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Cathy Lee Crosby

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Cathy Lee Crosby
Crosby in 1984
Born (1944-12-02) December 2, 1944 (age 81)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupations
  • Tennis player
  • actress
  • entertainer
Known for
Spouse
Alexander Ingle
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1968)​
PartnerJoe Theismann (~1981–1991)

Cathy Lee Crosby (born December 2, 1944) is an American actress and former professional tennis player. She achieved TV and film success in the 1980s and was a co-host of the television series That's Incredible![1][2]

Early life

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Born in Los Angeles on December 2, 1944,[3] Crosby was the middle daughter of three.[4] Her father, Louis Clayton Crosby, was a scriptwriter-songwriter (he was also the commercial spokesman for Dodge automobiles on The Lawrence Welk Show),[5][6][7][8] and her mother, stage-named Linda Hayes (formerly Rachel Germano,[9] aka Mrs. Dominic J. Germano,[10] born Rachelle Fern Mendenhall[11][12][13]), had, from 1940 through 1942, been a contract player for RKO.[11][4][14] Her parents eventually separated, and her father relocated to Australia.[14]

She excelled at tennis as a youth, starting the game at age 12.[4] She was ranked as high as #7 in singles[14] in US junior tennis competition and #4 in doubles,[15] which she often played with her elder sister, Linda Lou, as her partner.[14]

She graduated in 1968 from the University of Southern California with a degree in psychology,[4] although she originally was pre-med.[14]

Career

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Crosby was a professional tennis player who played at Wimbledon[2] twice, quitting the sport professionally sometime between 1967[4] and 1970.[14]

As an actress, her first TV appearance was as Susan in the episode "The Lay of the Land" in the first season of It Takes a Thief (1968). Her first movie role was a lead as Ann Chris in Michael Shurtleff's film version of his play Call Me by My Rightful Name (1972), opposite Don Murray and Otis Young. She played Jenny Hollister in the TV series Emergency! – Season 2, Episode 4 Virus (1972). The following year she played Kay Butler in the 20th Century Fox crime drama The Laughing Policeman (1973).[14]

In 1970, she was reportedly sued by Cathy Crosby, daughter of singer and bandleader Bob Crosby and niece to Bing Crosby, over the use of the name "Cathy Crosby".[16]

In 1974, she starred as the title character in the television film Wonder Woman,[14] a year before Lynda Carter first portrayed the character that would lead to the Wonder Woman television series. In 1975, she guest starred as Helen of Troy in an episode of the scifi/horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Crosby starred in the movie Trackdown (1976), the TV movie Keefer (1978), and in Coach (1978), in which she played the coach of a high school basketball team who falls for one of her players. She played Libby Hall in S2 E16 of "The Love Boat" (1979).

She starred in the horror movie The Dark (1979),[17] the 1982 TV miniseries World War III,[18] and appeared in the TV movie Intimate Strangers (1986). She also played herself in cameo roles in The Last Horror Film (1982) and Robert Altman's 1992 film The Player.[19]

From 1980 to 1984, Crosby co-hosted the ABC series, That's Incredible!,[2] which remains in world-wide syndication. In 1986, alongside fellow celebrity "anchors" Joan Rivers, Tommy Lasorda, Ray Charles, Robert Conrad, and Ricky Schroder (all of whome—excepting Charles—are assigned similarly out-of-character tasks), Crosby and actress Susan St. James provided color commentary for the nationally televised special of WWF's WrestleMania 2.[20]

Crosby starred as Judith Main in the 1994 TV miniseries North and South: Book III. The same year she appeared in the Lifetime movie Untamed Love (1994), based on Torey Hayden's One Child, and later starred in the film Ablaze (2001).[citation needed]

Personal life

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Crosby was married at age 21 to Alexander Wilfred Ingle on July 30, 1966; they divorced in 1968.[4] She dated actor Richard Roundtree during the mid 1970s[21] and also Michael Biehn, who co-starred with her in the film Coach (1978).

She was in a relationship with football star Joe Theismann[22] throughout the early 1980s. Their romantic relationship had ended by late 1990. He sued her in December, after which she countersued in January 1991 for $4.5 million because he "abandoned his promise to financially support her."[23][22] They settled out of court in mid-year.[24]

She was briefly a follower of Scientology.[4]

