Kay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books. Catherine Louise Fink was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1909, the second of the four children of Leo George Fink, an Austrian-born pawnbroker and jeweler, and his wife, the former Hattie A. Tetrick. Her siblings were Blanche, Marian, and Leo. She married twice: Thompson began her career in the 1930s as a singer and choral director for radio. Her first big break was as a regular singer on The Bing Crosby-Woodbury Show . This led to a regular spot on... The Fred Waring-Ford Dealers Show and then, with conductor Lennie Hayton, she co-founded The Lucky Strike Hit Parade where she met trombonist Jack Jenney. Kay Thompson and Her Rhythm Singers joined André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra for the hit series The Chesterfield Radio Program , followed by It's Chesterfield Time for which Kay and her large choir were teamed with Hal Kemp and His Orchestra.
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