Kathryn Crosby, who appeared in films such as Operation Mad Ball, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad And Anatomy of a murder before she ended her acting career as the wife of Hollywood legend Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90 years old.

Crosby died Friday evening surrounded by her family at her home in Hillsborough, California, a family spokesman said.

Under her stage name Kathryn Grant, the Houston native made five films for the famous film noir director Phil Karlson, including Clamp (1955), The history of Phenix City (1955) and The Rico brothers (1957).

She also played the younger sister of Martha Hyers character in another film noir, the Blake Edwards-directed Mr Cory (1957) starring Tony Curtis and portrayed an aspiring trapeze artist in The big circus (1959), starring Victor Mature.

Soon after completing production in Spain with her role as Princess Parisa in distress in the fantasy of Ray Harryhausen The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) She became Bing’s second wife when they married in a Las Vegas church on October 24, 1957. She was 23, he was 54.

“I’m glad I married an older man,” she said in Richard Gruden’s 2003 book. Bing Crosby: Crooner of the Century“When I married Bing, he was already formed, his character was solid. In other words, I knew what I was getting. With a younger man, you can’t predict how he will develop over the years.”

Kathryn has put acting pretty much on the back burner, having had three children with the famous singer and Oscar winner: Harry (born 1958), Mary (born 1959) and Nathaniel (born 1961). They all survive her.

Nevertheless, she often appeared with her husband and children in Christmas specials, on the ABC variety show The Hollywood Palace and in Minute Maid’s orange juice commercials, the image of the typical American family. (Bing was a long-time advertiser and shareholder of Minute Maid.)

After his death at the age of 74 on October 14, 1977 from a heart attack after a round of golf in Spain, Kathryn appeared in productions such as Same time, next year And Charley’s Auntt and worked with John Davidson and Andrea McArdle in 1996 on the Broadway revival of State Fair.

She was born Olive Kathryn Grandstaff in Houston on November 25, 1933 and grew up in West Columbia, Texas.

In 1952, shortly after placing second in a Miss Texas beauty pageant, Kathryn dropped out of the University of Texas to go to Hollywood with the help of Roy Rogers’ agent, Art Rush. Paramount quickly signed her after she auditioned with William Holden.

She wrote a weekly column entitled Texas Girl for newspapers at home and worked as a temp in the costume department at Paramount when she met Bing in 1953, when he was just finishing work on The Lost Little Boy.

A few months later they met again when they brought visitors to the set of White Christmasand she interviewed him for her column.

(Bing was married to actress and dancer Dixie Lee from 1930 until her death from ovarian cancer at age 42 in 1952. He and Dixie had four sons: Gary, Dennis, Phillip and Lindsay.)

Bing and Kathryn had set several wedding dates over a period of three years before they actually exchanged their vows, but he kept postponing the date because he was romantically involved with two of his co-stars, Grace Kelly and Inger Stevens.

Kathryn began her acting career with uncredited roles in films such as So this is love (1953), Casanova’s big night (1954) and rear window (1954) before Paramount released her from her contract in 1954.

Intrepidly, she appeared in seven films in 1955 and in an episode of the NBC series Father knows best while returning to Texas that same year to complete her degree in fine arts. (She graduated from nursing school in 1963.)

She played a nurse and Jack Lemmon’s lover in Richard Quine’s Operation Mad Ball (1957), the wife of the gangster played by James Darren in The Rico brothers and the daughter of the murdered innkeeper in Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a murder (1959), starring James Stewart.

In one of her rare on-screen acting appearances during her marriage to Bing, she guest-starred in a 1966 episode of ABC’s – and Bing Crosby Productions’ – Ben CaseyDuring the 1970s, she stayed close to home outside San Francisco by hosting a morning talk show on KPIX-TV and working part-time at the American Conservatory Theater.

Bing “was a pretty sweet boy when it came to convincing a girl that she really wanted to stay home and scrub the floors,” Kathryn said in an interview shortly after his death. “He didn’t know he was a chauvinistic pig, but he was!” she added, laughing.

She wrote three memoirs about her life with him: 1967 Bing and other things1983s My life with Bing and 2002 My last years with Bing.

In 2000, she married her longtime partner Maurice William Sullivan, an educator she and Bing had hired to tutor their children. He later became trustee of Crosby’s estate.

In November 2010, 85-year-old Sullivan was killed and Kathryn was seriously injured in a car crash in the Sierra Nevada. He was driving when their vehicle left the road, rolled over and struck a boulder.

As for their children, Harry became an investment banker; Mary is an actress, known for her role as JR Ewing’s gunwoman Kristin Shepard in Dallas; and Nathaniel was an excellent amateur golfer. She also leaves behind several grandchildren.