Kathryn Crosby, the actress who was married to Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.
A representative for the Crosby family confirmed this EW He died Friday night surrounded by his family at his home in Hillsborough, California.
The late star was born Olive Katherine Grandstaff in West Columbia, Texas in November 1933.
His early acting roles included the 1950s films “Operation Mad Ball”, “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”, “Anatomy of a Murder” and “The Big Circus”.
She was commonly known by the names Katherine Grant and Katherine Grandstaff.
Katherine retired from acting completely in the 1960s. She became a registered nurse in 1963 after studying at the Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles.
Katherine was 23 when she married Bing (then 54) in a church in Las Vegas in October 1957.
“We kept seeing each other, and then we planned to get married, and then she got a terrible kidney stone or something,” Katherine said. Smashing Interviews Magazine in 2014. “We kept waiting and I kept working. Later, we finally managed to get married, which was kept secret.”
Katherine also spoke out about the couple's 30-year age difference, saying, “When I was asked about it I thought it might have happened, but I didn't hear about it. By the time we started dating I knew I liked him a lot and he liked me a lot.”
She added, “After we got married, I realised I could live without him, and he realised he didn't want to Survive without me. I like it. It's a good attitude to have when entering a marriage.”
Katherine and Byng had three children, Harry, 66, Mary, 65, and Nathaniel, 62.
Katherine made guest appearances on “The Bing Crosby Show” in the 1960s while she was married to Bing.
She also hosted her own local daytime show, “The Kathryn Crosby Show,” in the 1970s.
After Bing's death in 1977 at age 74, Kathryn resumed performing and won the title role in a 1966 revival of the Broadway musical “State Fair.”
He also hosted the charitable Crosby National golf tournament in North Carolina for 16 years until 2001.
Katherine married her second husband, Maurice William Sullivan, in 2000.
Ten years later, Sullivan died in a car accident in the Sierra Nevada. He was 85.
Katherine has three children and several grandchildren.
