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1[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bing_crosby_photo.jpeg]]
2[[caption-width-right:330:Der Bingle.[[note]][[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Who's this douchebag?]][[/note]]]]
3
4-> ''"Everyone knows I'm just a big, good-natured slob."''
5-->-- '''Bing Crosby''', on himself.
6
7Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century, having sold over one billion records, tapes, compact discs, and digital downloads the world over. Suffice it to say, this means that very few people agreed with his own self-deprecatory assessment of his singing skills.
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9Crosby started his career in the late 1920s as one of The Rhythm Boys, a vocal trio that accompanied bandleader Paul Whiteman's orchestra. He broke out as a solo singer in the early 1930s, recording several hits for the Brunswick label before starting a long association with Creator/DeccaRecords in 1934. His rise to fame coincided with advances in recording technology, and he became known for tailoring his singing style to the microphone, allowing for a more personal and intimate way of singing; this in turn made his records enormously popular and influenced many other singers in America and around the world, more or less setting the template for the pre-rock pop "crooner".
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11In 1942 he recorded what would become perhaps his most famous legacy: the Music/IrvingBerlin standard "White Christmas", which stayed at #1 on the charts for over 11 weeks when it was first released, and has remained a perennial Christmas favorite in the United States ever since. In fact, Crosby recorded a great many ChristmasSongs through the years, which is primarily how younger people are familiar with him. His album ''Music/MerryChristmas'' (1945), a CoverAlbum full of seasonal-themed songs, has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and is still the second-best-selling Christmas album of all time (behind Music/ElvisPresley's ''Elvis' Christmas Album''). Other than "White Christmas," Crosby's best-known holiday songs are probably "Do You Hear What I Hear?", released in 1963, and "Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy," an unlikely duet with British rock star Music/DavidBowie recorded for a posthumously-aired television special in 1977; the latter was subsequently released as a single in 1982, whereupon it became a huge international hit.
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13He also maintained a successful secondary career as an actor, appearing in almost 80 different films over six decades; in the '40s, he was surpassed as a box-office draw by only Creator/ClarkGable and Creator/JohnWayne. Among Crosby's best-known movies are the ''Film/RoadTo'' series (in which he teamed with Creator/BobHope), ''Film/GoingMyWay'' (which earned him the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor), ''Film/HighSociety'' (which co-starred Creator/GraceKelly and Music/FrankSinatra), and of course ''Film/WhiteChristmas''.
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15Crosby pioneered pre-recorded radio shows, and was an astute businessman. His investment in the Ampex Corporation spurred the development of videotape, and he also invested in a little company called Minute Maid. At one time he was a part owner of UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. And in the '60s he started his own television production company, which was behind such hit shows as ''Ben Casey'' and ''Series/HogansHeroes''.
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17Crosby helped popularize the sport of golf in the US, and sponsored several early tournaments. He also competed in both the British and American Pro-Amateur Tournaments. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick He also died of a heart attack shortly after playing a game of golf with some of his friends.]] Reputedly, his [[FamousLastWords/RealLife last words]] before his fatal heart attack were, "That was a great game of golf, fellas."
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19Not to be confused with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Crosby Bob Crosby]], his youngest brother and a talented singer in his own right. No relation to Creator/CathyLeeCrosby, or [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung David Crosby]]. Creator/DeniseCrosby is his granddaughter, however.
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21----
22
23!!Notable recordings:
24
25* ''Music/MerryChristmas'' (1945)
26----
27
28!!Notable film roles:
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30* Bing, of "The Rhythm Boys," ''Film/KingOfJazz'' (1930) -- His first film.
31* Billy Crocker, ''Anything Goes'' (1936) -- A not very faithful adaptation of the stage [[TheMusical Musical]]; Bing and Creator/EthelMerman duet the title song.
32* Larry Poole, ''Pennies from Heaven'' (1936) -- He sings the title song, a big hit.
33* Tony Marvin, ''Waikiki Wedding'' (1937) -- He sings "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChuzuFEtT8Y Sweet Leilani]]," which won the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward that year for Best Song.
34* Josh Mallon V, ''Film/RoadToSingapore'' (1940) -- The first of his seven "Road" pictures with Creator/BobHope.
35* Chuck Reardon, ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' (1941)
36* Jim Hardy, ''Film/HolidayInn'' (1942) -- In which he first introduced the song "White Christmas".
37* Geoffrey Peters, ''Film/RoadToMorocco'' (1942) -- Frequently considered the best of the "Road" pictures; its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_w3UG6C_Mo title Hope and Crosby duet]] is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uPxiPYrWs4 often parodied]].
38* Father Chuck O'Malley, ''Film/GoingMyWay'' (1944) and ''Film/TheBellsOfStMarys'' (1945) -- Both of which earned him UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for Best Actor, making him the first actor to be nominated twice for playing the same character. He won for ''Going My Way''.
