Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American
composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana. His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate (1948) (based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew),
Fifty Million Frenchmen and Anything
Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and "I've Got You
Under My Skin." He was noted for his sophisticated (sometimes ribald) lyrics, clever rhymes, and complex forms. He was one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook.
Early years
Porter was born in Peru, Indiana, to a wealthy Episcopalian family;[1] his maternal grandfather, James Omar "J.O."
Cole, was a coal and timber speculator who dominated his daughter's family. His mother started Porter in musical training at an early
age; he learned the violin at age six, the piano at eight, and he
wrote his first operetta (with help from his mother) at 10. Porter's mother, Kate, recognized
and supported her son's talents. She changed his legal birth year from 1891 to 1893 to make him appear more prodigious. Porter's
grandfather J.O. Cole wanted the boy to become a lawyer,[2] and with that career in mind, sent him to Worcester Academy in 1905 (where he became class valedictorian)[2] and then Yale University beginning in 1909.
Porter was a member of Scroll and Key and Delta
Kappa Epsilon, and sang as a member of the original line-up of the Whiffenpoofs.
While at Yale, he wrote a number of student songs, including the football fight songs "Yale Bulldog" and "Bingo Eli Yale" (aka
"Bingo, That's The Lingo!") that are still played at Yale to this day. Cole Porter wrote 300 songs while at Yale.[2]
Porter spent a year at Harvard Law School in 1913, and then transferred into Arts
and Sciences.[2] An unverified story
tells of a law school dean who, in frustration over Porter's lack of performance in the classroom, suggested tongue-in-cheek that
he "not waste his time" studying law, but instead focus on his music. Taking this suggestion to heart, Porter transferred to the
School of Music.
In 1915, his first song on Broadway, "Esmeralda," appeared in the revue Hands Up. The quick success was immediately
followed by failure; his first Broadway production, in 1916, See America First (book by Lawrason Riggs), was a flop, closing after two weeks. He soon started to
feel the crunch of rejection, as other revues for which he wrote were also flops. After the string of failures, Porter banished
himself to Paris, selling songs and living off an allowance partly from his
grandfather and partly from his mother.
Paris and marriage
Porter was working as a songwriter when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917. He traveled
all over Europe, socializing with some of the best known intellectuals and artists in
Europe, and becoming a charter member of the Lost
Generation.
He did not register for the draft, yet loved to tell the press that he had joined the
French Foreign Legion. In reality, he went to work for the Duryea Relief Fund and
maintained a closet full of various tailormade military uniforms that he wore when the mood suited him. The French Foreign
Legion, however, claims Porter as an enlistee and displays his portrait in its museum in Aubagne.
In 1918, Porter met Linda Lee Thomas, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky-born divorcée eight years his senior,[1] whom he married the following year.
Sexual orientation
Although Porter was often photographed in the arms of beautiful women and was married for 34 years to one wife who conceived
and miscarried,[3] it is the current consensus that he was
homosexual.[4] The couple separated briefly in the early 1930s when, it is believed, Porter's sexual orientation became more and more open during their time living in Hollywood. After Porter was badly injured in a horseriding accident, Linda was
reunited with her husband. He had an affair in 1925 with Boris Kochno, a poet and
Ballets Russes librettist. He also reportedly had a long relationship with his
constant companion, Howard Sturges, a Boston socialite, as well as with
architect Ed Tauch (for whom Porter wrote "Easy to Love"), choreographer Nelson Barclift (who inspired "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To"), director John Wilson (who later married international society beauty Princess Nathalie Paley), and
longtime friend Ray Kelly, whose children still receive half of the childless Porter's copyright royalties.
A review of a recent Porter biography recounts that in his later years, the composer kept "breaking appliances so he could
lure cute repairmen into his lair". When in Hollywood, he was also a regular guest at George
Cukor's Sunday pool parties.
