After graduating from Bronxville High school, Thompson attended DePauw University, where he studied art and acting, but was not an enthusiastic student.
He eventually was hired by KPHO-TV and, on April 1, 1954, his character Wallace Snead first appeared on the KPHO-produced children's program, The Golddust Charlie Show.
[2] KPHO's program director, Bob Martin, soon offered him his own show and in January 1955 it debuted as It's Wallace?
In addition to his TV program, he made thousands of personal appearances and performed at live stage shows and in the 1960s he owned a chain of fast-food restaurants with his co-host, Ladmo.
The Wallace and Ladmo Show won many awards, including nine Emmys, and has been credited by Steven Spielberg, Alice Cooper and generations of Phoenicians as having a formative influence on them.