June 9, 2016

The great American songwriter Cole Porter was born 125 years ago today in 1891. Porter wrote a few hit single songs, but his finest work came in the scores of Broadway musical comedies. In a career that stretched from the 1920’s to 1960, Porter composed perhaps the most sophisticated, elegant, and complex body of popular songs in American music history.

This week, we celebrate Cole Porter’s 125th birthday.
CREDIT: Library of Congress

Cole Albert Porter was born on June 9, 1891, in Peru, Indiana. He came from a wealthy family and attended both Yale and Harvard universities. Porter began composing while in school, and in 1917 he moved to Paris. There he traveled in the fashionable social set that established itself in Europe following the end of World War I in 1918. Porter wrote several unsuccessful musicals before gaining recognition with his scores in 1929 for the musicals Wake Up and Dream, with its hit love song “What Is This Thing Called Love?”, and Fifty Million Frenchmen with its hit “You Do Something to Me.”

During the 1930’s, Porter composed scores for several hit Broadway musicals, including Gay Divorce (1932), Anything Goes (1934), Jubilee (1935), and DuBarry Was a Lady (1939). His songs were known for their witty and cynical lyrics as well as their rich melodies. Porter also wrote songs for such Hollywood musicals as Born to Dance (1936) and Rosalie (1937). These shows included such classic songs as “Let’s Do It,” “Love for Sale,” “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Just One of Those Things,” “Begin the Beguine,” “You’re the Top,” and “It’s DeLovely.”

In 1937, Porter was seriously injured in a horseback riding accident in Long Island, New York. The accident cost him the use of both legs and the eventual amputation of one. He lived in constant pain the rest of his life. Porter’s songwriting career went into decline for 10 years after his accident, but he emerged in 1948 with his greatest Broadway show, Kiss Me, Kate. The score included eight hits, notably “Wunderbar,” “Another Op’ning, Another Show,” and “So in Love.”

After Kiss Me Kate,” Porter wrote one more successful musical, Can-Can (1953), which featured the classic “I Love Paris.” He spent the last years of his life in seclusion in New York City and died on Oct. 15, 1964.