This is a filmography for the American singer and actor Bing Crosby.
Films YearTitleRole Notes 1930 King of Jazz Vocalist Member of "The Rhythm Boys" Reaching for the Moon Bing Short guest appearance to sing one song 1931 Confessions of a Co-Ed Vocalist Member of The Rhythm Boys I Surrender Dear Himself Two-reeler; plays himself; directed by Mack Sennett One More Chance Bing Bangs Two-reeler; directed by Mack Sennett 1932 Dream House Bing Fawcett Two-reeler; produced by Mack Sennett Billboard Girl Himself Two-reeler; produced by Mack Sennett The Big Broadcast Himself His first starring role in a full-length film. 1933 Blue of the Night Himself / Jack Smith Two-reeler; produced by Mack Sennett Sing, Bing, Sing Himself Two-reeler; produced by Mack Sennett College Humor Professor Frederick Danvers Too Much Harmony Eddie Bronson Please Himself / Howard Jones Two-reeler; produced and directed by Arvid E. Gillstrom Going Hollywood Bill Williams 1934 Just an Echo Himself Two-reeler; produced and directed by Arvid E. Gillstrom We're Not Dressing Stephen Jones She Loves Me Not Paul Lawton Here is My Heart J. (Jasper) Paul Jones 1935 Mississippi Tom Grayson Two for Tonight Gilbert Gordon Himself cameo 1936 Anything Goes Billy Crocker Rhythm on the Range Jeff Larabee Pennies from Heaven Larry Poole 1937 Waikiki Wedding Tony Marvin Double or Nothing 'Lefty' Boylan 1938 Doctor Rhythm Dr. Bill Remsen Sing You Sinners Joe Beebe 1939 Paris Honeymoon 'Lucky' Lawton East Side of Heaven Denny Martin The Star Maker Larry Earl 1940 Road to Singapore Joshua 'Josh' Mallon V If I Had My Way Buzz Blackwell Rhythm on the River Bob Sommers 1941 Road to Zanzibar Chuck Reardon Birth of the Blues Jeff Lambert 1942 My Favorite Blonde Man outside union hall Uncredited cameo appearance Road to Morocco Jeff Peters Holiday Inn Jim Hardy Star Spangled Rhythm himself 1943 They Got Me Covered Music box Voice only, uncredited Dixie Daniel Decatur Emmett 1944 Going My Way Father Chuck O'Malley Academy Award for Best Actor The Princess and the Pirate Commoner on King's ship Uncredited cameo appearance Here Come the Waves Johnny Cabot 1945 Out of This World Singing voice for Eddie Bracken Father Chuck O'Malley Nominated—Academy Award for Best ActorDuffy's Tavern Himself 1946 Road to Utopia Duke Johnson/Junior Hooton Blue Skies Johnny Adams 1947 My Favorite Brunette Harry Uncredited cameo appearance Welcome Stranger Dr. James 'Jim' Pearson Variety Girl Himself One of several featured performers in musical sequences Road to Rio Scat Sweeney 1948 Virgil Smith 1949 Hank Martin Top o' the Morning Joe Mulqueen Voice Role-Narrator, Ichabod, Brom Bones "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" segment 1950 Riding High Dan Brooks Mr. Music Paul Merrick 1951 Here Comes the Groom Peter 'Pete' Garvey Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Angels in the Outfield Himself Uncredited cameo appearance 1952 Uncredited cameo appearance Son of Paleface Uncredited cameo appearance Just for You Jordan Blake Road to Bali George Cochran 1953 Scared Stiff Uncredited cameo appearance Little Boy Lost Bill Wainwright 1954 White Christmas Bob Wallace Frank Elgin National Board of Review Award for Best ActorNominated—Academy Award for Best Actor 1956 Anything Goes Bill Benson High Society C. K. Dexter-Haven 1957 Uncredited vocal performance singing "June in January" Man on Fire Earl Carleton 1959 Alias Jesse James Uncredited cameo appearance Say One for Me Father Conroy 1960 Let's Make Love Himself Uncredited cameo appearance High Time Harvey Howard Pepe Himself Uncredited cameo appearance 1962 Harry Turner 1964 Robin and the 7 Hoods Allen A. Dale With Frank Sinatra 1966 Stagecoach Doc Josiah Boone Color remake of John Ford's 1939 B&W version 1971 Dr. Cook's Garden Dr. Leonard Cook Television film 1972 Cancel My Reservation Himself Uncredited cameo performance 1974 That's Entertainment! Himself as featured presenter
Box office ranking Crosby was frequently voted among the leading box office stars in a poll of exhibitors. See Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll
