Mary Frances Crosby (born September 14, 1959)[1] is an American actress, the only daughter of actor/singer Bing Crosby and his second wife Kathryn Grant. She played Kristin Shepard in the television series Dallas (1979–1981, 1991).[2]

Mary Crosby
Crosby (left) and her family in a Christmas special, 1974
Born
Mary Frances Crosby

(1959-09-14) September 14, 1959 (age 65)
OccupationActress
Years active1967–present
Spouses
Eb Lottimer
(m. 1978; div. 1989)
Mark Brodka
(m. 1998)
Children2
Parent(s)Bing Crosby
Kathryn Crosby
RelativesHarry Crosby III (brother)
Nathaniel Crosby (brother)
Gary Crosby (half-brother)
Phillip Crosby (half-brother)
Dennis Crosby (half-brother)
Lindsay Crosby (half-brother)
Larry Crosby (uncle)
Bob Crosby (uncle)
Chris Crosby (cousin)
Denise Crosby (niece)

Personal life

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Mary Frances Crosby was born on September 14, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, the second of three children of singer and actor Bing Crosby and actress Kathryn Grant. She graduated from high school at 15,[2] after which she entered the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, but she never graduated. She is fluent in Spanish. She was married to Eb Lottimer from 1978 to 1989 and, since 1998, has been married to Mark Brodka, with whom she has two children.[citation needed]

Career

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Crosby made her television debut appearing in an episode of The Danny Thomas Hour in 1967. She appeared in the 1970 musical film Goldilocks with her family and performed with Betty White in the 1978 TV movie With This Ring.[3] She had supporting role in another television film A Guide for the Married Woman (1978) starring Cybill Shepherd and starred in the 1978 top-rated miniseries Pearl.[4] She guest-starred on Starsky & Hutch and CHiPs and had a series regular role in the 1979 comedy series Brothers and Sisters.[5]

Dallas

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Crosby played Kristin Shepard (Sue Ellen Ewing's scheming sister) on the prime time soap opera Dallas from 1979 to 1981, and a guest appearance in 1991. Her character is perhaps best remembered for her part in the cliffhanger ending of the 1979–1980 season of Dallas, titled "A House Divided", which was resolved in the fourth episode of the following season, "Who Done It".[6] In that highly watched episode, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) was shot by an unknown assailant. Viewers had to wait all summer (and most of the fall due to a Hollywood actors' strike) to learn whether J.R. would survive, and which of his many enemies was responsible. In the summer of 1980, the advertising catchphrase, "Who shot J.R.?", was widely publicized.

Ultimately, Kristin Shepard was revealed to have been the person who pulled the trigger in the classic episode, which aired on November 21, 1980. It was one of the highest-rated episodes of a TV show ever aired.[7][8] Her character, Kristin Shepard, later made an appearance in the Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing in 1980, before a brief return to Dallas in 1981. Once again the focus of a highly rated cliffhanger, it was revealed in the season opening episode (October 9, 1981) that it was Kristin's body floating in the Southfork Ranch swimming pool. She returned for the final episode of Dallas in 1991, playing the same character in a vision experienced by J.R.

Later appearances

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After her breakthrough with Dallas, Crosby played the leading role in the television remake of Midnight Lace. It premiered on February 9, 1981 on NBC.[9] She went to England for starring in the ITV comedy-drama series, Dick Turpin opposite Richard O'Sullivan. Crosby also starred in the made-for-television movies Golden Gate (1981), The Big Easy (1982) and Confessions of a Married Man (1982). In 1983, she made her big screen debut in the action thriller film Last Plane Out distributed by New World Pictures.[10] The following year, she played a female leading role in the science fiction comedy film The Ice Pirates by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was compared to Star Wars and received mostly negative reviews from critics.[11] She later made guest appearances on The Fall Guy, Glitter, Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, Hotel and The Love Boat.

In 1985, Crosby starred in the ABC miniseries Hollywood Wives alongside Candice Bergen, Joanna Cassidy and Angie Dickinson based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Jackie Collins and produced by Aaron Spelling. The following year, Crosby played Isabel Truscott Hazard in another ABC miniseries North and South, Book II. Her other television films credits include Final Jeopardy (1985) and Stagecoach (1986). In 1987, she starred as Adele Strauss in the German biographical film Johann Strauss - Der König ohne Krone about Johann Strauss II.[12] She later appeared in films Tapeheads (1988), Deadly Innocents (1989), Body Chemistry (1990), Eating (1990), The Berlin Conspiracy (1992) and The Night Caller (1998). On television, she guest-starred in In the Heat of the Night, Freddy's Nightmares, Murder, She Wrote, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dream On, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Orleans reuning with Dallas' Larry Hagman.

In 2004, Crosby appeared in the Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork, a television special celebrating of Dallas.[13] In 2005, she played Bennet C. Riley's wife in the Western film The Legend of Zorro. She later appeared in films Queen of the Lot (2010), Just 45 Minutes from Broadway (2012) and The M Word (2014).

