Kay Thompson was an American author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress, and choreographer. She became famous for creating the Eloise children’s books and for her role in the movie Funny Face. You’ll hear her on 1930s radio as this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

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KAY

Kay 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 Show,  Bing Crosby Entertains, (CBS, 1933–34).

This led to a regular spot on The Fred Waring-Ford Dealers Show (NBC, 1934–35) and then, with conductor Lennie Hayton, she 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.

In 1939, she reunited with André Kostelanetz for Tune-Up Time (CBS), a show that was produced by radio legend William Spier (who later married Thompson in 1942). On an instalment of Tune-Up Time in April 1939, 16-year-old Judy Garland was a guest.

FLICKS

Kay Thompson and her choir performed two songs in the Republic Pictures musical Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937).

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). She 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.

NIGHTCLUBS

Thompson left MGM in 1947 to create the night club 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.

ANDY WILLIAMS

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Thompson mentored the solo career of the young Andy Williams. She helped land him a regular singing spot on NBC-TV’s new late-night series, The Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen. She got her friend Archie Bleyer to add Williams to the roster of artists on his label Cadence Records, where she wrote many of the songs he recorded, including the 1958 top-20 hit “Promise Me, Love”.

In 1963, Thompson paired the Christmas song “Holiday Season”—a song she had written and first performed in 1945—with the 1942 Irving Berlin Christmas song “Happy Holiday”, and gave it to Williams to sing. This medley arrangement and recording became a very popular hit and has since been covered by many artists.

Although it had been denied for decades, Williams admitted in his 2009 memoir, Moon River and Me (Viking Press), that Thompson and he had been secret lovers for several years, despite the 19-year age gap between them.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Thompson was 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 Hotel in New York City where Thompson herself lived.

All were bestsellers and adapted for TV.

Kay Thompson composed and performed a top-40 hit song, Eloise (Cadence Records, 1956), selling 100.00 records.

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.

RECORDS

As a singer, Thompson made very few records, starting with one side, “Take a Number from One to Ten”, on a 1934 session by the Tom Coakley band. In 1935, she recorded four sides for Brunswick (“You Hit the Spot”, “You Let Me Down,” “Don’t Mention Love to Me,” and “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”), and another four sides for Victor.

The four Brunswick sides are excellent examples of mid-1930s sophisticated New York cabaret singing. She later recorded for Capitol, Columbia, Decca, and most importantly, MGM Records, which issued her only complete album of songs, in 1954.

Thompson later recorded a spoken-word album for Signature Records, Let’s Talk About Russia, which detailed her adventures in Moscow. Signature released a single of two songs by Thompson, “Dasvidanya” and “Moscow Cha Cha”. She served as an adviser to Patti Page’s 1957 television series, The Big Record.

Thompson kept busy with nightclub and television performances, as well as overseeing her successful “Eloise” franchise.

Thompson appeared with goddaughter Liza Minnelli in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).

In 1974, Thompson directed a fashion show at the Palace of Versailles, featuring a performance by Minnelli and the collections of Halston, Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, and Anne Klein.

5. August PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #724
107.3 2SER Tuesday 5 August 2025 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program 5UV Adelaide Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 2OCB Orange Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3WAY Warrnambool Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 3am – 4 and 6 -7pm 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 2MCE Bathurst Thursday 9 – 10am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Thursday 9 – 10pm Reading Radio (QLD) Friday 1 – 2am 5LCM Mt Lofty Friday 1 – 2pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Saturday 4 – 5am 7LTN Launceston Sunday 6 – 7am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 6 – 7am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm 2DRY Broken Hill Sunday 9 – 10pm 2SEA Sapphire Coast Eden Sunday 9 – 10pm 1ART Artsound FM Canberra Sunday 11pm – 12am
Set 1	Guy Lombardo
Goodnight Irene	Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (voc) Trio	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Roosevelt NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Oct 1950
It Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter	Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (voc) Kenny Gardner	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Roosevelt NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Oct 1950
Medley: I’m in the Mood for Love +  Winter Wonderland + White Christmas + September Song	Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (voc) Kenny Gardner	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Roosevelt NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Oct 1950
Zither Polka (close)	Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (voc) Trio	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Roosevelt NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Oct 1950
Set 2	Trad and Blues
Swingin’ the Blues in C	Tiny Crump the King of Jump (piano)	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 20 Nov 1954
Love is Just Around the Corner	Muggsy Spanier	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 20 Nov 1954
After Hours	Red Richards (piano)	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 20 Nov 1954
When the Saints Come Marching In	Muggsy Spanier	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 20 Nov 1954
Set 3	Kay Thompson
It Had to Be You	Kay Thompson	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NYC 12 June 1937
Whoa Babe!	Kay Thompson	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NYC 12 June 1937
Solitude	Kay Thompson	‘Dodge Show’ Radio Transcription 1935
After You’ve Gone + Close	Kay Thompson	‘Dodge Show’ Radio Transcription 1935
Set 4	Lester Young
I Got Rhythm	Lester Young and Jubilee All Stars	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 22 Apr 1946
Lady Be Good	Lester Young and Jubilee All Stars	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 22 Apr 1946
Sweet Georgia Brown`	Lester Young and Jubilee All Stars	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 22 Apr 1946
Set 5	Artie Shaw
Nightmare (theme) + Bedford Drive	Artie Shaw Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Santa Ana Ca Mutual 3 Oct 1945
Along the Navajo Trail	Artie Shaw Orchestra (voc) Imogen Lynn	‘Spotlight Bands’ Santa Ana Ca Mutual 3 Oct 1945
Can’t You Read Between the Lines?	Artie Shaw Gramercy 5	‘Spotlight Bands’ Santa Ana Ca Mutual 3 Oct 1945
‘S Wonderful	Artie Shaw Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Santa Ana Ca Mutual 3 Oct 1945
Set 6	Count Basie
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Ebony Rhapsody	Count Basie Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 20 Feb 1940
Riff Interlude	Count Basie Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 20 Feb 1940
Darn That Dream	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Helen Hume	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 20 Feb 1940
Take it Prez + Baby, Don’t You Tell on Me	Count Basie Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 20 Feb 1940
Set 7	Eddie Condon
I’ve Got a Crush on You	Eddie Condon Group (voc) Lee Wiley	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NYC 5 Aug 1944
Soon	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NYC 5 Aug 1944
Sweet and Lowdown	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NYC 5 Aug 1944
Set 8	Hot Lips Page
The Saints	George Wettling’s Stuyvesant Stompers featuring Hot Lips Page	‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NYC 15 Feb 1952
On the Sunny Side of the Street	George Wettling’s Stuyvesant Stompers featuring Hot Lips Page	‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NYC 15 Feb 1952
After You’ve Gone	George Wettling’s Stuyvesant Stompers featuring Hot Lips Page	‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NYC 15 Feb 1952