Cole Porter

American composer and songwriter (1891–1964)

Porter in the 1930s

Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in Hollywood films.

Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, Porter defied his grandfather's wishes for him to practice law and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn to 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 many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as 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 1930s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, Kiss Me, Kate. It won the first Tony Award for Best Musical.

Porter's other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady, Anything Goes, Can-Can and Silk Stockings. His numerous hit songs include "Night and Day", "Begin the Beguine", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and "You're the Top". He also composed scores for films from the 1930s to the 1950s, including Born to Dance (1936), which featured the song "You'd Be So Easy to Love"; Rosalie (1937), which featured "In the Still of the Night"; High Society (1956), which included "True Love"; and Les Girls (1957).

## Life and career

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### Early years

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Farmhouse at Westleigh Farms

Porter was born in Peru, Indiana, on June 9, 1891, the only surviving child of a wealthy family.[n 1][2] His father, Samuel Fenwick Porter, was a pharmacist by trade.[3][n 2] 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.[5][n 3] J. O. Cole built the couple a house on his Peru-area property, known as Westleigh Farms.[7] After high school, Porter returned to his childhood home only for occasional visits.[8]

Porter's strong-willed mother doted on him[9] and began his 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 ten. She falsified his recorded birth year, changing it from 1891 to 1893 to make him appear more precocious.[5] His father, 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.[3] Porter's father was also a talented singer and pianist, but the father-son relationship was not close.[9]

Porter as a Yale College student

J. O. Cole wanted his grandson to become a lawyer,[5] and with that in mind, sent him to Worcester Academy in Massachusetts in 1905. Porter brought an upright piano with him to school[10] and found that music, and his ability to entertain, made it easy for him to make friends.[10] Porter did well in school and rarely came home to visit.[11] He became class valedictorian[5] and was rewarded by his grandfather with a tour of France, Switzerland and Germany. [12] Entering Yale College in 1909, Porter majored in English, minored in music, and also studied French.[13] He was a member of Scroll and Key and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record.[14] He was an early member of the Whiffenpoofs a cappella singing group and participated in several other music clubs;[15] in his senior year, he was elected president of the Yale Glee Club and was its principal soloist.[13]

Porter wrote 300 songs while at Yale,[5] including student songs such as the football fight songs "Bulldog"[16] and "Bingo Eli Yale" (aka "Bingo, That's The Lingo!") that are still played at Yale.[17][2] During college, Porter became acquainted with New York City's vibrant nightlife, taking the train there for dinner, theater, and nights on the town with his classmates, before returning to New Haven, Connecticut, early in the morning.[15] He also wrote musical comedy scores for his fraternity, the Yale Dramatic Association, and as a student at Harvard – Cora (1911), And the Villain Still Pursued Her (1912), The Pot of Gold (1912), The Kaleidoscope (1913) and Paranoia (1914) – which helped prepare him for a career as a Broadway and Hollywood composer and lyricist.[13] After graduating from Yale, Porter enrolled in Harvard Law School in 1913, where he roomed with future Secretary of State Dean Acheson.[18] He soon felt that he was not destined to be a lawyer, and, at the suggestion of the dean of the law school, switched to Harvard's music department, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Pietro Yon.[3] His mother did not object to this move, but it was kept secret from J. O. Cole.[5]

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.[19] Porter spent the next year in New York City before going overseas during World War I.[13]

### WWI, Paris and marriage

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Lady in Blue, 1906 portrait of Linda Lee Thomas by Emil Fuchs

In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Porter moved to Paris to work with the Duryea Relief organization.[20][n 4] Some writers have been skeptical about Porter's claim to have served in the French Foreign Legion,[5][19] but the Legion lists Porter as one of its soldiers and displays his portrait at its museum in Aubagne.[22] By some accounts, he served in North Africa and was transferred to the French Officers School at Fontainebleau, teaching gunnery to American soldiers.[23] An obituary notice in The New York Times stated 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."[24] 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.[25]

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".[5] In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky-born divorcée eight years his senior.[26][n 5] She was beautiful and well-connected socially; the couple shared mutual interests, including a love of travel, and she became Porter's confidante and companion.[28] The couple married the following year. She was in no doubt about Porter's homosexuality,[n 6] 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.[27] 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 her death in 1954.[5] 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, 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.[3] Meanwhile, Porter's first big hit was the song "Old-Fashioned Garden" from the revue Hitchy-Koo of 1919.[26] In 1920, he contributed the music of several songs to the musical A Night Out.[30]

Ca' Rezzonico in Venice, leased by Porter in the 1920s

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.[24] 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 guests, and for a party at Ca' Rezzonico, which he rented for $4,000 a month ($74,000 in current value), he hired 50 gondoliers to act as footmen and had a troupe of tightrope walkers perform in a blaze of lights.[24] In the midst of this extravagant lifestyle, Porter continued to write songs with his wife's encouragement.[31]

Cole Porter, Linda Lee Thomas, Bernard Berenson, and Howard Sturges in gondola, 1923

