Born in 1906 to Robert E Clothier and Ethel M (nee Gulyas), Eileen grew up living with her parents at 17 Tenth Ave, Maylands. Her father, a bootmaker from Queensland, was the secretary of the Ancient Order of Foresters in WA and became an MLA member in 1933 and a Senator for WA in 1938.

From an early age Eileen showed promise as a dancer and she began performing by 1917, winning competition prizes and by 1920, aged 14, she began assisting her dancing teacher, Miss Melville, in classes. In 1921 she was winning u/17 trophies for dance.

By 1923 she was running her own dance schools at Maylands, Mt Lawley and Victoria Park.

After marrying Walter Thompson in 1928 and having a child, Coral, in 1933, the family moved to Kalgoorlie for a few years. She returned to Perth in 1938 and lived in Maylands for another 60 years before dying in 1998. Her daughter Coral went on to run her own dancing school.