This led to a regular spot on The Fred Waring-Ford Dealers Show (NBC, 1934–35) and then, with conductor Lennie Hayton, she co-founded The Lucky Strike Hit Parade (CBS, 1935), where she met (and later married) trombonist Jack Jenney.

In 1939, she reunited with André Kostelanetz for Tune-Up Time (CBS), a show that was produced by radio legend William Spier (who later married Thompson in 1942).

Some of the many MGM musicals for which Thompson was the vocal arranger include Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Good News (1947), and The Pirate (1948).

As a film actress, Thompson only played one major role, that of fashion editor Maggie Prescott in the musical Funny Face (1957) for Paramount Pictures.

The Eloise character was developed by the author based on her childhood imaginary friend and alter ego, with a voice in which Thompson spoke throughout her life, according to her biographer, filmmaker Sam Irvin.

[14][15][16] A fifth book, Eloise Takes a Bawth, was posthumously published by Simon & Schuster in 2002, culled from Thompson's original manuscripts once slated for 1964 publication by Harper & Row.

[17] As a singer, Thompson made very few records, starting with one side, "Take a Number from One to Ten", on a 1934 session by the Tom Coakley band.

She helped land him a regular singing spot on NBC-TV's new late-night series, The Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen.

[20] Although it had been denied for decades, Williams admitted in his 2009 memoir, Moon River and Me (Viking Press), that Thompson and he had been secret lovers for several years, despite the 19-year age gap between them.

Immediately following the death of Judy Garland in 1969, Thompson appeared with goddaughter Liza Minnelli in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).

In 1974, Thompson directed a fashion show at the Palace of Versailles, featuring a performance by Minnelli and the collections of Halston, Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, and Anne Klein.