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 number-one The Andy Williams Christmas Album. She mentored his emergence as a solo singing star. Williams and Thompson, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. A complete itinerary of both tours is listed on the Kay Thompson biography website. After that, the four brothers went their separate ways. The act broke up in 1949, but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. Williams revealed in his memoir Moon River and Me that Thompson and he became romantically involved while on tour despite the age difference (he was 19 and she was 38).
Within a year, they were the highest-paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. When Bob completed his military service, Kay hired all four brothers to sing on the soundtrack to Good News (1947).īy then, 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, Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. Kay Thompson, a former radio star who was now head of the vocal department at MGM, had a nose for talent and hired the remaining three Williams brothers to sing in her large choir on many soundtracks for MGM films, including The Harvey Girls (1946). The Williams Brothers were signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to appear in Anchors Aweigh and Ziegfeld Follies (1945), but before they went before the cameras the oldest brother, Bob, was drafted into military service and the group's contract was cancelled.
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This myth is refuted in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide in the entry for this film. Williams and some female singers were tested to dub for Bacall because of fears that she lacked the necessary vocal skills, but those fears were overshadowed by the desire to have Bacall do her own singing despite her imperfect vocal talent. According to authoritative sources, including Howard Hawks and Bacall herself, this was not true. They appeared in four musical films: Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Something in the Wind (1947), and Ladies' Man (1947).Ī persistent myth alleges that as a teenager, the future singing star dubbed the singing for Lauren Bacall's character in the 1944 feature film To Have and Have Not. Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, the Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on his 1944 hit record " Swinging on a Star".
His brothers and he 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. His first performance was in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian church. Williams had three older brothers- Bob, Don, and Dick Williams. At 17, Williams joined the United States Merchant Marine and served until the end of World War II. He finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of his family's move to California.
While living in Cheviot, Ohio, Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, to Florence ( née Finley) and Jay Emerson Williams, who worked in insurance and the post office.
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