Cole Porter(1891-1964)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Cole Porter was born June 9, 1891, at Peru, Indiana, the son of
pharmacist Samuel Fenwick Porter and Kate Cole. Cole was raised on a
750-acre fruit ranch. Kate Cole married Samuel Porter in 1884 and had
two children, Louis and Rachel, who both died in infancy. Porter's
grandfather, J.G. Cole, was a multi-millionaire who made his fortune in
the coal and western timber business. His mother introduced him to the
violin and the piano. Cole started riding horses at age six and began
to studying piano at eight at Indiana's Marion Conservatory. By age
ten, he had begun to compose songs, and his first song was entitled
"Song of the Birds".
He attended Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1905, an
elite private school from which he graduated in 1909 as class
valedictorian. That summer he toured Europe as a graduation present
from his grandfather. That fall, he entered Yale University and lived
in a single room at Garland's Lodging House at 242 York Street in New
Haven, CT, and became a member of the Freshman Glee Club. In 1910, he
published his first song, "Bridget McGuire". While at Yale, he wrote
football fight songs including the "Yale Bulldog Song" and "Bingo Eli
Yale," which was introduced at a Yale dining hall dinner concert.
Classmates include poet
Archibald Macleish, Bill Crocker of
San Francisco banking family and actor
Monty Woolley.
Dean Acheson, later to be U.S.
Secretary of State, lived in the same dorm with Porter and was a good
friend of Porter. In his senior year he was president of the University
Glee club and a football cheerleader.
Porter graduated from Yale in 1913 with a BA degree. He attended
Harvard Law school from 1913 to 1914 and the Harvard School of Music
from 1915 to 1916. In 1917 he went to France and distributed foodstuffs
to war-ravaged villages. In April 1918 he joined the 32nd Field
Artillery Regiment and worked with the Bureau of the Military Attache
of the US. During this time he met the woman who would become his wife,
Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy Kentucky divorcée, at a breakfast reception
at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He did not, as is often rumored, join the
French Foreign Legion at this time, nor receive a commission in the
French army and see combat as an officer.
In 1919 he rented an apartment in Paris, enrolled in a school
specializing in music composition and studied with Vincent D'indy. On
December 18, 1919, married Linda Lee Thomas, honeymooning in the south
of France. This was a "professional" marriage, as Cole was, in fact,
gay. Linda had been previously married to a newspaper publisher and was
described as a beautiful woman who was one of the most celebrated
hostesses in Europe. The Porters made their home on the Rue Monsieur in
Paris, where their parties were renowned as long and brilliant. They
hired the Monte Carlo Ballet for one of their affairs; once, on a whim,
they transported all of their guests to the French Riviera.
In 1923 they moved to Venice, Italy, where they lived in the Rezzonico
Palace, the former home of poets
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
and Robert Browning. They built
an extravagant floating night club that would accommodate up to 100
guests. They conducted elaborate games including treasure hunts through
the canals and arranged spectacular balls.
Porter's first play on Broadway featured a former ballet dancer, actor
Clifton Webb. He collaborated with
E. Ray Goetz, the brother-in-law of
Irving Berlin, on several Broadway
plays, as Goetz was an established producer and lyricist.
His ballad "Love For Sale" was introduced on December 8, 1930, in a
revue that starred Jimmy Durante and was
introduced by Kathryn Crawford.
Walter Winchell, the newspaper columnist
and radio personality, promoted the song, which was later banned by
many radio stations because of its content. In 1934, his hit "Anything
Goes" appeared on Broadway. During the show's hectic rehearsal Porter
once asked the stage doorman what he thought the show should be called.
The doorman responded that nothing seemed to go right, with so many
things being taken out and then put back in, that "Anything Goes" might
be a good title. Porter liked it, and kept it. In 1936, while preparing
for "Red, Hot and Blue" with Bob Hope
and Jimmy Durante,
Ethel Merman was hired to do stenographic
work to help Porter in rewriting scripts of the show. He later said she
was the best stenographers he ever had.