39* Duke Johnson and Junior Hooten, ''Film/RoadToUtopia'' (1946)
40* Scat Sweeny, ''Film/RoadToRio'' (1947)
41* Virgil Smith, ''The Emperor Waltz'' (1948)
42* The Narrator, Brom Bones, and Ichabod Crane, ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' (1949)
43* Hank Martin, ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' (1949)
44* George Cochran, ''Film/RoadToBali'' (1952) -- The only "Road" picture in color.
45* Bob Wallace, ''Film/WhiteChristmas'' (1954)
46* Frank Elgin, ''Film/TheCountryGirl'' (1954) -- Which earned him his third and final Best Actor Academy Award nomination.
47* C. K. Dexter-Haven, ''Film/HighSociety'' (1956) -- The {{Musical}} remake of ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory''. Bing plays the [[QuestionableCasting Cary Grant part]].
48* Harry Turner, ''Film/TheRoadToHongKong'' (1962) -- The last of the "Road" pictures.
49* Allan A. Dale, ''Film/RobinAndTheSevenHoods'' (1964) -- A RoaringTwenties re-telling of the Myth/RobinHood legend, with Music/FrankSinatra as the lead.
50* Dr. Josiah Boone, ''Film/{{Stagecoach}}'' (1966) -- A remarkable performance in the role originally played by Creator/ThomasMitchell in the [[Film/{{Stagecoach}} 1939 John Ford Western]]. Crosby was painted in character by Creator/NormanRockwell for the film's poster art.
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52----
53!!Tropes invoked by his works:
54* TheCameo: In the '40s Crosby became so associated with Creator/BobHope that he made cameos in Hope's films ''Film/MyFavoriteBrunette'' and ''Film/ThePrincessAndThePirate''. Both men also pop up in ''Film/TheGreatestShowOnEarth'' and ''Film/ScaredStiff''.
55* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Happens in several of his movies.
56%%Zero context* DeadpanSnarker: In real life and in many of his movies.
57* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: One of his trademarks. The cover of his album ''New Tricks'' (1957) featured an illustration of a basset hound at the microphone in studio, smoking a pipe and donning Crosby's usual trilby hat.
58* ExpressiveEars: According to legend record executives were bothered by Crosby's large ears, fearing they would distract the audience from listening to his music. So they tried taping them against his head. Eventually it was decided that it was better to keep them the way they were. Seeing that no audience member ever complained about Crosby's ear length, they were absolutely right.
59* FriendlyRivalry: With Music/FrankSinatra.
60* HomesicknessHymn: A couple of Christmas-related examples.
61** Composer Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" is about DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas back home instead of in Los Angeles with its sunny weather. Bing's version of the song is the greatest-selling single ''of all time''.
62** "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is about a soldier in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII singing about wanting to be back home rather than being at war.
63* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Crosby was a favorite target for parody by cartoon artists, particularly in the Warner Bros. ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'' shorts. Animated expies of him appear in "Let It Be Me" (1936), "Bingo Crosbyana" (1936), "Slap-Happy Pappy" (1940), "WesternAnimation/HollywoodStepsOut" (1941), "Catch as Cats Can" (1947), and "WesternAnimation/WhatsUpDoc" (1950), and many years later he was transmogrified into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aKA6q1WSq8 Hugh]] on ''WesternAnimation/TazMania''.
64** He was royally pissed at WB for the cartoons "Let It Be Me" and "Bingo Crosbyana", and it's easy to see why. The former portrayed him as a sleazy radio crooner who seduced a naive country girl and then ditched her. The latter portrayed him as a braggart who turned cowardly at the first sign of trouble, then showed up after everything was all over and tried to take credit. He considered those to be personal attacks and tried to sue. For the record, he never objected to portrayals close to his onscreen persona, such as "Hollywood Steps Out".
65** The Parson, an acquaintance of Rev. Lovejoy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', is based on Bing Crosby's Father O'Malley character from ''Film/GoingMyWay'' and ''Film/TheBellsOfStMarys'', including the golf.
66** He was also more darkly parodied in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Being the BlackComedy it is, most of these gags targeted the allegations of him being an AbusiveParent.
67** Sugar Bear, the cartoon mascot for Post Sugar Crisp (now Golden Crisp) cereal, has a voice based on Crosby's.
68* StepUpToTheMicrophone: At the time when Crosby was starting out, convention was that bands didn’t employ ''singers'', who weren’t entirely considered proper musicians; an instrumentalist would just step up when a voice was needed. But Crosby, who had no particular instrumental skills, was hired by bandleader Paul Whiteman specifically for his voice. So he was required to pose with a violin, with rubber strings so he couldn’t make inconvenient noises.[[note]] Later in his career, he did play guitar to a fair to good amateur standard. [[/note]]
69* VitriolicBestBuds: Supposedly with Creator/BobHope. (In reality the two men were not particularly close offstage.)
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71----
72-> ''"He was an average guy who could carry a tune."''
73-->-- '''Crosby'''[='s=] suggested epitaph for himself.
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