1933 - 14th (US) 1934 - 7th (US) 1935 - 12th (US) 1936 - 22nd (US) 1937 - 4th (US) 1938 - 13th (US) 1939 - 11th (US) 1940 - 7th (US) 1943 - 4th (US) 1944 - 1st (US) 1945 - 1st (US) 1946 - 1st (US) 1947 - 1st (US) 1948 - 1st (US) 1949 - 2nd (US) 1950 - 3rd (US) 1951 - 5th (US) 1952 - 4th (US) 1953 - 5th (US) 1954 - 8th (US) 1955 - 13th (US) 1956 - 20th (US)
Top-ten films of their year USA Road to Singapore (placed in top ten) (1940) Road to Zanzibar (placed in top ten) (1941) Holiday Inn (No. 8) (1942) Going My Way (No. 1) (1944) The Bells of St. Mary's (No. 1) (1946) Blue Skies (No. 3) (1946) Road to Utopia (No. 4) (1946) Welcome Stranger ( No. 7) (1947) Road to Rio (No. 1) (1948) The Emperor Waltz (No. 7) (1948) White Christmas (No. 1) (1954) The Country Girl (No. 6) (1955) High Society (No. 4) (1956)
UK Holiday Inn (No. 5) (1942) Going My Way (No. 4) (1944) The Bells of St. Mary's (No. 2) (1946) Blue Skies (placed in top ten) (1947) Road to Bali (No. 2) (1953) White Christmas (No. 2) (1955) High Society (No. 1) (1957) The Road to Hong Kong (placed in top ten) (1962)
The source of the information is Variety for the USA results and Kinematograph Weekly for the UK.
Other short subjects
Two Plus Fours (1930) Hollywood on Parade (1932) Hollywood on Parade No. 11 (1933) Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (1933) Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934) Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 5 (1937) Hollywood Handicap (1938) Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 4 (1938) Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 9 (1939) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Recreations (1940) Swing with Bing (1940) Angels of Mercy (1941) Meet the Stars #6: Stars at Play (1941) Show Business at War (1943) Don't Hook Now (1943) Road to Victory (1944) The All-Star Bond Rally (1945) Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Celebrations (1945) Screen Snapshots: Famous Fathers and Sons (1946) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Happy Homes (1949) Alberta Vacation (1950) You Can Change the World (1951) Crusade for Prayer (1952) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Mothers and Fathers (1955) Showdown at Ulcer Gulch (1956) (Bing and Bob Hope walk past each other with umbrellas) Bing Presents Oreste (1956) The Heart of Show Business (1957) Just One More Time (1974)
Television
The Bing Crosby Show (1954) High Tor (1956) The Edsel Show (1957) Bing Crosby in London (1961) The Bing Crosby Show (ABC, 1964–1965) A Little Bit of Irish (1967) Goldilocks (1970) Dr. Cook's Garden (1971) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire: A Couple of Song and Dance Men (1975)
Songs nominated for Academy Award From 1934, when the first Oscar was awarded for "Best Song", until 1960, Bing Crosby introduced more nominated songs than any other singer. His fourteen nominations produced four Oscar winners, a record that has never been matched. YearTitleFilmResult 1934 "Love in Bloom" She Loves Me Not Nominated 1936 "Pennies from Heaven" Pennies from Heaven Nominated 1937 "Sweet Leilani" Waikiki Wedding Won 1940 "Only Forever" Rhythm on the River Nominated 1942 "White Christmas" Holiday Inn Won 1944 "Swinging on a Star" Going My Way Won 1945 "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" Here Come the Waves Nominated 1945 "Aren't You Glad You're You" The Bells of St. Mary's Nominated 1946 "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" Blue Skies Nominated 1951 "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" Here Comes the Groom Won 1952 "Zing a Little Zong" Just for You Nominated 1954 "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" White Christmas Nominated 1956 "True Love" High Society Nominated 1960 "The Second Time Around" High Time Nominated
Soundtrack appearances
