magazine cover story whose headline, of course, posed: "WHODUNIT?"

Running for a second term, President Jimmy Carter reportedly joked at a Dallas fundraiser, "I came to Dallas to find out confidentially who shot J.R."

No luck. But in the new season's fourth episode, the answer was finally revealed to all — including Crosby, who only then discovered that she, as Kristin, was the guilty party.

"I knew when everybody else knew," she declares, and watching "Dallas" that fateful night "I was thrilled — and spooked. I knew that it would change things, and it did. I was certainly a more recognizable figure after that!"

Needless to say, J.R. would recover and resume his villainy. He lived even beyond the series' conclusion after 14 seasons in May 1991, when viewers were duped into suspecting that he had committed suicide...

SOURCE

SPOTLIGHT ON LEO ROBIN

One of the songwriters that shaped the career of Bing Crosby the most in the early years was Leo Robin. Together with Ralph Rainger, Robin wrote some of the most memorable songs of the late 1930s.  Leo Robin was born on April 6, 1900 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied at the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Carnegie Tech’s drama school. After graduation, he worked as a publicity agent, a newspaper reporter and even as a social worker. However, his first ambition was to be a playwright and in the early 1920’s he moved to New York City to achieve this goal.

In New York, Robin began writing lyrics for songs by various composers. His first success came with the song “Looking Around”, with composer Richard Myers. Robin soon turned his attention to the Broadway stage and with composers like Vincent Youmans, produced Just Fancy, Alley Oop and Hit the Deck.

In 1930, Robin had another hit song featured in the Broadway revue Tattle Tales, entitled “I'll Take an Option on You”, composed by Ralph Rainger. This was the beginning of a great Robin and Rainger team. Under contract with Paramount Studios, Robin and Rainger moved to Hollywood and produced some of the most memorable film scores from the era, including She Done Him Wrong, She Loves Me Not, Shoot the Works, Here is My Heart, The Big Broadcast of 1937, The Big Broadcast of 1938, Waikiki Wedding, Give Me A Sailor and Paris Honeymoon. In 1939, Robin and Rainger left Paramount and signed with 20th Century Fox, where they continued to contribute songs to films.

Robin and Rainger wrote some of the greatest standards from the era, including “Please”, “I Have to Have You”, “Beyond the Blue Horizon”, “June in January”, “I Don’t Want to Make History, I Just Want to Make Love”, “A Rhyme for Love”, “Here Lies Love”, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love”, “With Every Breath I Take”, “Here’s Love in Your Eye” and “Blue Hawaii.” In 1938, the pair received the Academy Award for Best Song for “Thanks For the Memory”.

After Rainger’s death in 1942, Robin worked with many other composers including Jerome Kern (“In Love In Vain,”), Arthur Schwartz (“A Gal in Calico,” “A Rainy Night in Rio,” “Oh But I Do”) Harry Warren (“The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat,” “Paducah,” “Zing A Little Zong,”), Harold Arlen (“Hooray for Love,” “For Every Man There’s a Woman”).

In 1949 Robin collaborated with July Styne writing the score for the Broadway Musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The production starred Carol Channing and included the songs “Bye Bye, Baby,” “A Little Girl from Little Rock,” and, of course, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” A few years later, Marilyn Monroe would reprise the role in the 1953 movie version.

In the 1950’s, Robin collaborated with Sigmund Romberg on the Broadway musical The Girl in Pink Tights. While in production, Romberg died and the musical was not completed until 1954. Robin’s final collaboration came in 1955 for the film musical My Sister Eileen, another collaboration with Jule Styne. After the score was completed, Robin entered retirement.

Leo Robin died in Woodland Hills, CA on December 29, 1984. He has been gone for over thirty years now but the songs that he had a hand in writing will live on forever...

EUROPE'S BIGGEST COLLECTION OF BING MEMORABILIA

Europe’s biggest collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia and records will be presented at Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Montrose in early January.

The collection of Bing Crosby records and memorabilia belonged to the late Mr Frank Grant who fell in love with the sound of Bing Crosby and started collecting all things Bing at the young age of 16.

