Kathryn Grant

Kathryn Grant

1933-11-25 – 2024-09-20 (age 90) West Columbia, Texas, USA
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Biography

Kathryn Crosby (November 25, 1933 - September 20, 2024) was an American actress and singer who also performed under the stage-name Kathryn Grant.

Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff in Houston, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1955. Two years later she became Bing Crosby's second wife. The couple had three children, Harry, Mary Frances, and Nathaniel. She appeared as a guest star on her husband's 1964–1965 ABC sitcom The Bing Crosby Show.

She largely retired after their marriage, but did have a featured role in the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder. She also played the part of "Mama Bear" alongside her husband and children in Goldilocks and starred with Jack Lemmon in Operation Mad Ball in 1957.

In the mid-1970s, she hosted The Kathryn Crosby Show, a 30-minute local talk-show on KPIX-TV in San Francisco. Husband Bing appeared as a guest occasionally.

After Bing Crosby's death in 1977, she took on a few smaller roles and the lead in the short-lived 1996 Broadway musical State Fair.

For 16 years ending in 2001, Crosby hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament at Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina. A nearby bridge carrying U.S. Route 158 over the Yadkin River is named for Crosby.

On November 4, 2010, Crosby was seriously injured in an automobile accident in the Sierra Nevada that killed her 85-year-old husband, Maurice William Sullivan.

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Known For

Rear Window
Rear Window

1954

as Girl at Songwriter's Party (uncredited)

Anatomy of a Murder
Anatomy of a Murder

1959

as Mary Pilant

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

1958

as Princess Parisa

Tight Spot
Tight Spot

1955

as Girl Honeymooner (uncredited)

Gunman's Walk
Gunman's Walk

1958

as Cecily "Clee" Chouard

Mister Cory
Mister Cory

1957

as Jen Vollard

Unchained
Unchained

1955

as Sally Haskins

Reprisal!
Reprisal!

1956

as Taini

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

as actress 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)

Casanova's Big Night
Casanova's Big Night

1954

as Girl on Bridge (uncredited)

Operation Mad Ball
Operation Mad Ball

1957

as Lt. Betty Bixby

Storm Center
Storm Center

1956

as Hazel Levering

The Guns of Fort Petticoat
The Guns of Fort Petticoat

1957

as Anne Martin

1001 Arabian Nights
1001 Arabian Nights

1959

as Princess Yasminda (voice)

Living It Up
Living It Up

1954

as Manicurist (uncredited)

The Phenix City Story
The Phenix City Story

1955

as Ellie Rhodes

The Initiation of Sarah
The Initiation of Sarah

1978

as Mrs. Goodwin

The Brothers Rico
The Brothers Rico

1957

as Norah Malaks Rico

5 Against the House
5 Against the House

1955

as Jean, Young Woman in Nightclub (uncredited)

Cell 2455 Death Row
Cell 2455 Death Row

1955

as Jo-Anne