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Episode/Notes
1967 The Danny Thomas Hour Joan The Demon Under The Bed
1978 Starsky & Hutch Leslie Slate Strange Justice
1978 Pearl Patricia North TV miniseries
1979 CHiPs Chris Episode: Pressure Point
1979 Brothers and Sisters Suzy Cooper 12 episodes
1979-1981 Dallas Kristin Shepard 28 episodes
1980 Knots Landing Kristin Shepard Kristin
1981 Dick Turpin Jane Harding 5 episodes
1982 / 1984 The Fall Guy Coleen Wilcox
Sue Jackson
Kim Donnelley
Ready, Aim... Die!
Strange Bedfellows
Undersea Odyssey
1982 / 1986 The Love Boat Megan Lewis
Cora/Coral, the Mermaid
Helen Elaine
(1982) Pride of the Pacific/The Viking's Son/Separate Vacations/The Experiment/Getting to Know You: Part 1 and Part 2
(1984) Side by Side/A Fish Out of Water/Rub Me Tender
(1986) Spain Cruise: The Matadors/Mrs. Jameson Comes Out/Love's Labors Found/Marry Me, Marry Me: Part 1 and Part 2
1983 Automan Ellen Fowler Staying Alive While Running A High Flashdance Fever
1984 Cover Up Merilee Taylor Pilot
1984 Finder of Lost Loves Blythe Stewart Yesterday's Child
As Mary Frances Crosby
1984 Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense Ann Preston Child's Play
TV show known in the United States as Fox Mystery Theater
1984 Glitter Karinova On Your Toes
1984 /1985 Hotel Maggie Blackwood
Barbara Medford
Natalie Rogers
The Wedding
Distortions
Saving Grace
1985 Hollywood Wives Karen Lancaster TV miniseries
1986 North and South, Book II Isabel Hazard TV miniseries
1987 The New Adventures of Beans Baxter Professor Vankleef Beans' First Adventure
1989 In the Heat of the Night J.D. Sinclaire Sister, Sister
1989/1990 Freddy's Nightmares Greta Nordhoff-Roscoe
Greta Moss
Lucky Stiff
Easy Come, Easy Go
1990 Shades of L.A. Jessica Pope Where There's No Will, There's a Weigh-In
1991 Paradise as K. C. Cavanaugh The Search for K. C. Cavanaugh
1991 / 1992 Murder, She Wrote Laura Corman
Mariah Osborn
Tainted Lady
The Witch's Curse
1993 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Monique Neverending Battle
1994 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Natima Lang "Profit and Loss"
1995 Platypus Man Beth Garland 9 1/2 Days
1995 Pointman Dr. Elizabeth Andreas Ultimate Showdown
1995 Burke's Law Heather Bonham Who Killed the Tennis Ace?
1995 Dream On Beverly Flight of the Pedalbee
1995-1996 Beverly Hills, 90210 Claudia Van Eyck Speechless
Violated
You Said It's Your Birthday Part 1
1997 Mike Hammer, Private Eye Sheryl Weathersby A Penny Saved
2004 Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork as herself/Kristin Shepard TV special/Reunion

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1970 Goldilocks and the Three Bears Goldilocks 30 minute animated TV film originally shown on NBC
1978 With This Ring Lisa Harris TV movie originally shown on CBS
A Guide for the Married Woman Eloise TV movie
1981 Midnight Lace Cathy Preston
Golden Gate Natalie Kingsley
1983 Confessions of a Married Man Ellen ABC TV movie shown on January 31, 1983
Last Plane Out Elizabeth Rush
1984 The Ice Pirates Princess Karina
1985 Final Jeopardy Susan Campbell NBC TV movie shown on December 8, 1985
1986 Crazy Dan Bonnie TV movie shown on July 19, 1986
Stagecoach Mrs. Lucy Mallory TV movie shown on May 18, 1986
1987 Johann Strauss: The King Without a Crown [de] Adele
1988 Tapeheads Samantha Gregory
1989 Deadly Innocents Beth/Cathy
1990 Body Chemistry Marlee Redding
Quicker Than the Eye [de] Mary Preston
Corporate Affairs Jessica Pierce
Eating Kate
1991 Crack Me Up Stacey
1992 The Berlin Conspiracy Ursula Schneider
1993 Distant Cousins Marcie
1994 Men Who Hate Women & the Women Who Love Them Jennifer
1997 Cupid Dana Rhodes
1998 The Night Caller Nikki Rogers
2000 Sharing the Secret Irene
2005 The Legend of Zorro Governor's Wife
2010 Queen of the Lot Frances Lambert Sapir
2012 Just 45 Minutes from Broadway Sharon Cooper
2013 The M Word Rita Stephenson

References

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  1. ^ "Mary Crosby | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos". AllMovie.
  2. ^ a b Mary Crosby profile, yahoo.com; accessed March 13, 2015. Archived March 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "With This Ring - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  4. ^ Brown, Les (November 22, 1978). "80 Million Saw TV 'Pearl'" – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ^ Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present ISBN 0-345-45542-8
  6. ^ O'Connor, John J. (1980-11-22). "Quotation of the Day". The New York Times. p. 2.47. No, J.R.'s beautiful wife did not do it. She was too obvious a suspect. The real culprit was her conniving sister, Kristin, the only other character in Dallas capable of equalling J.R. at viciousness. At 10:54 last night, Kristin played by Mary, stepped forward to admit the dirty deed.
  7. ^ Reilly, Sue (December 8, 1980). "She Shot J.R.!". People.
  8. ^ Profile, UltimateDallas.com; accessed March 13, 2015. Archived January 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Midnight Lace (1981) - Ivan Nagy | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  10. ^ "Last Plane Out (1983) - David Nelson | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  11. ^ "The Ice Pirates - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. March 16, 1984.
  12. ^ online, CINEMA. "Johann Strauß – Der König ohne Krone (1987) - Film | cinema.de". www.cinema.de.
  13. ^ "Listings | TheFutonCritic.com - The Web's Best Television Resource". www.thefutoncritic.com.
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