Kay Thompson

• Name — Kay Thompson • Birth Name — Catherine Louise Fink • Born — 9 November 1909 • Birthplace — St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. • Died — 2 July 1998 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Author • composer • musician • actress • singer • Works — Eloise book series • Illustration — Hilary Knight's 1996 portrait of Kay Thompson for Vanity Fair

Thompson was born Catherine Louise Fink in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1909, the second of the four children of Leo George Fink, a Jewish, Austrian-born pawnbroker and jeweler, and his American-born wife, Harriet Adelaide "Hattie" Tetrick, a Christian. Leo and Harriet were married November 29, 1905, in East St. Louis, St. Clair County, Illinois. Thompson's siblings were Blanche Margaret Hurd, George "Bud" Fink, Jr., and Marian Antoinette Doenges.

Thompson began her career in the 1930s as a singer and choral director for radio. Her first big break was as a regular singer on the Bing Crosby - Woodbury show Bing Crosby Entertains (CBS, 1933–34). This led to a regular spot on The Fred Waring - Ford Dealers Show (NBC, 1934–35). With conductor Lennie Hayton, Thompson co-founded The Lucky Strike Hit Parade (CBS, 1935), where she met (and later married) trombonist Jack Jenney. Thompson and Her Rhythm Singers joined André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra for the hit series The Chesterfield Radio Program (CBS, 1936), followed by It's Chesterfield Time (CBS, 1937), for which Thompson and her large choir were teamed with Hal Kemp and His Orchestra. For her motion picture debut, Thompson and her choir performed two songs in the Republic Pictures musical Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937). In 1939, she reunited with André Kostelanetz for Tune-Up Time (CBS), a show produced by radio legend William Spier (who later married Thompson in 1942). On an installment of Tune-Up Time in April 1939, 16-year-old Judy Garland was a guest. Thompson first met and worked with Garland at this time, developing a close personal friendship and professional association that lasted the rest of Garland's life.

• Illustration — Guest stars for the 1961 premiere episode of The Dick Powell Show, "Who Killed Julie Greer?". Standing, from left: Ronald Reagan, Nick Adams, Lloyd Bridges, Mickey Rooney, Edgar Bergen, Jack Carson, Ralph Bellamy, Kay Thompson, Dean Jones. Seated, from left, Carolyn Jones and Dick Powell. In 1943, Thompson signed an exclusive contract with MGM to become the studio's top vocal arranger, vocal coach, and choral director. She served as main vocal arranger for many of producer Arthur Freed's MGM musicals and as vocal coach to such stars as Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and June Allyson. Some of the many MGM musicals for which Thompson was the vocal arranger include Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Good News (1947), and The Pirate (1948). As a film actress, Thompson only played one major role, that of fashion editor Maggie Prescott in the musical Funny Face (1957) for Paramount Pictures. Reunited with producer and songwriter Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen, her colleagues from MGM, Thompson garnered critical praise for her stylish turn as an editor based on real-life Harper's Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland, opening the film with her splashy "Think Pink!" and performing trios with Astaire and Hepburn. In a December 6, 2006, interview on Turner Classic Movies, Donen said that Funny Face was made at Paramount with a primarily MGM crew, including Donen, Edens, and Thompson, because Paramount Pictures would not release Hepburn for any film except one made at Paramount. Thompson only acted in one additional feature film, 1970's Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, because, according to its star Liza Minnelli, Thompson disliked the slow speed of movie production.

Thompson left MGM in 1947 after working on The Pirate to create the nightclub act "Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers", with the four Williams men as her backup singers and dancers. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. Within a year, they were the highest-paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. She wrote the songs, and Robert Alton did the original choreography for the act.

Thompson, who lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, became most notable as the author of the Eloise series of children's books. The Eloise character was developed by the author based on her childhood imaginary friend and alter ego, with a voice in which Thompson spoke throughout her life, according to her biographer, filmmaker Sam Irvin. Thompson's goddaughter, Liza Minnelli, was often speculated as a possible model for Eloise. The four books in the series, each illustrated by Hilary Knight, are Eloise (Simon & Schuster, 1955), Eloise in Paris (Simon & Schuster, 1957), Eloise at Christmastime (Random House, 1958), and Eloise in Moscow (Simon & Schuster, 1959). They follow the adventures of a precocious six-year-old girl who lives at the Plaza. All were bestsellers upon release and have been adapted into television projects. Thompson composed and performed a top-40 hit song, "Eloise" (Cadence Records, 1956). A fifth book, Eloise Takes a Bawth, was posthumously published by Simon & Schuster in 2002, culled from Thompson's original manuscripts once slated for 1964 publication by Harper & Row. By 1964, though, Thompson was burned out on Eloise; she blocked publication and took all but the first book out of print.

Thompson eventually moved into Minnelli's Upper East Side penthouse. On July 2, 1998, she was found unconscious in bed and rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she was officially pronounced dead, aged 88.

Thompson was married twice: • Jack Jenney, trombonist and bandleader, married 1937, divorced 1939 • William Spier, radio producer, married 1942, divorced 1947 After her second marriage failed, Thompson began a secret affair with Andy Williams (who was half her age) from 1947 to 1961. In December 1961, Williams married Claudine Longet. Thompson moved to Rome and never remarried.

• I Dood It (1943) (as Nightclub Patron) (uncredited) • Lost in a Harem (1944) (as Singer) (uncredited) • Broadway Rhythm (1944) (vocal arranger) • Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) (vocal arranger) • Meet the People (1944) (vocal arranger) • Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) (vocal arranger) (uncredited) • Weekend at the Waldorf (1945) (choral arrangements) • Thrill of a Romance (1945) (as Hotel Guest) (uncredited) • Ziegfeld Follies (1945) (writer: A Great Lady Has an Interview) • Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) (vocal arranger/as Audience Member) (uncredited) • No Leave, No Love (1946) (vocal arranger/as Glamorous Woman) (uncredited) • The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) • The Harvey Girls (1946) (as vocal arranger) • Good News (1947) (vocal arranger/as Matron) • The Pirate (1948) (as vocal arranger) • Lady Possessed (1952) (as Nurse) • Funny Face (1957) (as Maggie Prescott) • Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970) (as Gregory)

She also worked under the names Kay Thompson and Y. The authorities additionally record the heading Y. Her recorded language was English. She married Jack Jenney and William Spier.