This year, Bing Crosby devotees are celebrating the 100th anniversary of a milestone in the life of the late entertainer who grew up in Spokane.
“It happens to be one century since Bing Crosby left Spokane, a 22-year-old kid who had a drum set, and a friend by the name of Al Rinker, a North Central student, and they took off for Hollywood. So that's 100 years and Bing went through American society through the 20th century like a tornado," said Bill Stimson, a retired journalism professor and member of Bing Crosby Advocates of Spokane,
Crosby was an entertainment renaissance man and a singer with hit songs in every decade from the 1920s to the 1970s, 41 number one hits in all, including the one that is still the biggest all-time seller, "White Christmas."
He was one of America’s first great jazz singers. He was an actor known for his “Road” movies with comedian Bob Hope and actress Dorothy Lamour. He hosted TV specials and, for decades, hosted a professional golf tournament at the famed Pebble Beach course named after him.
He was also a businessman who helped to finance the development of the recording industry. And speaking of business, his television commercials selling Minute Maid orange juice, filmed with his family, were popular in the 1970s.
To celebrate his life, the advocates are planning a series of summer discussions to be held in the Bing Crosby House on the Gonzaga University. The first is this Sunday.
“Lauren Harris is going to speak about Bing as a child. Lauren is about to publish a book on Bing Crosby as a child. And that'll be very interesting because, you know, nobody really knows. They all start his story about 1925 when he started making a name in music," Stimson said.
During the next three months, speakers will explore other parts of Crosby’s life, including his contributions to athletics, education and the war effort during World War II.
“He's a hero to this day in England because of his role in creating morale and entertaining troops. And it's a quite touching story. He went from military to military hospital and it drained him," he said.
“And then I'm going to give a presentation on the kind of rumor that Bing was some sort of a horrible parent, which goes out of a book written by one of his seven children, denounced by all the other six. And that was that he punished too hard and demanded too much," Stimson said.
He says he wants to build an appreciation for Crosby, especially among those who know little or nothing about him.
"I mean, they know him as the Christmas singer and a lot of them, to this day, appreciate his films of all sorts. He made over 80 of them. But they don't necessarily appreciate what went into that. He is an exceptional American in an exceptional American century.”
The Bing Crosby Advocates invite you to their Sunday conversations this summer. The events will begin at 3:30, but space is limited to 30 or 40 participants.
