She immediately hired Andy, Dick, and Don to join the large choir she arranged and conducted to sing on the soundtracks of MGM musicals. However, with her uncanny ability to spot diamonds in the rough, Kay was not so hasty as to dismiss the remaining boys. In 1944, when Andy was just 16 years old, the foursome was signed by MGM to appear in Anchors Aweigh and Ziegfeld Follies but before cameras got rolling, eldest brother Bob was drafted into military service, resulting in the group being unceremoniously dumped by the studio. From a tiny Iowa farm town, Andy and his three older siblings, Dick, Don, and Bob, had formed a singing quartet known as the Williams Brothers and had come to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune in movies. Of all her protégés, however, Andy Williams was her most beloved pet and the story behind their unique bond was perhaps the most surprising of all. She also mentored her goddaughter, Liza Minnelli, and lived with her during the final years of her life.

She was the indispensable vocal coach for Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, and a hundred other major artists. But, unbeknownst to the general public, she was also a star maker. My jaw has not stopped yo-yoing ever since.Ī major radio star in the 1930s, the head of MGM's vocal department in the 1940s, and the highest paid nightclub act in the 1950s, Kay had already cut a wide swath through the arts before Eloise and Funny Face solidified her status as a pop culture icon. But eventually, I put two and two together and, from then on, I kept my eyes and ears peeled for any additional information about this fascinating woman. (Her über chic opening number 'Think Pink!' is a fashionista anthem.) At first, I did not realize that this Kay Thompson was the same Kay Thompson who had written Eloise. When I got older, I was blown away by Thompson's striking portrayal of the fashion magazine editor in Funny Face, and how she so effortlessly stole the movie right out from under Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. As a kid, I had fallen in love with Thompson's series of Eloise books (about the impish little girl who lives at The Plaza in New York).

Rabid curiosity was the force that drove me to write Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise on the jaw-dropping life and career of entertainer Kay Thompson (1909-1998).

Kay thompson from funny face to eloise