Bing Crosby (49 page)

Six scenes from the short subjects Bing made for Mack Sennett. In
Dream House,
he gets black housepaint on his face, leading a black casting director to hire him as a black actor; in
Billboard Girl,
the swishy brother of Bing’s paramour pretends to be her and Bing can’t tell the difference. Note that he almost always wore
a hat to avoid the dreaded “scalp doily.”
Jon Pro tas

Larry Crosby was brought on board to handle Bing’s publicity and collaborated with brother Ted on a fictionalized biography.
Bing Crosby Collection, Foley Center, Gonzaga University

Jack Kapp revolutionized the recording industry and chose many of Bing’s songs between 1931 and 1949.
Elsie Perry Collection

Three Crosby brothers, top to bottom: bandleader Bob, Bing, and manager Everett (“the wrong Crosby”).
Ron Bosley Collection

The October 1934 issue of
Radio
Stars
celebrated the crooner who helped place radios in millions of homes.
Gary Giddins Collection

Bing’s ambivalence about tobacco sponsorship was evident in a 1944 print campaign in which he allowed himself to be quoted
only on the matter of friendship.
Eric Anderson Collection

In the weeks before his 1931 network radio debut, Bing auditioned a couple of songs as his theme before settling on “Where
the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)”-a perfect choice.
Gary Giddins Collection