Dennis Crosby

Biography

Dennis Crosby was an American singer and actor. He is one of the famous Crosby brothers. He is the father of writer and producer Gregory Crosby (of the Hacksaw Ridge fame) and Star Trek TNG actress Denise Crosby.

Family- Childhood

Dennis Michael Crosby was born on 13th July 1934 in Los Angeles, California, United States to Bing Crosby(Father)- a singer & actor and Dixie Lee(Mother)- an actress, singer and dancer. Dennis has a twin brother born on the same day Phillip Crosby.

Dennis and his twin Phillip were delivered in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital just after 6:00 a.m. It was a premature delivery and the babies weighed between four and five pounds each. They were placed in incubators, and they were kept in the hospital until August 18.

He was named after his father Bing Crosby's maternal grandfather Dennis Harrigan. [2]

The Crosby brothers

Four brothers, the sons of Dixie Lee & Bing Crosby

• Gary Crosby (1933–1995)
• Dennis Crosby (1934–1991)
• Phillip Crosby (1934–2004)
• Lindsay Crosby (1938–1989)

formed a band named The Crosby brothers in 1958, they had previously sung in their father's radio programs, they had sung together in a record named- 'A Crosby Christmas'. The band was featured in magazines such as- Life, Variety.

Image: Crosby Brothers- Gary, Dennis, Lindsay, Phillip

The band broke after Lindsay's breakdown in Mexico in 1962.

Education

• Bellarmine College Preparatory: He studied at the all-boys, Jesuit, private secondary school in San Jose, California. His other brothers also attended the same school. He graduated in 1952.
• Washington State University: He attended the WSU in Pullman, Washington. He completed a course on animal husbandry with his twin brother Phillip Crosby.

Marriage, Children & Divorce

Pat Sheehan

Patricia Ann Sheehan, Miss San Francisco 1950, a 1958 October Playboy playmate, and a model married Dennis on 4th May 1958. Pat had previously dated his father Bing Crosby. She was also a part-time actress.

Image: Dennis Crosby with wife Pat Sheehan

Children

Dennis Crosby & wife Pat Sheehan had three sons:

• Gregory Evan Crosby
• Dennis Michael Crosby Jr.
• Patrick Anthony Crosby (born 31st December 1960)

Divorce

In July 1964 the couple divorced, Dennis filed for divorce so that he could marry his new girlfriend Arleen Newman

Arleen Newman

Dennis met Arleen in 1963 while working in Los Angeles for Bing Crosby Productions, they married in 1964, after Dennis' divorce from his first marriage, it was second marriage to both (Arleen was previously married to Mike Buell previously, with whom she had a daughter named Catherine).

Image: Dennis Crosby with wife Arleen

Children

The couple had two daughters named- 

• Erin Colleen Crosby (February 25, 1971)
• Kelly Lee Crosby

The two adopted Arleen's daughter (from her previous marriage) Catherine Denise Crosby, the couple divorced in 1991.

Death

Dennis Crosby died on 4th May 1991 in Novato, California, United States by committing suicide with a A 12-gauge shotgun, he was troubled by the death of his younger brother Lindsay (who committed suicide in 1989) and divorce from his wife(Arleen) of 25 years.

Pat Shaheen died at the age of 74 in January 2006. 

His son Dennis Michael Crosby Jr. (son of Pat Sheehan) died in January 2010

Another son Patrick Anthony Crosby died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in September 2011 from a lengthy illness.

Career

Army

Dennis Crosby joined the army in 1955 after dropping out of College, he was trained to be a part of US 10th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Fort Ord, California, later moved to Fort Riley, Kansas before moving to West Germany in 1955.

The Crosby Boys

The Crosby Boys is an American harmony singing group formed by the sons of famous singer Bing Crosby and his wife Dixie Lee.

They were popular for singing in nightclubs and on TV in the 1950-60s.

The brothers Gary, Dennis, Phillip, Lindsay started singing on their father Bing's radio shows. Their first record was on September 1950 in "A Crosby Christmas", the record charted at # 22 in the December, 1950 Billboards.

The group officially became "The Crosby Boys" in 1958. The group made to the covers of Life magazine in September 1958. In November 1958, they appeared on The Phil Silvers Show. They performed as the official group for the first time at Tucson, Arizona in 1959. 

Their performance at Chez Paree, Chicago in 1959, got great reviews from the Variety magazine. Gary left the group after in-fight in 1959, They perfoemd in 1960 on the ABC TV in February 1960 with their father in place of Gary. 

Their first LP 'The Crosby Brothers' was released in April 1960. They appeared on the "I've got a secret" show to promote their album. In Las Vegas, they started at the Desert Inn and continued at venues such as Chi Chi in Palm Springs, The Venetian room at the Fairmont in San Francisco, and the Latin Quarter in New York among others.

They appeared on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, on The Ed Sullivan Show, along their father's show the Bing Crosby Show. 

The group fell apart with Lindsay Crosby's breakdown in Mexico in 1962

Movies

In the 1945 musical comedy "Out of this world", he appeared in a small scene as a kid in the audience. In the 1945 musical comedy "Duffy's Tavern" he again appears in a minor role.

In the western comedy 'Sergeants 3' directed by John Sturges he played the role of 'Private Page'. The movie had an illustrous cast of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, Henry Silva, Buddy Lester and others. His brothers Phillip(corporal Ellis) and Lindsay (Private Wills) also appeared in small roles.

In the drama series 'Ben Casey', he appeared as Herbie and orderly in 1964-65, he appeared in one episode of season 3 and one episode of season 4.

Filmography

Discography

Interesting Facts & Trivia

Paternity law suit

After his wedding to Pat Sheehan, Marilyn Miller Scott filed a lawsuit against Denis over paternity of her daughter Denise Crosby, law suit lasted for 3 years and finally court ordered him to take care of Denise, whom the court declared to be Dennis's daughter.  He was ordered to pay Marilyn Miller Scott child support and legal fees

• Mother's inheritance: All the sons of Dixie Lee inherited $200,000 in 1955 according to her will. (greater than $2 million in 2023)
• During his last years, the inheritance money was thinning out adding to his other worries, which presumably lead to his death

Quotes

• I guess I wasn't cut out to be an entertainer.
• I was always painfully self conscious in the spotlight with my brothers.

Sources

1. Dennis Crosby on wikipedia
2. Bing Magazine
3.