Bing crosby biography 1940

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    • Bing Crosby

    American singer and actor (–)

    Not to be confused with Bill Cosby or Sidney Crosby.

    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, &#;– October 14, ) was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. Crosby was a leader in record sales, network radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from to He was one of the first global cultural icons. Crosby made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1, songs.

    Crosby's early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra,Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon.Yank magazine said that Crosby was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In , American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. In , Music Digest estimated that Crosby's recordings filled more than half of the 80, weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music in America.

    Crosby won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Going My Way () and was nominated for its sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's (), opposite Ingrid Bergman, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. Crosby was the number one box office attraction for five consecutive years from to At his screen apex in , Crosby starred in three of the year's five highest-grossing films: The Bells of St. Mary's, Blue Skies, and Road to Utopia. In , he received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. Crosby is one of 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of

    Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years,

    January 20,
    This is a biography I picked up for no apparent reason, as I had no special affinity for Bing Crosby or his music, and knew little about him other than his most famous song "White Christmas." Nevertheless, I found it strangely compelling. I also read the first volume of Giddins' set, "Pocketful of Dreams", and both books were well written and easy to follow.

    I doubt there is a huge interest in the general readership for these books, but that in itself is one of the most relevant points Giddins highlights. Bing Crosby was by FAR the most popular and successful singer and actor in the United States for almost thirty years. He was Taylor Swift, the Beatles, Elvis Presley and every A-list actor you can think of, all rolled into one. He had the most recognizable voice in the world. He was the biggest cultural touchstone in America during the Depression and World War II. And yet here we are, just over fifty years after his death, and how many people remember him? It is a good reality check, and very humbling, to think how fleeting fame can be, and how quickly cultural amnesia erodes even the most powerful memories of past generations.

    Whenever I read a good history book, I am reminded of how little changes from decade to decade. Really, nothing is new under the sun. Bing Crosby handled fame well, but he was not immune to all the things celebrities deal with today: stalkers, getting 'cancelled' (thanks to a few unfortunate quotes taken out of context), dealing with the impossible expectations of fans, balancing his private life and public life which really could not be separated. He cultivated a happy-go-lucky attitude, calling himself the "laziest man in Hollywood," but he worked incredibly hard and always had multiple projects going at once. He was a product of his times, definitely not perfect, but he was fascinating, multi-talented, and passionate about his fans and his art.

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    • Gary Giddins

    Interested in purchasing one of Gary&#;s books? Use the links below to browse Gary&#;s books at various online retailers.

    Bing Crosby &#; Swinging on a Star &#; The War Years, ()
    Gary Giddins presents the second volume of his masterful multi-part biography.  Bing Crosby dominated American popular culture in a way that few artists ever have. From the dizzy era of Prohibition through the dark days of the Second World War, he was a desperate nation&#;s most beloved entertainer. But he was more than just a charismatic crooner: Bing Crosby redefined the very foundations of modem music, from the way it was recorded to the way it was orchestrated and performed.   In this much-anticipated follow-up to the universally acclaimed first volume, NBCC Winner and preeminent cultural critic Gary Giddins now focuses on Crosby&#;s most memorable period, the war years and the origin story of White Christmas. Set against the backdrop of a Europe on the brink of collapse, this groundbreaking work traces Crosby&#;s skyrocketing career as he fully inhabits a new era of American entertainment and culture. While he would go on to reshape both popular music and cinema more comprehensively than any other artist, Crosby&#;s legacy would be forever intertwined with his impact on the home front, a unifying voice for a nation at war. Over a decade in the making and drawing on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to numerous archives, Giddins finally brings Bing Crosby, his work, and his world to vivid life &#; firmly reclaiming Crosby&#;s central role in American cultural history. &#;The best thing to happen to Bing Crosby since Bob Hope.&#; (WSJ)&#;


    Warning Shadows: Home Alone with Classic Cinema ()
    Critic Giddins gleans fresh insights from novel juxtapositions in these essays drawn from his newspaper reviews of DVD collections. The DVD collections&#; raison d&#;etre is to group movies around organizing principles, which here run the gamut from Hitchcoc

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