To refresh your memory, Kay Thompson trained as a singer and pianist, started out as a singer on the radio, and began doing arrangements. She had several radio shows, then moved on to Broadway, where she wrote and arranged songs but never hit the big time as an actress. She went to MGM in the 40s, where she did arrangments and coached singers like Lena Horne and Judy Garland. She was Liza Minelli's godmother. Then she left the studio to sing and dance in a nightclub act with the Andy Williams and his brothers. Naturally, she arranged all their music and choreographed their dancing in a new energetic style - by the way, she and Andy were lovers. The act was a huge hit in New York and Las Vegas. Around 1955 she finally got around to writing a book about the character she'd drop into to make her friends laugh, a little girl named Eloise. She was a huge hit, too, and Kay wrote several sequels. Somewhere in there she finally got a worthy movie role, the fashion editor in "Funny Face". She never got another good movie role and eventually stopped doing cabaret, but in 1973 she directed a legendary fashion show of American designers at Versailles. When Judy Garland died, she stepped up to manage her funeral and Liza says she was the person who stood behind her and her sister with her arms around them. Liza was a loyal friend to Kay, too; she had Kay move in with her in her last years.

I really enjoyed this biography. Sam Irwin, who started out as Brian De Palma's assistant and went on to direct and produce movies including one of my favorites, Gods and Monsters, was hired to direct a documentary on the history of Eloise, and once he started interviewing people, he realized her story should be a book and that he had the passion to do it. He had no idea how big the project would be! He talked to what seems like hundreds of people - after all, Kay knew everybody in Hollywood and on Broadway - and learned her family history from her niece and nephew. Her journey through radio and on to Hollywood has lots of great stories - she had a feud with Mary Martin, of all people - and while Irwin clearly loves her, he doesn't hesitate to point out when she made bad decisions or was her own worst enemy.

The theme that emerges in Kay's later years is that while she had tremendous musical and acting talent, she was a perfectionist who had to be in control. Noel Coward wanted her for the role of Madame Arcati in a musical version of Blythe Spirit and to star in Sail Away, another Broadway show, but she refused these and other roles. She claimed she had a complex about working on Broadway because of being let go from shows when she was starting out; the truth was she just couldn't commit to anything if she couldn't be in charge. She was almost signed as the friend of Rosalind Russell in the movie version of Auntie Mame but made so many demands that she was replaced by Coral Browne. There are many stories like that. As for her books, Hilary Knight, the illustrator of Eloise, eventually refused to work with her because she was so insistent on doing things her way. It's frustrating that for whatever reason, she didn't make more movies or write more books. I wish I'd known her! ( )

Fantastic, well researched bio on the talented Kay Thompson – was there anything this lady was not good at? The book has extensive interviews with those who knew or worked with Thompson which really gives you a great picture of her. It also shows a pattern of her turning down a lot of opportunities that makes you wonder why. It seemed that once she succeeded at something, she was done with that field and went on to something else. But it leaves you wondering, what if? The book is hard to put down although I would have liked to have known more about what happened after she passed away – since she knew everyone, there had to be a fantastic memorial service attended by everyone. The author also did not tell us where she is buried or if she was cremated. I think this is important information to close out a biography. ( )

If you love old Hollywood stories, you'll love this book. Tales of Liza, Judy, and all the greats in this one. Kay Thompson worked with all of them. Very enjoyable. ( )

[a version of this, with pictures, also published on my blog at http://wp.me/p1dUHf-Pc]

Kay Thompson was born November 9, 1909 as Kitty Fink in St. Louis, Missouri to a family of modest means and set her sights on the horizon and the big time from an early age. This Kitty became Kay Thompson, singer and arranger and style maven. Kay Thompson, advisor to stars and performers of all types. Kay Thompson who was a great friend to Judy Garland and loving godmother to Liza Minnelli. Kay Thompson who as Maggie Prescott in the 1957 film Funny Face sings “Think Pink” to a room of fashion house employees and outshines Fred Astaire on screen. Kay Thompson who wrote of a headstrong and pampered little girl named Eloise who lived at the Plaza. Oh Kay.

Sam Irvin has crafted a readable, lovely, loving but not blindly glorifying, luscious and detailed testament to an amazing women. In the words of Garland as “The Star” in “The Interview” campy segment of 1945″s Ziegfeld Follies.

“Madame Crematante, gentlemen, will be a monumental biographical tribute to a monumental biographical woman who toiled, searched, starved, slaved, suffered, pioneered so that the world – you and I – could reap the benefits of her magnificent discovery, the safety pin!”

A monumental biographical tribute to a monumental biographical woman. I am smitten with the writing. I have been smitten with the object of the biography for years. Here is a taste of the writing style, a phrase that stopped me dead and forced me (yes forced me) to share on various social networking sites. So Sam Irvin quoting Kay Thompson, p. 40:

“I’m in love all the time! It’s fun! It’s the salt and pepper of life — and I adore salt and pepper! I want my whole life to be highly seasoned.”

What is not to love about this woman’s style?

© Martha Wade Steketee (November 5, 2010) ( )