Porter received few commissions for songs in the years immediately after his marriage. He had the occasional number interpolated into other writers' revues in Britain 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".[32] 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.[33] The work, written for the Ballets suédois, lasts about 16 minutes. It was orchestrated by Charles Koechlin and shared the same opening night as Milhaud's La création du monde.[34] Porter's work was one of the earliest symphonic jazz-based compositions, predating George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by four months, and was well received by both French and American reviewers after its premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in October 1923.[34][n 7]

After a successful New York performance the following month, the Ballets suédois 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 and others.[36] Porter had less success with his work on The 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.[37] Frustrated by the public response to most of his work, Porter nearly gave up songwriting as a career, although he continued to compose songs for friends and perform at private parties.[31]

### Broadway and West End success

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Irène Bordoni, star of Porter's Paris

At the age of 36, Porter reintroduced himself to Broadway in 1928 with the musical Paris, his first hit.[38] It was commissioned by E. Ray Goetz at the instigation of Goetz's wife and the show's star, Irène Bordoni.[38] She had wanted Rodgers and Hart to write the songs, but they were unavailable, and Porter's agent persuaded Goetz to hire Porter instead.[39] In August 1928, Porter's work on the show was interrupted by the death of his father. He hurried back to Indiana to comfort his mother before returning to work. The songs written for the show included "Let's Misbehave", which was dropped before the show opened in New York, and one of Porter's best-known list songs, "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love", which replaced "Let's Misbehave" and was introduced by Bordoni and Arthur Margetson.[40] 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 des Ambassadeurs at the Les Ambassadeurs music hall.[41][42] This was also a success, and, in Citron's phrase, Porter was finally "accepted into the upper echelon of Broadway songwriters".[43] Cochran now 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 revue, Wake Up and Dream, ran for 263 performances in London, after which Cochran transferred it to New York in 1929. On Broadway, business was badly affected by the 1929 Wall Street crash,[n 8] and the production 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.[45] Porter's new fame brought him offers from Hollywood, but because his score for Paramount's The Battle of Paris was undistinguished, and its star, Gertrude Lawrence, was miscast, the film was not a success.[46] Citron expresses the view that Porter was not interested in cinema and "noticeably wrote down for the movies."[47]

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".[48] 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 admired and championed 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.[49]

### 1930s

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Ray Goetz, producer of Paris and Fifty Million Frenchmen, the success of which 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.[50] 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 Elisabeth 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.[51] Porter often referred to it as his favorite of his songs.[52] The New Yorkers also included the hit "I Happen to Like New York".[53]

Elisabeth Welch starred in Porter's The New Yorkers and Nymph Errant.

Next came Fred Astaire's last stage show, Gay Divorce (1932).[54] It featured a hit that became Porter's best-known song, "Night and Day".[n 9] 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 rights to the film, retitled The Gay Divorcee, were sold to RKO Pictures.[n 10] 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 Elisabeth Welch.[56]

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.[57] The stars he wanted were Ethel Merman, William Gaxton and comedian Victor Moore. He planned a story about 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 telling each of these that he had already signed the others, Freedley gathered his ideal team together.[n 11] A drastic last-minute rewrite was necessitated by a major shipping accident that dominated the news and made Bolton and Wodehouse's book seem tasteless.[n 12] Nevertheless, the show, Anything Goes, was an immediate hit. Porter wrote what many consider his greatest score of this period. The New Yorker magazine's review said, "Mr. Porter is in a class by himself",[60] and Porter subsequently called it one of his two perfect shows, along with the later Kiss Me, Kate.[60] 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.[61] The show ran for 420 performances in New York (a particularly long run in the 1930s) and 261 in London.[62] 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.[63][n 13] Now at the height of his success, Porter was able to enjoy the opening night of his musicals; he made grand entrances and sat 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."[60]

Anything Goes was the first of five Porter shows featuring Merman. He loved her loud, brassy voice and wrote many numbers that displayed her strengths.[64] 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".[65] 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".[66] 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."[67]

Porter also wrote for Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His scores include those for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Born to Dance (1936), with James Stewart, 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".[68] He wrote the score of the short film Paree, Paree, in 1935, using some of the songs from Fifty Million Frenchmen.[69] Porter also composed the cowboy song "Don't Fence Me In" for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced movie, in 1934, but it did not become a hit until Roy Rogers sang it in the 1944 film Hollywood Canteen.[70] Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, and other artists also popularized it in the 1940s. The Porters moved to Hollywood in December 1935, but Porter's wife did not like the movie environment, and Porter's closeted homosexual acts, formerly very discreet, became less so; she retreated to their Paris house.[71][72] When his film assignment on Rosalie was finished in 1937, Porter hastened to Paris to make peace with Linda, but she remained cool. After a walking tour of Europe with his friends, Porter returned to New York in October 1937 without her.[73] They were soon reunited by an accident Porter suffered.[74]

On October 24, 1937, Porter was riding with Countess Edith di Zoppola and Duke Fulco di 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.[75] He remained in the hospital for seven months before being allowed to go home to his apartment at the Waldorf Towers.[76][77][n 14] He resumed work as soon as he could, finding it took his mind off his perpetual pain.[76]

