Nearly filed for divorce from his first wife in 1948 because he wanted to marry Joan Caulfield.
On October 13, 1977, the day before Crosby's death, independent producer Lew Grade announced that he was reuniting Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour onscreen for the film "Road to the Fountain of Youth," ending several years of speculation at to whether the trio would reunite professionally or not.
On the day of his death he played a full 18 holes of golf, where he scored a respectable 85 and won the match. Walking off the 18th green of the La Moraleja Golf Club, in a suburb of Madrid, Spain, he suffered a massive heart attack. His last words were reported as, "That was a great game of golf, fellas." However, according to the Summer 2001 issue of Club Crosby's BINGANG magazine, he then said, "Let's go have a Coca-Cola." According to his biographer Gary Giddens, Crosby's last words were, "Let's go get a Coke.".
One of his early inspirations was Louis Armstrong, who returned the admiration. Louis once described Bing's mellow voice as "like gold being poured out of a cup."
Opened the Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California in 1937 and collected tickets at the turnstile on opening day. Before the start of every day of racing his song "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" is played. This song was written for Del Mar and never sold commercially.
Phil Crosby, Jr., Bing's grandson, formed a jazz quartet in the Los Angeles area and is bringing a semi-resurgence of interest in Bing and his music.
Pictured on a 29 cent U.S. commemorative postage stamp in the "Legends of American Music" series, issued September 1st 1994.
Refused the role of Columbo due to the fact that he felt that it would interfere with his golf game.
Remember Bing Crosby as "Father O'Malley" in the 1944 classic "GOING MY WAY"? Well, they filmed scenes for that movie inside the church rectory at Saint Monica's Catholic Church, located at 715 California Avenue, in Santa Monica.
Sang on radio at least once a week from 1931 to 1962.
Star of ABC Radio's "Philco Radio Time" (1946-1949).
Star of CBS Radio's "The Bing Crosby Chesterfield Show" (1949-1952). When Chesterfield left, General Electric took over as sponsor for 1953 and 1954.
Star of CBS Radio's "The Bing Crosby Show" (1954-1956).
Star of NBC Radio's "Kraft Music Hall" (1935-1946).
The balding actor hated having to wear a toupee during filming and specifically looked for scripts that had outdoor scenes where he could wear a hat or bed scenes in which he could wear a nightcap.
The Met Theater in downtown Spokane, Washington, where he was raised and performed (with the Musicaladers) as a young man in 1925, was renamed the Bing Crosby Theater on December 8, 2006. The Met was built in 1915. Bing was also a giving donor to the city's Gonzaga University.
Three things about Bing were frequent sources of jokes in Hollywood: His inability to sire a daughter, prior to the birth of Mary Crosby; his investment in racehorses that rarely won; and his rather bad, almost colorblind, taste in casual clothes. These jokes often made their way into radio and TV shows, movies and, most often, into the comedy routines of Bob Hope.
Through the electronics lab he funded, he was heavily involved in the initial development of both audio and video tape recording in the late '40s and early '50s, primarily for use on his own TV and radio projects. One of the very first commercial uses of audio tape in the USA, in fact, was the recording and editing of his radio program on the ABC network around 1946-48. His early videotape format, however, was quickly obscured by Ampex's industry-standard Quadruplex format.
Uncle of Chris Crosby and Cathy Crosby
Until the late 1970s he had been listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as having sold more recordings than any other entertainer.