Cole Porter

Composer

• Born: June 9, 1891
• Birthplace: Peru, Indiana
• Died: October 15, 1964
• Place of death: Santa Monica, California

American composer and lyricist

Porter was a composer and lyricist whose individuality and imagination brought a new facet to Broadway and Hollywood musicals.

Areas of achievement Music, theater and entertainment, film

Early Life

Cole Albert Porter was the third and only surviving child of an overprotective mother named Kate Porter and an ineffectual father. His grandfather, J. O. Cole, was one of the wealthiest men in Indiana. Kate used her father’s money to see that her son had the best of everything. She was determined to see that he became a member of the social circle that she herself could not seem to enter.

Though tiny and fragile at birth, Porter grew into a healthy child. Kate signed up her son at the age of six for piano lessons, enforcing two-hour practices each day. She often sat with Porter and parodied the popular songs of the day. These sessions helped Porter develop his own style of humorous and playful lyrics. His first “published” work was a composition he wrote for his mother when he was ten, “The Bobolink Waltz.” Kate had one hundred copies made and sent it to family and friends.

Porter was a solitary child who spent most of his time with his mother or his music. He was not allowed to play baseball or other sports but instead learned how to ride horses. Porter’s small circle of friends increased when he entered Worcester Academy at the age of fourteen. His quick smile and sparkling personality soon endeared him to both students and faculty. He did well in school, joining the Glee Club, the Mandoline Club, the debate team, and various school theater productions. Although his performances earned him positive reviews, Porter did not care for acting and chose music and composing as his profession.

After graduating from Worcester, Porter took the entrance exams for Yale, mainly to please his grandfather. He passed on his second try and entered the university in the fall of 1909. Porter was more concerned with his music, joining clubs, and making friends than he was with his studies. During his years at Yale, Porter wrote more than three hundred songs, including the fight song “Bingo Eli Yale.” At the insistence of his grandfather, Porter entered Harvard Law School. His head, however, was not in it. At the suggestion of the dean of the law school, Porter switched his studies to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science, where he lasted only one year before turning his sights to New York society and Broadway.

Life’s Work

Porter’s professional career started on Broadway when he composed music for See America First in 1916. Although this production did not receive very good reviews, thirteen of Porter’s songs were published. Perhaps because of his disappointment in the musical, Porter traveled to Paris in 1917. He claimed to have joined the French Foreign Legion during World War I, but there are no records to prove this. He also fabricated the story that he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. After the war, Porter decided to stay in France, where he enjoyed his life as a wealthy American in Paris society. In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas. Known as one of the greatest beauties of the time, Thomas was the epitome of style and grace and became an important influence in Porter’s life. She was also his introduction into the world of high society. Thomas saw potential in Porter’s music and became one of his greatest supporters.

In 1919, Porter returned to the United States. On the ship he met a producer and, with Thomas’s help, found himself hired. He went on to write the words and music for Hitchy-Koo (1919), his second Broadway musical. Porter’s song “Old-Fashioned Garden” quickly caught on and became his first big hit. Sales from the song enabled Porter to return to France and propose to Thomas. They were married on December 19, 1919. The couple, both wealthy in their own right, owned homes in New York and France. They hosted extravagant parties for friends and nobility alike. It was at parties such as these that Porter came up with many of the ideas for his songs.

Through the 1920’s, Porter provided songs for several unsuccessful productions. He began to have self-doubts, but in 1928, his luck began to change. He produced a steady flow of songs that caught the public’s attention. With his involvement in the successful musical Paris, Porter felt he had finally arrived as a Broadway composer. In 1929, Porter was busy with the Broadway productions Wake Up and Dream and Fifty Million Frenchmen. He was also involved with the motion picture The Battle of Paris. Porter spent a good deal of his time studying other composers and working on his own style. He was years ahead of his colleagues with his sophisticated and worldly lyrics. “Love for Sale,” from The New Yorkers (1930), was banned from the radio for its suggestive lyrics.

