‘He really is a Spokane kid’: Sundays at the Crosby House highlight Bing Crosby’s life beyond music and stage

The world knows Bing Crosby.

His recording of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” his Oscar-winning role in “Going My Way,” his hundreds of charting singles and millions of records sold.

But the world doesn’t know Crosby the way Spokane knows Crosby.

The kid who grew up on Sharp Avenue, who was a talented athlete, who attended Gonzaga High School and Gonzaga University, who worked at the theater which now bears his name.

Before seeking fame in California, Crosby called Spokane home. To shed light on this time in Crosby’s life, the Bing Crosby Advocates of Spokane and Gonzaga University’s Foley Library are launching a series of intimate gatherings called “Sundays at the Crosby House.”

All talks will be hosted at the Bing Crosby House, now a museum that’s part of Gonzaga’s campus. The discussions are free, open to the public and are limited to 30 people each.

Bill Stimson, who co-founded the Bing Crosby Advocates with Steve Blewett in 2006, said the idea for “Sundays at the Crosby House” came from the realization that articles, correspondence and photographs like those in the Foley Library’s Bing Crosby Collection can only express so much about who Crosby was. These talks, led primarily by people who have volunteered at the Bing Crosby House, allow for a deeper dive into Crosby as a whole.

“We broke it into these little packages of interesting aspects to Bing Crosby, hoping that people start thinking ‘Wow, he wasn’t just a singer or even an actor …” he said. “There’s a lot to be said about Bing, and that’s why we’re having these things.”

The series kicks off on Sunday, with Lauren Harris, author of a forthcoming children’s book about Crosby, discussing the singer as a child. On June 22, Blewett, a retired Eastern Washington University professor, will discuss Crosby’s contributions to the country’s morale during World War II.

“He was truly a world figure, and that had a lot to do with World War II,” Stimson said. “That’s a thing that a lot of people miss is that he did a lot of war work, selling bonds and leading campaigns, entertaining troops everywhere including Normandy during the war.”

On June 29, Brad Rovanpera, a guide at the Crosby House Museum, will share about Crosby’s private side. Stimson said Crosby was an “anti-celebrity celebrity,” despite being known the world around, who enjoyed his post-fame visits to Spokane because no one bothered him while he was out and about in town.

On July 13, Bing Crosby Advocates President Dave Reynolds will talk about Crosby’s athletic background.

“People don’t realize it, but he was a first-rate, great athlete,” Stimson said. “He did play college baseball, but he played all the high school sports and won swimming medals. In fact, that was his first love. He says here and there that ‘If I was larger, I would have rather been a pro athlete than a singer,’ but he said, ‘This is the job I got.’ ”

On July 20, Bing Crosby House Museum Director Stephanie Plowman will discuss Crosby’s education. On July 27, KSPS’s Tom McArthur will discuss what records and the radio would have sounded like while Crosby was living in his Spokane home, a talk Stimson is excited to attend because it replicates listening to music as Crosby would have done.

“You get to be in the house and hear old-fashioned radio, an old-fashioned record player and realize that you’re in Bing’s world,” he said. “You’re literally in the same house.”

On Aug. 3, Stimson, a retired journalism professor from EWU, will discuss Crosby’s son Gary’s controversial autobiography, which alleged that Crosby was abusive.

“You wouldn’t believe the fantastic things that people hear, but when they get around to ‘Was he cruel to his children?’ I say ‘No. One of seven children said that and he has denied it. Gary has taken it back,’ ” Stimson said. “I’d read Gary’s book, and there’s a lot of contradictions in it. He ends the book saying ‘Well, actually, Dad wasn’t too bad, because you’ve got to be strict with boys’ so I felt prepared to answer the questions about this.”

“Sundays at the Crosby House” ends Sept. 14 with Inlander publisher Ted McGregor talking about the value of celebrities to the cities where they grew up.

Arguably Spokane’s most famous resident, Crosby’s connection to Spokane is evident through his namesake theater, where the Bing Crosby Advocates celebrate his career as an actor with the Bing Crosby Holiday Film Festival every year.

The Bing Crosby House also continues to bring in fans from around the world who are interested in seeing where the singer and actor grew up as well as photos, memorabilia and awards from throughout his life and career.

Beloved internationally, Spokane will always have a special connection to the star. The world saw Crosby at his biggest and brightest, but Spokane saw him when he was just a boy with a dream.

“He trained here, worked here, he got a job at what is now the Bing Crosby Theater,” Stimson said. “He really is a Spokane kid.”