On the sidelines
Unlike contemporaries such as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, Porter had not succeeded on Broadway in his early years. However, born to as well as
married to wealth, he did not lack for money, and sat out most of the 1920s, living in luxury in Europe. Porter was not lazy,
though, and continued to write. Some of these songs would later be hits.
Richard Rodgers, in his autobiography, Musical Stages, relates an anecdote
about meeting Cole in Venice during this period. Porter played Rodgers several of his compositions and Rodgers was highly
impressed, wondering why Porter was not represented on Broadway, not knowing Cole had
already written several shows that had flopped.
In the late 1920s, Porter returned to Broadway, and made up for lost time.
Middle years
Porter reintroduced himself to Broadway with the musical Paris (1928),
which featured one of his greatest "list" songs, "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In
Love)." Following this Gallic theme, his next show was Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929), which included several popular numbers including
"You Do Something To Me" and "You've Got That Thing." Finishing out the decade,
opening on December 30, 1929, was Wake Up and Dream,
with a score that included "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
He started the 1930s with the revue The New Yorkers (1930), which included a
song about a streetwalker, "Love For Sale." The lyric was considered too explicit
for radio at the time, but has gone on to become a standard. Next came Fred Astaire's last
stage show, Gay Divorce (1932). It featured a hit that would become perhaps Porter's
best known song, "Night And Day."
In 1934, Porter wrote what is thought by most to be his greatest score of this period, Anything Goes (1934). Its songs include "I Get A Kick Out Of
You," "All Through The Night," perhaps his ultimate "list" song "You're The Top,"
and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," as well as the title number. For years after, critics would compare most Porter shows — unfavorably —
to this one. Anything Goes was also the first Porter show featuring
Ethel Merman, who would go on to star in five of his musicals. He loved her loud, brassy
voice, and wrote many numbers that featured her strengths.
Jubilee (1935), written with Moss Hart
while on a cruise around the world, was not a major hit, but featured two songs that have since become part of the Great American
Songbook — "Begin the Beguine" and "Just One of Those Things." Red Hot And
Blue (1936), featuring Merman, Jimmy Durante and Bob
Hope, introduced "It's De-Lovely," "Down in the Depths (on
the Ninetieth Floor)" and "Ridin' High."
Porter also wrote for Hollywood, including the scores for Born
To Dance (1936), featuring "Easy To Love" and "I've Got You Under My Skin," and Rosalie (1937), featuring "In the Still of the Night." In addition, he had composed the cowboy song
"Don't Fence Me In" for an unproduced movie in the 1930s, but it didn't become
a hit until Roy Rogers and Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters, as well as other artists, introduced it to the public in the
1940s.
Porter continued to live the high life during this period, throwing lavish parties and hobnobbing with the likes of
Elsa Maxwell, Monty Woolley, Beatrice Lillie, Igor Stravinsky and Fanny Brice. In fact, some of his lyrics mention his friends. Now at the height of his success, Porter was
able to enjoy the opening night of his musicals; he would make a grand entrance and sit up front, apparently relishing the show
as much as any audience member.
Then, in 1937, a riding accident crushed his legs and left him in chronic pain, largely crippled. (According to a biography by
William McBrien, a probably apocryphal story from Porter himself has it that he composed the lyrics to part of "At Long Last
Love" while lying in pain waiting to be rescued from the accident.) Doctors told Porter's wife and mother that his right leg
would have to be amputated and possibly the left one as well. Porter underwent more than 30 surgeries on his legs and was in
constant pain for the rest of his life. During this period, the many operations led him to severe depression. He was one of the first people who experienced electric shock therapy.
Later years
Despite his pain, Porter continued to write successful shows. Leave It to Me!
(1938) (introducing Mary Martin singing "My
Heart Belongs to Daddy"), DuBarry Was a Lady (1939),
Panama Hattie (1940), Let's Face It! (1941), Something For The Boys
(1943) and Mexican Hayride (1944) were all hits. These shows included songs such
as "Get Out Of Town," "Friendship," "Make It Another Old-Fashioned Please" and "I
Love You." Nevertheless, Porter was turning out fewer hit songs and, to some critics, his music was less magical. After
two flops, Seven Lively Arts (1944) (which featured the standard "Ev'ry Time We
Say Goodbye") and Around The World (1946), many thought that his best period was
over.
