Kay Thompson

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Kay Thompson
Born	November 9, 1908 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	July 2, 1998 New York, New York
Spouse	Jack Jenney (c. 1937-1939) William Spier (ended c. 1947)

Kay Thompson (born Katherine L. Fink on November 9, 1908 in St. Louis, Missouri, a daughter of Leo George Fink Sr., who ran a local jewelry store; died July 2, 1998 in New York, New York) was an American author, composer, musician, actress, and singer.

Thompson began her career in the 1930s as a singer and choral director for radio. This led to appearances with the Tom Coakley band and later with Waring's Pennsylvanians, where she met (and briefly married) trombonist Jack Jenney. The "Kay Thompson Swing Choir", which first appeared uncredited on an André Kostelanetz recording in 1935, performed two songs in the Republic Pictures musical Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937), and appeared periodically on CBS' "Saturday Night Swing Club" radio show.

Thompson's turn in Hollywood came when her friend, composer Hugh Martin adapted his Broadway hit, Best Foot Forward, to the screen, then stayed on at MGM as a vocal arranger. When he enlisted during WWII, producer Arthur Freed asked him to name a replacement. Hugh told him to contact his friend Kay Thompson. After arriving at the studio in 1943, she served as main vocal arranger for many of Freed's MGM musicals and as vocal coach to stars such as Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and June Allyson.

Thompson was the vocal arranger for films like Weekend at the Waldorf (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), and Good News (1947). After working on The Pirate (1948) with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, she left MGM to create her own nightclub act with Andy Williams and his brothers (whom she discovered while working on The Harvey Girls). They toured the country's nightclubs and cabarets with great success and appeared on radio, establishing a loyal cult following with their jazz based harmonies and flamboyant performance style.

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, which were inspired by the antics of her goddaughter Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli. The four books in the series, illustrated by Hilary Knight, were Eloise (1956), Eloise in Paris (1957), Eloise at Christmastime (1958), and Eloise in Moscow (1959). They followed the adventures of the precocious six-year-old girl who lives at The Plaza. All were bestsellers upon release and have been adapted into television projects.

As an actress, Thompson made only 3 film appearances, notably as fashion editor Maggie Prescott in the musical Funny Face (1957) with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. Reunited with her colleagues from MGM, producer/songwriter Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen, Thompson garnered critical praise for her stylish turn as an editor based on real-life Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, even finding time to stop the show with a spirited rendition of the Gershwin brothers "Ring Them Bells!" (In a 6 December 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.)

As a singer, Thompson also made very few records. In 1935, she recorded 4 sides for Brunswick and 4 sides for Victor. The Brunswick sides ("You Hit The Spot", "You Let Me Down", "Don't Mention Love To Me" and "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind") are about as good as an example of sophisticated cabaret singing in the mid-1930's. The only other performer who approached this sophisticated style is Ramona Davies.

She served as creative consultant and vocal arranger for Judy Garland's highly rated 1962 television special with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and kept busy with nightclub and television performances, as well as overseeing her successful "Eloise" franchise. In the early 1960's, Thompson moved from her beloved Plaza Hotel to a villa in Rome.

She appeared in Otto Preminger's Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970) with goddaughter Liza Minnelli. In the 1970's, fashion designer Halston lured Thompson out of retirement to stage his runway shows.

She eventually moved into Minnelli's Upper East Side penthouse in New York City, where she died in 1998.

Besides Jack Jenney, Thompson also married radio producer William Spier. Both marriages dissolved after a short time. She had no children. Her nieces by her sisters Marian and Blanche Fink were named as her literary heirs and they operate the Eloise franchise today.

A CD of Kay Thompson's vocals, including her own compositions, is available under the title The Golden Years from Encore Productions, and the original soundtrack to Funny Face has been remastered and reissued. Most of her exceptional work for MGM has been preserved and released on Rhino/Turner Classic Movies original soundtrack series, including little-known contributions she did for films such as Meet the People (1944) and Abbott And Costello In Hollywood (1945). The entire series is available in the soundtrack section at www.rhinohandmade.com

In 2003, Kay Thompson was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.