Cole Porter
Encyclopedia
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana
, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre
. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway
musical stage. Unlike most successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs.
After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 30s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical
, Kiss Me, Kate
.
Porter's other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen
, DuBarry Was a Lady
, Anything Goes
and Can-Can
, and his numerous hit songs include "Night and Day
", "I Get a Kick out of You
", "Well, Did You Evah!
" and "I've Got You Under My Skin
". He also composed scores for films from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was noted for his sophisticated, suggestive lyrics, clever rhymes and complex forms.
, the only child of a wealthy Baptist
family. His father, Samuel Fenwick Porter, was a druggist by trade; his mother, Kate, was the indulged daughter of James Omar "J. O." Cole, "the richest man in Indiana", a coal and timber speculator who dominated the family. J.O. built the couple a home at his Peru-area property, known as Westleigh Farms. After high school, Porter returned to the property only for occasional visits. Kate started Porter in musical training at an early age. He learned the violin at age six, the piano at eight and wrote his first operetta
(with help from his mother) at 10. She falsified his recorded birth year, changing it from 1891 to 1893 to make him appear more precocious. His father, who was a shy and unassertive man, played a lesser role in Porter’s upbringing, although as an amateur poet he may have influenced his son’s gifts for rhyme and meter.
J. O. Cole wanted his grandson to become a lawyer, and with that career in mind, he sent him to Worcester Academy
in 1905. He became class valedictorian
and was rewarded by his grandfather with a tour of France, Switzerland and Germany. After this he attended Yale University
beginning in 1909, where he was a member of Scroll and Key
and Delta Kappa Epsilon
(Phi chapter) and sang both in the Yale Glee Club
, of which he was elected president his senior year, and an original member of the Whiffenpoofs. While at Yale, he wrote a number of student songs, including the football fight songs "Bulldog Bulldog" and "Bingo Eli Yale" (aka "Bingo, That's The Lingo!") that are still played at Yale today. Porter wrote 300 songs while at Yale. After graduating from Yale, Porter studied at Harvard Law School
in 1913 (where he roomed with Dean Acheson
). He soon felt that he was not destined to be a lawyer, and, at the suggestion of the dean of the law school, Porter switched to Harvard's music faculty, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Pietro Yon
. Kate Porter did not object to this move, but it was kept secret from J. O. Cole.
In 1915, Porter's 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
, a "patriotic comic opera" modeled on Gilbert and Sullivan
, with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs, was a flop, closing after two weeks.
, Porter moved to Paris. He distributed relief supplies for three months, but the extent of his other war work is unclear. Some writers have been skeptical about Porter's claim to have served in the French Foreign Legion
, although the Legion itself lists Porter as one of its soldiers and displays his portrait at its museum in Aubagne
. By some accounts, he served in North Africa and was transferred to the French Officers School
at Fontainebleau
, teaching gunnery to American soldiers. An obituary notice in The New York Times
said that, while in the Legion, "he had a specially constructed portable piano made for him so that he could carry it on his back and entertain the troops in their bivouacs." Another account, given by Porter, is that he joined the recruiting department of the American Aviation Headquarters, but, according to his biographer Stephen Citron, there is no record of his joining this or any other branch of the forces.
Porter maintained a luxury apartment in Paris, where he entertained lavishly. His parties were extravagant and scandalous, with "much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians, and a large surplus of recreational drugs." In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas
, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky
-born divorcée eight years his senior, whom he married the following year. She was in no doubt about Porter's homosexuality, but it was mutually advantageous for them to marry: for Linda it offered continued social status and a partner who was the antithesis of her abusive first husband; for Porter it brought a respectable heterosexual front in an era when homosexuality was not publicly acknowledged. They were, moreover, genuinely devoted to each other and remained married from December 19, 1919 until Linda's death in 1954. Linda remained protective of her social position, and believing that classical music might be a more prestigious outlet than Broadway for her husband's talents, she tried to use her connections to find him suitable teachers, including Igor Stravinsky
, but was unsuccessful. Finally, Porter enrolled at the Schola Cantorum in Paris where he studied orchestration and counterpoint with Vincent d'Indy
. Meanwhile, Porter's first big hit was the song "Old-Fashioned Garden" from the revue Hitchy-Koo
in 1919. In 1920, he contributed the music of several songs to the musical A Night Out
.
Marriage did not diminish Porter's taste for extravagant luxury. The Porter home on the rue Monsieur near Les Invalides
was a palatial house with platinum wallpaper and chairs upholstered in zebra skin. In 1923, Porter came into an inheritance from his grandfather, and the Porters began living in rented palaces in Venice. He once hired the entire Ballets Russes
to entertain his house guests, and for a party at Ca' Rezzonico
, which he rented for $4,000 a month ($ in current value), he hired 50 gondoliers to act as footmen and had a troupe of tight-rope walkers perform in a blaze of lights.
Porter received few commissions for songs in the years immediately after his marriage. He had the occasional number interpolated into other writers' revues in England and the U.S. For a C. B. Cochran show in 1921, he had two successes with the comedy numbers "The Blue Boy Blues" and "Olga, Come Back to the Volga". In 1923, in collaboration with Gerald Murphy
, he composed a short ballet, originally titled Landed and then Within the Quota, satirically depicting the adventures of an immigrant to America who becomes a film star. The work, written for the Swedish Ballet company, lasts about 16 minutes. It was orchestrated by Charles Koechlin
and shared the same opening night as Milhaud
's La création du monde
. Porter's work was one of the earliest symphonic jazz-based compositions, predating George Gershwin
's Rhapsody in Blue
by four months, and well received by both French and American reviewers after its premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
in October 1923. After a successful New York performance the following month, the Swedish Ballet company toured the work in the U.S., performing it 69 times. A year later the company disbanded, and the score was lost until it was reconstructed from Porter's and Koechlin's manuscripts between 1966 and 1990, with help from Milhaud among others. Porter had less success with his work on Greenwich Village Follies (1924). He wrote most of the original score, but his songs were gradually dropped during the Broadway run, and by the time of the post-Broadway tour in 1925, all his numbers had been deleted.
. It was commissioned at the instigation of its star, Irène Bordoni
. She had wanted Rodgers and Hart
to write the songs, but they were unavailable, and Porter's agent persuaded Bordoni's impresario husband to hire Porter instead. His work on the show was interrupted by the death of his father at the age of 69 in August 1928; Porter hurried back to Indiana to comfort his mother, before returning to work on the songs for the show. These included "Let's Misbehave
" and one of his best-known list songs, "Let's Do It", which was introduced by Bordoni and Arthur Margetson
. The show opened on Broadway on October 8, 1928. The Porters did not attend the first night because Porter was in Paris supervising another show for which he had been commissioned, La Revue at the Ambassadeurs nightclub. Both shows were successes, and, in Citron's phrase, Porter was finally "accepted into the upper echelon of Broadway songwriters". After this, Cochran wanted more from Porter than isolated extra songs; he planned a West End
extravaganza similar to Ziegfeld
's shows, with a Porter score and a large international cast led by Jessie Matthews
, Sonnie Hale
and Tilly Losch
. The show, Wake Up and Dream ran for 263 performances in London, after which Cochran transferred it to New York. There, business was badly affected by the 1929 Wall Street crash
, and the show ran for only 136 performances. From Porter's point of view it was nonetheless a success, as his song "What is This Thing Called Love?
" became immensely popular independently of the show.
Porter's new fame brought him offers from Hollywood
, but as his score for Paramount
's The Battle of Paris
was undistinguished, and its star, Gertrude Lawrence
, was miscast, the film was not a success. Citron expresses the view that Porter was not interested in cinema and "noticeably wrote down for the movies." Still on a Gallic
theme, Porter's last Broadway show of the 1920s was Fifty Million Frenchmen
(1929), for which he wrote 28 numbers, including "You Do Something to Me
", "You've Got That Thing" and "The Tale of the Oyster". The show received mixed notices. One critic wrote, "the lyrics alone are enough to drive anyone but P.G. Wodehouse into retirement", but others dismissed the songs as "pleasant" and "not an outstanding hit song in the show". As it was a lavish and expensive production, nothing less than full houses would suffice, and after only three weeks the producers announced that they would close it. Irving Berlin
, who was an admirer and champion of Porter, took out a paid press advertisement calling the show "The best musical comedy I've heard in years. ... One of the best collections of song numbers I have ever listened to". This saved the show, which ran for 254 performances, considered a successful run at the time.
