Composer and lyricist, Cole Porter crafted the most “swellegant, elegant” standards of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, including “You’re the Top,” “Night and Day,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” According to music historian David Ewen, he “was the cynic whose love was often for sale; who could be true to you only in his fashion; to whom that seemingly crushing love affair was just one of those things.” But the key to Cole’s ultra-sophisticated work and extravagant lifestyle is the title of one of his most popular tunes: “Anything Goes.”
Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana, on June 8, 1891, the only grandchild of a self-made millionaire. At six, he began studying piano and violin, and had a waltz published by his indulgent mother when he was 11. After prep school, Cole attended Yale University, where he was the big music man on campus, composing 300 songs for football games and college musicals. He dropped out of Harvard Law School for a songwriting career. Some of his songs were performed on Broadway but his first show, See America First, was a flop and he sailed for France in 1917. Later, Porter circulated stories that he had joined the French Foreign Legion, but he actually spent World War I partying in Paris. In 1919, he married Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy American divorcee. Even though Porter was homosexual, he and Linda were devoted to each other and lived in grand style until her death in 1954.
While he was in Paris, Porter studied harmony and counterpoint with the French classical composer, Vincent d’Indy, and this early classical training can be heard in the chromaticism and rhythmic complexity of his songs. Porter composed the score for a 1924 revue—but he didn’t have his first Broadway hit until Paris, in 1928, which included “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love).” Over the next decade, Porter wrote words and music for the wittiest shows on Broadway. In 1929, he had hits with Wake Up and Dream (“What Is This Thing Called Love?”) and Fifty Million Frenchmen (“You Do Something to Me”). In 1930 he came out with The New Yorkers (“Love for Sale”), along with Gay Divorce (“Night and Day”) in 1932 and Jubilee (“Begin the Beguine”) in 1935. Two of his most successful shows Anything Goes (“I Get a Kick Out of You”), in 1934, and Red, Hot, and Blue! (“It’s De-Lovely”), in 1936, starred his favourite singer, Ethel Merman. His songs were also used enthusiastically by many stars of the day, including Fred Astaire and Bing CROSBY.
When Porter’s legs were severely injured in a riding accident in 1937, Linda refused to let doctors amputate. After several operations (and walking with the aid of braces and a cane), he returned to the limelight with a string of successful—if formulaic—musical comedies. In 1946, Night and Day, a film biography of Porter, used fourteen of his songs. In 1948, he made a stunning comeback on Broadway with Kiss Me, Kate, a reworking of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, which produced classic songs such as “So in Love,” “Always True to You in My Fashion,” and “Too Darn Hot.” He followed with more hits—in 1950, Out of this World (“From This Moment On”); in 1953 Can-Can (“I Love Paris”); in 1955 Silk Stockings (“All of You’). He also wrote directly for Hollywood. The movie High Society, starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra, was released in 1956 featuring the hit song “True Love.”
Sadly, in 1958, Porter’s right leg was finally amputated, and with it his desire to write—and even to live. The great sophisticate died on October 15, 1964, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 73, and was buried back home in Indiana. In 1990, rock artists, including U2 and Annie Lennox, paid tribute to Porter on Red, Hot, and Blue, an album sold to benefit AIDS research.
Michael R. Ross
SEE ALSO:
FILM MUSICALS; MUSICALS; POPULAR MUSIC; U2.
FURTHER READING
McBrien, William. Cole Porter A Biography (New York: Knopf, 1998);
Morella, Joseph, and George Mazzei. Genius and Lust: The Creativity and Sexuality of Cole Porter and Noel Coward (London: Robson, 1996).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
American Songbook Series: Cole Porter; From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter; Red, Hot, and Blue.