List of Bing Crosby TV appearances

Last updated

This is a listing of the most important television appearances by the entertainer Bing Crosby.

Contents

Background

Somewhat reluctantly, in 1954, Bing Crosby had started making television appearances, which were usually filmed in advance. [1] He had been concerned about over-exposure, saying, "I do think this: anybody who goes into TV should be sparing in how much work he does. No entertainer who's in everyone's home once a week can survive very long. His welcome can't be stretched that far. If a new motion picture of mine were released each week for fifty-two weeks—or even for thirty-nine weeks—I soon wouldn't have many friends coming to the theaters to see me. And they'd drop the flap on me at home, too. They'd weary of my mannerisms, my voice, my face." [2]

In 1954, Crosby's radio show had reduced in status from a major weekly program to a daily fifteen-minute show, but after the success of the film High Society and hit records such as "True Love" and "Around the World," he was tempted to become more heavily involved in television. The big breakthrough came in 1957 with the live, award-winning "Edsel Show." Afterwards, he settled into a routine of making at least two television specials each year, but he never really attempted to dominate the sector as he had other media. He eschewed a weekly variety series while singers such as Perry Como, and later, Andy Williams, embraced such exposure enthusiastically, with considerable benefits accruing to their record sales and to their long-term images. [3]

Crosby was especially closely associated with ABC's variety show The Hollywood Palace . He was the show's first and most frequent guest host, and appeared annually on its Christmas edition with his wife Kathryn and his younger children. The coverage of his annual golf tournament gave him regular exposure as did his appearances on The American Sportsman program. He did try his hand with a weekly sit-com series in 1964-65, but this was not renewed after the first season.

Crosby's last TV appearance was a Christmas special filmed in London in September 1977 and aired just weeks after his death. [1] It was on this special that Crosby recorded a duet of "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace on Earth" with rock star David Bowie. It was released in 1982 as a single 45-rpm record and reached No.3 in the UK singles charts. [4] It has since become a staple of holiday radio, and the final popular hit of Crosby's career. At the end of the century, TV Guide listed the Crosby–Bowie duet as one of the 25 most memorable musical moments of 20th-century television. [5]