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.[79] The score included the songs "From Alpha to Omega" and "At Long Last Love".[80] 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".[81] Porter's last show of the 1930s was DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), a particularly risqué show starring Merman and Bert Lahr.[82] After a pre-Broadway tour, during which it ran into trouble with Boston censors,[83] it achieved 408 performances, beginning at the 46th Street Theatre.[84] 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".[85] At the end of 1939, Porter contributed six songs to the film Broadway Melody of 1940 for Fred Astaire, George Murphy and Eleanor Powell.[86]

Meanwhile, as political unrest increased in Europe, Porter's wife closed their Paris house in 1939, and the next year bought a country home in the Berkshire mountains, near Williamstown, Massachusetts, which she decorated with elegant furnishings from their Paris home. Porter spent time in Hollywood, New York and Williamstown.[87]

### 1940s and postwar

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Fred Astaire in You'll Never Get Rich

Panama Hattie (1940) was Porter's longest-running hit so far, running in New York for 501 performances despite the absence of any enduring Porter songs.[88] It starred Merman, Arthur Treacher and Betty Hutton. Let's Face It! (1941), starring Danny Kaye, had an even better run, with 547 performances in New York.[89] This, too, lacked any numbers that became standards, and Porter always counted it among his lesser efforts.[90] 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.[91] These shows, too, are short of Porter standards. The critics did not pull their punches, complaining about the lack of hit tunes and the generally low standard of the scores.[92] 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.[93]

Between Broadway musicals, Porter continued to write 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.[94] 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.[95] The biopic's success contrasted starkly with the failure of Vincente Minnelli's film The Pirate (1948), with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly,[96] in which five new Porter songs received little attention.[97]

Porter and Jean Howard in early 1954

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.[98] 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".[99]

Porter began the 1950s with Out of This World (1950), which had some good numbers but too much camp and vulgarity,[100] 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.[101] The soundtrack from Can-Can's film adaptation won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album.[102] Porter's last original Broadway production, Silk Stockings (1955), featuring "All of You", was also successful, with a run of 477 performances.[103] Porter wrote two more film scores and music for a television special before ending his Hollywood career. The film High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly, included Porter's last major hit song "True Love".[26] It was adapted as a stage musical of the same name. Porter also wrote numbers for the film Les Girls (1957), which starred Gene Kelly. His final score was for the CBS television special Aladdin (1958).[104]

### Last years

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Porter's mother died in 1952, and Linda died of emphysema in 1954.[105] 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.[106] 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."[107] 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.[106] 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.[24]

Porter family gravesite in Peru, Indiana

Porter died of kidney failure at age 73 on October 15, 1964, in Santa Monica, California.[108] He is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in his native Peru, Indiana, between his wife and father.[109]

## Tributes and legacy

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Many artists have recorded Porter songs, and dozens have released entire albums of his songs.[110] In 1956, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald released Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook. In 1972, she released another collection, Ella Loves Cole. Other prominent artists who recorded all-Porter albums include Bing Crosby, Oscar Peterson, Anita O'Day, Julie London, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Stephane Grappelli and Yo-Yo Ma, Dionne Warwick and Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.[110][111] In 1990, Red Hot + Blue, released to benefit AIDS research, featured 20 Cole Porter songs recorded by artists such as U2 and Annie Lennox.[112]

In 1965, shortly after Porter's death, Judy Garland performed a medley of Porter's songs at the 37th Academy Awards.[113] Numerous ensembles have paid tribute to Porter since his death, including the National Symphony Orchestra in 2005;[114] the Yale Concert Band in 2010;[115] the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, with Marvin Hamlisch as conductor, in 2011;[116] the Boston Pops in 2011[117] and 2012[118]; and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with Hamlisch and Michael Feinstein, in 2012.[119] In 1980, Porter's music was used for the score of Happy New Year, based on the Philip Barry play Holiday.[120] The cast of The Carol Burnett Show paid tribute to Porter in two different episodes of the series.[121] The Swedish pop music group Gyllene Tider recorded the song "Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång" ("That Girl from the Cole Porter Song") in 1982. David Byrne mentioned Porter in his 1989 song "The Call of the Wild", as did Mercury Rev in its 1998 song "Tonite It Shows".

Porter's life has been dramatized several times. The biographical show Cole, by Alan Strachan and Benny Green, featuring Porter hits, ran in 1974 at London's Mermaid Theatre.[122] In contrast to the highly embellished 1946 screen biography Night and Day,[95] Porter's life was chronicled more realistically in De-Lovely, a 2004 Irwin Winkler film starring Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as Linda.[123] De-Lovely's soundtrack includes Porter songs sung by Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall and Natalie Cole, among others.[124] Porter also appears as a character in Woody Allen's 2011 film Midnight in Paris.[125]

Many events commemorated the centenary of Porter's birth, including the halftime show of the 1991 Orange Bowl.[126][127] Joel Grey and a large cast of singers, dancers and marching bands performed a tribute to Porter in Miami, Florida during the 57th King Orange Jamboree parade, whose theme was "Anything Goes".[128][129] The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performed a program of Cole Porter music at the Circle Theatre in Indianapolis, which also featured clips of Porter's Hollywood films.[127] "A Gala Birthday Concert" was held at New York City's Carnegie Hall, with more than 40 entertainers and friends paying tribute to Porter's long career in theater and film.[130] The Indiana University Opera performed Porter's musical Jubilee in Bloomington, Indiana.[131] You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story, a video of archival material and interviews, and Red, Hot and Blue, a video of artists performing Porter's music, were released.[130] In addition, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring Porter's birth.[132]

