Bing Crosby
Known for Acting · 218 credits
- Born
- 1903-05-03
- Died
- 1977-10-14
- Place of birth
- Tacoma, Washington, USA
- Also known as
- Harry Lillis Crosby · Der Bingle · The Rhythm Boys
Biography
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian and actor. The first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, Music Digest estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.
Crosby won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary's opposite Ingrid Bergman the next year, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. In 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. He is one of 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the categories of motion pictures, radio, and audio recording. He was also known for his collaborations with longtime friend Bob Hope, starring in the Road to... films from 1940 to 1962.
Crosby influenced the development of the postwar recording industry. After seeing a demonstration of a German broadcast quality reel-to-reel tape recorder brought to America by John T. Mullin, he invested $50,000 in a California electronics company called Ampex to build copies. He then convinced ABC to allow him to tape his shows. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. Through the medium of recording, he constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) used in motion picture production, a practice that became an industry standard. In addition to his work with early audio tape recording, he helped to finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, and co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self / Self (archive footage)
Top of the Pops
1964
as Self (archive footage) / Self - Jim Hardy (archive footage)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self / Self (archive footage)
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Winner
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
as George Warren
TV Shows (22)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self / Self (archive footage)
Top of the Pops
1964
as Self (archive footage) / Self - Jim Hardy (archive footage)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self / Self (archive footage)
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Winner
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
as George Warren
The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
The Carol Burnett Show
1967
as Self / Self - Guest / Various Characters
Dinah!
1974
as Self
The Bob Hope Show
1950
as Self
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968
as Self (uncredited)
The Jack Benny Program
1950
as Bing Crosby
The Phil Silvers Show
1955
as Bing Crosby
The Bell Telephone Hour
1959
as Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
as Self
Legends
2006
as Self (archive footage)
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
1969
as Self
The Danny Thomas Hour
1967
as Charlie Castle
The Pearl Bailey Show
1971
as Self
Frank Sinatra Show
1957
as Self
The Bing Crosby Show
1964
as Bing Collins
Movies (196)
High Society
1956
as C. K. Dexter-Haven
Waikiki Wedding
1937
as Tony Marvin
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
1949
as Narrator (segment "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
Let's Make Love
1960
as Bing Crosby (uncredited)
Blue Skies
1946
as Johnny Adams
Angels in the Outfield
1951
as Bing Crosby (uncredited)
White Christmas
1954
as Bob Wallace
That's Entertainment!
1974
as Self - Host / Narrator
The Movie Orgy
1968
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1945
as Bing Crosby
That's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
Robin and the 7 Hoods
1964
as Allen A. Dale
Dean Martin: King of Cool
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Welcome Stranger
1947
as Dr. James 'Jim' Pearson
Stagecoach
1966
as Doc Josiah Boone
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
as Spectator (uncredited)
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Billboard Girl
1932
as Bing
Holiday Inn
1942
as Jim Hardy
Mr. Music
1950
as Paul Merrick
Double or Nothing
1937
as 'Lefty' Boylan
The Bells of St. Mary's
1945
as Father O'Malley
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas
1977
as Self
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942
as Bing Crosby
Dixie
1943
as Daniel Decatur Emmett
Variety Girl
1947
as Bing Crosby
Down Memory Lane
1949
as Bing Crosby
Going My Way
1944
as Father Chuck O'Malley
The Country Girl
1954
as Frank Elgin
It's Showtime
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Sing, Bing, Sing
1933
as Bing
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Two Plus Fours
1930
as Bing
Lifetime of Comedy
1960
as (archive footage)
She Loves Me Not
1934
as Paul Lawton
Cancel My Reservation
1972
as Himself (uncredited)
Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.1
2003
as Narrator / Ichabod Crane / Brom Bones (voice) (archive footage)
Out of This World
1945
as Herbie Fenton (singing voice) (uncredited)
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel
2001
as Self (archive footage)
Goldilocks
1970
as Self / Papa Bear (voice)
Riding High
1950
as Dan Brooks
Pepe
1960
as Bing Crosby
My Favorite Brunette
1947
as Harry (uncredited)
Pennies from Heaven
1936
as Larry Poole
Showbiz Goes to War
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Halloween Hall o' Fame
1977
as Narrator/Brom Bones
Alias Jesse James
1959
as Bing (uncredited)
Bing Crosby and the Sounds of Christmas
1971
as Himself
You Can Change The World
1950
as Self
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
1934
as Self
America Applauds: An Evening for Richard Rodgers
1951
Howard
2018
as Jeff Peters (archive footage)
The Road to Hong Kong
1962
as Harry Turner
This Is Bob Hope...