His family extended the family home to accommodate the Bing Crosby collection with a purpose built room.

Mr Grant met Bing Crosby many times. One photo from the collection shows Mr Grant with Bing on September 13, 1972 at St Andrew’s Golf Course.

Mr Grant holds one of his many albums which included news cuttings and photographs of Bing.

Taylors this week completed work increasing their floor space to a staggering 40,000 square feet by adding a level inside the main building.

This is to accommodate some of the Scotland’s largest collections of books for sale.

Ian Taylor said: “Our Auction rooms are one of the few places that are prepared to handle such large quantities of books.”

On November 16, a sale of 40,000 records all from the same collector, along with his vast collection of model train layouts will fill the rooms.

The Bing collection includes records, vinyls, reel to reel tapes, sheet music, photo albums and posters and will take place at Taylor’s Auction Rooms, Montrose on Saturday, January 9.

Full catalogues and images will be available at www.taylors-auctions.com...

GUEST REVIEWER: HERE COMES THE GROOM

Our guest reviewer Bruce Krogan is back with his usual excellent review. This time around it is the second pairing of Der Bingle and director Frank Capra in 1951's Here Comes The Groom...

Frank Capra in his autobiography called Bing Crosby, "the master of the cultured ad-lib." A lot of time Crosby would drop several ad-libs into a script and Capra kept them in. According to Capra they were better than what the screenwriter had written. Of course partnering with Bob Hope in several films and thousands of radio, television, and live shows Bing had to be quick on the uptake.

Capra wanted to do another of his populist films like Mr. Deeds etc., in the three picture deal he signed with Paramount. But after doing Riding High and doing it well with Bing Crosby, he wanted to do one of his type film. The Paramount brass said no, but since he was unhappy at Paramount they agreed to drop their last picture commitment on his contract for one more Crosby film. Just make a good one.

Capra was as good as his word. This film is entertainment plus and a lot of that has to do with the chemistry between Bing and Jane Wyman. Most of Crosby's leading ladies were nice women who just melted with the Crosby charm. Not so here. Ms. Wyman gives as good with the wisecracks as Crosby does and is no pushover. What she is here is a fiancé who's grown tired of waiting for her man who's out gallivanting all over the world as per his job as correspondent. When he finally does come back he has two French orphans in tow. But Jane's decided to marry millionaire Franchot Tone. Bing has to get her back or those kids will be deported. That's where the fun starts.

By now Paramount was giving Crosby vehicles some respectable budgets and that included letting Frank Capra hire a lot of his favorite supporting players. Those folks make a Capra film an enjoyable experience.

Franchot Tone does nicely as millionaire rival and critics were astounded at Alexis Smith who turned out to have a real flair for comedy. Funny parts she wasn't getting at Warner Brothers. She plays a "kissing" cousin of Franchot Tone and figures prominently in Bing's machinations.

They were also astounded at Jane Wyman who nobody realized could sing. Why they were is beyond me since she did start in musical choruses. The song In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer won an Oscar for best song and became one of Bing's million selling records, dueted with Jane Wyman on screen and on vinyl.

The rest of the score is by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans who were under contract to Paramount and for some reason or other never wrote another Crosby film score. Probably because Paramount didn't assign them because many years later they scored and arranged a whole album of duets with Bing and Rosemary Clooney called That Traveling Two Beat Time. And Bing did pretty good with a song written for his friend Bob Hope by them called Silver Bells.

One of the Livingston-Evans songs was a patented philosophical number called Your Own Little House. A nice song on record, on screen it's a great impromptu style number that so many of Crosby's seemed to be. Sung with a group of kids who are French war orphans, Bing does some gentle kidding of fellow entertainers Jimmy Durante and Maurice Chevalier.

This is one of Bing's best and great entertainment...

BRUCE'S RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

MY RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

PAST OBITS: SKITCH HENDERSON

Here is the New York Times obituary for legendary conductor Skitch Henderson from November 3, 2005. He died ten years ago...

Skitch Henderson, the conductor, pianist and radio and television entertainer who provided music and repartee for the "Tonight" show in the 1950's and 60's and who founded and led the New York Pops, died on Tuesday at his home in New Milford, Conn. He was 87.

