As an actress Kathryn Grant she appeared in several films "Gunman's Walk" , "Anatomy Of A Murder" & "The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad" which i saw as a summer matinee at the cinema as a twelve year old in 1975, i didn't know at he time that the actress who played the princess opposite Kerwin Matthews as Sinbad was married to Bing. 

This is very sad, indeed. I'm thankful she lived to a good age but as David has mentioned, it's yet another personal link to Bing gone. And other than his surviving children, the closest one of all. I'm also pleased that in remembrance, Mrs Crosby during differing periods following her husband's death, helped keep Bing's flame burning.

As well as the two memoirs, to add to the one she authored prior to his passing, I was delighted to also learn of her later, considerable co-operation with Gary Giddens on his second (and also what will hopefully be the third) volume of his wonderfully detailed and admirably researched biography.

Also her participation in the various television biographies of Bing - and perhaps more importantly, her later assistance with and sanctioning some further music releases of her late husband's.

From her own talents, I remember being very impressed, decades ago by her big screen, supporting performance in the James Stewart starring and Otto Preminger directed classic, "Anatomy of a Murder". I remember her very convincingly playing a not very friendly witness, with phoney overtones whose character became quite central to the plot.  
So, a proven talent in her own right, who could hold more than her own in illustrious company. 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (28/9/2024 10:37 am)

Indeed, Stepo - and I thought quite an admirable singer, too -particularly with his brace of later albums at the turn of the century. Packed with super standards, the first features, "The Way You Look Tonight" of which decades earlier of course, was so beautifully duetted by Bing and first wife, Dixie. 

I can't speak for the US, Carmela but over here in the UK, I didn't hear it mentioned in any of the day's radio news bulletins. I am a regular, daily listener to BBC Radio (our main national broadcaster) and also to LBC radio (a London based current affairs station but with a national reach). I very rarely watch television news these days but could fairly reliably guess that if news of Mrs Crosby's demise didn't feature on the wireless, it would in turn have less likely featured on the television.  

Had Kathryn died during Bing's lifetime, particularly when she was at her most visible over here in the 1970's, I think it possible that it may have recieved a mention on the television news. It almost certainly would have been reported on BBC Radio and specifically, BBC Radio 2, thier easier listening music station of whom Bing was one of their major staples. They would often host him and sometimes Kathryn during their visits to the UK - and of course most poignantly for us Crosbyphiles, presented and produced Bing's only exclusive BBC music special, recorded just three days before his death. 

However, I can tell you that news of her passing did receive fairly decent coverage across most of our national press. Although the "Red Top" tabloids (our more compact and excitable newspapers) carried briefish, illustrated articles, there was larger coverage in some of the middle ranking titles. Additionally, pre-prepared and well written obituaries were featured in just about all of our more expensive papers (those fairly equivalent for example, to your New York Times).

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (30/9/2024 4:13 am)