, producer of Paris and Fifty Million Frenchmen, whose success had kept him solvent when other producers were bankrupted by the post-crash slump in Broadway business, invited Porter to write a musical show about the other city that he knew and loved: New York. Goetz offered the team with whom Porter had last worked, Herbert Fields
writing the book and Porter's old friend Monty Woolley
directing. The New Yorkers
(1930) acquired instant notoriety for including a song about a streetwalker, "Love for Sale". Originally performed by Kathryn Crawford
in a street setting, critical disapproval led Goetz to reassign the number to Elizabeth Welch in a nightclub scene. The lyric was considered too explicit for radio at the time, though it was recorded and aired as an instrumental and rapidly became a standard. Porter often referred to it as his favorite of his songs. The New Yorkers also included the hit "I Happen to Like New York".
Next came Fred Astaire
's last stage show, Gay Divorce
(1932). It featured a hit that became Porter's best-known song, "Night and Day
". Despite mixed press (some critics were reluctant to accept Astaire without his previous partner, his sister Adele
), the show ran for a profitable 248 performances, and the film rights were sold to RKO Pictures
. Porter followed this with a West End show for Gertrude Lawrence, Nymph Errant
(1933), presented by Cochran at the Adelphi Theatre
, where it ran for 154 performances. Among the hit songs Porter composed for the show were "Experiment" and "The Physician" for Lawrence, and "Solomon" for Elizabeth Welch.
In 1934, producer Vinton Freedley came up with a new approach to producing musicals. Instead of commissioning book, music and lyrics and then casting the show, Freedley sought to create an ideal musical with stars and writers all engaged from the outset. The stars he wanted were Ethel Merman
, William Gaxton
and comedian Victor Moore
. He planned a story around a shipwreck and a desert island, and for the book he turned to P. G. Wodehouse
and Guy Bolton
. For the songs, he decided on Porter. By dint of telling each of these that he had already signed the others, Freedley gathered his ideal team together. A drastic last-minute rewrite was necessitated by a major shipping accident, which dominated the news and made Bolton and Wodehouse's book seem tasteless. Nevertheless, the show, Anything Goes
, was an immediate hit. Porter wrote what is thought by many to be his greatest score of this period. The New Yorker
magazine said, "Mr. Porter is in class by himself", and Porter himself subsequently called it one of his two perfect shows, along with the later Kiss Me, Kate
. Its songs include "I Get a Kick out of You
", "All Through the Night", "You're the Top
" (one of his best-known list songs), and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow", as well as the title number. The show ran for 420 performances in New York (a particularly long run in the 1930s) and 261 in London. Porter, despite his lessons in orchestration from d'Indy, did not orchestrate his musicals. Anything Goes was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett
and Hans Spialek. 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 in front, apparently relishing the show as much as any audience member. Russel Crouse
commented, "Cole's opening-night behaviour is as indecent as that of a bridegroom who has a good time at his own wedding."
Anything Goes was the first of five Porter shows featuring Merman. 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, running for only 169 performances, but it featured two songs that have since become standards, "Begin the Beguine
" and "Just One of Those Things
". Red Hot And Blue (1936), featuring Merman, Jimmy Durante
and Bob Hope
, ran for 183 performances and introduced "It's De-Lovely", "Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)
", and "Ridin' High". The relative failure of these shows convinced Porter that his songs did not appeal to a broad enough audience. In an interview he said, "Sophisticated allusions are good for about six weeks ... more fun, but only for myself and about eighteen other people, all of whom are first-nighters anyway. Polished, urbane and adult playwriting in the musical field is strictly a creative luxury."
Porter also wrote for Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His scores include those for Born to Dance
(1936), featuring "You'd Be So Easy to Love
" and "I've Got You Under My Skin
", and Rosalie
(1937), featuring "In the Still of the Night
". In addition, he composed the cowboy song "Don't Fence Me In
" for an unproduced movie in the 1930s, but it did not become a hit until Roy Rogers
and Bing Crosby
and The Andrews Sisters
, as well as other artists, introduced it to the public in the 1940s. The Porters took up residence in Hollywood in December 1935, but Linda did not like the movie environment, and Porter's homosexual peccadillos, formerly very discreet, became less so, and so she retreated to their Paris house. When his film assignment was finished, Porter hastened to Paris to make his peace with Linda, but she remained cool. They were shortly brought back together by a terrible accident suffered by Porter.
On October 24, 1937, Porter was riding with Countess Edith di Zoppola and Duke de Verdura at Piping Rock Club
in Locust Valley, New York
, when his horse rolled on him and crushed his legs, leaving him substantially crippled and in constant pain for the rest of his life. Though doctors told Porter's wife and mother that his right leg would have to be amputated, and possibly the left one as well, he refused to have the procedure. Linda rushed from Paris to be with him, and supported him in his refusal of amputation. He remained in the hospital for seven months and was then allowed to go home to his apartment at the Waldorf Towers
. He resumed work as soon as he could, finding it took his mind off his perpetual pain.
Porter's first show after his accident was not a success. You Never Know
(1938), starring Clifton Webb
, Lupe Vélez
and Libby Holman
, ran for only 78 performances. The score included the songs, "From Alpha to Omega" and "At Long Last Love". He returned to success with Leave It to Me!
(1938); the show introduced Mary Martin
, singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy
", and other numbers included "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love" and "From Now On". Porter's last show of the 1930s was DuBarry Was a Lady
(1939), a particularly risqué show, starring Merman and Bert Lahr
. After a pre-Broadway tour, during which it ran into trouble with the Boston censors, it ran for 408 performances, beginning at the 46th Street Theatre. The score included "But in the Morning, No" (which was banned from the airwaves), "Do I Love You?", "Well, Did You Evah!
", "Katie Went to Haiti" and another of Porter's up-tempo list songs, "Friendship". At the end of 1939, Porter contributed six songs to the film Broadway Melody of 1940
for Fred Astaire, George Murphy
and Eleanor Powell
.
(1940) was Porter's longest-running hit so far, running in New York for 501 performances, despite the absence of any enduring Porter songs. It starred Merman, with Arthur Treacher
and Betty Hutton
. Let's Face It!
(1941), starring Danny Kaye
, had an even better run, with 547 performances in New York. This, too, lacked any numbers that became standards, and Porter always counted it among his lesser efforts. Something for the Boys
(1943), starring Merman, ran for 422 performances, and Mexican Hayride
(1944), starring Bobby Clark
, with June Havoc
, ran for 481 performances. These shows, too, are short of Porter standards. The critics did not pull their punches; they complained about the lack of hit tunes and the generally low standard of Porter's scores. 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 Porter's best period was over.
In between his Broadway shows of the 1940s, Porter again wrote for Hollywood. His film scores of this period were You'll Never Get Rich (1941) with Astaire and Rita Hayworth
, Something to Shout About (1943) with Don Ameche
, Janet Blair and William Gaxton
, and Mississippi Belle (1943–44), which was abandoned before filming began. He also cooperated in the making of the film Night and Day (1946), a largely fictional biography of Porter, with Cary Grant
implausibly cast in the lead. The critics scoffed, but the film was a huge success, chiefly because of the wealth of vintage Porter numbers in it. The success of the biopic contrasted severely with the failure of Vincente Minnelli
's film The Pirate
, in 1948, in which five new Porter songs received little attention.
From this low spot, Porter made a conspicuous comeback, in 1948, with Kiss Me, Kate
. It was by far his most successful show, running for 1,077 performances in New York and 400 in London. The production won the Tony Award
for best musical
(the first Tony awarded in that category), and Porter won for best composer and lyricist. The score 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 began the 1950s with Out Of This World
(1950), which had some good numbers but too much camp
and vulgarity, and was not greatly successful. His next show, Can-Can
(1952), featuring "C'est Magnifique
" and "It's All Right with Me
", was another hit, running for 892 performances. Porter's last original Broadway production, Silk Stockings
(1955), featuring "All of You", was also successful, with a run of 477 performances. The film High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby
, Frank Sinatra
and Grace Kelly
, had Porter's last major hit song, "True Love
". The film was later adapted as a stage musical of the same name
. Porter wrote numbers for the film Les Girls
(1957) with Gene Kelly
. His final score was for a CBS
television color special, Aladdin
(1958).
in 1954. By 1958, Porter's injuries caused a series of ulcers on his right leg. After 34 operations, it had to be amputated and replaced with an artificial limb. His friend Noël Coward
visited him in the hospital and wrote in his diary, "The lines of ceaseless pain have been wiped from his face. ... I am convinced that his whole life will cheer up and that his work will profit accordingly." In fact, Porter never wrote another song after the amputation and spent the remaining six years of his life in relative seclusion, seeing only intimate friends. He continued to live in the Waldorf Towers in New York in his memorabilia-filled apartment. On weekends he often visited an estate in the Berkshires, and he stayed in California during the summers.
