The Song is You!

Cole Porter was born in Peru (the town in Indiana).

Cole Porter’s mother falsified his birth certificate.

Cole Porter wrote his first operetta at age ten.

Cole Porter’s parents wanted him to be a lawyer, not a musician.

Cole Porter majored in English, with a minor in music.

Cole Porter wrote multiple of Yale’s fight songs.

Cole Porter had a custom portable piano he played for WWI troops in France.

Cole Porter threw parties with “much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians and a large surplus of recreational drugs."

Cole Porter married Linda Lee Thomas, a woman, despite them both knowing he was gay. She provided him a beard, and he provided her social status and a contrast to her abusive former husband. They were extremely devoted to each other and remained married until her death.

Cole Porter’s wife, Linda, knew Igor Stravinsky, whom Cole tried (and failed) to get an apprenticeship with. 

Cole Porter did symphonic jazz before George Gershwin.

Cole Porter got his breakout gig because Rogers and Hart were unavailable.

When hired to write songs for Hollywood films, Cole Porter “wrote down,” as he preferred theatre. 

When one of Cole Porter’s shows began to flop, Irving Berlin published a glowing review, and the show went on to run for 254 performances (very successful at the time).

Cole Porter was disabled after a horse riding accident.

Cole Porter wrote a show called Gay Divorce. It was Fred Astaire’s final stage show.

Cole Porter won the first ever Tony Award for Best Musical.

Cole Porter had a prosthetic leg. 

Many of Cole Porter’s songs and even entire shows are based off of one dumb little pun that I can only imagine tickled him so much he just had to put them in something.