BING AND A COMPLICATED FAMILY LIFE

Here is an interesting story I found online regarding Bing's two families...

Live Wire: Late singer Bing Crosby's family life complicated

Q: I know that Kathryn Grant married Bing Crosby and had three children. When he died he made her a ward of the court, and she was very angry about it and fought it in court. Did she ever overturn that and get any of his money? I'm very curious about this. - N.F., Hope Mills

A: Much of this is incorrect. You may be mixing up some elements of the complicated Crosby family story - or maybe you're thinking of someone else entirely?

It's true that Kathryn Grant married Bing Crosby, in 1957, and they had three children. But if she was unhappy with her financial situation after the 1977 death of the wealthy entertainer, she didn't say so and she never battled the estate in court - at least, not that was widely reported. Neither a minor nor incapacitated, she also wasn't made a ward of the court. Indeed, Kathryn Crosby, now 79, always has painted rosy pictures of her life with Bing, including in two memoirs written following his death. She described him as a good husband and father. She was Crosby's second wife. His first wife, entertainer Dixie Lee, died of cancer in 1952. Lee and Bing Crosby were married 22 years and had four sons. Some of those children later said their father had been a cold, harsh, remote father. In a memoir, eldest son Gary Crosby said Bing beat and verbally abused him and his brothers and that he cheated on their mother. Two of his brothers agreed but the fourth, Phillip, said Bing had been "a great father" and that Gary's claims were overblown.

Bing Crosby did leave an estate replete with strings - including one that said anyone who disputed the will was automatically disinherited. Most of the will's provisions were private but were revealed later on. For example, the four sons from his first marriage were barred from receiving their inheritance until they reached age 65. Only one made it - Phillip, who died of a heart attack at age 69. Gary died of lung cancer at age 62. Lindsay Crosby and Dennis Crosby both committed suicide. Lindsay died in 1989 at the age of 51. Dennis died in 1991 at the age of 56. The three children from Bing Crosby's marriage to Kathryn are all alive - Harry, 54, Mary, 53, and Nathaniel, 51. They have all reportedly described their father as loving and kind. In 2010, the estate of Bing Crosby's first wife battled for a share of the earnings of Bing's estate, based on changes in the law.

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