Porter died of kidney failure
on October 15, 1964, at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California
. He is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in his native Peru, Indiana, between his wife and father, even though Porter was not close to his father.
was released by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
. She followed this in 1972 with another Porter collection, Ella Loves Cole
. Among the many album collections of Porter songs are the following: Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook
(1959); Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
(1959); All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter
(1965); Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter
(1982); and Anything Goes: Stephane Grappelli & Yo-Yo Ma Play (Mostly) Cole Porter
(1989). In 1990 Dionne Warwick
released an album called Dionne Sings Cole Porter. In that same year Red Hot + Blue
was released featuring 20 Cole Porter songs recorded by artists such as U2
, Annie Lennox
and Shane MacGowan
as a benefit CD for AIDS research. Another collection is Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter
(1996). John Barrowman
, who played "Jack" in the 2004 film De-Lovely
released a collection of Cole Porter songs, "John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter," in October 2004.
Judy Garland
performed a medley of Porter's songs at the 37th Academy Awards
, the first Oscars ceremony held following Porter's death. In contrast with the highly embroidered and sanitized screen biography in Night and Day, his life was chronicled more realistically in De-Lovely
, a 2004 Irwin Winkler
film starring Kevin Kline
as Porter and Ashley Judd
as Linda. In 1980, Porter's music was used for the score of Happy New Year
, based on the Philip Barry
play Holiday. The Cole Porter Festival is held every year during the second weekend of June in his hometown of Peru, Indiana. The festival fosters music and art appreciation by celebrating Porter's life and music. In December 2010, his portrait was added to the Hoosier Heritage Gallery in the office of the Governor of Indiana
. Porter appears as a character in Woody Allen's
2011 film Midnight in Paris
.
Singers who have paid tribute to Porter in their work include the Swedish pop
group Gyllene Tider
, which recorded a song called Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
(That girl from the Cole Porter song) in 1982. In country singer Jo Dee Messina
's song "These Are the Days", the protagonist reveals that she sings old Cole Porter songs. 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
. 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 the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. The program was called, "You'll Get a Kick Out of Cole".
Porter was a Steinway artist, performing exclusively on Steinway
pianos. His own Steinway piano is currently in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
in New York City.
A far more comprehensive list of Cole Porter songs, along with their date of composition and original show, is available online at the "Cole Porter Songlist Page".
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical stage. Unlike most successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs.
After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 30s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
.
Porter's other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later...
, DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
, Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
and Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
, and his numerous hit songs include "Night and Day
Night and Day (song)
"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
", "I Get a Kick out of You
I Get a Kick Out of You
"I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, originally featured in the Broadway musical Anything Goes and the movie of the same name....
", "Well, Did You Evah!
Well, Did You Evah!
"Well, Did You Evah!" is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1939 musical Du Barry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Betty Grable and Charles Walters....
" and "I've Got You Under My Skin
I've Got You Under My Skin (song)
"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by Cole Porter. It became a signature song for Frank Sinatra and, in 1966, became a top 10 hit for The Four Seasons...
". He also composed scores for films from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was noted for his sophisticated, suggestive lyrics, clever rhymes and complex forms.
Early years
Porter was born in Peru, IndianaPeru, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,994 people, 5,410 households, and 3,397 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.5 people per square mile . There were 5,943 housing units at an average density of 1,287.7 per square mile...
, the only child of a wealthy Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
family. His father, Samuel Fenwick Porter, was a druggist by trade; his mother, Kate, was the indulged daughter of James Omar "J. O." Cole, "the richest man in Indiana", a coal and timber speculator who dominated the family. J.O. built the couple a home at his Peru-area property, known as Westleigh Farms. After high school, Porter returned to the property only for occasional visits. Kate started Porter in musical training at an early age. He learned the violin at age six, the piano at eight and wrote his first operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
(with help from his mother) at 10. She falsified his recorded birth year, changing it from 1891 to 1893 to make him appear more precocious. His father, who was a shy and unassertive man, played a lesser role in Porter’s upbringing, although as an amateur poet he may have influenced his son’s gifts for rhyme and meter.
J. O. Cole wanted his grandson to become a lawyer, and with that career in mind, he sent him to Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy is an independent coeducational preparatory school spread over in Worcester, Massachusetts in the United States. The school is divided into a middle school, serving approximately 150 students in grades six to eight, and an upper school, serving approximately 500 students in...
in 1905. He became class valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
and was rewarded by his grandfather with a tour of France, Switzerland and Germany. After this he attended Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
beginning in 1909, where he was a member of Scroll and Key
Scroll and Key
The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the wealthiest and second oldest Yale secret society...
and Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
(Phi chapter) and sang both in the Yale Glee Club
Yale Glee Club
The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in 1858, and the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club,...
, of which he was elected president his senior year, and an original member of the Whiffenpoofs. While at Yale, he wrote a number of student songs, including the football fight songs "Bulldog Bulldog" and "Bingo Eli Yale" (aka "Bingo, That's The Lingo!") that are still played at Yale today. Porter wrote 300 songs while at Yale. After graduating from Yale, Porter studied at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1913 (where he roomed with Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
). He soon felt that he was not destined to be a lawyer, and, at the suggestion of the dean of the law school, Porter switched to Harvard's music faculty, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Pietro Yon
Pietro Yon
Pietro Alessandro Yon was an Italian-born organist who made his career in the United States.Yon was born in Settimo Vittone, , and studied at the conservatories of both Milan and Turin, also attending the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
. Kate Porter did not object to this move, but it was kept secret from J. O. Cole.
In 1915, Porter's first song on Broadway, "Esmeralda", appeared in the revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
Hands Up. The quick success was immediately followed by failure: his first Broadway production, in 1916, See America First
See America First
See America First is a comic opera with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The first work by Porter to be produced on Broadway, it was a critical and commercial flop.-Background:...
, a "patriotic comic opera" modeled on Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs, was a flop, closing after two weeks.
Paris and marriage
In 1917, the year in which the U.S. entered World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Porter moved to Paris. He distributed relief supplies for three months, but the extent of his other war work is unclear. Some writers have been skeptical about Porter's claim to have served in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
, although the Legion itself lists Porter as one of its soldiers and displays his portrait at its museum in Aubagne
Aubagne
Aubagne is a commune located east of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.The French Foreign Legion has its headquarters there...
. By some accounts, he served in North Africa and was transferred to the French Officers School
School of Applied Artillery (France)
The École d'application de l'artillerie is an applied military academy of the French Army.-Pre-Revolutionary History:...
at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, teaching gunnery to American soldiers. An obituary notice in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said that, while in the Legion, "he had a specially constructed portable piano made for him so that he could carry it on his back and entertain the troops in their bivouacs." Another account, given by Porter, is that he joined the recruiting department of the American Aviation Headquarters, but, according to his biographer Stephen Citron, there is no record of his joining this or any other branch of the forces.
Porter maintained a luxury apartment in Paris, where he entertained lavishly. His parties were extravagant and scandalous, with "much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians, and a large surplus of recreational drugs." In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas
Linda Lee Thomas
Linda Lee Thomas was an American socialite, the wife of musical theatre composer Cole Porter.A descendant of the Lee family of Virginia, daughter of Louisville banker William Paca Lee and his wife, née Lily Hill, Linda Belle Lee was, in her youth, a noted beauty...
, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
-born divorcée eight years his senior, whom he married the following year. She was in no doubt about Porter's homosexuality, but it was mutually advantageous for them to marry: for Linda it offered continued social status and a partner who was the antithesis of her abusive first husband; for Porter it brought a respectable heterosexual front in an era when homosexuality was not publicly acknowledged. They were, moreover, genuinely devoted to each other and remained married from December 19, 1919 until Linda's death in 1954. Linda remained protective of her social position, and believing that classical music might be a more prestigious outlet than Broadway for her husband's talents, she tried to use her connections to find him suitable teachers, including Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, but was unsuccessful. Finally, Porter enrolled at the Schola Cantorum in Paris where he studied orchestration and counterpoint with Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
. Meanwhile, Porter's first big hit was the song "Old-Fashioned Garden" from the revue Hitchy-Koo
Hitchy-Koo
Hitchy-Koo of 1919 is a musical revue with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the book by George V. Hobart. This revue was third in a series of four Hitchy-Koo revues produced by, and starring, Raymond Hitchcock. The original Broadway production was in 1919...
in 1919. In 1920, he contributed the music of several songs to the musical A Night Out
A Night Out (musical)
A Night Out is a musical comedy with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Arthur Miller, music by Willie Redstone and Cole Porter and lyrics by Clifford Grey. The story is adapted from the 1894 French comedy L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières...
.
Les Invalides
Les Invalides , officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides , is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's...
was a palatial house with platinum wallpaper and chairs upholstered in zebra skin. In 1923, Porter came into an inheritance from his grandfather, and the Porters began living in rented palaces in Venice. He once hired the entire Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
to entertain his house guests, and for a party at Ca' Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico is a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Today it is a public museum dedicated to 18th century Venice. - Design :Ca' Rezzonico stands on the right bank of the canal, at the point where it is joined by the Rio di San Barnaba. The site was previously occupied by two houses...