In May 2007, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated to Porter.[133] In December 2010, his portrait was added to the Hoosier Heritage Gallery in the office of the Governor of Indiana.[134] In 2014, Porter was honored with a plaque on the Legacy Walk in Chicago, which celebrates LGBT achievers.[135][136] Porter is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame,[137] the American Theater Hall of Fame[138] and the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame, which recognized his "musically complex [songs] with witty, urbane lyrics".[139]

The Cole Porter Festival is held every year in June in his hometown of Peru, Indiana, to foster music and art appreciation.[140] Porter's birthplace, restored to its 1891 appearance, is now an inn with suites named for him and his works.[141] Costumed singers in the cabaret-style Cole Porter Room at the Indiana Historical Society's Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis take requests from visitors and perform Porter's hit songs.[n 15] Since Porter's death, except for a brief time at the New York Historical Society, his 1908 Steinway grand piano, which he had used when composing since the mid-1930s, has been displayed and often played in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.[143]

## Notable songs

[edit]

Main article: List of songs written by Cole Porter

Shows listed are stage musicals unless otherwise noted.[n 16]

* (1910) "Bingo Eli Yale" (Porter's first Yale football song, still sung today)[144]
* (1911) "Bull Dog" (the official Yale fight song)[145]
* (1919) Hitchy-Koo of 1919 – "Old-Fashioned Garden" (Porter's first hit)[146]
* (1927) "The Laziest Gal in Town" (made famous by Marlene Dietrich in the 1950 film Stage Fright)[147]
* (1927) "Let's Misbehave" (used in Paris, but cut before the New York opening)[148]
* (1928) Paris (adapted to film in 1929) – "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love"
* (1929) Wake Up and Dream – "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
* (1929) Fifty Million Frenchmen – "You Do Something to Me"
* (1930) The New Yorkers – "Love for Sale", "I Happen to Like New York", "Where Have You Been?"
* (1932) Gay Divorce (adapted to film as The Gay Divorcee, 1934) – "After You, Who?", "Night and Day"
* (1933) Nymph Errant – "Experiment", "The Physician", "It's Bad for Me"
* (1934) Hi Diddle Diddle (revue) — "Miss Otis Regrets"
* (1934) Anything Goes (adapted to film in 1936 and 1956) – "All Through the Night", "Anything Goes", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "You're the Top"
* (1934) Adios Argentina (unproduced film) – "Don't Fence Me In"
* (1935) Jubilee – "Begin the Beguine", "Just One of Those Things"
* (1936) Red, Hot and Blue – "Down in the Depths (On the Ninetieth Floor)", "Ridin' High", "It's De-Lovely"
* (1936) Born to Dance (film) – "You'd Be So Easy to Love", "I've Got You Under My Skin"
* (1937) Rosalie (film)  – "In the Still of the Night"
* (1938) You Never Know – "At Long Last Love", "Let's Misbehave"

* (1938) Leave It to Me! – "Get Out of Town", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
* (1939) Broadway Melody of 1940 (film) – "I Concentrate on You", "I've Got My Eyes on You"
* (1939) Du Barry Was a Lady (adapted to film in 1943) – "Do I Love You?", "Give Him the Ooh-La-La", "Well, Did You Evah!", "Friendship"
* (1940) Panama Hattie (adapted to film in 1942) – "Let's Be Buddies"
* (1941) You'll Never Get Rich (film) – "Dream Dancing", "So Near and Yet So Far"
* (1941) Let's Face It! (adapted to film in 1943) – "Ace in the Hole"
* (1943) Something to Shout About (film) – "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"
* (1944) Mexican Hayride – "I Love You"
* (1944) Seven Lively Arts – "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"
* (1948) The Pirate (film) – "Be a Clown"
* (1948) Kiss Me, Kate (adapted to film in 1953) – "Always True to You in My Fashion", "Another Op'nin', Another Show", "Brush Up Your Shakespeare", "I Hate Men", "So in Love", "Tom, Dick or Harry", "Too Darn Hot", "Why Can't You Behave?", "Wunderbar"
* (1950) Out of This World – "From This Moment On", "I Am Loved"
* (1953) Can-Can (adapted to film in 1960) – "Allez-Vous-En", "C'est Magnifique", "I Am in Love", "I Love Paris", "It's All Right with Me"
* (1954) Silk Stockings (adapted to film in 1957) – "All of You"
* (1955) High Society (film) – "I Love You, Samantha", "Mind if I Make Love to You?", "True Love", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "You're Sensational"
* (1956) Les Girls (film) – "Ça, C'est L'amour"
* (1958) Aladdin (television) – "Come to the Supermarket (In Old Peking)"

|

## Discography

[edit]

Main article: Cole Porter discography

Hundreds of recordings have been made of Porter's works. Many of these are listed in The Cole Porter Reference Guide.[149]

