Composer, Lyricist. He was an American composer and lyricist of the early 20th century, who wrote musicals and hit songs for four decades. The songs he composed for his many musicals have become American classics. Born Cole Albert Porter, the only child of Samuel Fenwick Porter, a druggist and Kate Cole, he was raised on a fruit ranch in the rural Peru area. His mother's family was wealthy, giving him an excellent education. His mother supported his musical ambitions by enrolling him in Indiana's Marion Conservatory. With training, he learned to play the violin at age six, the piano by age eight, and by age ten, his mother helped him write his first operetta, "Song of The Birds." He attended the prestigious Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, graduating as class valedictorian. His grandfather's graduation present was a summer of touring in Europe. Upon his return, he enrolled at Yale University becoming a member of the Freshman Glee Club and the club's president during his senior year. He had his first song "Bridget McGuire" published. He was active in the athletic program, performing as a football cheerleader and leaving the university with a Cole Porter legacy after writing the Yale Bulldogs fight songs. While at Yale, he wrote 300 songs. With a BA degree from Yale, he entered Harvard Law school in 1914 but not to his liking transferred to the Harvard School of music, graduating by 1916. After moving to New York City, he made his Broadway debut with the musical comedy "See America First" in 1916, which, however, closed after 15 performances. During World War I, he served in France with the 32nd Field Artillery and worked with the Bureau of the Military Attaché. After the war, he rented a luxury apartment in Paris, began to entertain extravagantly and scandalously while being enrolled in a French school specializing in music composition. On December 19, 1919, he married Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy divorcee eight years his senior, and their marriage would last for thirty-five years until her death. Upon returning to America, Porter had success with the song "Old-Fashioned Garden" in the Broadway musical "Hitchy-Koo of 1919." In 1928 he wrote five songs for the musical "Paris," with one becoming the first big successful song, "Let's Do it, Let's Fall in Love." This was the start of him becoming a prolific song writer, with him writing thousands of songs for Broadway musicals from the 1930s until the 1950s. A host of his musicals would stay on Broadway with over 200 performances. In the summer of 1937, his career halted with an accident while horseback riding at the Long Island's Piping Rock Club. The horse slipped and fell on top of him. Both his legs were smashed with nerve damage, leading to 30 operations over a period of years, dealing with chronic pain and bone infections, becoming semi-invalid in a wheel chair, and eventually having his right leg amputated. Soon after the accident, he produced songs for the musical "Leave It to Me!", which included the scene of the female star doing a mock strip tease while singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." The show opened on November 9, 1938 and ran for 291 performances. With his health problems, there was a decline in the work he could produce. In 1940 he wrote the songs for "Panama Hattie", which ran for 501 performances. In 1946, the film "Night and Day" was released as his biography, but was more fiction than truth. He became frustrated with his career as he was producing a run of fiascoes. On December 30, 1948 "Kiss Me Kate" opened on Broadway and ran for 1,077 performances. In 1953 he wrote the songs for "Can-Can", which had 892 performances. His health began to decline with alcohol abuse and depression. In 1952 his beloved mother died and in 1954 his wife died. In 1958 his leg was amputated. With this grief and health problems, he was no longer being sociable, becoming a recluse. He refused to attend a "Salute to Cole Porter" night at the Metropolitan Opera house, then a commencement exercise at Yale University when he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. He was conspicuously absence during a mammoth surprise 70th birthday party at the Orpheum Theater in New York. After what appeared to be a successful kidney stone operation at St. John's hospital in Santa Monica, California, he died very unexpectedly. At his request, there was no funeral service of any kind, and he was buried next to his wife. During his career, he composed over 1,400 songs. Besides the ones mentioned, he wrote "You Do Something To Me," "What Is This Thing Called Love?", "Begin the Beguine", "Don't Fence Me In," "I Love Paris," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "In the Still of The Night," "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "You're The Top." He was pictured on a 29¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Performing Arts series, issued May 22, 1991, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. For "Kiss Me, Kate", he received two Tony Awards: one for Best Composer and Lyricist, and another for music and lyrics as part of the Best Musical Award. His musical, "Anything Goes" garnered the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Production and then the London Critics Circle Award (Drama) for Best Musical.
