Who Knew? The Story Of Kay Thompson & Andy Williams

Meet the lady behind Andy Williams…Kay Thompson. Today, some may call her a “cougar”, but back in the 40s, she was a tiger! Andy and his three older brothers—Bob, Don, and Dick, (pictured below with Kay) formed The Williams Brothers quartet in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati. Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, The Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on the hit record “Swinging on a Star” (1944). They appeared in four musical films: ‘Janie’ (1944),’ Kansas City Kitty’ (1944), ‘Something in the Wind’ (1947) and ‘Ladies’ Man’ (1947). In 1945, The Williams Brothers were signed by MGM to appear in ‘Anchors Aweigh’ and ‘Ziegfeld Follies’, but before they went before the cameras, the oldest brother Bob was drafted into military service and the group’s contract was canceled. Kay Thompson, a former radio star who was now head of the vocal department at MGM, had a nose for talent and she hired the remaining three Williams Brothers to sing in her large choir on many soundtracks for such MGM films as ‘The Harvey Girls’ (1946). When Bob was done with his military service, Kay hired all four of them to sing on the soundtrack to Good News (1947). By then, Kay Thompson was tired of working behind the scenes at MGM so, with the four Williams boys as her backup singers and dancers, she formed a nightclub act called Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. Within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. Andy Williams revealed in his memoir “Moon River and Me” that he and Kay became romantically involved while on tour, despite the age difference (he was 19 and she was 38). The act broke up in 1949 but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. After that the four brothers went their separate ways. Andy and Kay, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. She mentored his emergence as a solo singing star. She coached him, wrote his arrangements, and composed many songs that he recorded (including his 1958 Top 20 hit “Promise Me, Love” and, later, “Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells” on his 1964 No. 1 “The Andy Williams Christmas Album”). Using her contacts in the business, Kay helped Andy land his breakthrough television gig as a featured singer for two-and-a-half years on ‘The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen’ (it helped that the producer of the series Bill Harbach was Kay’s former aide de camp). Kay also got Andy his breakthrough recording contract with Cadence Records (the label’s owner Archie Bleyer had gotten early career breaks because of Kay and he owed her a favor). Meanwhile, Andy sang backup on many of Kay’s recordings through the 1950s, including her Top 40 hit ‘Eloise’ based on her bestselling books about the mischievous little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Kay also served as a creative consultant and vocal arranger on Andy’s three summer replacement network television series in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In the summer of 1961, Kay traveled with Andy and coached him throughout his starring role in a summer stock tour of the musical “Pal Joey”. Their personal and professional relationship finally ended in 1962 when Andy met and married Claudine Longet and Kay moved to Rome. Above is a 1969 clip of Kay on ‘The Hollywood Palace’.

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