Cole Porter Biography

The only child of Samuel Fenwick, a druggist, and Kate Cole, the American songwriter and musician, Cole Porter was spoilt for attention.

An early learner of the violin and piano, he had written his first song, ‘Song of the Birds’, by the age of ten. His mother had his piece ‘The Bobolink Waltz’ published a few years later.

Sent to prestigious Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, he went on to Yale, where he wrote two of their best-known football songs, ‘Bull Dog’ and ‘Bingo Eg Tale’.

Moving to France after the relative failure of his first show, 'See America First', he polished his song-writing. He had his first hit with ‘An Old Fashioned Garden’, from the show 'Hitchy Koo', in 1919. He also married Linda Lee Thomas, who was wealthy and one of the beauties of her day.

Although Porter was often photographed in the arms of beautiful women and was married for 34 years to one wife, many have speculated that he was gay. The couple separated briefly in the early 1930s when, it is believed, Porter's sexual orientation became more and more open during their time living in Hollywood.

After writing the score for 'Within the Quota', a jazz ballet in 1923, he decided to move to New York, and, in 1928, debuted on Broadway with 'Paris', including the songs ‘Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love’. This was followed by 'Fifty Million Frenchmen', which featured ‘You Do Something To Me’ and ‘You’ve Got That Thing’.

Throughout the 1930s, Porter could do no wrong, with shows such as 'The New Yorkers', 'Gay Divorcee', 'Jubilee', and 'Dubarry was a Lady'. He also wrote the scores for many Hollywood movies, such as 'Rosalie' and 'Born to Dance'.

Tragedy struck in 1937, when he was seriously injured in a riding accident. Nearly losing his legs, the work which followed in the early 1940s was inferior, prompting many to consider him a spent force.

However, in 1948, Porter came up with 'Kiss Me Kate', his biggest success, followed by 'Anything Goes'. Despite the accident, he continued to work in Hollywood, writing the scores for two Fred Astaire movies, Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), which featured "I Concentrate On You," and You'll Never Get Rich (1941).

He later wrote the songs for the Gene Kelly/Judy Garland musical The Pirate (1948). High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly, had Porter's last major hit, "True Love."

Composing up until his death, he finally lost his leg in 1958, before Yale awarded him with an honourary doctorate in 1960.

Porter died from kidney failure on the 15th October 1964. He was 73.