Composer, Lyricist. He was an American composer and lyricist of the early 20th century, who wrote musicals and hit songs for four decades. The songs he composed for his many musicals have become American classics. Born Cole Albert Porter, the only child of Samuel Fenwick Porter, a druggist and Kate Cole, he was raised on a fruit ranch in the rural Peru area. His mother's family was wealthy, giving him an excellent education. His mother supported his musical ambitions by enrolling him in Indiana's Marion Conservatory. With training, he learned to play the violin at age six, the piano by age eight, and by age ten, his mother helped him write his first operetta, "Song of The Birds." He attended the prestigious Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, graduating as class valedictorian. His grandfather's graduation present was a summer of touring in Europe. Upon his return, he enrolled at Yale University becoming a member of the Freshman Glee Club and the club's president during his senior year. He had his first song "Bridget McGuire" published. He was active in the athletic program, performing as a football cheerleader and leaving the university with a Cole Porter legacy after writing the Yale Bulldogs fight songs. While at Yale, he wrote 300 songs. With a BA degree from Yale, he entered Harvard Law school in 1914 but not to his liking transferred to the Harvard School of music, graduating by 1916. After moving to New York City, he made his Broadway debut with the musical comedy "See America First" in 1916, which, however, closed after 15 performances. During World War I, he served in France with the 32nd Field Artillery and worked with the Bureau of the Military Attaché. After the war, he rented a luxury apartment in Paris, began to entertain extravagantly and scandalously while being enrolled in a French school specializing in music composition. On December 19, 1919, he married Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy divorcee eight years his senior, and their marriage would last for thirty-five years until her death. Upon returning to America, Porter had success with the song "Old-Fashioned Garden" in the Broadway musical "Hitchy-Koo of 1919." In 1928 he wrote five songs for the musical "Paris," with one becoming the first big successful song, "Let's Do it, Let's Fall in Love." This was the start of him becoming a prolific song writer, with him writing thousands of songs for Broadway musicals from the 1930s until the 1950s. A host of his musicals would stay on Broadway with over 200 performances. In the summer of 1937, his career halted with an accident while horseback riding at the Long Island's Piping Rock Club. The horse slipped and fell on top of him. Both his legs were smashed with nerve damage, leading to 30 operations over a period of years, dealing with chronic pain and bone infections, becoming semi-invalid in a wheel chair, and eventually having his right leg amputated. Soon after the accident, he produced songs for the musical "Leave It to Me!", which included the scene of the female star doing a mock strip tease while singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." The show opened on November 9, 1938 and ran for 291 performances. With his health problems, there was a decline in the work he could produce. In 1940 he wrote the songs for "Panama Hattie", which ran for 501 performances. In 1946, the film "Night and Day" was released as his biography, but was more fiction than truth. He became frustrated with his career as he was producing a run of fiascoes. On December 30, 1948 "Kiss Me Kate" opened on Broadway and ran for 1,077 performances. In 1953 he wrote the songs for "Can-Can", which had 892 performances. His health began to decline with alcohol abuse and depression. In 1952 his beloved mother died and in 1954 his wife died. In 1958 his leg was amputated. With this grief and health problems, he was no longer being sociable, becoming a recluse. He refused to attend a "Salute to Cole Porter" night at the Metropolitan Opera house, then a commencement exercise at Yale University when he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. He was conspicuously absence during a mammoth surprise 70th birthday party at the Orpheum Theater in New York. After what appeared to be a successful kidney stone operation at St. John's hospital in Santa Monica, California, he died very unexpectedly. At his request, there was no funeral service of any kind, and he was buried next to his wife. During his career, he composed over 1,400 songs. Besides the ones mentioned, he wrote "You Do Something To Me," "What Is This Thing Called Love?", "Begin the Beguine", "Don't Fence Me In," "I Love Paris," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "In the Still of The Night," "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "You're The Top." He was pictured on a 29¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Performing Arts series, issued May 22, 1991, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. For "Kiss Me, Kate", he received two Tony Awards: one for Best Composer and Lyricist, and another for music and lyrics as part of the Best Musical Award. His musical, "Anything Goes" garnered the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Production and then the London Critics Circle Award (Drama) for Best Musical.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/827/cole-porter: accessed
), memorial page for Cole Porter (9 Jun 1891–15 Oct 1964), Find a Grave Memorial ID 827, citing Mount Hope Cemetery, Peru,
Miami County,
Indiana,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Cole Porter
Fulfill Photo Request for Cole Porter
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
This memorial already has a grave photo. Please indicate why you think it needs another.
There is no plot information for this memorial. Your photo request is more likely to be fulfilled if you contact the cemetery to get the plot information and include it with your request.
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.