Crosby's main television appearances as host

Original airdateTitlePrincipal guests
January 3, 1954 The Bing Crosby Show Jack Benny, Sheree North
April 25, 1954The Bing Crosby ShowJoanne Gilbert and The Wiere Brothers
March 10, 1956 High Tor Julie Andrews, Everett Sloane, Nancy Olson
October 13, 1957 The Edsel Show Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney
October 1, 1958The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile Dean Martin, Patti Page, Mahalia Jackson
March 2, 1959The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile Jo Stafford, James Garner, Dean Martin
September 29, 1959The Bing Crosby Show for OldsmobileFrank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee
February 29, 1960The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile Perry Como, The Three Crosby Brothers, Sandy Stewart
October 5, 1960The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile Carol Lawrence, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mercer, The Three Crosby Brothers
March 20, 1961The Bing Crosby Show for Oldsmobile Maurice Chevalier, Carol Lawrence
December 11, 1961The Bing Crosby Show Bob Hope, Shirley Bassey, Terry-Thomas, Dave King, Marion Ryan
May 14, 1962The Bing Crosby ShowBob Hope, Edie Adams, Gary Crosby, Smothers Brothers
December 24, 1962The Bing Crosby Show for Clairol Mary Martin, André Previn
November 7, 1963The Bing Crosby Show Caterina Valente, Buddy Ebsen, The Young Americans
1964-1970 The Hollywood Palace Various
February 15, 1964The Bing Crosby Show for Lever BrothersFrank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney, Kathryn Crosby, Peter Gennaro
September 13, 1964ABC's Wide World of Entertainment Mickey Rooney, David Janssen, Jimmy Dean, Lawrence Welk
1964-1965 The Bing Crosby Show Beverly Garland, Frank McHugh and many guest stars
March 10, 1965The Grand Award of Sports John Glenn, Kathryn Crosby
1967- 1976 The American Sportsman Phil Harris
March 14, 1967A Little Bit of Irish Milo O'Shea, Kathryn Crosby
1968-1977 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am
October 23, 1968The Bing Crosby SpecialBob Hope, Diana Ross and The Supremes, José Feliciano, Stella Stevens, Dorothy Lamour
February 15, 1969Feelin' Groovy at Marine World Anissa Jones, The Rascals, Kathryn Crosby
December 17, 1969Bing & Carol - Together Again for the First Time Carol Burnett, Juliet Prowse, Roy Clark
March 31, 1970 Goldilocks Kathryn Crosby, Mary Crosby, Nathaniel Crosby, Paul Winchell, Avery Schreiber
April 13, 1970Bing Crosby - Cooling ItDean Martin, Flip Wilson, Bernadette Peters
December 16, 1970Bing Crosby's Christmas Show for the Bell System Family Theatre Melba Moore, Jack Wild, The Doodletown Pipers, The Crosby Family
January 19, 1971 Dr. Cook's Garden Frank Converse, Blythe Danner
December 14, 1971Bing Crosby and the Sounds of Christmas Robert Goulet, Mary Costa, Mitchell Singing Boys, Kathryn Crosby and family
February 27, 1972Bing Crosby and FriendsBob Hope, Pearl Bailey, Carol Burnett
December 10, 1972Christmas with the Bing Crosbys Sally Struthers, David Hartman, Edward Villella, Kathryn Crosby and family
December 9, 1973Bing Crosby's Sun Valley Christmas Show John Misha Petkevich, John Byner, Michael Landon, Connie Stevens, Kathryn Crosby and family
October 9, 1974Bing Crosby and His FriendsBob Hope, Pearl Bailey, Sandy Duncan
December 15, 1974Christmas with the Bing Crosbys Mac Davis, Karen Valentine, Kathryn Crosby and family
December 3, 1975Merry Christmas Fred, from the Crosbys Fred Astaire, The Young Americans, Joe Bushkin, Kathryn Crosby and family
March 26, 1976Bell Telephone Jubilee Liza Minnelli, Ben Vereen, Joel Grey, Marvin Hamlisch, Roy Clark, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé
December 1, 1976Bing Crosby's White Christmas Jackie Gleason, Bernadette Peters, Kathryn Crosby and family
March 20, 1977Bing - A 50th Anniversary GalaBob Hope, Rosemary Clooney, Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler, Mills Brothers, Paul Anka, Kathryn Crosby and family
August 27, 1977Bing in Norway Harry Crosby
November 30, 1977 Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas Twiggy, Ron Moody, Stanley Baxter, David Bowie, Kathryn Crosby and family

