How Bald was Bing?

How Bald was Bing?

NAME	MESSAGE
Joe Dolan	posted 12/23/05 12:25 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly I have seen pictures of a young Bing Crosy on album covers and in books but he does not appear to be bald. His hair is only thinning. As a bald man myself, I have always been amazed at how good his toupees in the movies look. It leads me to wonder if Bing was really very bald or if the toupee just covered up a little thin patch. This would explain why it looks so convincing. I have seen footage of him singing "People Will Say We're in Love" for the troops with Sinatra and he is sans toupee and he looks pretty bald there. Odd topic - yes but I had to ask. Happy Holidays
Mike O	posted 12/23/05 04:00 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly I always liked the anecdotes where Bing referred to his toupee as a "divot."
howard crosby	posted 12/24/05 08:03 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly Uncle Bing was pretty much completely bald on top by his early 30's. He hated the toupee...hence the hats. He was asked the director of one of the Road pictures if there was any way he could do the love scene with Dorothy Lamour with his hat on....that was nixed, on went the toupee.
Dieter Beier	posted 12/24/05 08:27 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly "It just drives me crazy to put one of those things on," Bing tells Charles Thompson. "I have a whole team of them: curly, straight, ash-blond. I even have the coup de soleil - through the top. I have names for them; like latkas - they´re Jewish pancakes, scalp doilies, rugs.... all kind of things." And his old pal makes some jokes about his wigs like: "Bing doesn´t make personal appearances any more: he just sends a toupee. He´s got three of them on the road right now!!" On shooting Country Girl George Seaton got much trouble with Bing because Bing wished to wear one of the wigs of his College Humour time. Crosby was worried about looking too old for his fans. Seaton have had had to persuade Bing that he is playing a character act and should present his real age.
CorgiMom	posted 12/28/05 08:04 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly Hello - new to posting on this site but I thought I'd mention that from what I read in bios and quotes, his hair was thinning even while he was still in high school. And, as Howard stated, he was pretty much bald in his 30's. Although, this didn't cause him to be any less attractive or undesirable. Although, he did detest wearing a hair piece he also never showed his "fans" his baldness because he didn't want to disappoint them. From what I've read his fans were very dear to him. Unlike so many "stars" today, he cherished the people who cherished him. I've been a Bing fan since I was a little tot. (I'm 33 years old now) The more I learn about this man, the more I realize why at the tender age of 3 I would shout out "Bing, Bing, Bing!" to my Mom till she played his music for me. They say kids are good judges of character and I must have saw something in him that I still see today. He's a great man and I'm thankful that his voice and his movies are preserved for my generation and the next to enjoy. I just wish I had been born in his generation as I would have loved to see him in concert. Sadly, I was born a little too late.
Carmela	posted 12/29/05 07:34 PM Central Time (US) no email address given Bing didn't nead his ears pinned back or a toupee. It wasn't what he was about, that's why he wasn't comfortable with the toupee and the ears pinned back. He was always himself. He had something more-charm, talent, confidense ect...
Tom Degan	posted 01/03/06 01:07 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly The best indication as to how much hair der Bingle had is the final photo taken of him in his coffin. By the end of his life he had pretty much lost all of his hair.
Edwin F. Gonzalez	posted 01/19/06 03:22 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly On the last scene of "Pennies From Heaven" Bing falls of the boat and as his hat comes off you can see he was not wearing a toupee and it shows how bald he was. If you have the movie on DVD, press the pause button and then zoom in and you'll see it quite clear.
Carmela	posted 01/23/06 08:26 PM Central Time (US) no email address given Now take out your White Christmas DVD and go to the scene where Bing and Danny are in the dressing room changing. The scene where Bing sits down to put on his shoes- his fly is open. I know it has nothing to do with his baldness. Anyone know of any other funny scenes?
Ronald Sarbo	posted 01/23/06 09:00 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly Carole Lombard knocks his toupee loose in their scuffle in "We're Not Dressing".
Jon O.	posted 01/23/06 09:27 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly In Bells Of St. Mary's, in the scene where Bing wipes the makeup and lipstick off of new student Patsy's face, he also removes a sort of hairpiece from her hair, called a "rat" (Bing quips,"What are you smuggling?"). As he does this, her hair falls down in front of her face, completely covering it. It seems to have been an accident, judging by Bing's reaction--he abruptly cracks up, and, though he recovers and they finish the scene, Joan Carroll (Patsy) continues to genuinely giggle along with Bing as it fades to black.
Jon O.	posted 04/13/06 11:42 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly I'm not convinced that the reason Bing appeared sans toupee when he entertained the troops during WWII was to appear "older", i.e., beyond draft age. Judging by what I've read about his down-to-earth attitude toward life, combined with his distaste for the rug and all things showy, it seems more likely that it was a simple refusal on his part to appear in any way cosmetic, or phony, to the soldiers who were–or would soon be—facing the most basic and gritty aspects of reality, including death. I've seen many photos of Bing out and about in public in non-wartime, and in the majority of these he isn't sporting the scalp doily—unless he’s attending some kind of studio/network/record company-sponsored event. When he visited Front Royal, Virginia in the spring of 1950, to dedicate its baseball field (which he had helped fund) and attend the premier of “Riding High”, dozens of photos of him were taken in and around the community, including at a dance at which his bald pate was in full view. Outdoors, of course, he was always wearing a hat (as were all the men—and women). Gary Giddins had this to say about the matter in Pocketful of Dreams: "Alone among the Hollywood stars of his era and stature, he never concealed his reliance on—or distaste for—toupees. Unlike John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart, who never appeared without them, Bing wore his only for professional purposes, when he could not get by with a hat. Errol Flynn was so amused by Bing’s willingness to attend sporting events, restaurants, and parties without a rug that he walked over to his table and planted a (photographed) kiss on top of Bing’s bare head."
howard crosby	posted 04/14/06 11:38 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly Uncle Bing NEVER wore the toupee unless he absolutely was forced to, almost at the point of a gun. In one of the Road pictures, he even asked the director if he could do a love scene with Dorothy Lamour with his hat on!
Ron Field	posted 04/14/06 01:07 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly I met Bing in the lobby of the Connaught Hotel in London. He'd just come back from Spain. He was very tanned and the blue eyes stuck out - he was without the rug. This was while he was banned from Claridge's Hotel for practicing golf in the corridor.