Cole Porter biography
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[h3]The only child of Samuel Fenwick, a druggist, and Kate Cole, the American songwriter and musician, Cole Porter was spoilt for attention. [/h3]

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 [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/255:0/Eugene_Gene_Kelly.htm]Gene Kelly[/urlnew]/[urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/142:0/Judy_Garland.htm]Judy Garland[/urlnew] musical The Pirate (1948). High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby, [url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/1927:0/Frank_Sinatra.htm]Frank Sinatra[/url] and [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/254:0/Grace_Kelly.htm]Grace Kelly[/urlnew], 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.
Cole Porter biography



- Cole was confined to a wheelchair for five years after a horse riding accident and endured over 30 operations to save his legs.

- Cole's marriage was a professional one - he was gay.

- Cole loved to party and once had an extravagant floating nightclub built to accommodate a hundred guests.


Cole Porter biography



De-Lovely (2004)

True Love (2003)

Freaky Friday (2003)

Begin the Beguine (2003)

Ça c'est l'amour (2003)

Satin and Silk (2003)

Too Darn Hot (2003)

Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire) (2003)

You're the One (2000)

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Mayn harts gehert tsum tatn (1999)

The Bachelor (1999)

Bride of Chucky (1998)

Little Voice (1998)

Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

The Great White Hype (1996)

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Forget Paris (1995)

French Kiss (1995)

Tank Girl (1995)

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Prelude to a Kiss (1992)

Edward II (1991)

Red Hot and Blue (1990)

Torch Song Trilogy (1988)

Another Woman (1988)

Mr. North (1988)

Radio Days (1987)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Vacation (1983)

Evil Under the Sun (1982)

Volver a empezar (1982)

Heavy Metal (1981)

American Pop (1981)

Musing (1980)

A Special Olivia Newton-John (1976)

At Long Last Love (1975)

Sleuth (1972)

What's Up, Doc? (1972)

Kiss Me Kate (1968)

The Fortune Cookie (1966)

Loco por ellas (1966)

Küß mich Kätchen (1961)

Can-Can (1960)

Kiss Me, Kate (1958)

Les Girls (1957)

"The DuPont Show of the Month " (1957)

Silk Stockings (1957)

High Society (1956)

Anything Goes (1956)

Young at Heart (1954)

Panama Hattie (1954)

"The Best of Broadway " (1954)

Easy to Love (1953)

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)

Sunny Side of the Street (1951)

Stage Fright (1950)

Adam's Rib (1949)

Mexican Hayride (1948)

The Time of Your Life (1948)

The Pirate (1948)

This Time for Keeps (1947)

The Show-Off (1946)

Night and Day (1946)

Don't Fence Me In (1945)

Something for the Boys (1944)

Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)

I Dood It (1943)

Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)

Let's Face It (1943)

Hers to Hold (1943)

Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

Something to Shout About (1943)

Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica School (1942)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Panama Hattie (1942)

Wings for the Eagle (1942)

Juke Girl (1942)

You'll Never Get Rich (1941)

Hal Kemp and His Orchestra (1941)

Million Dollar Baby (1941)

Strange Alibi (1941)

Here Comes Happiness (1941)

Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)

High Sierra (1941)

Honeymoon for Three (1941)

Love Thy Neighbor (1940)

Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra (1940)

Castle on the Hudson (1940)

'Broadway Melody of 1940' (1940)

Everybody's Hobby (1939)

Rosalie (1937)

The Singing Marine (1937)

George Hall and His Orchestra (1936)

Born to Dance (1936)

Anything Goes (1936)

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

Paree, Paree (1934)

Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931)

The Battle of Paris (1929)

Paris (1929)
Cole Porter biography




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