Porter wrote such classic songs as "Let's Do It" in 1928, "You Do
Something To Me" in 1929, "Love For Sale" in 1930, "What Is This Thing
Called Love?" in 1929, "Night and Day" in 1932, "I Get A Kick Out Of
You" in 1934, "Begin the Beguine" in 1935, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
in 1938, "Don't Fence Me In" in 1944, "I Love Paris" in 1953, "I've Got
You Under My Skin", In the Still of The Night", "You'd Be So Nice To
Come Home To", "True Love", "Just One Of Those Things", "Anything
Goes", "From This Moment On", "You're The Top", "Easy to Love" and
many, many more.
On October 24, 1937, taking a break from a re-write of what would be
his weakest musical, "You Never Know", visiting as a guest at a
countess' home, Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, New York, he was
badly injured in a fall while horseback-riding. Both of his legs were
smashed and he suffered a nerve injury. He was hospitalized for two
years, confined to a wheelchair for five years and endured over 30
operations to save his legs over the next 20 years. During his
recuperation he wrote a number of Broadway musicals.
On August 3, 1952, his beloved mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
His wife, Linda, died of cancer on May 20, 1954. On April 3, 1958, he
sustained his 33rd operation, and still suffering from chronic pain,
his right leg was amputated. He refused to wear an artificial limb and
lived as a virtual recluse in his apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria in
New York City. He sought refuge in alcohol, sleep, self-pity and sank
into despair. He even refused to attend a "Salute to Cole Porter" at
the Metropolitan Opera on May 15, 1960, and the commencement exercises
at Yale University in June of 1960 when he was conferred with an
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, or his 70th birthday party
arranged by his friends at the Orpheum Theater in New York City in June
1962.
After what appeared to be a successful kidney stone operation at St.
John's hospital in Santa Monica, California, he died very unexpectedly
on October 15, 1964. His funeral instructions were that he have no
funeral or memorial service and he was buried adjacent to his mother
and wife in Peru, Indiana.
pharmacist Samuel Fenwick Porter and Kate Cole. Cole was raised on a
750-acre fruit ranch. Kate Cole married Samuel Porter in 1884 and had
two children, Louis and Rachel, who both died in infancy. Porter's
grandfather, J.G. Cole, was a multi-millionaire who made his fortune in
the coal and western timber business. His mother introduced him to the
violin and the piano. Cole started riding horses at age six and began
to studying piano at eight at Indiana's Marion Conservatory. By age
ten, he had begun to compose songs, and his first song was entitled
"Song of the Birds".
He attended Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1905, an
elite private school from which he graduated in 1909 as class
valedictorian. That summer he toured Europe as a graduation present
from his grandfather. That fall, he entered Yale University and lived
in a single room at Garland's Lodging House at 242 York Street in New
Haven, CT, and became a member of the Freshman Glee Club. In 1910, he
published his first song, "Bridget McGuire". While at Yale, he wrote
football fight songs including the "Yale Bulldog Song" and "Bingo Eli
Yale," which was introduced at a Yale dining hall dinner concert.
Classmates include poet
Archibald Macleish, Bill Crocker of
San Francisco banking family and actor
Monty Woolley.
Dean Acheson, later to be U.S.
Secretary of State, lived in the same dorm with Porter and was a good
friend of Porter. In his senior year he was president of the University
Glee club and a football cheerleader.
Porter graduated from Yale in 1913 with a BA degree. He attended
Harvard Law school from 1913 to 1914 and the Harvard School of Music
from 1915 to 1916. In 1917 he went to France and distributed foodstuffs
to war-ravaged villages. In April 1918 he joined the 32nd Field
Artillery Regiment and worked with the Bureau of the Military Attache
of the US. During this time he met the woman who would become his wife,
Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy Kentucky divorcée, at a breakfast reception
at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He did not, as is often rumored, join the
French Foreign Legion at this time, nor receive a commission in the
French army and see combat as an officer.
