- Dennis Crosby
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Dennis Crosby Born Dennis Michael Crosby
July 13, 1934
Los Angeles, CaliforniaDied May 4, 1991 (aged 56)
Novato, CaliforniaOther names Dennis Michael Crosby Sr. Spouse Pat Sheehan (1958–1964)
(3 sons)
Arleen Newman (1964–1991)
(3 daughters and 1 adopted daughter)Partner Marilyn Miller Scott 1958
(one daughter Denise Crosby)Dennis Michael Crosby (July 13, 1934–May 4, 1991) was an occasional American actor, the son of singer and actor Bing Crosby, and twin brother of Phillip Crosby. He was the father of actress Denise Crosby.
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Life and career
Dennis was the son of Bing Crosby and his first wife Dixie Lee. He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose with his other brothers where he graduated in 1952 and subsequently enrolled at Washington State University at Pullman.
In the late 1950s, Dennis and his brothers, Lindsay and Phillip, often performed as the Crosby Brothers in nightclubs and on The Ed Sullivan Show, though Dennis reputedly wished to avoid such appearances.
While a young man, Crosby performed military service in Germany.
On May 4, 1958, Crosby married Pat Sheehan, a Las Vegas showgirl and model who had once dated his father. She was also Miss San Francisco of 1950, Playmate of the month of October 1958, and part time actress. Within days, Crosby was sued by another woman, Marilyn Miller Scott, over the paternity of her daughter, Denise Crosby. The sensational lawsuit lasted three years and ended with Dennis being ordered to pay Scott child support and legal fees. This and the marriage to Sheehan and other details caused deep embarrassment for both him and his famous father. Although Bing died when his granddaughter was 19, the two reportedly never met.[1]
Crosby and Sheehan had three sons: Gregory, Dennis Michael, Jr., and Patrick Anthony. In 1963, while working in Los Angeles for Bing Crosby Productions, he met Arleen Newman. On July 3, 1964, Crosby and Sheehan were divorced. Later that year, Crosby married Newman, with whom he had three daughters, including Kelly Lee Crosby and Erin Colleen Crosby. Additionally, Crosby adopted Newman's daughter, Catherine Denise Crosby, from her first marriage to Mike Buell, which ended in divorce. Dennis and Arleen divorced in 1991.
On December 11, 1989, Crosby's younger brother Lindsay committed suicide by a shotgun blast to the head. Deeply distraught by his brother's passing and his recent divorce and grappling with alcoholism, Dennis Crosby committed suicide on May 7, 1991 in Novato, California, also with a shotgun. On January 14, 2006, Dennis's former wife, Pat Sheehan, died at the age of 74. Their son Patrick Anthony Crosby born New Years Eve 1960, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on September 19, 2011, after a lengthy illness. He was 50.
Family relations
- Son of Bing Crosby.
- Brother of Phillip (twin), Gary and Lindsay Crosby.
- Half-sibling of Harry Crosby, Nathaniel Crosby and Mary Crosby.
- Nephew of the bandleader Bob Crosby.
- Cousin of Cathy Crosby and Chris Crosby.
- Uncle of L.Chip Crosby Jr.
- Father of Denise Crosby, Gregory Crosby, father-in-law of Spice Williams-Crosby
References
- ^ Denise Crosby at Notable Names Database
External links
Categories:- 1934 births
- 1991 deaths
- Actors from Los Angeles, California
- Actors who committed suicide
- American film actors
- American male singers
- American musicians of Irish descent
- American people of Irish descent
- American singers
- American television actors
- Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
- People self-identifying as alcoholics
- Suicides by firearm in California
- Twin people from the United States
- Washington State University alumni
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