His death was announced by James M. Johnson, executive director of the Pops.

With his neatly trimmed Vandyke beard and friendly disposition, Mr. Henderson was a familiar personality to millions of Americans over a long career. He had shows of his own on radio and television, and made many guest appearances in the 1950's and 1960's on "To Tell the Truth" and other game shows.

He was also a mainstay of the "Tonight" show, conducting the studio band and swapping stories with Steve Allen beginning in 1954 and later with Johnny Carson. He devised the "Stump the Band" routine, in which members of the studio audience would suggest obscure song titles and challenge the band musicians to play the tunes.

Mr. Henderson liked to stretch his players when he could, using arrangements by distinguished writers like Neal Hefti and Ernie Wilkins. Among the sidemen in the Henderson band were the trumpeter Clark Terry and Doc Severinsen, who took over as leader in 1967.

Though he became as much a performer as a conductor-pianist, Mr. Henderson always maintained his musical presence. He once described himself as "a middlebrow musician who does quality show music," and critics over the years seemed to agree with that assessment.

Under Mr. Henderson's leadership, the New York Pops were born unofficially in the 1950's, with 70 members of the New York Philharmonic. It faded, but Mr. Henderson started it again, formalized its existence in 1983 and conducted it for many years, drawing musicians from the city's freelance pool.

Mr. Henderson was regarded as one of the best-traveled musicians on the scene. In addition to turns on the podium of the New York Philharmonic, he made appearances as a guest conductor of orchestras in San Diego, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Tulsa and Stamford, Conn., and of quality pops orchestras in Virginia, Florida and Kentucky. Abroad, he conducted the Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony.

He received a 1963 Grammy Award for an album of selections from "Porgy and Bess," with the RCA Orchestra and Leontyne Price as the main soloist. "What's great about Skitch," Marvin Hamlisch, who performed with him often, once said, "is that he can move between any type of music. Now he does a lot of pop music, but he knows the repertoire of the classics as well as anyone. He's a consummate musician."

Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson was born on Jan. 27, 1918, in Birmingham, England. In interviews over the years he said that he took piano lessons when he was 6 from his mother, a church organist, and that he came to the United States when he was 14. By the time he turned 15, he said, he had decided to try to make his mark in music.

Mr. Henderson told reporters that when he was very young, "I ran away and played with a rinky-dink band." He was somewhere in the Midwest in the 1930's, playing a hotel, when he encountered Judy Garland. He stepped in when her regular accompanist became ill and later was a rehearsal accompanist for both Garland and Mickey Rooney.

In 1938 he played piano for "The Bob Hope Pepsodent Show" on radio. Two years later, Mr. Henderson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. When the United States entered the war in 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps and became a fighter pilot.

After his discharge in 1945, he organized his own dance band and toured the United States. He worked with Bing Crosby on the radio and was also music director of Frank Sinatra's "Light-Up Time" radio show.

He was often asked where he got the name Skitch. He said it was given to him by Bing Crosby, who told him the public would never remember proper names like Harry Lillis Crosby but couldn't forget him once he became Bing. Crosby began to call him the Sketch Kid, because as a rehearsal pianist he made piano sketches for the orchestrator. From that came Skitch.

In 1998, he summarized his career for The Salt Lake Tribune. "I've never had goals," he said. "I have worked and been lucky enough. If one trolley broke down, I was able to get on another that was running. Goals are dreams but they are seldom realistic."

SOURCE

BING AND THE SIMPSONS

It is amazing that the adult cartoon The Simpsons is still on television. What has it been 150 years?! Seriously, the show has been on for over 25 years now. I just found out that even Der Bingle got the The Simpsons treatment...

In the Simpson world...in 1956 Bing came to Springfield and he spent the afternoon playing mini-golf at Sir Putt-A-Lott's, while his car's Johnson rod is replaced.

He appears in the Itchy & Scratchy short, "Dogday Hellody of 1933"

He appeared in "A Zombie Christmas with Bing Crosby, Elvis and the 1932 All American Football Team"...