2017
as Self (archive footage)
Show-Business at War
1943
as Self
Hooray for Hollywood
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Road to Morocco
1942
as Jeff Peters
Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank
1957
as Self
Say One for Me
1959
as Father Conroy
Scared Stiff
1953
as Skeleton (uncredited)
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
as Self (archive footage)
The Best of Johnny Carson
2010
as Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
as Self (archive footage)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
1949
as Hank Martin
Twiggy
2025
as (archival footage)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1949
as Narrator
Man on Fire
1957
as Earl Carleton
The Princess and the Pirate
1944
as Margaret's Sweetheart (uncredited)
Grace Kelly: Destiny of a Princess
2006
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)
College Humor
1933
as Professor Frederick Danvers
Classic Comedy Teams
1986
as Self (archive footage)
Off Limits
1952
as Bing Crosby (archive footage) (uncredited)
King of Jazz
1930
as Trio Singer (as The Rhythm Boys)
They Got Me Covered
1943
as Music Box (voice)
Road to Bali
1952
as George Cochran
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
2002
as Self (archive footage)
Showdown at Ulcer Gulch
1956
as Influential Man
Road to Singapore
1940
as Josh Mallon
Swing Out, Sweet Land
1970
as Mark Twain
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
High Time
1960
as Harvey Howard
Duffy's Tavern
1945
as Bing Crosby
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Shanks for the Memory
1994
Grace Kelly: The American Princess
1987
as Self (archive footage)
I Can't Give You Anything But Love: The Jimmy McHugh Story
2024
as Self (archive footage)
The Hollywood Clowns
1979
as (archive footage)
Here Comes the Groom
1951
as Peter 'Pete' Garvey
Road to Rio
1947
as Scat Sweeney
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell
1968
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Road to Utopia
1946
as Duke Johnson
A Bing Crosby Christmas
1998
as Self - Host (archive footage)
The Shining Future
1944
as Self
Disney's Halloween Treat
1982
as (archive footage)
Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2 – The Christmas Specials
2010
as Self (archive footage)
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
1990
as Self (archive footage)
Top o' the Morning
1949
as Joe Mulqueen
My Favorite Blonde
1942
as Man Outside Union Hall (uncredited)
The Star Maker
1939
as Larry Earl
Bing Crosby: The Christmas Years
1978
as Himself (archival footage)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022
as Self - C.K Dexter-Haven (archive footage)
Mississippi
1935
as Tom Grayson
The Sound of Laughter
1963
as Bob (Singer in Grocery Store)
Road to Zanzibar
1941
as Chuck
Anything Goes
1936
as Billy Crocker
Rhythm on the River
1940
as Bob Sommers
Reaching for the Moon
1930
as Bing
Rat Pack
2022
as Self (archive footage)
Don't Hook Now
1943
as Self
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
2023
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Confessions of a Co-Ed
1931
as Bing
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
2000
as Self (archive footage)
Here Is My Heart
1934
as J. Paul Jones
The All-Star Christmas Show
1958
as Self
If I Had My Way
1940
as Buzz Blackwell
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
as Self (archive footage)
Birth of the Blues
1941
as Jeff Lambert
Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
1975
as Self
About Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian and actor. The first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overse… With 218 credits spanning from 1930 to 2025, Bing Crosby has appeared in 196 films and 22 TV shows.
Fans searching for Bing Crosby movies, Bing Crosby filmography, or the latest projects starring Bing Crosby can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Bing Crosby Movies
- High Society (1956) — as C. K. Dexter-Haven
- Waikiki Wedding (1937) — as Tony Marvin
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) — as Narrator (segment "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
- Let's Make Love (1960) — as Bing Crosby (uncredited)
- Blue Skies (1946) — as Johnny Adams
Where to Watch Bing Crosby Films
Most Bing Crosby movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Bing Crosby, check our movies catalogue and browse page.