Kay Thompson

American author, composer, vocal arranger, musician, actress and singer. Born 9 November 1908 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Died 2 July 1998 in New York City, New York, USA. She was married to Jack Jenney from 1937 to 1939 (divorced) and to William Spier from 1942 to 1947 (divorced). She was known as "Kitty Fink" in high school and college. Thompson began her career as a singer in Hollywood. During the mid-to-late 1930s Kay recorded briefly such songs as "You Hit The Spot", "You Let Me Down", "Don't Mention Love To Me" and "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind". At MGM she wrote and arranged songs for films like “The Ziegfeld Follies” and “The Harvey Girls” in 1946. Thompson also won acclaim for her unique nightclub performances and her role in 1957’s “Funny Face.” In 1955 she published Eloise, a book about a mischievous six-year-old living in New York’s Plaza Hotel. The book's become loved by children and “precocious grown-ups,” Eloise and three sequels sold one million copies by 1963. Eloise Takes a Bawth, published posthumously in 2002, introduced Kay Thompson’s alter ego to a new generation of readers.