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34-530: Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink ; November 9, 1909 – July 2, 1998) 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 . Thompson was born Catherine Louise Fink in St. Louis, Missouri , in 1909, the second of the four children of Leo George Fink,

68-491: A Jewish, Austrian-born pawnbroker and jeweler, and his American-born wife, Harriet Adelaide "Hattie" Tetrick, a Christian. Thompson's parents were married on 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

102-610: 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 4 Brunswick sides are excellent examples of mid-1930s sophisticated New York cabaret singing. She later recorded for Capitol, Columbia, Decca, and, most importantly, for MGM Records, which issued her only complete album of songs, in 1954. In February 1956, Thompson wrote and recorded

136-454: 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. However, by 1964 Thompson was burned out on Eloise; she blocked publication and took all but the first book out of print. As a singer, Thompson made very few records, starting with one side, "Take

170-509: 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 . 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: After her second marriage failed, Thompson began

204-399: 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

238-730: A musical duo in the 1970s, performing extensively on radio, television, and in movies and nightclubs. The four Williams Brothers—Bob, Don, Dick and Andy Williams —formed a singing quartet in the mid-1930s in Wall Lake, Iowa . Their father, Jay Williams, managed and promoted the group. They entertained on radio stations , first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa , and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati, before they moved to Los Angeles in 1943, where they were under contract with

272-534: 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. Eloise (books) Eloise is a young girl who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel in New York City with her nanny, her pug dog, Weenie, and her turtle, Skipperdee. The character was developed by

306-482: A show that was 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. It was at this time that Thompson first met and worked with Garland, developing a close personal friendship and professional association that lasted the rest of Garland's life. In 1943, Thompson signed an exclusive contract with MGM to become

340-635: 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. She returned to live in New York in 1969. Immediately following the death of Judy Garland in 1969, Thompson appeared with goddaughter Liza Minnelli in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970). In 1974, Thompson directed

374-487: 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 he and Thompson had been secret lovers for several years, despite the age gap between them. Thompson later recorded a spoken-word album for Signature Records , Let's Talk About Russia , which detailed her adventures in Moscow. Signature released

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408-564: The Eddie Fisher and Nat King Cole television shows. He put together his own act the "Don Williams Singers" and sang for a number of TV commercials. He also performed in a singing quartet group, The Masquers, with Burl Ives in a 1951 music video under "Snader Tele scriptions " titled "Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord". He was on The Andy Williams Christmas Show. He was an opening act at

442-675: The Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers act in The South Bank Show (2008). In her 2008 tour, Minnelli devoted much of the performance to recreating the act, using Thompson's trademark music. The success of this tribute led to Minnelli's return to Broadway in December 2008. "Liza's at the Palace!" opened at New York's legendary Palace Theatre , an affectionate salute to her godmother, Kay Thompson. Supported by

476-583: The MGM film studio . The Williams Brothers appeared in Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Ladies' Man (1947), and Something in the Wind (1947). They also appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record " Swinging on a Star " (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson from 1947 to 1951. The act was staged by MGM choreographer, Robert Alton . They toured night-clubs and cabarets in

510-460: The 1930s. Other modern Eloise titles released by Simon & Schuster include Eloise's Guide to Life (2000), Eloise at Christmas (2003), Eloise's What I Absolutely Love Love Love (2005) and Love & Kisses, Eloise (2005). The same publisher began producing Eloise stories "in the style of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight" to their early-reader Ready-to-Reads line in 2005. By 2007, 11 titles had been released in that line. Thompson's time on

544-628: The Bride but little, if any, development on the film has been announced , and it was reported in 2010 that Thurman filed and subsequently settled a lawsuit against Handmade Films for £6m after production stalled and the company failed to meet her initial pay-or-play fee. In 2020 it was announced that the film re-entered development at MRC Film , to be written by Beauty and the Beast screenwriter Linda Woolverton and produced by Handmade Films. Television Movies A portrait of Eloise hangs in

578-556: The United States and internationally with great success and appeared on radio and television establishing a loyal cult following with their jazz-based harmonies and flamboyant performance style. The act broke up in 1951 and the brothers went separate ways, appearing annually on The Andy Williams Christmas Special from 1962 through the 1990s. Albums: Robert F. Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, USA on January 1, 1918. He

612-407: 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 illustrator stated that the image for Eloise was based on one that his mother, Katherine Sturges Dodge , had painted, during

646-529: 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

680-551: The first two books were made by Walt Disney Television , titled Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime , starring Sofia Vassilieva as Eloise and Julie Andrews as Nanny. In 2006, an animated television series based on the characters of the books, premiered on Starz! Kids & Family , featuring Mary Matilyn Mouser as Eloise and Lynn Redgrave as Nanny. A direct-to-DVD animated feature entitled Eloise in Africa

714-478: 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),

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748-473: The lobby of the Plaza. They also have a room at the Plaza called The Eloise Suite. Filmmaker Lena Dunham sports an Eloise tattoo and produced the HBO documentary short, It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise , chronicling the life and career of series co-author and illustrator Hilary Knight. The Williams Brothers The Williams Brothers featuring Andy Williams were a singing quartet formed in

782-401: The mid 1930s. They initially entertained on radio stations and later appeared in four musical films in the 1940s. After recording with Bing Crosby led to a nightclub act backing Kay Thompson , they broke up in the early 1950s and went their separate ways. Sometimes referred to as the second generation The Williams Brothers (duo) , twins Andrew and David (Andy's nephews) began as teen idols and

816-536: The new Tropicana Las Vegas hotel where he performed for two years. In 1958, he was in the musical show "Tropicana Holiday". He then became an agent and manager. He united with his brothers yearly from 1962 to 1990 for The Andy Williams Christmas. Don Williams County Park in Iowa is named after him. Don Williams died in Branson, Missouri , on December 30, 2022, at the age of 100. Liza Minnelli has paid tribute to

850-530: 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

884-576: The set of the 1957 musical film Funny Face inspired a new Eloise cartoon— Eloise in Hollywood (2006). Bernadette Peters narrates a collection of four Eloise stories—"Eloise", "Eloise in Paris", "Eloise at Christmastime", and "Eloise in Moscow", released by Simon & Schuster Audio in October 2015. They are available in audiobook and CD and book. In 2003, two made-for-TV movies based on

918-553: The slow speed of movie production. Thompson left MGM in 1947 after working on The Pirate 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

952-455: The song "Eloise" at Cadence Records with an orchestra conducted by Archie Bleyer . The song debuted on March 10, 1956, and became a Top 40 hit, selling over 100,000 copies. 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

986-535: 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 ,

1020-540: 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 Thompson was the vocal arranger for include Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Good News (1947), and The Pirate (1948). As

1054-501: Was a singer and actor. He appeared in the films Janie (1944) and Something in the Wind (1947). He reunited with his brothers yearly from 1962 to 1990 for Andy's Christmas specials. He died on September 23, 2003, in Terra Bella, California . Donald J. Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, on October 9, 1922. After The Williams Brothers broke up, Don Williams moved back to Los Angeles. In LA, he worked on TV shows, where he sang on

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1088-455: Was announced in February 2009 but was never finished. It would have been made entirely at Animation Collective ’s New York City facility. In 2011, an animatic from the film was uploaded onto Vimeo . A movie based on Eloise in Paris , starring Jordana Beatty as the title character and Uma Thurman as Nanny, was being developed by Charles Shyer , director of Alfie and Father of

1122-479: 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) 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

1156-513: 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

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