By Nicholas K. Geranios Associated Press Writer
SPOKANE, Wash. He was arguably the most popular entertainer of the 20th century, and unarguably the most famous person to ever grow up in Spokane.
Now Bing Crosby will finally have a landmark in his hometown.
A public ceremony is scheduled today to rename the former Met Theater in downtown Spokane, where Crosby performed as a young man, The Bing Crosby Theater.
The #8220Wing Ding for Bing culminated an effort by Spokane historian and journalism teacher Bill Stimson, who noticed one day that little in the Lilac City was named for its favorite son, and suggested the Met might be a good choice.
#8220We re stepping up and doing what we should have done long ago, Stimson said. #8220This is where Bing Crosby learned his trade and became Bing Crosby.
Crosby was born in Tacoma in 1903, but his family soon moved to Spokane and he remained a figure in the city s history for the rest of his life.
The golden-throated crooner returned often to visit family and friends, and was a generous donor to Gonzaga University and other causes.
#8220The guy never left Spokane until he was 22 years old and in a sense he always remained a kind of a homebody, Crosby biographer Gary Giddins wrote in #8220Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams.
The Met was built in 1915 as the Clemmer Theater, a gilded, 800-seat movie house in a brick, neoclassical style in downtown Spokane.
It fell into disrepair until a Spokane-based financial conglomerate bought it in 1988, rehabbed it, and reopened it as the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center as a home for concerts, lectures and movies.
Crosby and his group, billed as The Musicaladers, performed in the theater as the house band between May and October 1925, playing between movies.
#8220That s where he spent five months practicing his act, Stimson said.
#8220He was a big hit there.
#8220Then he got in his car and went to Hollywood, Stimson said.
After talking with Met owner Mitch Silver, who gave his approval, Stimson contacted Crosby s widow, Kathryn.
An actress who lives on a ranch in Nevada, Kathryn Crosby was delighted by the idea and volunteered to bring her cabaret act to Spokane to raise money to buy the new sign. The act reminisces on her 20-year marriage to Crosby, which ended with his death in 1977.
Crosby has not been completely ignored here.
He holds an honorary doctorate from Gonzaga University, and was a major benefactor of the school. The student union building is named for him and there is a statue of him out front. Crosby was also made an honorary mayor of Spokane, and Oct.
16, 1946, was recognized as #8220Bingsday in his honor.
Crosby was much more than your average celebrity.
His radio shows in the 1930s had audiences of 50 million people, essentially everyone who owned a radio at the time, Stimson said.
The relaxed singing style he developed influenced every crooner from Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett. He was an Oscar-winning actor, a major television star and a technological innovator.
#8220Where would we be without White Christmas at Christmas time?
wondered Stephanie E. Plowman, a librarian and curator of Crosby memorabilia at Gonzaga.
Plowman estimates there are 25,000 items in the Crosby collection, including a copy of his Oscar for #8220Going My Way, numerous gold records, photographs, sheet music, the majority of his sound records, 1,400 radio show discs, film and television scripts and correspondence.
The collection draws visitors from all 50 states and about 25 foreign countries each year, said Plowman, who helped create a Crosby display at the renamed theater.
Crosby had an idyllic upbringing in Spokane. He acquired his nickname because of his fondness for a Sunday newspaper feature, #8220The Bingville Bugle.
Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School and attended Gonzaga University, where he found he liked music and partying more than books. One of his nicknames was #8220Binge Crosby.
Crosby is buried in Culver City, Calif.
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