Fred Thompson (writer)

Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson (24 January 1884 – 10 April 1949) was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies in the first half of the 20th century. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ira Gershwin. Composers with whom he worked included Lionel Monckton, Ivor Novello and George Gershwin.

Many of Thompson's shows became popular hits, including To-night's the Night (1914), The Bing Boys are Here (1916), The Boy (1917), Lady, Be Good! (1924), Rio Rita (1927), Funny Face (1927) and Follow the Girls (1944).

Thompson was born in London and raised in Newton Abbot, Devon, in the west of England. He attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London and trained as an architect. 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. He worked for three years as an actor, giving him an inside view of stagecraft, which he later put to use in his writing.

Thompson's first stage work was the book of the show The Lady Jockey in 1908. In 1913, he began a partnership with George Grossmith Jr. with the revue Eightpence a Mile, praised by The Times as "the brightest and swiftest, and on the whole the most entertaining of all the revues that have been produced in London". In May 1914, Thompson and Philip Braham collaborated on Violet and Pink, described as "a miniature musical comedy … with plenty of singing and dancing, any amount of jokes, and some catching music." 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.

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