While at Yale, Porter had started the practice of tailoring his songs to fit the performers who would sing them. He played up their strong points and minimized their weak ones. This was an effective way of getting excellent results out of everyone. He used this method when he wrote “Night and Day” for Fred Astaire to sing in the film The Gay Divorcee (1934). Astaire did not have a very good voice, but Porter’s song fit him perfectly, and it became an instant hit.

When the theater began to suffer because of the Depression, Porter accepted an offer to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios in Hollywood, California. In late 1935, he and Linda made the temporary move west. Porter had no trouble fitting into the flamboyant Hollywood lifestyle. Linda, however, did not care for it and returned to France, visiting Porter every few months.

In 1937, Porter suffered a serious horse-riding accident. After being thrown from his horse, the animal rolled over him and crushed both of his legs. On hearing of the accident, Linda quickly returned to his side. She and Kate convinced the doctors not to amputate, knowing how important Porter’s appearance was to him. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, Porter ended up disabled; he wore leg braces and was in constant pain for the rest of his life. In spite of his accident, Porter continued to work. During the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, he alternated between writing for Broadway and Hollywood. This was the high point of his musical career. In 1945, Porter authorized the filming of the motion picture Night and Day (1946). Intended as a biography of Porter, it did little to portray his actual life. It left out important parts such as his pampered childhood, his alternative lifestyle, and his questionable military career.

With the beginning of the 1950’s, Porter felt he was losing his creative flair. He suffered from severe headaches, sleeplessness, and moodiness. Three of the people he counted on most for support his mother, his wife, and his good friend Howard Sturgis all died during this time. These personal losses hit Porter hard and threatened his personal life. His professional life also began to suffer. After the premiere of the musical Silk Stockings (1955), Porter vowed never to write another Broadway musical. His last film, High Society (1956), earned him an Oscar nomination for his song “True Love.” The last thing Porter ever wrote was for the television musical production Aladdin in 1958. The songs were not up to his usual originality and fire.

In 1958, Porter was admitted to the hospital to have his right leg amputated. The loss of his leg was difficult for Porter and left him feeling like “half a man.” He became despondent, and depression set in during the 1960’s. In 1964, Porter entered the hospital once again, this time to have a kidney stone removed. The operation was successful, but Porter had lost his will to live. He died on October 15, 1964.

Significance

Cole Porter was well liked among his peers and contemporaries. Those who knew Porter considered him complex and somewhat distant, yet polite and devoted to family and friends. Those fortunate enough to work with him considered him a gentleman who never said an unkind word or raised his voice.

Even after his accident, during the most painful time of his life, Porter continued to work. His method of writing was not common. He would think through the lyrics and melody away from the piano. Only when he was satisfied would he try the song on the piano. It was also Porter’s practice to read the script of a show so his songs could closely match the dialogue. Of the five most popular songwriters of the first half of the twentieth century George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Porter Porter was the only one who wrote both words and music.

Bibliography

Ellis, George. The Life That Late He Led. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967. This was the first full-length biography of Porter, as told by a personal friend. The author uses a chatty, conversational style that tends to ramble. This publication includes anecdotes and interviews with Porter’s friends and colleagues.

Grafton, David. Red, Hot & Rich! New York: Stein and Day, 1987. This is a revealing oral history of Porter that includes quotations and reminiscence from those who knew him. The author also includes his own personal recollections, having met Porter a number of times.

Lahr, John. “King Cole.” The New Yorker 80, no. 19, (July 12, 2004): 100-104. The magazine’s theater critic examines Porter’s life and work.

Porter, Cole. Selected Lyrics: Cole Porter. Edited by Robert Kimball. New York: Library of America, 2006. Includes the lyrics of “Let’s Do It,” “Love for Sale,” “Anything Goes,” and many of Porter’s other songs.

Schwartz, Charles. Cole Porter: A Biography. New York: Dial Press, 1977. Revealing, comprehensive, and objective study of who Porter really was, including his relationships with his mother, wife, and close friends. Includes detailed description of Porter’s musical style, as told by another musician.

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1941-1970: December 30, 1948: Porter Creates an Integrated Score for Kiss Me, Kate.