In 1948, Porter made a great comeback, writing what was by far his biggest hit show, Kiss
Me, Kate. The production won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Porter won for
Best Composer and Lyricist. The score — generally conceded to be his best — includes "Another Op'nin' Another Show," "Wunderbar,"
"So In Love," "We Open In Venice," "Tom, Dick or Harry," "I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In
Padua," "Too Darn Hot," "Always True to You (In My Fashion)," and
"Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Porter was back on top.
Though his next show — Out Of This World (1950) — was not
greatly successful, the show after that, Can-Can (1952), featuring
"C'est Magnifique" and "It's All Right With
Me," was a major hit. His last original Broadway production, Silk Stockings
(1955), featuring "All Of You," was also successful.
After his riding accident, Porter also continued to work in Hollywood, writing the scores for two Fred Astaire movies,
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), which featured "I Concentrate On You,"
and You'll Never Get Rich (1941). He later wrote the songs for the
Gene Kelly/Judy Garland musical The Pirate (1948). The film lost money, though it does feature the delightful "Be A Clown" (intriguingly
echoed in Donald O'Connor's performance of "Make 'Em
Laugh" in the 1952 musical film Singin' in the Rain).
High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby,
Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly, had Porter's last
major hit, "True Love." He wrote songs for Les
Girls (1957) with Gene Kelly. His final score was for a CBS color special, Aladdin (1958); Columbia Records issued a stereophonic LP of songs from the
program.
Eventually, his injuries caught up with him. After a series of ulcers and 34 operations on his
right leg, it had to be amputated and replaced with an artificial limb in 1958. The operation followed the death of his beloved
mother in 1952 and the end of his wife's battle with emphysema in 1954. The combined hardships
Porter endured proved to be too much. He never wrote another song after 1958 and spent the remaining years of his life in
relative seclusion.
Cole Porter died of kidney failure at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California and is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in his native Peru, Indiana. Porter is buried between his wife and father.
Tributes
At halftime of the 1991 Orange Bowl between Colorado and Notre Dame,
Joel Grey led a large cast of singers and dancers in a tribute to Porter marking one hundred
years since his birth. The program was called, "You'll Get A Kick Out of Cole."
Legacy
His life was made into Night and Day, a very sanitized 1946
Michael Curtiz film starring Cary Grant and
Alexis Smith. His life was also chronicled, somewhat more realistically, in
De-Lovely, a 2004 Irwin Winkler film starring
Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as Linda.
Judy Garland performed a medley of Porter's songs at the 37th Academy Awards, the first Oscars ceremony held following Porter's death.
In 1980, Porter's music was used for the score of Happy New Year,
based on the Philip Barry play Holiday. He is referenced in the song The Call of
the Wild (Merengue) by David Byrne on his 1989 album Rei Momo. He is also
mentioned in the song Tonite It shows by Mercury Rev on their 1998 album
Deserter's Songs
Song samples
Well-known songs
Shows listed are stage musicals unless otherwise noted. (Where the show was later made into a film, the year refers to the
stage version.)
- (1916) See America First
- (1919) Hitchy Koo Of 1919 — "An Old Fashioned Garden"
- (1928) Paris — "Let's
Do It, Let's Fall In Love"
- (1929) Wake Up And Dream — "What Is This Thing Called
Love?"
