Iconic and celebrated American composer Cole Porter was born on this day in history, June 9, 1891, into a prestigious family in Peru, Indiana.
His mother, Kate Cole Porter, was the daughter of wealthy businessman J.O. Cole — and due to his upbringing, young Cole Porter enjoyed a privileged childhood, according to the Indiana Historical Society.
At the age of 6, Porter started playing both the violin and piano — and became quite good at both instruments, says the same source.
By age 10, the young prodigy was already composing songs.
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In 1902, at age 11, Porter composed a piece called “The Bobolink Waltz,” says the Indiana Historical Society.
At age 13, Porter left his home to attend Worcester Academy, an elite boarding school in Massachusetts. Upon graduating from high school, he entered Yale University in Connecticut, says the same source.
While attending Yale, Porter composed music for several of the university’s plays and productions. During his years at Yale, he wrote a total of 300 songs, according to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
After Yale, he enrolled in Harvard Law School in an attempt to please his grandfather — but eventually followed his heart and changed his major to music during his second year of studies, notes the Indiana Historical Society.
“It is said that his mother hid this fact from his grandfather,” says the same source.
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With his musical degree from Harvard, Porter ventured to New York City in search of work.
Porter’s first musical, “See America First,” made an unsuccessful appearance on Broadway in 1916 — and Porter went to France the next year, Biography.com notes.
There are reports that during World War I, Porter sent home untrue notices that he had joined the French Foreign Legion — in reality, he was participating in an active Parisian social life, the same source indicates.
In 1919, Porter married a divorced socialite named Linda Lee Thomas in 1919.
Almost a decade later, Porter’s noteworthy success arrived in 1928, when he wrote the score for a musical comedy, “Paris.”
One of the musical’s songs, “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love,” became a huge hit, notes Biography.com.
This success was the springboard for other achievements.
Some of Porter’s most famous musicals and songs include “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” “Wake Up and Dream,” “Anything Goes,” and “Jubilee,” the same source recounts.
In 1936, Porter had another Broadway musical, “Red, Hot and Blue!” starring Ethel Merman, Bob Hope and Jimmy Durante; it included “It’s D’Lovely,” says the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Also in 1936, the movie musical “Born to Dance” featured “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and Jimmy Stewart singing “Easy To Love.”
And a 1937 film, “Rosalie,” introduced “In The Still Of The Night,” notes the same source.
In the summer of 1937, when he was just 46 years old, Porter was thrown from a horse.
The animal fell on top of him, crushing his legs. He was paralyzed for the remainder of his life, according to the Indiana Historical Society.
Yet still he continued to compose.
In the late 1940s and 1950s, his Broadway musicals “Kiss Me Kate,” “Can-Can” and “Silk Stockings” were very successful — with “Kiss Me, Kate” winning the first Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949, says the Indiana Historical Society.
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During the 1050s, he remained an American music icon.
“He wrote the music and lyrics for “High Society,” the 1956 MGM film version of “The Philadelphia Story” — which starred a young Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the alluring Grace Kelly, PBS points out.
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Porter died at age 73 in 1964 of kidney failure in Santa Monica, California.
In May 2007, Porter posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as the Associated Press reported at the time — and in December 2010, his portrait was added to the Hoosier Heritage Gallery in the Office of the Governor of Indiana.
