Here is Kay Thompson's biography:
Born in Missouri, Kay Thompson was a one-of-a-kind author, pianist, actress, comedienne, singer, composer, coach, dancer, choreographer, and clothing designer. She was born Catherine L. Fink, but later reinvented herself as Kay Thompson. She was the second of four children born to Austrian immigrant Leo George Thompson, a jeweler, and Hattie Thompson.
Kay began playing the piano at age 4 and was deemed a prodigy, performing with the St. Louis Symphony by the time she was 16. She tested her singing talents and eventually sang with local dance bands, including the Tom Coakley and Fred Waring bands. She met and married one of her band's trombone players, Jack Jenney, but the marriage ended quickly.
Kay recorded several songs in the mid-to-late 1930s, including "You Hit The Spot" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind". She was cast in "Hooray for What", a political revue, but was fired during the pre-Broadway tour. She never returned to the musical stage arena again as a result of that unhappy experience.
Arthur Freed hired Kay as an arranger, coach, and composer at MGM Studios, where she worked on several films, including "I Dood It", "The Kid from Brooklyn", "Ziegfeld Follies", "The Harvey Girls", "Good News", and "The Pirate". She was a vocal coach to several MGM stars, including Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and June Allyson.
Kay married radio and film writer/producer/director William Spier, but the marriage ended quickly. She never had children. In the 1940s, Kay put together her own club act, which opened at Ciro's night club in 1947. The singer/comedienne was a sensation with her unique blend of sophisticated music, outrageous satire, and clever banter.
Kay designed fashion slacks for long-limbed ladies backed by her clothing line "Kay Thompson Fancy Pants". She appeared in only four films, including "Funny Face" (1957),where she nearly stole the thunder from under co-stars Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. She also appeared in "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" (1970),which was directed by her goddaughter Liza Minnelli.
In 1958, Kay introduced a new side of herself as a children's author with the best-selling "Eloise" series. The books chronicle the tale of a precocious, pixilated 6-year-old who lives at New York's Plaza Hotel and turns the place upside down with her brazen antics. All four books were top sellers.
Kay served as creative consultant and vocal arranger for Judy Garland's legendary TV special with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1962. She kept busy with various nightclub/TV performances of her own until she decided to leave the limelight. She eventually moved into Liza Minnelli's Upper East Side penthouse in New York City and grew quiet and reclusive with the last decade of her life. Kay Thompson died at the penthouse on July 2, 1998, at the age of 88.
