Fred Thompson (writer)

[1] He was a skilled caricaturist, and in the early years of the 20th century he contributed regular theatrical caricatures to at least three London newspapers.

"[3] The first big joint success of the Thompson and Grossmith partnership was To-night's the Night in 1914 (Broadway) and 1915 (London), with music by Paul Rubens and lyrics by Harry Greenbank.

Other successes included Pell-Mell (1916),[6] The Bing Boys On Broadway (1918, with Grossmith and H.M. Vernon – a West End show, despite the title), Who's Hooper (1919, based on a Pinero play, composed by Ivor Novello)[7] and The Golden Moth (1921, with P. G. Wodehouse, music by Novello).

[9] In 1924, Thompson had a big success in New York with a show written in collaboration with Guy Bolton, Lady, Be Good!, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, and starring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele (also playing strongly in London in 1926).

In 1927 Thompson had three shows running on Broadway simultaneously: Rio Rita (also with Bolton, songs by Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy), the Gershwin show Funny Face (with Paul Gerard Smith), and The Five O'Clock Girl (again with Bolton; it also played in the West End in 1929).

[1] The obituary notice in The Times said of him: "To the [theatrical] profession he was the man to whom all turned for years in the knowledge that from his pen there would come just the right mixture to give each member of the cast the chance to shine in his or her particular way and so ensure the success of a venture which, as with all musical comedy, for all its surface gaiety, is a serious business risk.