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.