## Notes, references and sources

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Porter's parents had two children who died in infancy before his birth – Louis Omar (b. and d. 1885) and Rachel (1888–90).[1]
2. ^ Porter's father came to Peru, Indiana, from Vevay, Indiana. He eventually owned three drugstores in Peru.[4]
3. ^ Porter's great-grandfather, A. A. Cole, had come to Peru, Indiana, in 1834 from Connecticut, as a child. J. O. Cole grew up in Peru but moved west during the Gold Rush of 1849. He made his fortune in California and invested it in Indiana farmland and West Virginia timber, coal, and oil.[6]
4. ^ He subsequently enlisted in the First Foreign Regiment, before moving to other regiments prior to his April 1919 discharge.[21]
5. ^ She divorced newspaper mogul Edward R. Thomas in 1912, receiving more than a million dollars in the divorce settlement.[27]
6. ^ Porter had "frequent homosexual encounters"[29]
7. ^ The British classical music journal The Musical Times commented, "There was plenty of excitement of a certain kind – at least for the more excitable spectators".[35]
8. ^ The Porters were not greatly affected by the crash, having their assets in safe investments and held in a number of foreign banks, which remained solvent.[44]
9. ^ In 1999, Matthew Shaftel wrote, "Less than two months after the show's opening ... the song was featured on two best-selling recordings and was at the top of sheet music sales. Since then, 83 artists have registered with the [ASCAP] ... to legally perform and record "Night and Day". [Even] today, more than 65 years after its composition, the song earns a stunning six figures, making it Warner Brothers' "crown jewel", and placing it on ASCAP's list of top money-earners of all time.[3]
10. ^ The film version, starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers dropped all of Porter's score except "Night and Day"[55]
11. ^ Freedley told Bolton and Wodehouse that he had secured Merman, then contacted Gaxton, Moore, and finally Merman.[58]
12. ^ In 1934, the S.S. Morro Castle caught fire off the New Jersey shore, killing more than 100 people.[59] Bolton and Wodehouse were by then engaged in other work, and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse rewrote the book almost completely.[60]
13. ^ Other Porter shows were orchestrated by Maurice B. DePackh, Walter Paul, Don Walker and Philip J. Lang: see Kimball (1991) pp. 2–3. Porter checked the orchestral parts and amended them as he felt necessary.[3]
14. ^ Linda, appraising the deteriorating political outlook in Europe, closed the Paris house in April 1939.[78]
15. ^ The setting is designed to evoke the Waldorf Astoria New York, where Porter lived.[142]
16. ^ Sheet music for nearly all of the songs below may be found in one or more of the compilations of Porter songs listed in Hutchins, Michael H. "A Cole Porter Bibliography", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2025; "Come to the Supermarket" is listed in "Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals on Disc: Fix, Shelter and TV Musicals, Playbill. Retrieved July 15, 2025.

### References

[edit]

1. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 11
2. ^ a b Ewen (1961). pp. 134–139
3. ^ a b c d e f Shaftel, Matthew (Autumn, 1999). "From Inspiration to Archive: Cole Porter's 'Night and Day'", Journal of Music Theory, Duke University Press, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 315–347. Retrieved March 7, 2011. (subscription required)
4. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 8
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bell, J. X. "Cole Porter Biography", Cole Wide Web. Archived September 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
6. ^ McBrien (1998), pp. 4–5
7. ^ Schwartz (1977), p. 11
8. ^ Schwartz (1977), p. 18
9. ^ a b McBrien (1998), p. 10
10. ^ a b McBrien (1998), p. 21
11. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 26
12. ^ "The Theater: The Professional Amateur", Time magazine, vol. LIII, no. 5, p. 42. January 31, 1949.
13. ^ a b c d Kimball (1999), p. 1
14. ^ Seuss (2012), p. 10
15. ^ a b McBrien (1998), p. 32
16. ^ "Yale Fight Songs", Yale Bands, Yale University. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
17. ^ Schiff, David (July/August 2004). "One Swell Party", The Atlantic. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
18. ^ Algeo (2011), p. 144
19. ^ a b Root, Deane L. and Gerald Bordman (January 20, 2001). "Porter, Cole (Albert)", Grove Music Online. Retrieved May 21, 2010. (subscription required)
20. ^ Kimball (1992b), p. 1
21. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 59
22. ^ "Le Musée de la Légion étrangère, à Aubagne", Légion étrangère. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
23. ^ Salazar, Jaime (2005). Cole Porter, Legion of the Lost. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
24. ^ a b c d The Associated Press (October 16, 1964). "Obituary: Cole Porter is Dead; Songwriter Was 72", The New York Times.
25. ^ Citron (2005), p. 48
26. ^ a b c Derbyshire, John (July 28, 2004). "Oh, the Songs!" National Review Online. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
27. ^ a b McBrien (1998), p. 65
28. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 70
29. ^ Citron (2005), p. 142; and Schwartz (1977), p.114
30. ^ Hutchins, Michael H. "Miscellaneous Songs", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
31. ^ a b Kimball (1992b), p. 2
32. ^ Citron (2005), p. 58
33. ^ Kimball (1991), pp. 4–5
34. ^ a b Kimball (1991), p. 5
35. ^ Bold, A. (December 1, 1923). "Musical Notes from Abroad: Paris", The Musical Times, vol. 64, no. 970, p. 874. (registration required)
36. ^ Kimball (1991), p. 6
37. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 85
38. ^ a b Kimball (1999), p. 5
39. ^ Citron (2005), p. 73
40. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 101 and 104
41. ^ Citron (2005), pp. 74 and 79
42. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 119
43. ^ Citron (2005), p. 78
44. ^ Citron (2005), p. 85
45. ^ Citron (2005), pp 80–82
46. ^ Citron (2005), pp. 82–83
47. ^ Citron (2005), p. 83
48. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 117–129
49. ^ Citron (2005), p. 84
50. ^ Citron (2005), p. 100
51. ^ Citron (2005), p. 101
52. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 145
53. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 147
54. ^ Hutchins, Michael H. "Gay Divorce – Original Broadway Production", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
55. ^ Citron (2005), p. 105
56. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 158–163
57. ^ Citron (2005), p. 108
58. ^ Citron (2005), p. 109
59. ^ Kimball (1992b), p. 70, and McBrien (1998), p. 164
60. ^ a b c d Citron (2005), p. 110
61. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 167–176
62. ^ Citron (2005), p. 111
63. ^ McGlinn, John (1989), "The Original Anything Goes: A Classic Restored", Notes to EMI CD CDC 7 49848 2.
64. ^ Citron (2005), p. 141
65. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 183–196
66. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 205–216
67. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 205
68. ^ Kimball (1992b), p. 9
69. ^ Hutchins, Michael H. "Paree, Paree", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
70. ^ Kimball (1992b), p. 7
71. ^ Citron (2005), p. 143
72. ^ McBrien (1998), pp. 189, 193, 206 and 209
73. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 209
74. ^ Citron (2005), p. 144
75. ^ Citron (2005), p. 145
76. ^ a b Citron (2005), p. 162
77. ^ Harriman, Margaret Case (November 23, 1940). "Words and Music", The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
78. ^ Citron (2005), p. 168
79. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 225
80. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 227–230
81. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 241–243
82. ^ Citron (2005), p. 184
83. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 260
84. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 256
85. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 259–267
86. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 252–254
87. ^ McBrien (1998), p. 225
88. ^ Citron (2005), p. 185
89. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 299
90. ^ Citron (2005), p. 189
91. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 320 and 343
92. ^ Citron (2005), p. 190
93. ^ Citron (2005), p. 193
94. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 295, 313 and 335
95. ^ a b Citron (2005), pp. 211–214
96. ^ Kimball (1992b), p. 13–15
97. ^ Citron (2005), p. 215
98. ^ Citron (2005), p. 419
99. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 387–399
100. ^ Citron (2005), p. 220
101. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 422
102. ^ "Cole Porter", Grammy Awards, The Recording Academy. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
103. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 438
104. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 468
105. ^ Citron (2005), pp. 239 and 242
106. ^ a b Citron (2005), p. 249
107. ^ Coward (1982), p. 379
108. ^ Davis, Charles Jr. (October 16, 1964). "Songwriter Cole Porter Dies", Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
109. ^ Schwartz (1977), p. 269
110. ^ a b Hutchins, Michael H. "Collections", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
111. ^ Wilman, Chris (August 3, 2021). "Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Reveal Love for Sale, Cole Porter Tribute Album Said to Be Bennett's Last". Variety. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
112. ^ Hutchins, Michael H. "Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
113. ^ "The 37th Academy Awards Memorable Moments", Oscars.org, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
114. ^ "NSO at Wolf Trap: 'A Cole Porter Celebration'", The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
115. ^ The Faith Middleton Show (November 22, 2010). "Faith Middleton Show: A Tribute to Cole Porter and Glen Miller"[usurped], Your Public Media, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
116. ^ "A Tribute to Cole Porter", Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
117. ^ Meland, Manny (March 7, 2011). "Boston Pops in A Tribute to Cole Porter with Conductor Keith Lockhart", Miamiartzine. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
118. ^ MassJazz (June 2, 2012). "Boston Pops Presents Tribute to Cole Porter on June 5–6", MassJazz. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
119. ^ "DSO Pops Series: Cole Porter Tribute with Michael Feinstein and Marvin Hamlisch", Last.fm. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
120. ^ Gussow, Mel (April 28, 1980). "Stage: Happy New Year, a Burt Shevelove Musical; Cole Porter Feast". The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
121. ^ 1970–1982 Episode Guide for 'Carol Burnett Show', Ultimate70s.com. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
122. ^ Clay, Carolyn (September 21, 1982). "Medium Cole". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
123. ^ Johnston, Sheila (2004). "How Cole Porter got his kicks?", All About Jewish Theatre. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
124. ^ Phares, Heather. "De-Lovely (Original Soundtrack)", AllMusic. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
125. ^ Denby, David (May 23, 2011). "The Better Life", The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
126. ^ Kimball, Robert (November 1992). "Cole Porter, College Man", Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
127. ^ a b Holland, Bernard. "A Hoosier Hurrah on Cole Porter's Centennial", The New York Times, June 9, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2012
128. ^ "1990 King Orange Jamboree Parade", Turner Classic Movies. 1990. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
129. ^ Luisa Yanez (January 1, 1991). "500,000 At Parade Ooh, Aah King Orange Reigns Under Miami Moon", Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
130. ^ a b Howard Reich (May 5, 1991). "Porter Tributes: A Few Highlights", Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 20, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
131. ^ Clair McPhail (August 12, 1990), "Year-long celebration to honor Cole Porter", The News Courier/The Evening Post, Charleston, South Carolina. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
132. ^ Randolph E. Schmid (December 16, 1990). "Basketball, Earl Warren and Cole Porter Set for 1991 Stamps", AP News, The Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
133. ^ Associated Press (May 21, 2007). "Hollywood star for Cole Porter", USA Today. Archived from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
134. ^ "Daniels adds Cole Porter portrait to Hoosier Heritage Gallery" on YouTube. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
135. ^ Pratt, Gregory Royal (October 11, 2014). "Legacy Walk honors LGBT 'guardian angels'", Chicago Tribune.
136. ^ Reynolds, Daniel (October 11, 2014). "7 LGBT Heroes Honored with Plaques in Chicago's Legacy Walk", Advocate.
137. ^ Cole Porter, Songwriters Hall of Fame. Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
138. ^ "Members", Theater Hall of Fame. Theater Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
139. ^ "Cole Porter: 2012 Legend Award", The Great American Songbook Foundation. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
140. ^ Cole Porter Festival. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
141. ^ Cole Porter Inn - Peru, Indiana. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
142. ^ Granger, Elizabeth (January 2015). "Hoosier History", Home & Away, p. 37.
143. ^ Spencer, Luke. "Cole Porter's Piano", Atlas Obscura. Retrieved July 29, 2025; and Martinez, Jose (July 20, 2010). "Cole Porter's apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria can be yours for $140K a month", Daily News (New York). Retrieved May 16, 2014.
144. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 5
145. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 6
146. ^ Kimball (1992a), pp. 64–65
147. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 140
148. ^ Kimball (1992a), p. 104
149. ^ Hutchins, Michael H. "Recordings", The Cole Porter Reference Guide. Retrieved August 2, 2025.