50 ROLES THAT BING DID NOT GET

Here is a list of films either intended for Bing, proposed for him, or sought by him. There is a lot to tantalise here. More additions would be most welcome. This should put to rest the misconception that Bing was not considered a " hot " film property after High Society...

1) Alice In Wonderland 1933.
2) Vienna Nightingale 1935 planned operetta.
3) Fly by Night 1936.
4) The Story of Will Rogers 1944 (eventually made with Will Rogers, Jr.).
5) Comin' through The Rye 1946 (the life of Robert Burns).
6) Adventures of a Ballad Hunter ( life of folk singer John Avery Lomax ).
7) Road To Brooklyn 1946.
8) Untitled Film 1947 to be produced by Alexander Korda, scripted by Damon Runyon in England.
9) Friendly Persuasion 1948 scheduled to be Frank Capra's first Paramount film, planned for Bing and Jean Arthur,project cancelled due to budgetary limitations.
10) The Silver Whistle 1949, part originated on Broadway by Jose Ferrer.
11) Pardners,1950 with Hopalong Cassidy, remake of Rhythm On The Range, eventually filmed with Martin and Lewis.
12) Road To Paris 1950

13) Come Back Little Sheba 1952, role went tp Burt Lancaster.
14) Guys and Dolls 1952,with Bob Hope.
15) Road To The Moon 1953 with possibly Marilyn Monroe taking Lamour part.
16) The Rainmaker 1955, part again went to Burt Lancaster.
17) Untitled film 1957,with Jackie Gleason about songwriters Dubin and Warren.
18) The Music Man 1958, Bing became interested after seeing the play, part went to Robeert Preston.
19) Two For The Seasaw 1958, again Bing became interested after seeing the play, part went to Robert Mitchum.
20) Bachelor's Baby 1959, Fox project to be produced by Dick Powell.
21) The Jimmy Durante Story 1959, with Dean Martin playing Durante and Frank Sinatra playing Lou Clayton. Bing was to portray Eddie Jackson. Frank Capra was to direct and produce. The plan fell apart when Capra became displeased with contractual arrangements.
22) The Brothers Grimm 1960, Bing asked to play whichever brother he wanted.
23) The Great Western Story 1960,to be produced by Cinerama and Bing Crosby productions,which owned the rights,eventually became How The West was Won.
24) Tender Is The Night 1960, Bing considered for part which went to Jason Robards, Jr.
25) Advise and Consent 1961,Otto Preminger wanted Bing who was at the time commited to The Road To Hong Kong.

26) The Art of Llewellyn Jones 1961.
27) By The Beautiful Sea, planned for Bing and Judy Garland.
28) The Devil's Advocate, Dore Schary wanted Bing to play the lead in the film of Morris West's book for Warners Bros. with Fredric March and Sophia Loren.
29) Road To Calcutta 1962.
30) All The Way Home 1962,producer David Susskind wanted Bing, part went again to Robert Preston.
31) Never Too Late 1962, Bing attempted to buy the rights to play and would have played Paul Ford part.
32) Untitled film 1963 with Lucille Ball.
33) Musical version of The Rainmaker 1963.
34) Here's Love 1963 film version of Meredith Wilson musical.
35) Choice of Violence 1963, a murder melodrama.

 
36) Popi,1965, part went to Alan Arkin.
37) Say It With music 1965 with Julie Andrews with Irving Berlin score.
38) Bloomer Girl 1966, with Katherine Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, based on Arlen and Mercer musical.
39) The Absence of a Cello 1966, musical with Vivien Leigh.
40) Rocket to the Moon 1966 ,Bing to play P.T. Barnum in Jules Verne story.
41) Mad Dogs And Englishmen 1966.
42) The Family Band 1966, part went to Walter Brennan.
43) The Great St. Bernard 1967, a story about a monk in the Alps.
44) Untitled film with Fred Astaire 1967.
45) The Detective, with Frank Sinatra 1967.
46) Road To Christmas 1968.
47) Paint Your Wagon 1968, part went to Lee Marvin.
48) The Birds Wore Blinkers, with Hope and Gleason and John Wayne to be made in Ireland.
49) The Sunshine Boys 1973 with Hope, parts went to Walter Matthau and George Burns.
50) Road To Tomorrow or The road To The Fountain of Youth 1975, with Lamour and Hope and Mae West.

