Cole Porter

Cole Porter was one of the most prolific composers and popular songwriters of the early and mid-20th century. Many of his songs, known for their witty wordplay and sophistication, are now considered standards within the American popular songbook. He wrote the stage musicals Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes as well as the classic tunes "Night and Day," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Love for Sale" and "I've Got You Under My Skin."

Early Years

Porter learned to play violin and piano at a very young age and had composed his first operetta by the age of 10. In 1909, he entered Yale University, where he was part of the original Whiffenpoofs line-up and wrote a number of Yale football fight songs. He spent a year Harvard Law School, but transfered into the School of Music.

Paris

In 1915, his song "Esmeralda" appeared in the Broadway revue Hands Up. That initial success was followed by a string of failures, which drove Porter to Paris, where he met Linda Lee Thomas, the woman who became his wife in 1919. Thomas and Porter were married for 34 years, but it is widely known that Porter was gay. His sexual orientation became more and more public through the 30s, when the couple moved to Hollywood and Porter had an affair with Boris Kochno, a librettist at the Ballets Russes.

Return to America

Following his years in Paris, Porter returned to Broadway in 1928 with the aptly-named musical |Paris. Porter had a string of hit songs, musicals and films through the 1930s, 40s and 50s, but it is rumored that he never fully recovered from a 1937 riding accident which crushed his legs and was followed by a period of extreme depression.

Cole Porter died of kidney failure in 1964.