In 1919 he rented an apartment in Paris, enrolled in a school
specializing in music composition and studied with Vincent D'indy. On
December 18, 1919, married Linda Lee Thomas, honeymooning in the south
of France. This was a "professional" marriage, as Cole was, in fact,
gay. Linda had been previously married to a newspaper publisher and was
described as a beautiful woman who was one of the most celebrated
hostesses in Europe. The Porters made their home on the Rue Monsieur in
Paris, where their parties were renowned as long and brilliant. They
hired the Monte Carlo Ballet for one of their affairs; once, on a whim,
they transported all of their guests to the French Riviera.
In 1923 they moved to Venice, Italy, where they lived in the Rezzonico
Palace, the former home of poets
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
and Robert Browning. They built
an extravagant floating night club that would accommodate up to 100
guests. They conducted elaborate games including treasure hunts through
the canals and arranged spectacular balls.
Porter's first play on Broadway featured a former ballet dancer, actor
Clifton Webb. He collaborated with
E. Ray Goetz, the brother-in-law of
Irving Berlin, on several Broadway
plays, as Goetz was an established producer and lyricist.
His ballad "Love For Sale" was introduced on December 8, 1930, in a
revue that starred Jimmy Durante and was
introduced by Kathryn Crawford.
Walter Winchell, the newspaper columnist
and radio personality, promoted the song, which was later banned by
many radio stations because of its content. In 1934, his hit "Anything
Goes" appeared on Broadway. During the show's hectic rehearsal Porter
once asked the stage doorman what he thought the show should be called.
The doorman responded that nothing seemed to go right, with so many
things being taken out and then put back in, that "Anything Goes" might
be a good title. Porter liked it, and kept it. In 1936, while preparing
for "Red, Hot and Blue" with Bob Hope
and Jimmy Durante,
Ethel Merman was hired to do stenographic
work to help Porter in rewriting scripts of the show. He later said she
was the best stenographers he ever had.
Porter wrote such classic songs as "Let's Do It" in 1928, "You Do
Something To Me" in 1929, "Love For Sale" in 1930, "What Is This Thing
Called Love?" in 1929, "Night and Day" in 1932, "I Get A Kick Out Of
You" in 1934, "Begin the Beguine" in 1935, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
in 1938, "Don't Fence Me In" in 1944, "I Love Paris" in 1953, "I've Got
You Under My Skin", In the Still of The Night", "You'd Be So Nice To
Come Home To", "True Love", "Just One Of Those Things", "Anything
Goes", "From This Moment On", "You're The Top", "Easy to Love" and
many, many more.
On October 24, 1937, taking a break from a re-write of what would be
his weakest musical, "You Never Know", visiting as a guest at a
countess' home, Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, New York, he was
badly injured in a fall while horseback-riding. Both of his legs were
smashed and he suffered a nerve injury. He was hospitalized for two
years, confined to a wheelchair for five years and endured over 30
operations to save his legs over the next 20 years. During his
recuperation he wrote a number of Broadway musicals.
On August 3, 1952, his beloved mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
His wife, Linda, died of cancer on May 20, 1954. On April 3, 1958, he
sustained his 33rd operation, and still suffering from chronic pain,
his right leg was amputated. He refused to wear an artificial limb and
lived as a virtual recluse in his apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria in
New York City. He sought refuge in alcohol, sleep, self-pity and sank
into despair. He even refused to attend a "Salute to Cole Porter" at
the Metropolitan Opera on May 15, 1960, and the commencement exercises
at Yale University in June of 1960 when he was conferred with an
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, or his 70th birthday party
arranged by his friends at the Orpheum Theater in New York City in June
1962.
After what appeared to be a successful kidney stone operation at St.
John's hospital in Santa Monica, California, he died very unexpectedly
on October 15, 1964. His funeral instructions were that he have no
funeral or memorial service and he was buried adjacent to his mother
and wife in Peru, Indiana.