Kay Thompson

If you say the name Kay Thompson, you’ll most likely get blank faces. Then try mentioning the movie Funny Face (to savages like Blacklight, it’s the one with Audrey Hepburn dancing in black capris that the GAP grape soda’ed with AC/DC’s Back in Black) or her best selling book about an undead demon spawn sent to earth to torment the living um I mean, the darling of The Plaza Hotel, the eternally six Eloise.

But Funny Face  and Eloise were the second act of Thompson’s career. Flashback to the 1930s and Kay Thompson was all over the radio, singing the hits solo or with a band of girls. And she went off to Hollywood and coached all the greats including her rumored lover/certainly best friend Judy Garland. Not too shabby for the ugly duckling daughter of pawnbroker right?

And just how did I stumble across all this juicy info about Kay Thompson? It was late April, Blacklight and I are in the Book Barn Downtown killing time during The Great Window Replacement of 2011. I have a shiny new iPhone (a lovely 3GS, don’t have iPhone 4 monies). Blacklight has an iced Dunkee Cup the size of his head. As Blacklight and his giant Dunkee Cup scamper damper off to see what horrific Stephen R. Donaldson wonders might be lurking in the stacks, I’m headed towards the humor section when BAMMO WHAMMO I ALMOST STEP ON A BOOK! Sam Irvin’s Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise.

So of course I pick it up. Like what I see, but the price is a little high. $7 for a used copy can also buy 1.33 lbs of my favorite Chinese buffett (Blacklight: “Oh, a light snack <snickers>?”) Or two Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonades. I’m all “dang I wish I had a piece of paper to write down the ISBN….dummy….YOU HAVE AN IPHONE NOW!”. Cue me standing in the middle of the film aisle tapping at my iPhone with little sausage fingers and putting Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise on my inter library loan list! Go Mr iPhone Go Mr iPhone!

Maybe I should have splashed out the $7 at the Book Barn Downtown because my goodness gracious, Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise  is chock full of awesome. I always thought Kay Thompson was some WASPy blonde from New England. Nope, Kay Thompson may have been the greatest creation to EVER spring from Kitty Fink’s fertile brain.

Her grit and determination made her a star several times over THREE DECADES. She knew how to work the system. Golly, I love Hondas! Dear Honda, can I have a silver 4 door 2011 Honda Accord if I name drop Honda in every blog post? NO? Damnnnnnn….Kay Thompson would have gotten the whole damn Honda fleet! With leather and gold trim! And you can’t walk into the children’s section of a bookstore and NOT find Eloise! Ignore the plump brunette in glasses clutching her pink clad Mr iPhone who is rocking back and forth like she’s just sat through the entire Sex and the City thing INCLUDING BOTH MOVIES!

Like her fellow best-selling children’s book featuring unholy demon spawns bearing torment and eternal suffering to all those who stumble into their orbits I mean, an enchanting blonde who lives in a fantastic world author Dare Wright, Kay Thompson’s later years marked a major decline. Remember how Dare Wright looked like an ancient Barbie doll? Kay Thompson looked like a walking skeleton. Luckily, Kay Thompson didn’t die in a hospital alone but spent her final years much loved by her god-daughter Liza Minnelli who went so far as to allow her godmother to take over her one bedroom New York apartment for years. Now remember, Kay Thompson wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. Eloise illustrator Hillary Knight got majorly grape soda’ed by his dealings with Thompson. Miss Kay wasn’t afraid to sue or take full credit when it came to her projects. So add that to an INSANE New York City housing market and you can totally give Liza Minnelli a pass for her whiskey tango foxtrot union with David Gest.

Once you read about Kay Thompson, her life story will stick with you. Heck, it’s been three weeks since I cracked open Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise  and went down the rabbit hole and I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO CRACK OPEN THE BOOK TO REFRESH MY MEMORY OF IT. I read lots of books. LOTS OF BOOKS. Usually I have to peek at least once or twice when I’m blogging! So Bravo! Good job, Sam Irvin, good job.