THE FATE OF BING'S FINANCIAL EMPIRE

On this, the 38th anniversary of Bing Crosby's death, I figured it would be interesting to take a look at what became of his financial empire...

HLC Properties is a Nevada limited partnership formed in 1980 for the purpose of managing the entertainment empire created by Harry Lillis Crosby, professionally known as Bing Crosby, who died in 1977. Crosby’s personal representative and widow transferred to HLC his interests in various record masters, television programs, motion pictures, radio programs, music compositions, music publishing agreements, literary works, and the contract rights related to those interests, as well as the right of publicity. The general partner of HLC, Hillsborough Productions, Inc., was to manage the operations, including making all creative and business decisions about the interests transferred to HLC.

Before Crosby’s death, the business interests transferred to HLC were owned by Crosby but managed and operated by a staff of employees that had managed Crosby’s holdings for decades. Basil F. Grillo (1905-1995), the manager and accountant who had run Crosby’s organization for over 30 years, said that when he first began working for Crosby in 1945 or 1946, the Crosby operation was already so extensive that six months passed before he even met Crosby. That operation included musicians, singers, writers and agents, all of whom were involved in the creative and business aspects of records, motion pictures and radio and television programs. It also had interests in other fields. At times, business activities operated within formal entities. For example, Bing Crosby Productions was engaged in motion picture and television production. Bing Crosby Enterprises, Inc., was formed, but was later liquidated in the 1950s. The various businesses and entertainment interests of Crosby generally were managed under the name “Bing Crosby Enterprises,” but that operation was not a formal entity.

It appears that any formal business entity that Crosby utilized for his operations was dissolved or otherwise liquidated, for there is no suggestion of the existence of such an entity at his death. There is no indication of how or in what manner those entities were terminated -- whether by a formal dissolution or informal liquidation. After Crosby’s death, the executor of his estate, Richard C. Bergen of the law firm of O’Melveny & Meyers, continued to maintain “Mr. Crosby’s business office,” where Enterprises operated. In 1980, the executor entered into a limited partnership agreement with Hillsborough Productions, Inc. and Kathryn G. Crosby (Crosby’s second and surviving spouse) to form HLC Properties, an entity that would manage the interests Crosby left. Ultimately, the executor transferred the estate’s 78.685 percent interest in certain properties to HLC Properties. Kathryn Crosby also transferred her 21.315 percent interest in these same properties to HLC Properties.

In 1981, the probate court approved the formation of HLC Properties, approved the estate’s agreement to transfer estate properties and assets to HLC Properties, and approved the estate’s transfer of its limited partnership interest in HLC Properties to various family member trusts. Upon final distribution of the estate, the executor was discharged.

Mark Brodka, the second husband of Bing's only daughter, Mary Frances, served as chief legal counsel for HLC and filed lawsuits against Bing's recording company, Universal Music Group, alleging unpaid royalties. Universal countersued and in 2012 Universal and HLC reached agreement to cooperate in promoting Bing's musical legacy. Mr. Brodka was relieved of his legal duties to HLC by Bing's eldest son, Harry, with the approval of Mrs. Crosby...

SOURCE

AUDIO ASPIRIN: DOMENICA

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND HIS UNDERRATED LEADING LADIES

When you are taking a look at the filmography of Bing Crosby, he had some stunning female co-stars. You instantly think of Dorothy Lamour in all of those Road movies or Grace Kelly in the technicolor masterpiece High Society (1956). However, there are some female leads that you might have forgotten made movies with Der Bingle. They all wanted to work with Bing, and some of these great pictures showcases that...

Ida Lupino in ANYTHING GOES (1936)

Joan Blondell in EAST SIDE OF HEAVEN (1939)

Betty Hutton in HERE COMES THE WAVES (1944)

Ann Blyth in TOP O THE MORNING (1949)

Zizi Jeanmaire in ANYTHING GOES (1956)

Nicole Maurey and Tuesday Weld in HIGH TIME (1960)