Bob Crosby Biography

Fast Facts

• Served in the U․S․ Marines during World War II, where he led a service band in the Pacific
• Is the younger brother of popular jazz singer Bing Crosby
• Joined the Anson Weeks orchestra in the early 1930s, right after graduating from Gonzaga University
• Quote: "I was able to introduce the sidemen in a conversational way that helped sell their music․․․I could stand between [saxophonist] Eddie Miller and our audience and make what he was about to say on his horn comprehensible to the people․"
• Quote: "(On the fact that he rarely sang with his band): "[I'm] the only guy in the business who made it without talent․""
• After the war, he worked as a daytime radio host and later joined daytime television in the 1950s
• Best known as the bandleader of the Dixieland swing band the Bob Cats