, which he rented for $4,000 a month ($ in current value), he hired 50 gondoliers to act as footmen and had a troupe of tight-rope walkers perform in a blaze of lights.
Porter received few commissions for songs in the years immediately after his marriage. He had the occasional number interpolated into other writers' revues in England and the U.S. For a C. B. Cochran show in 1921, he had two successes with the comedy numbers "The Blue Boy Blues" and "Olga, Come Back to the Volga". In 1923, in collaboration with Gerald Murphy
Gerald and Sara Murphy
Gerald Clery Murphy and Sara Sherman Wiborg were wealthy, expatriate Americans who moved to the French Riviera in the early 20th century and who, with their generous hospitality and flair for parties, created a vibrant social circle, particularly in the 1920s, that included a great number of...
, he composed a short ballet, originally titled Landed and then Within the Quota, satirically depicting the adventures of an immigrant to America who becomes a film star. The work, written for the Swedish Ballet company, lasts about 16 minutes. It was orchestrated by Charles Koechlin
Charles Koechlin
Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars , travelling, stereoscopic...
and shared the same opening night as Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
's La création du monde
La Création du Monde
The composition La création du monde, Op. 81a, is a 20-minute-long ballet with music composed by Darius Milhaud, in 1922-1923,which outlines the Creation of the World, based on African folk mythology.- History :...
. Porter's work was one of the earliest symphonic jazz-based compositions, predating George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band written in 1924, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects....
by four months, and well received by both French and American reviewers after its premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
in October 1923. After a successful New York performance the following month, the Swedish Ballet company toured the work in the U.S., performing it 69 times. A year later the company disbanded, and the score was lost until it was reconstructed from Porter's and Koechlin's manuscripts between 1966 and 1990, with help from Milhaud among others. Porter had less success with his work on Greenwich Village Follies (1924). He wrote most of the original score, but his songs were gradually dropped during the Broadway run, and by the time of the post-Broadway tour in 1925, all his numbers had been deleted.
Broadway success
At the age of 36, Porter reintroduced himself to Broadway in 1928 with the musical ParisParis (1928 musical)
Paris is a musical with the book by Martin Brown, and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, as well as Walter Kollo and Louis Alter and E. Ray Goetz and Roy Turk . The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1928, was Porter's first Broadway hit. The musical introduced the song "Let's Do It, Let's Fall...
. It was commissioned at the instigation of its star, Irène Bordoni
Irène Bordoni
Irène Bordoni was a French singer and a Broadway and film actress.-Early years:Born in Ajaccio, France, from an Italian family, she had been a child actor, performing in Paris on stage and in silent films for a few years, having signed with theatrical agent André Charlot...
. She had wanted Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
to write the songs, but they were unavailable, and Porter's agent persuaded Bordoni's impresario husband to hire Porter instead. His work on the show was interrupted by the death of his father at the age of 69 in August 1928; Porter hurried back to Indiana to comfort his mother, before returning to work on the songs for the show. These included "Let's Misbehave
Let's Misbehave
"Let's Misbehave" is a famous song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, Paris...
" and one of his best-known list songs, "Let's Do It", which was introduced by Bordoni and Arthur Margetson
Arthur Margetson
-Selected filmography:* Wolves * Many Waters * His Grace Gives Notice * Music Hath Charms * Royal Cavalcade * The Divine Spark * The Mystery of the Marie Celeste * Broken Blossoms...
. The show opened on Broadway on October 8, 1928. The Porters did not attend the first night because Porter was in Paris supervising another show for which he had been commissioned, La Revue at the Ambassadeurs nightclub. Both shows were successes, and, in Citron's phrase, Porter was finally "accepted into the upper echelon of Broadway songwriters". After this, Cochran wanted more from Porter than isolated extra songs; he planned a West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
extravaganza similar to Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
's shows, with a Porter score and a large international cast led by Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews, OBE was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period.-Early life:...
, Sonnie Hale
Sonnie Hale
Sonnie Hale was an English theatre and cinema actor and director.John Robert Hale-Monro was born in London, the son of Robert Hale and Belle Reynolds. His father and sister, Binnie Hale were actors. He worked chiefly in musical and revue theatre, but also acted in several films with occasional...
and Tilly Losch
Tilly Losch
Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine "Tilly" Losch, Countess of Carnarvon was an Austrian-born dancer, choreographer, actress and painter who lived and worked for most of her life in the United States and United Kingdom....
. The show, Wake Up and Dream ran for 263 performances in London, after which Cochran transferred it to New York. There, business was badly affected by the 1929 Wall Street crash
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
, and the show ran for only 136 performances. From Porter's point of view it was nonetheless a success, as his song "What is This Thing Called Love?
What is This Thing Called Love?
What is This Thing Called Love? is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story was requested by Cele Goldsmith Lalli, editor of Amazing Stories, as a satire of a story in Playboy magazine called "Girls for the Slime God", which proposed - not too seriously - that all science fiction...
" became immensely popular independently of the show.
Porter's new fame brought him offers from Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, but as his score for Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
's The Battle of Paris
The Battle of Paris
The Battle of Paris is a 1929 black and white American musical film.-Plot:Gertrude Lawrence plays a singer in Paris during World War I...
was undistinguished, and its star, Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End theatre district of London and on Broadway.-Early life:...
, was miscast, the film was not a success. Citron expresses the view that Porter was not interested in cinema and "noticeably wrote down for the movies." Still on a Gallic
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
theme, Porter's last Broadway show of the 1920s was Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen
Fifty Million Frenchmen is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later...
(1929), for which he wrote 28 numbers, including "You Do Something to Me
You Do Something to Me
"You Do Something to Me" is a song written by Cole Porter. It is notable in that it was the first number in Porter's first fully integrated-book musical Fifty Million Frenchmen...
", "You've Got That Thing" and "The Tale of the Oyster". The show received mixed notices. One critic wrote, "the lyrics alone are enough to drive anyone but P.G. Wodehouse into retirement", but others dismissed the songs as "pleasant" and "not an outstanding hit song in the show". As it was a lavish and expensive production, nothing less than full houses would suffice, and after only three weeks the producers announced that they would close it. Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
, who was an admirer and champion of Porter, took out a paid press advertisement calling the show "The best musical comedy I've heard in years. ... One of the best collections of song numbers I have ever listened to". This saved the show, which ran for 254 performances, considered a successful run at the time.
1930s
Ray GoetzE. Ray Goetz
Edward Ray Goetz was an American composer, songwriter, author and producer. He was a charter member of ASCAP in 1914, and was a director until 1917. Goetz appeared in the films Somebody Loves Me , The Greatest Show On Earth and For Me And My Gal . He wrote the songs "Toddling The Todalo" and "For...
, producer of Paris and Fifty Million Frenchmen, whose success had kept him solvent when other producers were bankrupted by the post-crash slump in Broadway business, invited Porter to write a musical show about the other city that he knew and loved: New York. Goetz offered the team with whom Porter had last worked, Herbert Fields
Herbert Fields
Herbert Fields was an American librettist and screenwriter.Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1925 until his death, he contributed to the libretti of many Broadway musicals...
writing the book and Porter's old friend Monty Woolley
Monty Woolley
Monty Woolley was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his best-known role in the stage play and 1942 film The Man Who Came to Dinner...
directing. The New Yorkers
The New Yorkers
The New Yorkers is a musical written by Cole Porter and Herbert Fields . The musical premiered on Broadway in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno and E. Ray Goetz. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers, thieves and prostitutes...
(1930) acquired instant notoriety for including a song about a streetwalker, "Love for Sale". Originally performed by Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford, also spelled Katherine Crawford, was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s....
in a street setting, critical disapproval led Goetz to reassign the number to Elizabeth Welch in a nightclub scene. The lyric was considered too explicit for radio at the time, though it was recorded and aired as an instrumental and rapidly became a standard. Porter often referred to it as his favorite of his songs. The New Yorkers also included the hit "I Happen to Like New York".
Next came Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
's last stage show, Gay Divorce
Gay Divorce
Gay Divorce is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song "Night and Day" in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.It was made into a musical...
(1932). It featured a hit that became Porter's best-known song, "Night and Day
Night and Day (song)
"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
". Despite mixed press (some critics were reluctant to accept Astaire without his previous partner, his sister Adele
Adele Astaire
Lady Charles Cavendish , better known as Adele Astaire, was an American dancer and entertainer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister. Her birthdate was often given as 1897 or 1898, but the 1900 U.S...
