Christine jorgensen height
Florence George Crosby Ortiz (Catherine Guthrie)
In spring College Swing landed in America’s movie theaters. Starring George Burns, Bob Hope, Betty Grable, and Jackie Coogan, it co-starred another young actress named Florence George, better known to her former Wittenberg classmates as Catherine Guthrie.
Catherine graduated from Springfield High School in attended Wittenberg and studied voice with Witt professor Jack Ham until Professor Ham reportedly exclaimed “I smell smoke” the first time he heard her lovely voice.
She finished her degree at a Chicago conservatory and debuted to rave reviews at the Chicago Civic Opera, taking her parents’ first names as her stage name. She achieved an international career as a singer, appeared on several radio shows (Kraft, Packard, Ford), and toured as part of Bing Crosby’s camp troupe. Under contract with M-G-M she appeared in at least two movies, College Swing and Tell No Tales.
Florence george biography kristina Florence George. Actress: College Swing. The opulent, vivacious blonde lyric soprano Florence George was given only two rather routine opportunities to stake her claim in films.A beautiful blond, Pi Kappa Alpha named her their national dream girl in That same year Florence married Bing Crosby’s brother, Everett, who managed her career and Bing’s.
The American Scandinavian Society honored her in for her “furtherance of international goodwill,” and Wittenberg awarded her an honorary degree in In her later years Florence bred Morgan and Arabian horses on her farm, Fair Acres, in Connecticut. Everett died in , and in she married Andelmo Diaz Ortiz.
In she wrote Wittenberg wishing everyone a happy alumni weekend: “I have fond memories of my years spent at Wittenberg, when it was a small but memorable college.” She died in
Heather A. Griffith and Thomas T. Taylor
Sources: Springfield Daily News, New York Times, Wittenberg Alumni Affairs File
About The Project
With Wittenberg now celebrating its th year, and the University unable to hold regular in-person classes as a result of the COVID pandemic, Professor of History Thomas T.
Taylor has started circulating several pieces on Wittenberg's history. Some originated in earlier series, either This Month in Wittenberg History or Happy Birthday Wittenberg. Others have their origin in the Wittenberg History Project or in some other, miscellaneous project. Sincerest thanks to Professor Taylor for connecting alumni, faculty, staff, and students through a historic lens.
Looking Back: Historical Briefs by Professor Thomas Taylor