### Sources

[edit]

* Algeo, Matthew (2011). Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569767078.
* Citron, Stephen (2005). Noel & Cole: the Sophisticates. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0634093029. The 1993 edition of this book is available on line.
* Coward, Noël (1982). Graham Payn; Sheridan Morley (eds.). The Noël Coward Diaries (1941–1969). London: Methuen. ISBN 0-297-78142-1. Several other editions of this book are available on line.
* Ewen, David (1961). The Story of America's Musical Theater. New Yorki: Chilton Book Company.
* Kimball, Robert (1991). Cole Porter: Overtures and Ballet Music, Liner note to EMI CD CDC 7 54300 2. London: EMI Records. OCLC 315563881.
* Kimball, Robert (1992a). The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80483-2.
* Kimball, Robert (1992b). "Cole Porter". You're the Top: Cole Porter in the 1930s. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 0-871-95089-8.
* Kimball, Robert (1999). "Cole Porter". You're Sensational: Cole Porter in the '20s, '40s, & '50s. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 0-871-95129-0.
* McBrien, William (1998). Cole Porter: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-58235-7.
* Schwartz, Charles (1977). Cole Porter: A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80097-7.
* Seuss, Dr. (2012). Richard Marschall (ed.). Just What the Doctor Disordered: Early Writings and Cartoons of Dr. Seuss. Mineola, NY: Dover. ISBN 978-0486498461.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bowers, Dwight Blocker. From This Moment On: The Songs of Cole Porter (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, 1992).
* Eells, George. The Life That Late He Led: A Biography of Cole Porter (New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1967).
* Ewen, David. The Cole Porter Story (New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965).
* Garrison, John S. Red Hot + Blue (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2024). ISBN 9798765106648
* Grafton, David. Red, Hot & Rich: An Oral History of Cole Porter (New York: Stein and Day, 1987). ISBN 0812831128
* Howard, Jean. Travels With Cole Porter (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991). ISBN 0810934086
* Hubler, Richard G. The Cole Porter Story (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1965).
* McAuliffe, Mary. When Paris Sizzled: The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). ISBN 1442253320
* Morella, Joseph and George Mazzei. Genius and Lust: The Creativity and Sexuality of Cole Porter and Noel Coward (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995). ISBN 0786702370
* Porter, Cole, Robert Kimball and Brendan Gill. Cole (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1971) and New York: Dell (1992))
* Porter, Cole. The Letters of Cole Porter (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2019). ISBN 030021927X
* Randel, Don M., Matthew Shaftel, and Susan Forscher Weiss, eds. A Cole Porter Companion (Champaign, Illinois: U. of Illinois Press, 2016). ISBN 0252040090
* Rimler, Walter. A Cole Porter Discography (San Francisco: N. Charles Sylvan, 1995). ISBN 1886385254

## External links

[edit]

Cole Porter at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Data from Wikidata

### Archives

[edit]