), the show ran for a profitable 248 performances, and the film rights were sold to RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. Porter followed this with a West End show for Gertrude Lawrence, Nymph Errant
Nymph Errant
Nymph Errant is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Romney Brent based upon the novel by James Laver. The somewhat controversial story concerned a young English lady intent upon losing her virginity. Porter considered the score his best because of its worldliness and sexual...
(1933), presented by Cochran at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, where it ran for 154 performances. Among the hit songs Porter composed for the show were "Experiment" and "The Physician" for Lawrence, and "Solomon" for Elizabeth Welch.
In 1934, producer Vinton Freedley came up with a new approach to producing musicals. Instead of commissioning book, music and lyrics and then casting the show, Freedley sought to create an ideal musical with stars and writers all engaged from the outset. The stars he wanted were Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, William Gaxton
William Gaxton
William Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
and comedian Victor Moore
Victor Moore
Victor Frederick Moore was an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a comedian, writer, and director.-Personal life:...
. He planned a story around a shipwreck and a desert island, and for the book he turned to P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
and Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
. For the songs, he decided on Porter. By dint of telling each of these that he had already signed the others, Freedley gathered his ideal team together. A drastic last-minute rewrite was necessitated by a major shipping accident, which dominated the news and made Bolton and Wodehouse's book seem tasteless. Nevertheless, the show, Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, was an immediate hit. Porter wrote what is thought by many to be his greatest score of this period. The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine said, "Mr. Porter is in class by himself", and Porter himself subsequently called it one of his two perfect shows, along with the later Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
. Its songs include "I Get a Kick out of You
I Get a Kick Out of You
"I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, originally featured in the Broadway musical Anything Goes and the movie of the same name....
", "All Through the Night", "You're the Top
You're the Top
"You're The Top" is a Cole Porter song from the 1934 musical Anything Goes. It is about a man and a woman who take turns complimenting each other...
" (one of his best-known list songs), and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow", as well as the title number. The show ran for 420 performances in New York (a particularly long run in the 1930s) and 261 in London. Porter, despite his lessons in orchestration from d'Indy, did not orchestrate his musicals. Anything Goes was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. In 1957 and 2008, Bennett received Tony Awards...
and Hans Spialek. 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 in front, apparently relishing the show as much as any audience member. Russel Crouse
Russel Crouse
Russel Crouse was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse.-Life and career:...
commented, "Cole's opening-night behaviour is as indecent as that of a bridegroom who has a good time at his own wedding."
Anything Goes was the first of five Porter shows featuring Merman. He loved her loud, brassy voice and wrote many numbers that featured her strengths. Jubilee
Jubilee (musical)
Jubilee is a musical comedy with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It premiered on Broadway in 1935 to rapturous reviews. Inspired by the recent silver jubilee of King George V of Great Britain, the story is of the royal family of a fictional European country...
(1935), written with Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
while on a cruise around the world, was not a major hit, running for only 169 performances, but it featured two songs that have since become standards, "Begin the Beguine
Begin the Beguine
"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...
" and "Just One of Those Things
Just One of Those Things (song)
"Just One of Those Things" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee.The song was later featured in two Doris Day musical films, Lullaby of Broadway and Young at Heart .-Influence in popular culture:...
". Red Hot And Blue (1936), featuring Merman, Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
and Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, ran for 183 performances and introduced "It's De-Lovely", "Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)
Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)
"Down in the Depths " is a song written by Cole Porter, for his 1936 musical Red, Hot and Blue, in which it was introduced by Ethel Merman...
", and "Ridin' High". The relative failure of these shows convinced Porter that his songs did not appeal to a broad enough audience. In an interview he said, "Sophisticated allusions are good for about six weeks ... more fun, but only for myself and about eighteen other people, all of whom are first-nighters anyway. Polished, urbane and adult playwriting in the musical field is strictly a creative luxury."
Porter also wrote for Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His scores include those for Born to Dance
Born to Dance
Born to Dance is an American musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and directed by Roy Del Ruth.The film stars dancer Eleanor Powell and was a follow-up to her successful debut in Broadway Melody of 1936...
(1936), featuring "You'd Be So Easy to Love
You'd Be So Easy to Love
" Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1936 film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford...
" and "I've Got You Under My Skin
I've Got You Under My Skin (song)
"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by Cole Porter. It became a signature song for Frank Sinatra and, in 1966, became a top 10 hit for The Four Seasons...
", and Rosalie
Rosalie (film)
Rosalie is an MGM film adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name. The film was released in December 1937. The film follows the story of the musical but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter...
(1937), featuring "In the Still of the Night
In the Still of the Night (1937 song)
"In the Still of the Night" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the MGM film Rosalie sung by Nelson Eddy and published in 1937....
". In addition, he composed the cowboy song "Don't Fence Me In
Don't Fence Me In (song)
Don't Fence Me In is a popular American song with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter.-Origins:Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the...
" for an unproduced movie in the 1930s, but it did not become a hit until Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
, as well as other artists, introduced it to the public in the 1940s. The Porters took up residence in Hollywood in December 1935, but Linda did not like the movie environment, and Porter's homosexual peccadillos, formerly very discreet, became less so, and so she retreated to their Paris house. When his film assignment was finished, Porter hastened to Paris to make his peace with Linda, but she remained cool. They were shortly brought back together by a terrible accident suffered by Porter.
On October 24, 1937, Porter was riding with Countess Edith di Zoppola and Duke de Verdura at Piping Rock Club
Piping Rock Club
Piping Rock Club is a country club in Locust Valley, New York.-History:The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowell, and built in 1911. Lowell based his designs on American colonial architecture a desire to link the house with the landscape...
in Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley is a hamlet located in Nassau County, New York. Locust Valley is an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay...
, when his horse rolled on him and crushed his legs, leaving him substantially crippled and in constant pain for the rest of his life. Though doctors told Porter's wife and mother that his right leg would have to be amputated, and possibly the left one as well, he refused to have the procedure. Linda rushed from Paris to be with him, and supported him in his refusal of amputation. He remained in the hospital for seven months and was then allowed to go home to his apartment at the Waldorf Towers
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
. He resumed work as soon as he could, finding it took his mind off his perpetual pain.
Porter's first show after his accident was not a success. You Never Know
You Never Know (musical)
You Never Know is a musical with a book by Rowland Leigh, adapted from the original European play By Candlelight, by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas, with music by Cole Porter and Robert Katscher, lyrics by Cole Porter, additional lyrics by Leigh and Edwin Gilbert, directed by Leigh, and songs by...
(1938), starring Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
, Lupe Vélez
Lupe Vélez
Lupe Vélez was a Mexican film actress. Vélez began her career in Mexico as a dancer, before moving to the U.S. where she worked in vaudeville. She was seen by Fanny Brice who promoted her, and Vélez soon entered films, making her first appearance in 1924. By the end of the decade she had...
and Libby Holman
Libby Holman
Libby Holman was an American torch singer and stage actress who also achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life.-Early life:...
, ran for only 78 performances. The score included the songs, "From Alpha to Omega" and "At Long Last Love". He returned to success with Leave It to Me!
Leave It to Me!
Leave It to Me! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The "book" was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, who also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the play Clear All Wires by the Spewacks...
(1938); the show introduced Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
, singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
"My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is a song written by Cole Porter, for the 1938 musical Leave It to Me! which premiered on Nov 9, 1938. It was performed by Mary Martin who played Dolly Winslow, the young protégée of an elderly ambassador, Alonzo P. Goodhue...
", and other numbers included "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love" and "From Now On". Porter's last show of the 1930s was DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
(1939), a particularly risqué show, starring Merman and Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
. After a pre-Broadway tour, during which it ran into trouble with the Boston censors, it ran for 408 performances, beginning at the 46th Street Theatre. The score included "But in the Morning, No" (which was banned from the airwaves), "Do I Love You?", "Well, Did You Evah!
Well, Did You Evah!
"Well, Did You Evah!" is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1939 musical Du Barry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Betty Grable and Charles Walters....
", "Katie Went to Haiti" and another of Porter's up-tempo list songs, "Friendship". At the end of 1939, Porter contributed six songs to the film Broadway Melody of 1940
Broadway Melody of 1940
Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM movie musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine"....
for Fred Astaire, George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
and Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
.
1940s and postwar
Panama HattiePanama Hattie
Panama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
(1940) was Porter's longest-running hit so far, running in New York for 501 performances, despite the absence of any enduring Porter songs. It starred Merman, with Arthur Treacher
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher was an English actor born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.Treacher was a veteran of World War I. After the war, he established a stage career and in 1928, he went to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations...
and Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
. Let's Face It!
Let's Face It!
Let's Face It! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell....
(1941), starring Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, had an even better run, with 547 performances in New York. This, too, lacked any numbers that became standards, and Porter always counted it among his lesser efforts. Something for the Boys
Something for the Boys
Something for the Boys is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical.-Productions:...
