Actress Kathryn Crosby recently passed away at the age of 90. She was the widow of well-known singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby. She passed away on Friday night, September 20, 2024, at her Hillsborough, California, home due to natural causes.
On Saturday, September 21, a spokesman for her family, Harlan Boll, announced her passing. Olive Kathryn Crosby was an American singer and actress who appeared in motion pictures.
Grandstaff was born in West Columbia, Texas, on November 25, 1933. She attended the University of Texas in Austin and then won a beauty pageant, which earned her a movie test with William Holden in Hollywood.
She appeared in many movies under her stage name, Kathryn Grant. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kathryn, who participated in several uncredited movies in the middle to early 1950s, had a net worth of $20 Million.
Kathryn Crosby was a fine actress with a net worth of $20 Million
Born in Texas, Kathryn Crosby was an actress and beauty queen. In 1953, she started her cinematic career by penning a Hollywood-related column for her hometown newspaper. Her notable roles included those of Princess Parisa in the 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and the 1959 courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder.
Eventually, she interviewed Bing on the 1954 movie White Christmas set for her column. After the two were married in 1957, she became a teacher and registered nurse in 1963.
She also portrayed Mama Bear in Goldilocks alongside her husband and kids, going by her stage name of Kathryn Grant. She played alongside Tony Curtis in the drama Mister Cory in 1957, Jack Lemmon in the comedy Operation Mad Ball, and as a trapeze artist in The Big Circus in 1959. But by the 1960s, Crosby had essentially given up on acting.
Moreover, she collaborated with filmmaker Phil Karlson on five films, two of which were released in 1955: Tight Spot and The Phenix City Story. Her other leading men were James Stewart in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder and James Darren in The Brothers Rico.
In addition to Storm Center, Kathryn Crosby also starred in Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Wild Party, The Guns of Fort Petticoat, The Night the World Exploded, Gunman's Walk, The Initiation of Sarah, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ben Casey, The House Next Door, 1001 Arabian Nights, and Queen of the Lot.
Additionally, throughout the 1970s, Crosby presented The Kathryn Crosby program, a 30-minute discussion program centered in San Francisco on KPIX-TV, and she frequently appeared on her husband Bing's Merrie Olde Christmas specials.
She got into the stage performances of Charley's Aunt and Same Time, Next Year after her husband, Crosby, died in 1977 at the age of 74 from a heart attack sustained while golfing in Spain. She further appeared in the 1996 Broadway production of State Fair alongside John Davidson and Andrea McArdle.
Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament from 1985 until 2001 at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. From her debut in Hollywood, Crosby had maintained a steady work schedule.
She landed numerous uncredited roles and minor roles in films such as My Sister Eileen in 1955 and Rear Window in 1954. She was primarily employed by Columbia Pictures, having been released by Paramount.
Crosby also had a cameo appearance in her husband's sitcom, The Bing Crosby Show, which ran from 1964 to 1965. After getting married, she participated in many summer stock performances and occasionally worked as a model for designer Jean Louis.
Along with her grandkids, Kathryn Crosby is survived by her three children, Harry, Mary, and Nathaniel, following her death. No other details related to her death have been revealed as of yet.