PORTER Cole

Bio

Cole Porter, in full Cole Albert Porter, (born June 9, 1891, Peru, Indiana, U.S.—died October 15, 1964, Santa Monica, California), American composer and lyricist who brought a worldly élan to the American musical and who embodied in his life the sophistication of his songs.

Porter was one of the wittiest of all lyricists, with a subtlety of expression and a mastery of the interior rhyme. His work continues to stand as the epitome of sophisticated, civilized detachment in the popular song form. His large output might have been even more vast had not a horse-riding accident in 1937 left him a semi-invalid, necessitating 30 operations and the eventual amputation of a leg.