Significant guest appearances

Original airdateTitleOther guests
December 19, 1948 Philco Playhouse - A Christmas Carol As an epilogue, Crosby sang Silent Night in a filmed insert with The Bob Mitchell Boys' Choir
June 21, 1952Olympic Fund TelethonDorothy Lamour, Frank Sinatra, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, Martin and Lewis, Liberace, Paul Douglas, Ezio Pinza, Phil Harris, Edward G. Robinson
March 21, 1954 The Jack Benny Show George Burns, Bob Hope, Eddie ''Rochester'' Anderson
December 3, 1954 Person to Person Interviewed by Edward R. Murrow
November 11, 1956 The Ed Sullivan Show Phil Silvers, Marcel Marceau, Julie Andrews, Louis Armstrong and Kate Smith
January 22, 1957 The Phil Silvers Show - Sgt. Bilko Presents Bing Crosby
December 20, 1957Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank Frank Sinatra show
March 2, 1958 The Bob Hope Show Anita Ekberg, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner
November 22, 1958The Dean Martin Show for TimexPhil Harris, The Treniers
October 19, 1959The Frank Sinatra Timex ShowDean Martin, Mitzi Gaynor, Jimmy Durante
March 16, 1960 Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall Genevieve, Peter Gennaro
August 26, 1961A Big Night Out with Peggy Lee David Kossoff, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn
April 3, 1962Picture ParadeBob Hope
October 24, 1962The Bob Hope Show Juliet Prowse, Lucille Ball
February 17, 1963The Dinah Shore Show Al Hirt, Bud & Travis
December 13, 1963The Bob Hope Comedy HourJack Benny, Danny Thomas, Juliet Prowse.
October 6, 1964 The Bell Telephone Hour Burl Ives, McGuire Sisters, Grant Johannesen
June 27, 1965The Eamonn Andrews Show Spike Milligan, Cilla Black, Patrick Campbell, Harry H. Corbett
July 6, 1965 Late Night Line-Up Interviewed by Joan Bakewell
December 15, 1965The Bob Hope Comedy SpecialJack Benny, Nancy Wilson, Janet Leigh
January 6, 1966 Telescope Interviewed by Fletcher Markle
March 27, 1966Timmy's Easter Parade of Stars (Canada) (aka The Easter Seal Show) Robbie Lane and the Disciples, Juliette, Kathryn Crosby
April 20, 1966The Road to Lebanon (A Danny Thomas Special) Hugh Downs, Claudine Auger, Sheldon Leonard, Bob Hope.
May 1, 1966The Magic of Broadcasting John Scott Trotter, Sheldon Leonard, Diane Sherry, Kerry McLane, Rod Serling, Arthur Godfrey, Lucille Ball
October 30, 1966 The Andy Williams Show The Young Americans, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Kate Smith
November 16, 1966The Bob Hope Chrysler Comedy SpecialBach-Yen
April 13, 1967 The Dean Martin Show Rowan & Martin, Don Cherry, Polly Bergen
October 9, 1967 The Danny Thomas Hour - ‘The Demon under the Bed' George Maharis, Joan Collins, Mary Frances Crosby
October 19, 1967The Dean Martin Show The Golddiggers, Lena Horne, Dom DeLuise
October 25, 1967 The Joey Bishop Show Dorothy Lamour, Matt Monro, Regis Philbin, Kathryn Crosby
November 25, 1967 The Jackie Gleason Show Alan King, Liberace
February 12, 1968The Bob Hope Variety Special Barbara Eden, Pearl Bailey
May 5, 1968The Ed Sullivan Show - A Tribute to Irving BerlinThe Fred Waring Glee Club, Robert Goulet, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Ethel Merman, Peter Gennaro, Bob Hope
February 17, 1969Chrysler Presents The Bob Hope SpecialLisa Miller, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Martha Raye, George Burns
October 4, 1969The Jackie Gleason Show - The Honeymooners In Hollywood Art Carney
November 6, 1969The Dean Martin Show Jack Gilford, Eva Gabor, Dom DeLuise
November 10, 1969 The Carol Burnett Show Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Ella Fitzgerald
February 16, 1970The Bob Hope Chrysler Special Oleg Cassini, Johnny Carson, Johnny Cash, Raquel Welch, Ray Bolger
November 29, 1970The John Wayne TV Special - Swing Out, Sweet Land Ann-Margret, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Dan Blocker, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, and many more
January 7, 1971 The Flip Wilson Show David Steinberg, The Supremes
January 23, 1971The Pearl Bailey Show Andy Williams, Louis Armstrong
February 10, 1971The David Frost ShowLouis Armstrong
February 15, 1971Chrysler Presents The Bob Hope Special Jerry Colonna, Teresa Graves, Jo Anne Worley, Petula Clark
March 18, 1971Ver-r-r-ry Interesting Arte Johnson (host), Peter Marshall, Nancy Kulp, Joe Flynn, Elke Sommer, Billy De Wolfe
October 7, 1971The Dean Martin Show Rip Taylor, Richard Castellano, Lou Jacobi, Kay Medford
November 29, 1971Monsanto Presents Mancini Hoagy Carmichael, Michael Landon, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ‘66
January 3, 1972 The Merv Griffin Show Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, David Butler
March 15, 1972The Carol Burnett Show Paul Lynde, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner
March 16, 1972The Flip Wilson Show Tim Conway, Melba Moore
December 23, 1972 The Parkinson Show
February 22, 1975Grandstand
July 24, 1975 Top of the Pops
July 25, 1975TodayThames TV, London program - interviewed by Llew Gardiner
July 25, 1975The Merv Griffin Show Rich Little
August 30, 1975Parkinson
September 4, 1975 The Mike Douglas Show Kathryn Crosby
September 14, 1975 Stars on Sunday
September 24, 1975The Vera Lynn Show Trini Lopez
October 12, 1975Stars on Sunday
October 15, 1975 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Don Rickles, Bob Hope, John Wayne
October 24, 1975Texaco Presents - A Quarter Century Of Bob Hope On TelevisionJohn Wayne, Frank Sinatra
October 28, 1975The Mike Douglas Show - Kathryn and Bing at HomeKathryn Crosby
November 12, 1975 Dinah! Pat Boone, Phil Harris
November 16, 1975Stars on Sunday
December 14, 1975Stars on Sunday
January 27, 1976International Pro-Celebrity Golf Tom Weiskopf, Peter Oosterhuis, Val Doonican
March 5, 1976The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Ray Bolger, Marvin Hamlisch, Burt Mustin
April 5, 1976The Rich Little ShowBob Hope (cameo)
April 12, 1976The Bob Hope Olympic Benefit Shirley Jones, Lynn Anderson, René Simard, Freddie Prinze
December 3, 1976 The Joe Franklin Show WOR-TV Arthur Tracy, Kathryn Crosby
December 3, 1976Bing with Pat - A Look at a LegendInterviewed by Pat Collins
December 6, 1976 Today Interviewed by Gene Shalit
December 6, 1976An Hour with Bing & Kathryn Crosby - AM New YorkKathryn Crosby - Interviewed by Stanley Siegel
December 10, 1976 Good Morning America Kathryn Crosby
January 12, 1977International Pro-Celebrity Golf Johnny Miller, Tony Jacklin, Peter Alliss, Sean Connery
May 31, 1977 Barbara Walters Special

