Kathryn Crosby, Actress And Widow Of Bing Crosby, Dies At 90

by · Forbes
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JULY 23: Kathryn Crosby speaks onstage during the AMERICAN MASTERS "Bing Crosby ... [+] Rediscovered" panel during the PBS Networks portion of the 2014 Summer Television Critics Association at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 23, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)Getty Images

Kathryn Crosby, the actress who appeared in movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Anatomy of a Murder and Operation Mad Ball before marrying singer and Academy Award-winning actor Bing Crosby, died of natural causes on Friday night at her home in Hillsborough, California. She was 90.

The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad, poster, (aka THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD), Kathryn Grant, Kerwin Mathews, ... [+] 1958. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)LMPC via Getty Images

Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff on Nov. 25, 1933 in West Columbia, Texas, Kathryn graduated from University of Texas at Austin before winning a beauty contest with the prize being a screen test in Hollywood with William Holden. Appearing under her stage name of Kathryn Grant (or Kathryn Grandstaff), her other film roles included Mister Cory opposite Tony Curtis in 1957 and The Big Circus opposite Victor Mature in 1959.

On television, Kathryn’s guest appearances included the sitcom Father Knows Best and five episodes of anthology The Ford Television Theatre.

Kathryn met Bing Crosby while doing interviews for a column about the film industry for her hometown newspaper, leading her to conduct interviews on the set of Crosby’s White Christmas. They were married in 1957, when she was 23 and he was 54, and she began appearing with Crosby and their children Harry, Mary and Nathaniel on his Christmas television specials and in Minute Maid orange juice commercials.

She became a registered nurse in 1963, and was married to Bing Crosby until his death in 1977.

circa 1965: Portrait of American singer and actor Bing Crosby (1904 - 1977) putting his arm around ... [+] his wife, the American actor Kathryn Grant, as he assists her with her golf swing. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Getty Images

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For 16 years, through 2001, Kathryn Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament at Bermuda Run Country Club in North Carolina.

After Bing’s death, she appeared in stage productions of Same Time, Next Year and Charley’s Aunt. She also co-starred in the 1996 Broadway revival of State Fair.

Kathryn married Maurice William Sullivan in 2000, and they remained together for a decade until his sudden death in a car accident in 2010.

She is survived by her three children and numerous grandchildren.

Actor Bing Crosby, wife Actress Kathryn Grant and daughter Mary Crosby attend Bing Crosby's Benefit ... [+] for Fordham Preparatory School on December 6, 1976 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, New York. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images