(1943), starring Merman, ran for 422 performances, and Mexican Hayride
Mexican Hayride (musical)
Mexican Hayride is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The show opened on Broadway in 1944.-Production:...
(1944), starring Bobby Clark
Bobby Clark (comedian)
Robert Edwin Clark , known as Bobby Clark, was a minstrel, vaudevillian, performer on stage, film, television and the circus....
, with June Havoc
June Havoc
June Havoc was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood and stage directed . She last appeared on television in 1990 on General Hospital...
, ran for 481 performances. These shows, too, are short of Porter standards. The critics did not pull their punches; they complained about the lack of hit tunes and the generally low standard of Porter's scores. After two flops, Seven Lively Arts (1944) (which featured the standard "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye") and Around the World
Around the World (musical)
Around the World is a musical with a book adapted by Orson Welles, based on the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. It involves an around-the-world adventure by Phileas Fogg.Music, lyrics and incidental score are by Cole Porter...
(1946), many thought that Porter's best period was over.
In between his Broadway shows of the 1940s, Porter again wrote for Hollywood. His film scores of this period were You'll Never Get Rich (1941) with Astaire and Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
, Something to Shout About (1943) with Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
, Janet Blair and William Gaxton
William Gaxton
William Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
, and Mississippi Belle (1943–44), which was abandoned before filming began. He also cooperated in the making of the film Night and Day (1946), a largely fictional biography of Porter, with Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
implausibly cast in the lead. The critics scoffed, but the film was a huge success, chiefly because of the wealth of vintage Porter numbers in it. The success of the biopic contrasted severely with the failure of Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
's film The Pirate
The Pirate
The Pirate is a 1948 American musical feature film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. With songs by Cole Porter, it stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly with co-stars Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, and George Zucco.-Plot:...
, in 1948, in which five new Porter songs received little attention.
From this low spot, Porter made a conspicuous comeback, in 1948, with Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
. It was by far his most successful show, running for 1,077 performances in New York and 400 in London. The production won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for best musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
(the first Tony awarded in that category), and Porter won for best composer and lyricist. The score includes "Another Op'nin', Another Show", "Wunderbar", "So In Love
So in Love
"So in Love" is a popular song, written by Cole Porter, from his musical Kiss Me, Kate, based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It was sung in the show by Patricia Morison, reprised by Alfred Drake and further popularized by Patti Page in 1949.The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records...
", "We Open in Venice", "Tom, Dick or Harry
Tom, Dick or Harry (song)
Tom, Dick or Harry is a show tune from the Cole Porter musical, Kiss Me, Kate, introduced on Broadway on December 30, 1948 by Lisa Kirk ; Harold Lang ; Edwin Clay ; and Charles Wood...
", "I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua", "Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot
"Too Darn Hot" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Kiss Me, Kate . In the stage version, it is sung at the start of Act 2, and in the 1948 original Broadway production, it was sung by Lorenzo Fuller and Eddie Sledge and Fred Davis...
", "Always True to You (in My Fashion)
Always True to You in My Fashion
"Always True to You in My Fashion" is a 1948 show-tune by Cole Porter, written for the musical Kiss Me, Kate. In the lyrics, the singer protests that she is always faithful to her main love in her own way, despite seeing, and accepting gifts from, wealthy older men.It is sung in the later part of...
", and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".
Porter began the 1950s with Out Of This World
Out of This World (musical)
Out of This World is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence. The show, an adaptation of Plautus' comedy Amphitryon, debuted on Broadway in 1950.-Synopsis:...
(1950), which had some good numbers but too much camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
and vulgarity, and was not greatly successful. His next show, Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
(1952), featuring "C'est Magnifique
C'est Magnifique
"C'est Magnifique" is a 1953 popular song written by Cole Porter for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Lilo and Peter Cookson The song has become a standard, despite weak performance in the 1953 charts...
" and "It's All Right with Me
It's All Right with Me
"It's All Right With Me" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Peter Cookson as the character Judge Aristide Forestier.The song is also used in the Cole Porter musical High Society...
", was another hit, running for 892 performances. Porter's last original Broadway production, Silk Stockings
Silk Stockings
Silk Stockings is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Hildegarde Knef gives a vivid backstage account of the casting, rehearsals, tryouts and Broadway opening of "Silk Stockings" in her autobiography "The Gift Horse:...
(1955), featuring "All of You", was also successful, with a run of 477 performances. The film High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, had Porter's last major hit song, "True Love
True Love (song)
"True Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and was published in 1956.The song was introduced by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the musical film High Society. The Crosby–Kelly version, accompanied by Johnny Green's MGM studio orchestra using a romantic arrangement by Conrad Salinger, was...
". The film was later adapted as a stage musical of the same name
High Society (musical)
High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning...
. Porter wrote numbers for the film Les Girls
Les Girls
Les Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
(1957) with Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
. His final score was for a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television color special, Aladdin
Aladdin (TV special)
Aladdin was a 1958 musical fantasy written especially for television with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, telecast in color on the DuPont Show of the Month by CBS. It was Porter's very last musical score. The musical was later presented on stage in London, premiering...
(1958).
Last years
Porter's mother died in 1952, and his wife died from emphysemaEmphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in 1954. By 1958, Porter's injuries caused a series of ulcers on his right leg. After 34 operations, it had to be amputated and replaced with an artificial limb. His friend Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
visited him in the hospital and wrote in his diary, "The lines of ceaseless pain have been wiped from his face. ... I am convinced that his whole life will cheer up and that his work will profit accordingly." In fact, Porter never wrote another song after the amputation and spent the remaining six years of his life in relative seclusion, seeing only intimate friends. He continued to live in the Waldorf Towers in New York in his memorabilia-filled apartment. On weekends he often visited an estate in the Berkshires, and he stayed in California during the summers.
Porter died of kidney failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
on October 15, 1964, at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. He is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in his native Peru, Indiana, between his wife and father, even though Porter was not close to his father.
Tributes and legacy
Many artists have recorded Porter songs, and dozens have released entire albums of his songs. In 1956, the album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter SongbookElla Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook is a 1956 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, focusing on the songs of Cole Porter....
was released by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. She followed this in 1972 with another Porter collection, Ella Loves Cole
Ella Loves Cole
Ella Loves Cole is a 1972 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald.This was Fitzgerald's first album of songs dedicated to a single composer since 1964's Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook, and her second collection of songs by Cole Porter, her first being the memorable 1956 album, Ella...
. Among the many album collections of Porter songs are the following: Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook
Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook
Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook is a 1959 album by Oscar Peterson, of compositions by Cole Porter. -Track listing:# "In the Still of the Night" – 2:49# "It's All Right With Me" – 2:51# "Love for Sale" – 3:26...
(1959); Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May is a 1959 studio album by Anita O'Day, of songs written by Cole Porter arranged by Billy May...
(1959); All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter
All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter
All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter was an LP album by Julie London, released by Liberty Records under catalog number LRP-3434 as a monophonic recording and catalog number LST-7434 in stereo in 1965.-Track listing:...
(1965); Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter
Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter
Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter is a 1982 album by Rosemary Clooney, of songs by Cole Porter. -Track listing:# "In the Still of the Night" – 3:22# "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" – 4:10# "I Get a Kick Out of You" – 3:43...
(1982); and Anything Goes: Stephane Grappelli & Yo-Yo Ma Play (Mostly) Cole Porter
Anything Goes: Stephane Grappelli & Yo-Yo Ma Play (Mostly) Cole Porter
Anything Goes: Stephane Grappelli & Yo-Yo Ma Play Cole Porter is a 1989 album primarily consisting of Cole Porter songs performed by Stéphane Grappelli and Yo-Yo Ma.- Track Listing :All songs written by Cole Porter unless otherwise noted....
(1989). In 1990 Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
released an album called Dionne Sings Cole Porter. In that same year Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue is the first in the series of compilation albums from the Red Hot Organization. The recording was the first in the Red Hot Benefit Series...
was released featuring 20 Cole Porter songs recorded by artists such as U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
and Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
as a benefit CD for AIDS research. Another collection is Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter
Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter
Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter is an album released in 1996 by American singer Frank Sinatra. It comprises his renditions of Cole Porter songs.-Track listing:All songs written by Cole Porter.# "I've Got You Under My Skin" - 3:43...
(1996). John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
, who played "Jack" in the 2004 film De-Lovely
De-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
released a collection of Cole Porter songs, "John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter," in October 2004.
Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
performed a medley of Porter's songs at the 37th Academy Awards
37th Academy Awards
The 37th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1964. For the first time, an award was presented in the field of makeup. All four acting awards went to non-American actors, something not repeated until the 80th Academy Awards were awarded for 2007....
