(1903 – 1977) Crooner and actor, Bing Crosby born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington, DC, was first a successful popular singer in nightclubs and on radio. When he became a movie actor, he encompassed a genial humor that sold American Catholicism (Going My Way, 1944), adventure abroad (his road series with comedian Bob Hope) and even “White Christmas” (by Irving Berlin) as a bestselling anthem of family comfort for postwar America (from the musical White Christmas, 1954). Like other studio-packaged stars, Crosby’s relaxed, fatherly persona was deconstructed by family biographers after his death.