Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Songwriter/Composer

Cole Albert Porter was born in Peru, Indiana on June 9, 1891 to a wealthy Episcopalian family. Their money came from Cole’s grandfather who was a timber and coal speculator. Cole’s mother Kate was musically inclined and encouraged Cole to take violin lessons at the age of 6. At the age of 10 he began taking piano lessons and he wrote his first operetta with the help of his mother who recognized his musical talent. His grandfather wanted him to become a lawyer and he went to Worcester College and then to Yale and then to the Harvard Law School where he roomed with Dean Acheson who became the American Secretary of State under Harry Truman. While at both Yale and Harvard he was a member of several honor societies but his mind was not of law, it was on music. In fact he wrote 300 songs while at Yale including the Yale fight song which is in use to this day. Cole’s inattention in law classes caught the attention of one of his professors who told him to “stop wasting his time”. Cole took him to heart and transferred to the School of Music. Cole introduced one of his creations in a Broadway musical revue. It was titled “Esmeralda” and proved to be a hit. After that he had several failures in a row and the pressure of failure got to him and he moved to Paris and hung out with other American ex-patriots like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In WWI Cole did not register for the draft but knocked around Europe fraternizing with the other intellectuals know as “The Lost Generation”. He claimed to have joined the French Foreign Legion but there is no written proof of it. However, in the French Foreign Legion Museum there is an acknowledgement that he was indeed a Legionnaire. In 1918 he met a wealthy Louisville, Kentucky divorcee named Linda Lee Thomas who was 10 years his senior and married her the next year. Even though his wife conceived and miscarried and they were married for 34 year and he was often seen with Hollywood beauties on his arm, those that knew him believed he was more homosexual than bi-sexual. After he and Linda moved to Hollywood it became more and more apparent. He admittedly wrote “Easy to Love” to architect Ed Tauch and “You Would Be So Nice to Come Home To” to choreographer Nelson Barclift. The children of long time friend Ray Kelly receive royalties from the music of childless Cole to this day. Cole’s sexual preference notwithstanding, he was an enormous musical talent but his wife Linda and he did separate over his philandering. The famous composer Richard Rodgers met Cole in Venice in 1919 and Cole played some his compositions for him. Rodgers was amazed to discover that he did not have anything playing on Broadway. Cole came back to the US in the late 1920’s and began to make up for lost time. In three years Cole wrote three scores for successful musicals on Broadway that included the immortal songs “Let’s Do It” (Lets fall in love), “You Do Something To Me” and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” In 1932 he gave us “Night and Day”, the song most recognized as pure Cole Porter. From this point on it was almost one smash hit after another including these songs: “I Get a Kick Out Of You”, “You’re The Top”, “Begin the Beguine”, “Just One Of Those Things”, “Red, Hot and Blue”, “It’s De-lovely”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “In The Still of The Night”, and “Don’t Fence Me In” believe it or not.

In 1937 he was in a riding accident that damaged both of his legs to the point that amputation of them both was considered. He went through over 30 operations and one leg was saved but Cole was essentially an invalid and in pain for the rest of his days resulting in times of deep depression. His wife Linda came back to him to care for him in this trying time. In spite of his infirmities he continued to score at least one musical per year until his beloved mother died in 1952 and his wife in 1954. After that although he continued to write he was not as prolific and his depression, ulcers and leg pain finally took its toll and he never wrote another score after 1958 and spent the remainder of his years in relative seclusion. In 1964 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 73 the soul of Cole Porter departed this earth because of kidney failure. He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Peru, Indiana between his wife and his father. He is without question a legacy in music worldwide.