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing Crosby</span> American singer and actor (1903–1977)

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. was an American singer, actor, television producer, television and radio personality and businessman. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, network radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He was one of the first global cultural icons. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemary Clooney</span> American singer and actress (1928–2002)

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House", and "Sway". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly because of problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Dorsey</span> American jazz musician and band leader (1904–1957)

James Francis Dorsey was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You " and "It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", "John Silver", "So Many Times", "Amapola", "Brazil ", "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and "So Rare". He played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards "Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Rogers</span> American country singer and songwriter (1938–2020)

Kenneth Donald Rogers was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres: jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Crosby</span> American Dixieland bandleader and vocalist (1913–1993)

George Robert Crosby was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younger brother of famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. On TV, Bob Crosby guest-starred in The Gisele MacKenzie Show. He was also a regular cast member of The Jack Benny Program, on both radio and television, taking over the role of bandleader after Phil Harris' departure. Crosby hosted his own afternoon TV variety show on CBS, The Bob Crosby Show (1953–1957). Crosby received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for television and radio.

"On the Street Where You Live" is a song with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady. It is sung in the musical by the character Freddy Eynsford-Hill, who was portrayed by John Michael King in the original production. In the 1964 film version, it was sung by Bill Shirley, dubbing for actor Jeremy Brett.

