Jane Hoyt Thompson

Jane Hoyt Thompson

June 18, 1932 - June 25, 2004

Jane Hoyt Thompson

June 18, 1932 - June 25, 2004

Obituary

JANE HOYT THOMPSON

Born in St. Louis, Missouri on
June 18, 1932
Died on June 25, 2004 in Laguna
Niguel, California

Jane Hoyt Thompson was born June 18, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri to Madge
and Don Hoyt Thompson, the highly respected magazine editor at the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Through her father’s journalistic career, she was raised in a home where guests such as Dorothy Parker were entertained. She graduated John Burrows High School in 1950 and then attended Briar Cliff College and the Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1953. Ms. Thompson moved
to California in 1953 and was hired by Paramount Pictures in their steno
pool. After working with various writers, directors and producers, including Hal Wallis, she became Jerry Lewis’ personal secretary and worked on his Muscular Dystrophy telethons. When Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s Tandem Productions moved to the Paramount lot, she joined the company and was
involved in such projects as ‘The Andy Williams Series’ and numerous motion
pictures including ‘Come Blow Your Horn’ with Frank Sinatra. Ms. Thompson left Tandem Productions for a brief time to become executive assistant to Howard Koch, head of Paramount Studios and then moved to New York as assistant to writer Sidney Michaels on the Broadway play, ‘Dylan’ starring Alec
Guinness. She later returned to Tandem Productions and worked with Lear as his assistant on such films as ‘The Night They Raided Minsky’s’ and ‘Cold Turkey.’ Ms. Thompson also served as Associate Producer on the first season of ‘All In The Family.’ During a hiatus from the entertainment industry, Ms. Thompson enrolled at UCLA for interior design studies. Teaming with St. Loui friend and noted interior designer, Jerry Birkhead, she designed for such clients as Don and Gee Nicholl, Jean Stapleton, Mary Larkin of Laguna and producer
Marian Rees, a lifelong friend she met at Tandem Productions. In 1984, Ms. Thompson joined Ms. Rees’ newly formed production company as a production executive. The company produced numerous award winning films including the Emmy winning ‘Love Is Never Silent.’ Ms. Thompson retired to Laguna Niguel, California in 1996 and continued her design work with clients in both Laguna and
Los Angeles. She was a volunteer at the Dana Point Library and Laura’s House, a non-profit organization serving the needs of women victims of domestic violence. A devoted traveler and theater attendee, she often entertained with her culinary skills, learned in her parents’ kitchen.
Her father was also an amateur chef who published a syndicated weekly cooking column under the pseudonym of Hoyt Alden. Active in a walking group an yoga class in Laguna, she also enjoyed gardening and sailing. Ms. Thompson is survived by cousins Bruce Thompson and Shirley Bradford of Spanish Fork, Utah and a vast extended family of friends and colleagues, who mourn the loss of this remarkable woman. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Final burial will be in St. Louis, alongside her parents. Donations in her name
can be made to: Laura’s House, 27129 Calle Arroyo, Suite 1822, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675; The Gwen Bolden Foundation, 4315 Leimart Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90008; The Dana Point Library, 33841 Niguel Road, Dana Point, CA 92629; and Habitat for Humanity International, Attn: Gifts from the Heart, 121 Habitat Street, Americus, GA 31709-3948.

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1 responses to Jane Hoyt Thompson

  1. Sincere sympathy to friends and family. May Jane’s life and spirit
    be an inspiration to all of us.

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