- Thompson, Kay
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▪ 1999American entertainer and writer (b. Nov. 9, 1902?, St. Louis, Mo.—d. July 2, 1998, New York, N.Y.), was a talented musician, singer, songwriter, musical arranger, vocal coach, and actress who also created a series of books about a precocious six-year-old girl named Eloise who called New York City's Plaza Hotel home. The character of Eloise was created when Thompson turned her voice into that of a child to apologize for arriving late for a cabaret act rehearsal. Her co-workers took to the character, and Thompson transformed her Eloise routine into a one-woman show at the Plaza in 1954; the book Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups was published the next year. A record, a doll, clothing, a television special, and three more books—Eloise in Paris and Eloise at Christmastime (1958), and Eloise in Moscow (1959)—followed. Early in Thompson's career she was a pianist with the St. Louis Symphony, and she went on to sing with the Mills Brothers on radio and to arrange music and sing with Fred Waring's band. In 1935 she co-produced her own CBS radio show, "Kay Thompson and Company." In the mid-1940s Thompson became a musical arranger at the MGM film studios and served as vocal coach to Lena Horne and Judy Garland, and she performed (1947-53) in a nightclub act with Andy Williams and his brothers. It was during rehearsals for that act that Eloise sprang to life. Thompson performed in several motion pictures—among them Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937); The Ziegfeld Follies (1946), for which she also was a music arranger and songwriter; and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)—before being cast in her most memorable role, the vivid fashion magazine editor Maggie Prescott, with her dictate to "think pink," in Funny Face (1957). Her last film was Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).
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▪ American entertainer and writerborn Nov. 9, 1902?, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.died July 2, 1998, New York, N.Y.American entertainer and writer who was best known as the author of the highly popular Eloise books, featuring a comically endearing enfant terrible who bedeviled New York City's Plaza Hotel.Thompson early displayed a considerable talent for the piano, and at the age of 16 she appeared as a soloist with the St. Louis Symphony. The following year she moved to California, where she worked as a vocalist with the Mills Brothers. Later she was a singer and arranger for Fred Waring's band and then produced and hosted a CBS radio program, Kay Thompson and Company. From 1942 to 1946 she was a composer and arranger for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios in Hollywood, contributing to the scores of such films as The Harvey Girls (1946), The Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), in which she made her motion-picture acting debut. Thompson toured with her own nightclub act in 1947 and continued to act in films, with appearances in Funny Face (1957) and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970). She also performed on several television shows.In 1955 Thompson published her first book, Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown-ups. Illustrated by Hilary Knight, the children's story told of the adventures of an ill-mannered, unattractive, but appealingly mischievous six-year-old who was the terror of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The book reached the best-seller list in 1956, as did its sequels Eloise in Paris (1957) and Eloise at Christmastime (1958). Eloise in Moscow followed in 1959 and Eloise Takes a Bawth in 1964. The series' huge popularity led Thompson to found Eloise Ltd., which produced related merchandise. Another children's book, Kay Thompson's Miss Pooky Peckinpaugh and Her Secret Private Boyfriends Complete with Telephone Numbers appeared in 1970.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