* The Cole Porter Collection at Yale University's Gilmore Music Library
* Cole Porter collection, 1912-1957 at the Library of Congress
* Cole Porter papers, 1936-1971 at the Stanford University Libraries

### Databases

[edit]

* Cole Porter at the Internet Broadway Database
* Cole Porter at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
* Cole Porter at Playbill Vault
* Cole Porter at IMDb
* Cole Porter recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
* Cole Porter discography at Discogs
* Works by or about Cole Porter at the Internet Archive

* v
* t
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Cole Porter

Musicals|

* See America First
* Hitchy-Koo of 1919
* Paris
* Fifty Million Frenchmen
* Wake Up and Dream
* The New Yorkers
* Gay Divorce
* Nymph Errant
* Anything Goes
* Jubilee
* Red, Hot and Blue
* You Never Know
* Leave It to Me!
* Du Barry Was a Lady
* Panama Hattie
* Let's Face It!
* Something for the Boys
* Mexican Hayride
* Around the World
* Kiss Me, Kate
* Out of This World
* Can-Can
* Silk Stockings
* Happy New Year

Films|

* Born to Dance
* Rosalie
* Broadway Melody of 1940
* You'll Never Get Rich
* Something to Shout About
* The Pirate
* Stage Fright
* High Society
* Les Girls
* Aladdin

Songs|

* Ace in the Hole
* After You, Who?
* All of You
* All Through the Night
* Allez-Vous-En
* Always True to You in My Fashion
* Another Op'nin', Another Show
* Anything Goes
* At Long Last Love
* Be a Clown
* Begin the Beguine
* C'est Magnifique
* Ça, C'est L'amour
* Do I Love You?
* Don't Fence Me In
* Down in the Depths
* Dream Dancing
* Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
* From This Moment On
* Get Out of Town
* Give Him the Ooh-La-La
* I Am in Love
* I Concentrate on You
* I Get a Kick Out of You
* I Happen to Like New York
* I Love Paris
* I Love You
* I Love You, Samantha
* I've Got My Eyes on You
* I've Got You Under My Skin
* In the Still of the Night
* It's All Right with Me
* It's De-Lovely
* Just One of Those Things
* Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love
* Let's Misbehave
* Love for Sale
* Mind If I Make Love to You?
* Miss Otis Regrets
* My Heart Belongs to Daddy
* Night and Day
* Ridin' High
* So in Love
* So Near and yet So Far
* Tom, Dick or Harry
* Too Darn Hot
* True Love
* Well, Did You Evah!
* What Is This Thing Called Love?
* Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
* Why Can't You Behave?
* You Do Something to Me
* You'd Be So Easy to Love
* You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
* You're Sensational
* You're the Top

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Original Score

1947–1975|

* Street Scene by Kurt Weill (1947)
* Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter (1949)
* South Pacific by Richard Rodgers (1950)
* Call Me Madam by Irving Berlin (1951)
* No Strings by Richard Rodgers (1962)
* Oliver! by Lionel Bart (1963)
* Hello, Dolly! by Jerry Herman (1964)
* Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (1965)
* Man of La Mancha by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion (1966)
* Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb (1967)
* Hallelujah, Baby! by Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1968)
* Company by Stephen Sondheim (1971)
* Follies by Stephen Sondheim (1972)
* A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim (1973)
* Gigi by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner (1974)
* The Wiz by Charlie Smalls (1975)

1976–2000|

* A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (1976)
* Annie by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin (1977)
* On the Twentieth Century by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1978)
* Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim (1979)
* Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (1980)
* Woman of the Year by John Kander and Fred Ebb (1981)
* Nine by Maury Yeston (1982)
* Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber and T. S. Eliot (1983)
* La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Herman (1984)
* Big River by Roger Miller (1985)
* The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes (1986)
* Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil (1987)
* Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim (1988)
* No Award (1989)
* City of Angels by Cy Coleman and David Zippel (1990)
* The Will Rogers Follies by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1991)
* Falsettos by William Finn (1992)
* Kiss of the Spider Woman by John Kander and Fred Ebb / The Who's Tommy by Pete Townshend (1993)
* Passion by Stephen Sondheim (1994)
* Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Christopher Hampton (1995)
* Rent by Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Titanic by Maury Yeston (1997)
* Ragtime by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (1998)
* Parade by Jason Robert Brown (1999)
* Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (2000)

2001–present|

* The Producers by Mel Brooks (2001)
* Urinetown by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis (2002)
* Hairspray by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (2003)
* Avenue Q by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (2004)
* The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel (2005)
* The Drowsy Chaperone by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison (2006)
* Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater (2007)
* In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2008)
* Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (2009)
* Memphis by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro (2010)
* The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (2011)
* Newsies by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman (2012)
* Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper (2013)
* The Bridges of Madison County by Jason Robert Brown (2014)
* Fun Home by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron (2015)
* Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
* Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2017)
* The Band's Visit by David Yazbek (2018)
* Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (2019)
* A Christmas Carol by Christopher Nightingale (2020/21)
* Six by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (2022)
* Kimberly Akimbo by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire (2023)
* Suffs by Shaina Taub (2024)
* Maybe Happy Ending by Will Aronson and Hue Park (2025)

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