Bing Crosby, arguably the world’s greatest ever all-round entertainer, was born on 3 May, 1903, in Tacoma, Washington and raised in Spokane.

He got the nickname Bing because as a child he was an avid reader of the The Bingville Bugle, a spoof newssheet published weekly in the local newspaper. As a teenager he worked at the local theatre where seeing Al Jolson gave him show business ambitions.

While studying to be a lawyer at a local university he learned the drums and joined a band. Such was his success that he was soon able to give up his education and perform full-time.

In the mid 1920s he formed a vocal duo with Al Rinker and they sang with some of the biggest bands of the era. With the addition of another singer by their manager, the bandleader Paul Whiteman, they became The Rhythm Boys and Bing enjoyed his first number one hit with a jazzy version of Ol’ Man River in 1928.

By the 1930s Bing and his richly textured voice were the centre of attention and he made a string of hit records. He landed his own weekly radio slot and by 1932 he was starring in motion pictures.

Throughout his career, his success – which itself spanned six decades – equated to some remarkable statistics. He had nearly as many US number ones as The Beatles and Elvis Presley combined, and one of those, White Christmas, the perennial Irving Berlin classic from Holiday Inn (1942), is the biggest selling song of all time. He had a new hit in every year from 1931 to 1954 and Billboard’s statisticians rated him at the most successful artist of both the ’30s and ’40s.

Meanwhile he starred in more than 50 feature films, winning a ‘Best Actor’ Oscar for Going My Way (1944) and singing on four Oscar-winning songs. He was the first recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1962.

The seven Road to… films he made with Bob Hope amount to one of the most successful comedy franchises in movie history and their irreverent style was hugely influential. He netted millions when he invested in videotape technology to aid the recording of his syndicated television shows in the 1940s, a decision, legend has it, he took to give him more free time to play golf.

Away from the entertainment business he ran race horses and was part-owner of the successful Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.

Health problems forced him into retirement in the early 1970s, but he re-emerged for one last bite of fame with new albums, tours and television specials to celebrate 50 years in entertainment. He even had another hit with Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy, a duet with David Bowie.

He died of a heart attack on 14 October, 1977, aged 74, shortly after winning a game of golf in Madrid. His last words were, “That was a great game of golf, fellas.”