<i>White Christmas</i> (film) 1954 film directed by Michael Curtiz

White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, "White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Christmas (song)</span> Original song written and composed by Irving Berlin

"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The song was written by Berlin for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards. Bing Crosby's record topped the Billboard chart for 11 weeks in 1942 and returned to the number one position again in December 1943 and 1944. His version would return to the top 40 a dozen times in subsequent years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Crosby</span> American actor and singer (1938–1989)

Lindsay Harry Crosby was an American actor and singer. He was the youngest of four sons from Bing Crosby's first marriage to Dixie Lee. Lindsay began his career singing alongside his three brothers and his father. He was remembered by his friends for having a laid-back, clever wit like his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Crosby</span> American actor and singer (1934–2004)

Phillip Lang Crosby was an American actor and singer. He was one of the four sons of Bing Crosby and Dixie Lee; the others were his older brother Gary, his twin brother Dennis, and his younger brother Lindsay. Phillip began his career singing alongside his three brothers and his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy</span> 1982 single by David Bowie and Bing Crosby

"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song performed by English singer-songwriter David Bowie and American singer Bing Crosby. Recorded on 11 September 1977 at ATV Elstree Studios near London for Crosby's television special Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the song features Crosby singing 1941 standard "The Little Drummer Boy" while Bowie sings the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth", written by the special's musical supervisors Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, and scriptwriter Buz Kohan, specifically for the collaboration. The duet was one of Crosby's final recordings before his death in October 1977.

The Edsel Show is an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars. It was a milestone in the long career of entertainer Bing Crosby and is notable as the first CBS entertainment program to be recorded on videotape for rebroadcast in the western part of the country following a live performance for the east coast. Crosby arranged for this ‘live’ program to be ‘produced’ by his alma mater Gonzaga University in order that the profits could go to them in a tax efficient way. The program won the Look Magazine TV Award for ‘Best Musical Show’ and was nominated for an Emmy as the “Best Single Program of the Year”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rhythm Boys</span>

The Rhythm Boys were an American male singing trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker. Crosby and Rinker began performing together in 1925 and were recruited by Paul Whiteman in late 1926. Pianist/singer/songwriter Barris joined the team in 1927. They made a number of recordings with the Whiteman Orchestra and released singles in their own right with Barris on piano. They appeared with the Whiteman orchestra in the film King of Jazz, in which they sang "Mississippi Mud", "So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together", "A Bench in the Park", and "Happy Feet". They are best remembered for launching Crosby's solo career, one that would make him the greatest song charting act in history and one of the most influential entertainers of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing Crosby filmography</span>

This is a filmography for the American singer and actor Bing Crosby.

Alan "Buz" Kohan is an American television writer, producer and composer.

<i>Say One for Me</i> 1959 film by Frank Tashlin

Say One For Me is a 1959 American comedy musical film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner. Say One for Me was listed in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. Stella Stevens made her film debut in Say One for Me and received the Golden Globe Award in 1960 for New Star of the Year-Actress for this film.

Ian Fraser was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator, arranger and music director. In a career that spanned over 50 years, he received eleven Emmy Awards out of 32 total nominations, making him the most-honored musician in television history. His first 23 Emmy nominations, received between 1977 and 1999, were consecutive, which is the longest run of individual nominations in the history of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

John Scott Trotter Jr., also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader.

<i>Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium</i> 1976 live album by Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium is a 1976 vinyl 2-LP live recording of the show put on by Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Kathryn Crosby and Ted Rogers at the London Palladium from June 21 to July 4, 1976. Musical support was provided by the Pete Moore Big Band and the Joe Bushkin Quartet. The Crosby children also took part.

Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas is a 1977 Christmas television special starring Bing Crosby and his family with special guests Twiggy, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Stanley Baxter and Trinity Boys Choir. It includes a duet by the unusual pairing of Crosby and Bowie on "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy".

References

  1. 1 2 Pairpoint, Lionel. "The Chronological Bing Crosby on Television". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ Crosby, Bing (1953). Call Me Lucky . New York: Da Capo Press. pp.  328-329. ISBN   0-306-80504-9.
  3. ↑ Macfarlane, Malcolm. "Bing Crosby - Day by Day". BING magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ British Hit Singles & Albums (18th ed.). Great Britain: Guinness World Records. 2005. p. 126. ISBN   1-904994-00-8.
  5. ↑ "TV Banter". tvbanter.net. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.