Cole Porter (Peru, Indiana, USA, 9 June 1891 - Santa Monica, California, USA, 15 October 1964)
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer of music for theatre, television and film. At the age of six he began to learn to play the violin and at the age of eight piano. His mother Kate, daughter of a millionaire and business man J.O. Cole, supported his musical education and the release of his first compositions. He wrote his first song in 1901, at the age of ten, and dedicated it to his mother. Four years later, he enrolled to the Worcester Academy, where he met Dr. Abercrombie, a teacher who had taught him the relation between words and music in songs. In 1909, he continued his studies at Yale University, writing many songs and working on theatre productions of the university’s department for drama. They were mostly musicals so his grandfather, unhappy with his grandson's decision to engage in art, encouraged him to study law at Harvard. In his second year, Cole transferred from the department of law to the music department, but soon gave up on studying and moved to New York where he devoted to his musical career. In 1916, his first attempt on Broadway, the musical See America First, proved to be unsuccessful and the next year he moved to Paris. At the time, the United States joined World War I, and there are various stories about Porter's participation in the war. The only certain fact is that he enjoyed throwing lavish parties and taking part in the Parisian social life. In 1919, he married a friend, a rich American woman Linda Thomas, who agreed to a fake marriage (he was gay, and she had divorced a violent husband). In that same year he made his first successful song Old - Fashioned Garden for the Broadway musical Hitchy - Koo. In 1923, the couple moved to Venice and after their return to the United States, Cole tried to work on Broadway again. He succeeded in writing songs for the musical Paris (1928). The following year he went to Hollywood, but the film Battle of Paris (1929) for which he wrote the music, was not successful. In the following year the song Love for Sale from the theatre musical The New Yorkers (1930) was banned from playing on the radio due to its lyrics. His next successful songs were Night and Day from the last theatre musical Gay Divorce (1932) starring Fred Astaire, and the music for Anything Goes (1934), which became a huge hit on Broadway. Many musicals for which he wrote the songs have been made into feature films. In 1935, he moved to Hollywood and wrote songs for films Born to Dance (1936) and Rosalie (1937). In 1937, he broke his both legs, and during the many years of recovery he continued to write songs and theatre musicals. He wrote songs for the film Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940) and You'll Never Get Rich (1941) starring Fred Astaire, Something to Shout About (1943) directed by Gregory Ratoff and Mississippi Belle (1943 to 1944) that was never filmed. In 1945, he gave consent to the filming of his false biopic Night and Day (1946) directed by Michael Curtiz, in which Cary Grant portrays Cole Porter and Alexis Smith stars as his wife Linda. The film didn't do well with the critics, but achieved success with the audience, thanks to Porter's popularity and the songs featured in the film. Vincente Minnelli’s The Pirate (1948) did a lot worse, despite featuring Porter's five new songs. He achieved great success in the theatre with the musical Kiss Me Kate (1948), which brought him a Tony Award for Best Composer and songwriter in 1949, and the play won the Tony Award for Best Musical. In Hollywood he wrote songs for High Society (1956) by Charles Walters and Les Girls (1957) by George Cukor, and his last television song was written for the movie Aladdin (1958). In 1958, after many years of complications his right leg had to be amputated after which he withdrew from public life. During the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s he had written numerous songs for theatre and film that have become classics. Here are some of the most famous songs from his rich career: "Let's do it" (1928), "You do Something to Me" (1929), "What is this Thing Called Love?" (1929), "Love for Sale" (1930), "Night and Day" (1932), "I Get a Kick Out of you" (1934), "Anything Goes" (1934), "You 're the Top" (1934), "Begin the Beguine" (1935), "I've Got you Under my Skin" (1936), "You'd be so Easy to Love" ( 1936), "In the Still of the Night" (1937), "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (1938), "Do not Fence me in" (1944), "I Love Paris" (1953), "True Love" (1956). His theatre musicals include "Fifty Million Frenchmen" (1929), "Leave it to Me!" (1938), "DuBarry was a Lady" (1939), "Panama Hattie" (1940), "Let's Face it!" (1941), "Something for the Boys" (1943), "Mexican Hayride" (1944), "Can-Can" (1952), and "Silk Stockings" (1955), which was his last original work on Broadway.
Selected filmography:
Aladdin (1958) (TV)
Les Girls (1957)
High Society (1956)
The Pirate (1948)
Mississippi Belle (1943-1944, not filmed)
Something to Shout about (1943)
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
High Society (1956)
Broadway Melody of (1940)
Rosalie (1937)
Born To Dance (1936)
Anything Goes (1936)
Adios, Argentina (1934, not filmed)