Cole Porter

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 grandfathers 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 was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway stage Unlike many successful Broadway composers Porter wrote both music and lyrics 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 Porters other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen DuBarry Was a Lady Anything Goes CanCan and Silk Stockings Hit songs include Night and Day Begin the Beguine I Get a Kick Out of You Well Did You Evah Ive Got You Under My Skin Lets Do It Lets Fall in Love My Heart Belongs to Daddy and Youre the Top He also composed scores for films from the 1930s through the 1950s including Born to Dance 1936 which features Youd Be So Easy to Love Rosalie 1937 which features In the Still of the Night High Society 1956 which features True Love and Les Girls 1957 which features Ça Cest Lamour