, the first Oscars ceremony held following Porter's death. In contrast with the highly embroidered and sanitized screen biography in Night and Day, his life was chronicled more realistically in De-Lovely
De-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
, a 2004 Irwin Winkler
Irwin Winkler
Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of 50 major motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards...
film starring Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
as Porter and Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
as Linda. In 1980, Porter's music was used for the score of Happy New Year
Happy New Year (musical)
Happy New Year is a musical with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on Philip Barry's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation and better known 1938 remake, it focuses on hedonistic young Wall Street attorney Johnny Case who, driven by his...
, based on the Philip Barry
Philip Barry
Philip James Quinn Barry was an American playwright born in Rochester, New York.-Early life:Philip Barry was born on June 18, 1896 in Rochester, New York to James Corbett Barry and Mary Agnes Quinn Barry. James would die from appendicitis a year after Philip's birth, and his father's marble and...
play Holiday. The Cole Porter Festival is held every year during the second weekend of June in his hometown of Peru, Indiana. The festival fosters music and art appreciation by celebrating Porter's life and music. In December 2010, his portrait was added to the Hoosier Heritage Gallery in the office of the Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
. Porter appears as a character in Woody Allen's
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
2011 film Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy-fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure...
.
Singers who have paid tribute to Porter in their work include the Swedish pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Gyllene Tider
Gyllene Tider
Gyllene Tider is a Swedish pop group. The name Gyllene Tider translates as "Golden ages" or "Golden times". Few Scandinavians would not recognize the band's most famous song "Sommartider", often played on the radio during late spring and early summer...
, which recorded a song called Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
Puls (album)
Puls was released on 26 August, 1982 and was the third album from Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider.-Track listings:All lyrics and music written by Per Gessle except as noted.# "Puls"# "Vän till en vän"# "Sommartider"...
(That girl from the Cole Porter song) in 1982. In country singer Jo Dee Messina
Jo Dee Messina
Jo Dee Marie Messina , known professionally as Jo Dee Messina, is an American country music artist. She has charted nine Number One singles on the Billboard country music charts. She has been honored by the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music and has been nominated for two...
's song "These Are the Days", the protagonist reveals that she sings old Cole Porter songs. He is referenced in the song "The Call of the Wild" (Merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
) by David Byrne on his 1989 album Rei Momo. He is also mentioned in the song "Tonite It Shows" by Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
on their 1998 album Deserter's Songs
Deserter's Songs
Deserter's Songs is the fourth studio album by the Buffalo, New York-based rock band Mercury Rev, released in late September 1998. British music magazine NME named Deserter's Songs album of the year for 1998...
. At halftime of the 1991 Orange Bowl between Colorado and Notre Dame, Joel Grey
Joel Grey
Joel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
led a large cast of singers and dancers in a tribute to Porter marking the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. The program was called, "You'll Get a Kick Out of Cole".
Porter was a Steinway artist, performing exclusively on Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
pianos. His own Steinway piano is currently in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
in New York City.
Notable 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. A complete list of Porter's works is in the Library of Congress (see also the Cole Porter Collection).- (1916) See America FirstSee America FirstSee America First is a comic opera with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The first work by Porter to be produced on Broadway, it was a critical and commercial flop.-Background:...
- (1919) Hitchy-Koo of 1919Hitchy-KooHitchy-Koo of 1919 is a musical revue with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the book by George V. Hobart. This revue was third in a series of four Hitchy-Koo revues produced by, and starring, Raymond Hitchcock. The original Broadway production was in 1919...
—"Old-Fashioned Garden" - (1928) ParisParis (1928 musical)Paris is a musical with the book by Martin Brown, and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, as well as Walter Kollo and Louis Alter and E. Ray Goetz and Roy Turk . The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1928, was Porter's first Broadway hit. The musical introduced the song "Let's Do It, Let's Fall...
—"Let's Do It, Let's Fall in LoveLet's Do It, Let's Fall in Love"Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" is a popular song written in 1928 by Cole Porter. It was introduced in Porter's first Broadway success, the musical Paris by French chanteuse Irène Bordoni for whom Porter had written the musical as a starring vehicle...
" - (1929) Wake Up and DreamWake Up and DreamWake Up and Dream is a musical revue with a book by John Hastings Turner and music and lyrics by Cole Porter and others. The most famous song from the revue is the Porter standard "What Is This Thing Called Love?"...
—"What Is This Thing Called Love?What Is This Thing Called Love?"What Is This Thing Called Love?"is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most often played compositions.Wake Up and Dream ran for 263...
" - (1929) Fifty Million FrenchmenFifty Million FrenchmenFifty Million Frenchmen is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later...
—"You Do Something to MeYou Do Something to Me"You Do Something to Me" is a song written by Cole Porter. It is notable in that it was the first number in Porter's first fully integrated-book musical Fifty Million Frenchmen...
" - (1930) The New YorkersThe New YorkersThe New Yorkers is a musical written by Cole Porter and Herbert Fields . The musical premiered on Broadway in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno and E. Ray Goetz. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers, thieves and prostitutes...
—"Love for Sale", "I Happen to Like New York" - (1932) Gay DivorceGay DivorceGay Divorce is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song "Night and Day" in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.It was made into a musical...
—"After You, Who?After You, Who?"After You, Who?" is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1932 musical Gay Divorce, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Dream Dancing...
", "Night and DayNight and Day (song)"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
" (adapted as The Gay DivorceeThe Gay DivorceeThe Gay Divorcee is a 1934 American film based on the musical play Gay Divorce written by Dwight Taylor, Kenneth S. Webb, Samuel Hoffenstein, with screenplay by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost and Edward Kaufman, from an unproduced play by J. Hartley Manners...
, 1934) - (1933) Nymph ErrantNymph ErrantNymph Errant is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Romney Brent based upon the novel by James Laver. The somewhat controversial story concerned a young English lady intent upon losing her virginity. Porter considered the score his best because of its worldliness and sexual...
—"Experiment", "The Physician", "It's Bad for Me" - (1934) Anything GoesAnything GoesAnything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
—"All Through the NightAll Through the Night (Cole Porter song)"All Through the Night" is a 1934 popular song written by Cole Porter for his 1934 musical Anything Goes. The melody's distinguishing characteristic is a descending chromatic scale, starting on "mi", interrupted by an octave jump after four bars....
", "Anything GoesAnything Goes (song)"Anything Goes" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Anything Goes . Many of the lyrics feature humorous references to various figures of scandal and gossip in Depression Era high society...
", "Blow Gabriel, Blow", "I Get a Kick Out of YouI Get a Kick Out of You"I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, originally featured in the Broadway musical Anything Goes and the movie of the same name....
", "You're the TopYou're the Top"You're The Top" is a Cole Porter song from the 1934 musical Anything Goes. It is about a man and a woman who take turns complimenting each other...
" - (1934) Adios Argentina (un-produced film)—"Don't Fence Me InDon't Fence Me In (song)Don't Fence Me In is a popular American song with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter.-Origins:Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the...
" - (1935) JubileeJubilee (musical)Jubilee is a musical comedy with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It premiered on Broadway in 1935 to rapturous reviews. Inspired by the recent silver jubilee of King George V of Great Britain, the story is of the royal family of a fictional European country...
—"Begin the BeguineBegin the Beguine"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...
", "Just One of Those ThingsJust One of Those Things (song)"Just One of Those Things" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee.The song was later featured in two Doris Day musical films, Lullaby of Broadway and Young at Heart .-Influence in popular culture:...
" - (1936) Red, Hot and BlueRed, Hot and BlueRed, Hot and Blue is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1936 and introduced the popular song, "It's De-Lovely" sung by Ethel Merman.-Synopsis:...
—"Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)"Down in the Depths " is a song written by Cole Porter, for his 1936 musical Red, Hot and Blue, in which it was introduced by Ethel Merman...
", "It's De-LovelyIt's De-Lovely"It's De-Lovely" is one of Cole Porter's hit songs, originally appearing in his 1936 musical, Red Hot and Blue. The song was later used in the musical Anything Goes, first appearing in the 1962 revival. The hit records in late 1936 and early 1937 included versions by Eddy Duchin, Shep Fields, and...
" - (1936) Born to DanceBorn to DanceBorn to Dance is an American musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and directed by Roy Del Ruth.The film stars dancer Eleanor Powell and was a follow-up to her successful debut in Broadway Melody of 1936...
(film)—"You'd Be So Easy to LoveYou'd Be So Easy to Love" Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1936 film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford...
", "I've Got You Under My SkinI've Got You Under My Skin (song)"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by Cole Porter. It became a signature song for Frank Sinatra and, in 1966, became a top 10 hit for The Four Seasons...
" - (1937) RosalieRosalie (film)Rosalie is an MGM film adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name. The film was released in December 1937. The film follows the story of the musical but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter...
(film);"In the Still of the NightIn the Still of the Night (1937 song)"In the Still of the Night" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the MGM film Rosalie sung by Nelson Eddy and published in 1937....