References

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  1. ↑ "Cathy Crosby Talks About Drugs". The Evening Independent. September 26, 1980. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Lewis, Dan (August 15, 1981). "Cathy Lee Crosby has an 'Incredible' job". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ Quigley, Eileen S., editor (2007). International Television & Video Almanac. Groton, MA: Quigley Publishing Company. p. 132. ISBN 0-900610-81-6. "CROSBY, CATHY LEE. Actress, b. Los Angeles, CA. Dec. 2, 1944. e. Grad. of U of Southern California. Studied with Lee Strasberg. Author of Let the Magic Begin."
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gritten, David (October 13, 1980). "Cathy Lee Crosby Seems the Perfect Host: She Has Taken Risks All Her Professional Life". Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ 1958 Dodge Coronet Hardtop Commercial - Featuring Lou Crosby. OsbornTramain. April 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021 – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ COMMERCIAL FOR 1960 DODGE DART-As Aired On "The Lawrence Welk Show" (ABC-October 10. 1959). Dachshund. June 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021 – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  8. ↑ DODGE TRUCKS THE POWER GIANTS FOR '58!. Dave Hildebrand. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021 – via YouTube.
  9. ↑ "Star Hunt: Two Winners Picked Here". San Francisco Chronicle. January 19, 1939. p. 13. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Rachelle Germano, 20. of 1530 Hyde street, and James Guston. 24, St. Francis Hotel, last night were announced from the stage of the Golden Gate Theater as winners of Jesse L. Lasky's San Francisco audition in his talent quest. [...] The two winners will compete with winners in auditions given by the pioneer movie producer in 23 other cities, and the final winners, girl and boy, to be selected in Hollywood, will play the leads in an RKO picture entitred 'Career.' But before the hunt narrows down to two persons for 'Career,' 18 of the group of finalists will be selected to appear in radio plays.
  10. ↑ "ACTRESS LINDA HAYES IS GRANTED DIVORCE". The Atlanta Constitution. January 9, 1940. p. 9. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Linda Hayes of the movies, testifying that her husband dragged her across the floor by her hair, won a divorce today in superior court. She also said that Dominic J. Germano 'treated me so that I became a nervous wreck.' The Germanos were married in December, 1936. Miss Hayes is from Sac City, Iowa.
  11. 1 2 Longden, Tom (February 1, 2004). "Famous Iowans: Linda Hayes, Movie actress (1918-1995)". The Des Moines Register. p. B1. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Family 'was the most important thing in life' to Hayes, says her daughter, actress Cathy Lee Crosby [...] Hayes was born Rachelle (pronounced Rachel) Mendenhall on a farm near Sac City. She was 10 when her father, Cox Mendenhall, saw his corn harvests diminishing and moved his family to Pasadena, Calif. [...] Rachelle acquired dramatic training at the Pasadena Playhouse and worked in stock theater. Taking the name Germano from a brief first marriage, she entered a 'Gateway to Hollywood' contest held by RK0 Studios film producer Jesse Lasky, who was looking for new stars. The 5-foot-5 actress, with gray eyes and chestnut hair, won a regional contest over 100 others, lost the final competition, then ended up with an RKO contract anyway - and a new name. [...] Hayes was leading lady to lowa-born Kent Taylor in 'I'm Still Alive' and Joe Penner in "Millionaire Playboy," both in 1940, and appeared with George Sanders in "The Saint in Palm Springs" (1941). She also appeared in a number of Roy Rogers movies and started wrapping up her 17-movie career in 1942 with three of the cowboy's films, 'Ridin' Down the Canyon,' 'Romance on the Range' and 'South of Santa Fe.'
  12. ↑ "Plan to Wed". Pasadena Star-News. July 18, 1936. p. 2. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Dominic Joseph Gernano, 22, 1530 Hyde Street, San Francisco; Rachel Fern Mendenhall, 17, 1415 Bank Street, South Pasadena.
  13. ↑ "AUTHOR'S TWO DRAMAS BILLED FOR WORKSHOP". Pasadena Star-News. June 9, 1934. p. 7. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Ruth Covell Levison directed 'His Eminence' which has its second showing tonight at 8:15 o'clock on the Workshop stage with a well-balanced cast including David Windsor, Lorette Hurley, Annette Arp, Mel Dinelli, Rachelle Mendenhall, Paul Hammond, Vernon Young, William Vance, and Louis Berman.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lewis, Dan (March 17, 1974). "She Played Wonder Woman". Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Cathy Lee's Resume". cathyleecrosby.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Big City Beat", The Houston Chronicle, May 26, 1970
  17. ↑ Cart. (May 2, 1973). "Rambling Reporter". Variety. p. 23. ProQuest 1286069151. Unlike so many pictures in the genre, 'The Dark' doesn't bog down completely in the dialog interludes. William Devane and Cathy Lee Crosby as, respectively, an author and a tv newscaster who, for their own reasons, become involved in the case, manage to bring somewhat off-beat qualities to what are essentially thankless roles.
  18. ↑ Heldenfels, Rich (October 28, 2025). "Will 'Ballard' return for Season 2?". Chicago Tribune. p. 29. ProQuest 3266311236. Q: Years ago, there was a miniseries called "World War III" starring David Soul, where a rogue Soviet general led an invasion of Alaska. Oddly, it has never been rebroadcast. I wonder if the subject matter was too sensitive or predictive. What do you say? A: The two-part NBC drama starring Soul, Rock Hudson, Brian Keith and Cathy Lee Crosby did get replayed; YouTube even has a commercial for a 1991 telecast on TBS. While I have not found a recent airing, there was a DVD release in 2012.
  19. ↑ Osborne, Robert (July 23, 1991). "Rambling Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 11. ProQuest 2600881186. 'The Player' played on Monday, with Burt Reynolds doing a cameo for Robert Altman's film out at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu. (Burt sitting in the restaurant and playing himself, greets competing 'studio execs' Tim Robbins and Peter Gallagher.) Earlier in the a.m., Cathy Lee Crosby also did some cameoing for Altman . . . It is, in fact, starting to look as if every celeb in town is going to have his/her face in the Altman film.
  20. ↑ Vecchio, Valerie (January 9, 1940). "Wrestlemania 2: Now that's entertainment!; 'Wrestlemania packs 'em in (From D1)". The Day. p. D8. Retrieved June 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Many of Hollywood's stars anchored Wrestlemania 2 as special guests, including Susan St. James and Cathy Lee Crosby as color analysts; Ray Charles, who opened the show from New York singing a rendition of 'America;' comedian Joan Rivers and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorsda as ring announcers; and actors Robert Conrad and Ricky Schroeder, who were chosen as guest referee and timekeeper, respectively.
  21. ↑ "Cathy Lee Crosby Seems the Perfect Host: She Has Taken Risks All Her Professional Life"., David Gritten, People Magazine, October 13, 1980.
  22. 1 2 "Crosby, ex-friend file cross lawsuits". The Press-Courier. February 2, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  23. ↑ "NAMES IN THE GAMES : Ex-Girlfriend Sues Theismann". Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. January 31, 1991. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Theismann, Crosby Settle Estates Lawsuit". The Free Lance Star. Alexandria, Virginia. Associated Press. June 8, 1991. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
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