- (1929) Fifty Million Frenchmen — "You Do Something To Me"
- (1930) The New Yorkers — "Love for Sale," "I Happen to Like New York"
- (1932) Gay Divorce — "After You, Who?,"
"Night And Day" (basis for film renamed "The
Gay Divorcee" in 1934)
- (1933) Nymph Errant — "Experiment," "The Physician," "It's Bad For Me"
- (1934) Anything Goes — "All Through the Night," "Anything
Goes," "Blow Gabriel, Blow," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "You're the Top"
- (1934) Adios Argentina (un-produced) — "Don't Fence Me In"
- (1935) Jubilee — "Begin the
Beguine," "Just One of Those Things"
- (1936) Red, Hot and Blue — "It's
De-Lovely"
- (1936) Born to Dance (film) — "Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)," "You'd Be So Easy to Love," "I've Got You
Under My Skin"
- (1937) Rosalie (film) — "In
the Still of the Night"
- (1937) You Never Know — "At Long Last Love," "From Alpha To Omega"
- (1938) Leave It to Me! — "From Now On," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
- (1939) Broadway Melody Of 1940 — "Between You And Me,"
"I Concentrate on You," "I've
Got My Eyes On You," "I Happen To Be In Love," "Begin the Beguine"
- (1939) Dubarry Was A Lady — "Do I Love
You?," "Well, Did You Evah!," "Friendship"
- (1940) Panama Hattie — "Let's Be Buddies," "Make It Another Old-Fashioned,
Please"
- (1941) You'll Never Get Rich (film) — "Dream Dancing," "So Near and Yet So Far"
- (1941) Let's Face It — "Everything I Love," "I Hate You, Darling"
- (1942) Something for the Boys — "Could It Be You"
- (1942) Something To Shout About — "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home
To"
- (1943) Mexican Hayride — "I
Love You"
- (1944) Seven Lively Arts — "Every Time We Say Goodbye"
- (1946) Around the World in Eighty Days — "Look What I Found"
- (1947) The Pirate — "Be a Clown"
- (1948) Kiss Me, Kate — "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "Brush Up Your
Shakespeare," "I Hate Men," "So In Love," "Too Darn
Hot"
- (1950) Out Of This World — "From This Moment On," "I Am Loved"
- (1953) Can-Can — "I Am in Love,"
"I Love Paris," "C'est Magnifique"
- (1954) Silk Stockings — "All Of You,"
"Paris Loves Lovers"
- (1955) High Society — "Mind if I
Make Love to You?," "True Love," "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," "You're
Sensational"
- (1956) Les Girls — "Ca, C'est L'amour,"
"You're Just Too, Too"
- (1958) Aladdin (television) — "Opportunity Knocks But Once"
A far more comprehensive list of Cole Porter songs, along with their date of composition and original show, is available here:
[1].
References
- ^ a b
John Derbyshire (NRO columnist), "Oh, the Songs!" (indepth review of film
De-Lovely), 2004-07-28, National Review Online (nationalreview.com), webpage:
NationalReview-CP:
explains Cole Porter's marriage.
- ^ a b c d "Cole Porter Biography written by JX Bell" (includes lives of
parents/grandparents), www.ColePorter.org, ColePorterOrg-bio, accessed 2006-09-21.
- ^ http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=901
- ^
Frontain, Raymond-Jean (2002), "Porter, Cole", glbtq.com,
<http://www.glbtq.com/arts/porter_c.html>. Retrieved on 2007-10-17
Further reading
- JX Bell, Cole Porter Biography
(retrieved February 16, 2005).
- Derbyshire, John (NRO columnist), "Oh, the Songs!" (indepth review of film De-Lovely),
2004-07-28, National Review Online (nationalreview.com), webpage: NationalReview-CP:
explains Cole Porter's marriage.
- Stefan Kanfer, (Winter 2003) The Voodoo That He Did So Well City Journal.
- McBrien, William (1998). Cole Porter: A Biography. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-72792-2.
- Powell, Don: Music Producer, Playwright.
- Rimler, Walter: A Cole Porter Discography, N. Charles Sylvan Company, 1995, ISBN 1-886385-25-4.
- Schwartz, Charles: Cole Porter: A Biography (Hardcover and a Da Capo Paperback), May 1,
1979, ISBN 0-306-80097-7.
External links
