Kathryn Crosby, an actress and Bing Crosby’s widow, has died at the age of 90. A family representative reported that she died on Friday night in her Hillsborough, California home, surrounded by loved ones.
Born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff in November 1933 in West Columbia, Texas, she starred in 1950s films such as Operation Mad Ball, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Anatomy of a Murder. She often went by Kathryn Grant or Kathryn Grandstaff professionally.
Kathryn married Bing Crosby in 1957, when she was 23 and he was 54. The couple had three children, Harry (66), Mary (65), and Nathaniel (62). Reflecting on their marriage, Kathryn once stated that their 30-year age difference was never an issue, stating, “I realized I could survive without him, but he didn’t want to survive without me.”
After Bing’s death in 1977, Kathryn returned to the stage, including a lead role in the 1966 Broadway revival of State Fair. She also hosted the Crosby National Golf Tournament for 16 years and had her own local daytime show in the 1970s. Kathryn remarried in 2000, but her second husband, Maurice Sullivan, died in 2010.
She is survived by her three children and several grandchildren.