Richard Hamilton (1969) – This is an Arts Council of Great Britain sponsored twenty five minute short. It is devoted to the works of artist Richard Hamilton. The only song heard in the short is "White Christmas". Bing Crosby's Decca recording is used to illustrate Hamilton's painting I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. The painting is of Bing in negative and the effects of color reversal create a snow scene effect to the Crosby features. Paper Moon (1973) – Peter Bogdanovich's film relies solely on commercial recordings and radio programs to provide background music for this film which is set in the US in the 1930s. Crosby's recording of "Just One More Chance" is featured. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime (1975) – David Puttnam was involved in this 109 minute compilation of 1930s film footage. As well as singing the title song we hear Bing's recording of "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)." The film's closing credits wrongly title the latter song "When the Blue...". The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) – In this Crosby can be heard singing "True Love". At the film's end, Candy Clark, playing David Bowie's girlfriend, goes to Bowie's apartment in a Father Christmas outfit. As the two move around the apartment, part of the Capitol recording of "True Love" is heard on the soundtrack. Tracks (1977) – Director Henry Jaglom makes use of two of Crosby's American Decca recordings: "These Foolish Things" and "(There'll Be a) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin", the latter performed with The Andrews Sisters. F.I.S.T. (1978) – In the early part of the film the U.S. Decca recording of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" by Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is heard on the soundtrack. The song is playing on the radio in a scene where a Chicago businessman is visited during the Christmas holiday by union representatives. The Brink's Job (1978) – In an early scene set in Boston, the American Decca recording of "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is heard. This serves to indicate the era without resorting to a caption or explanatory dialogue. At the end of the film the same recording is heard as the gang of robbers depicted in the film ascend the courthouse steps for a trial prior to imprisonment. Pennies From Heaven (1981) – This version uses recordings from the 1930s to advance the story-line. The film's setting is the thirties with the actors miming to 78s from that decade. Crosby's contribution is "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?". Frances (1982) – Bing Crosby is heard singing "Love Is So Terrific" as background music in this screen biography of Crosby's one time leading lady Frances Farmer. This song is taken from the Philco Radio Time broadcast of March 31, 1948. Some Kind of Hero (1982) – Towards the end of the main character's imprisonment, the public address system broadcasts the Bing and Carol Richards Decca recording of "Silver Bells". A Christmas Story (1983) – Crosby's Decca 78s are used to give a seasonal early 1940s atmosphere to the film by the playing of "Jingle Bells", "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". Racing with the Moon (1984) – Popular songs of the era are played on the soundtrack including Crosby's Decca recording of "Moonlight Becomes You". A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) – Crosby's recording of "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" is heard on the soundtrack of this American horror film about a teenager suffering from nightmares. One Magic Christmas (1985) – Bing's Decca recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" adds poignancy to a scene where the characters have a heart to heart talk in their kitchen. Tough Guys (1986) – Crosby sings "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" on the soundtrack. It is Crosby's 1977 recording made for a Concord CD, although Burt Lancaster is shown placing a 78 on the record turntable. Radio Days (1987) – Woody Allen's affectionate tribute to the golden days of American radio crams loads of music from the 1930s and 1940s onto the nostalgia provoking soundtrack. Bing Crosby's contribution is part of the Decca recording of "Pistol Packin' Mama" sung with the Andrews Sisters.