" - (1937) You Never KnowYou Never Know (musical)You Never Know is a musical with a book by Rowland Leigh, adapted from the original European play By Candlelight, by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas, with music by Cole Porter and Robert Katscher, lyrics by Cole Porter, additional lyrics by Leigh and Edwin Gilbert, directed by Leigh, and songs by...
—"At Long Last LoveAt Long Last Love (song)"At Long Last Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1938 musical You Never Know , where it was introduced by Clifton Webb.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Loves Cole...
", "From Alpha to Omega", "Let's MisbehaveLet's Misbehave"Let's Misbehave" is a famous song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, Paris...
" - (1938) Leave It to Me!Leave It to Me!Leave It to Me! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The "book" was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, who also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the play Clear All Wires by the Spewacks...
—"From Now On", "My Heart Belongs to DaddyMy Heart Belongs to Daddy"My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is a song written by Cole Porter, for the 1938 musical Leave It to Me! which premiered on Nov 9, 1938. It was performed by Mary Martin who played Dolly Winslow, the young protégée of an elderly ambassador, Alonzo P. Goodhue...
" - (1939) Broadway Melody of 1940Broadway Melody of 1940Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM movie musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine"....
—"Between You and Me", "I Concentrate on YouI Concentrate on You"I Concentrate on You" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1940 film Broadway Melody of 1940, where it was introduced by Douglas McPhail.-Notable recordings:...
", "I've Got My Eyes on YouI've Got My Eyes on You (1939 song)"I've Got My Eyes on You " is a popular song by Cole Porter, published in 1939 and written for the Hollywood musical film Broadway Melody of 1940 where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Later that year, it was included in Andy Hardy's Private Secretary where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson.The...
", "I Happen to Be in Love", "Begin the BeguineBegin the Beguine"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...
"
- (1939) Dubarry Was A LadyDuBarry Was a LadyDuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
—"Do I Love You?Do I Love You?"Do I Love You?" is a 1939 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical DuBarry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Ronald Graham and Ethel Merman.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook...
", "Well, Did You Evah!Well, Did You Evah!"Well, Did You Evah!" is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1939 musical Du Barry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Betty Grable and Charles Walters....
", "Friendship" - (1940) Panama HattiePanama HattiePanama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
—"Let's Be Buddies" - (1941) You'll Never Get RichYou'll Never Get RichYou'll Never Get Rich is a 1941 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, Cliff Nazarro, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The film was directed by Sidney Lanfield...
(film)—"Dream DancingDream DancingDream Dancing is a 1978 album by Ella Fitzgerald. Twelve of the tracks on this album were recorded in June 1972 and originally released on Fitzgerald's 1972 Atlantic album, Ella Loves Cole...
", "So Near and Yet So FarSo Near and Yet So Far"So Near and Yet So Far" is a song written by Cole Porter, for the 1941 film You'll Never Get Rich, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire....
" - (1941) Let's Face It!Let's Face It!Let's Face It! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell....
—"I Hate You, Darling" - (1942) Something for the BoysSomething for the BoysSomething for the Boys is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical.-Productions:...
—"Could It Be You" - (1942) Something to Shout AboutSomething to Shout AboutSomething to Shout About may refer to:*Something to Shout About , a 1965 LP from British singer Lulu*Something to Shout About , a 1943 Columbia musical film directed by Gregory Ratoff...
—"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home ToYou'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for the 1943 film Something to Shout About, where it was introduced by Janet Blair and Don Ameche. Dinah Shore had a major hit with the song at the time of its introduction...
" - (1943) Mexican HayrideMexican Hayride (musical)Mexican Hayride is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The show opened on Broadway in 1944.-Production:...
—"I Love YouI Love You (Cole Porter song)"I Love You" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1944 for his stage musical Mexican Hayride. It was popularized by Bing Crosby in the same year...
" - (1944) Seven Lively Arts—"Ev'ry Time We Say GoodbyeEv'ry Time We Say GoodbyePublished by Chappell & Company, "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" is a song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter. It was introduced in 1944 in Billy Rose's musical revue, Seven Lively Arts....
" - (1946) Around the WorldAround the World (musical)Around the World is a musical with a book adapted by Orson Welles, based on the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. It involves an around-the-world adventure by Phileas Fogg.Music, lyrics and incidental score are by Cole Porter...
—"Look What I Found" - (1947) The PirateThe PirateThe Pirate is a 1948 American musical feature film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. With songs by Cole Porter, it stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly with co-stars Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, and George Zucco.-Plot:...
(film)—"Be a ClownBe a Clown"Be a Clown" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1948 film The Pirate. The song was first performed by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in the film The Pirate....
" - (1948) Kiss Me, KateKiss Me, KateKiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
—"Another Op'nin', Another Show", "Brush Up Your Shakespeare", "I Hate Men", "So in LoveSo in Love"So in Love" is a popular song, written by Cole Porter, from his musical Kiss Me, Kate, based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It was sung in the show by Patricia Morison, reprised by Alfred Drake and further popularized by Patti Page in 1949.The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records...
", "Tom, Dick or HarryTom, Dick or Harry (song)Tom, Dick or Harry is a show tune from the Cole Porter musical, Kiss Me, Kate, introduced on Broadway on December 30, 1948 by Lisa Kirk ; Harold Lang ; Edwin Clay ; and Charles Wood...
", "Too Darn HotToo Darn Hot"Too Darn Hot" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Kiss Me, Kate . In the stage version, it is sung at the start of Act 2, and in the 1948 original Broadway production, it was sung by Lorenzo Fuller and Eddie Sledge and Fred Davis...
" - (1950) Out of This World—"From This Moment OnFrom This Moment On (Cole Porter song)"From This Moment On" is a 1951 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Out of This World, where it was dropped, but included in MGM's Kiss Me Kate of 1953...
", "I Am Loved" - (1950) Stage FrightStage Fright (film)Stage Fright is a 1950 British crime film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding and Richard Todd...
(film)—"The Laziest Gal in Town" - (1953) Can-CanCan-Can (musical)Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
—"I Am in LoveI Am in Love"I Am in Love" is a 1953 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Peter Cookson.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook...
", "I Love ParisI Love Paris"I Love Paris" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1953. The song was introduced by Lilo in the musical Can-Can.Was the title of Michel Legrand's most popular album, which included an orchestral arrangement of the song...
", "C'est MagnifiqueC'est Magnifique"C'est Magnifique" is a 1953 popular song written by Cole Porter for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Lilo and Peter Cookson The song has become a standard, despite weak performance in the 1953 charts...
" - (1954) Silk StockingsSilk StockingsSilk Stockings is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Hildegarde Knef gives a vivid backstage account of the casting, rehearsals, tryouts and Broadway opening of "Silk Stockings" in her autobiography "The Gift Horse:...
—"All of YouAll of You"All of You" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1954.It was featured in the musical film Silk Stockings and been recorded by Fred Astaire, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald on her 1972 album: Ella Loves Cole, Billie Holiday, Tony Martin, and Anita O'Day.The jazz pianist Bill Evans...
", "Paris Loves Lovers" - (1955) High Society (film)—"Mind if I Make Love to You?Mind if I Make Love to You?"Mind if I Make Love to You?" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was sung by Frank Sinatra to Grace Kelly....
", "True LoveTrue Love (song)"True Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and was published in 1956.The song was introduced by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the musical film High Society. The Crosby–Kelly version, accompanied by Johnny Green's MGM studio orchestra using a romantic arrangement by Conrad Salinger, was...
", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (song)"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was introduced by Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm....
", "You're SensationalYou're Sensational"You're Sensational" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was introduced by Frank Sinatra.-Notable recordings:*Frank Sinatra - High Society *Jack Jones - Dear Heart...
" - (1956) Les GirlsLes GirlsLes Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
—"Ça, C'est L'amourCa, C'est L'amour"Ça, C'est L'amour" is a popular song by Cole Porter, published in 1957. It was introduced in the film Les Girls.The recording by Tony Bennett was cut in New York City on September 19, 1957 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 41032. It reached the Billboard magazine charts on...
", "You're Just Too, Too" - (1958) AladdinAladdin (TV special)Aladdin was a 1958 musical fantasy written especially for television with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, telecast in color on the DuPont Show of the Month by CBS. It was Porter's very last musical score. The musical was later presented on stage in London, premiering...
(television)—"Come to the Supermarket (In Old Peking)"
A far more comprehensive list of Cole Porter songs, along with their date of composition and original show, is available online at the "Cole Porter Songlist Page".
External links
- Cole Porter
- Cole Porter discography at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Cole Porter Birthplace & Museum
- Cole Porter Online Archive
- Gay Greats—Cole Porter
- Cole Porter Festival