The Letters of Cole Porter

by Cole Porter

  Paul [Sylvain] died on July 21st. It had to be but I shall never cease to miss him. Wasn’t he wonderful?

  Love -

  [signed:] Cole

  Porter continued to pay Sylvain’s wages after his death to his widow, Laura – a sign of his esteem for his late valet as well as his generosity generally.50

  Saul Chaplin made further tweaks to the lyrics of Can-Can for the screen but Porter was remarkably passive in his response:

  19 September 1959: Cole Porter to Saul Chaplin51

  Dear Solly:

  I received the lyrics and find them very amusing. Of course, I can’t follow them as I don’t know how they fit the music.

  All my best wishes to you.

  [signed:] Cole

  By the winter, Porter’s correspondence had slowed down. The Starks were two of the only people he wrote to and even these letters tend to be brief notes acknowledging gifts:

  28 December 1959: Cole Porter to Harriette and Sam Stark52

  Dearest Harriette and Sam: –

  The beautiful bottle of brandy with a glass attached to it arrived, and I thank you both so much.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  28 December 1959: Cole Porter to Sam Stark53

  Dear Sam: –

  Your Christmas card arrived and inside the ad. from VARIETY about your anthology. Congratulations.

  Love to you both,

  [signed] Cole

  8 January 1960: Cole Porter to Sam Stark54

  Dear Sam: –

  I was charmed to receive your letter, written on the new writing paper showing you in the lower left-hand corner.

  My love to you both,

  [signed:] Cole

  Things seemed to have improved by 15 January 1960, when Madeline P. Smith was able to write to Stark: ‘Mr. Porter, I am happy to say, has taken to walking with two canes, instead of with one and holding onto the arm of one of his valets. This is progress – as he depends on his own powers this way. Also, he does a bit more reading now, and listening to music – but he does not touch the piano, or go anywhere except to the country. But we feel encouraged.’55 Porter was unable to attend 20th Century Fox’s long-awaited film adaptation of his stage musical Can-Can, but the following letters show the studio’s keen attempts to lure him along:

  4 February 1960: Cole Porter to Charles Einfeld (V.P., 20th Century Fox)56

  Dear Mr. Einfeld: –

  Thank you very much indeed for your kind telegram of February 3rd. I would indeed be happy to have the tickets for the advance showing of CAN CAN [sic] that you suggest.

  Could the dates be as follows:

  Sunday, March 6 – 4 pairs tickets

  Monday “ 7 – 4 “ “

  Tuesday “ 7 – 4 “ “

  How thoughtful of you, and all at 20th Century Fox, to remember me for this new film. I hope it will be a great “smash”.

  With kindest regards,

  Yours sincerely,

  [unsigned]

  9 February 1960: Cole Porter to Charles Einfeld57

  Dear Mr. Einfeld: –

  Thank you so much for your charming letter and the newspaper article. Unfortunately for me, inspite of your kind invitation, I am not well enough to personally attend the gala premiere of CAN-CAN. I only wish I could – and I appreciate very much your thoughtfulness. I am hoping that members of my staff can attend the previews.

  With every good wish,

  Yours sincerely,

  [unsigned]

  16 February 1960: Cole Porter to [?] Weiss58

  Dear Mr. Weiss: –

  My secretary has told me of your visit today, leaving the tickets for the previews of CAN CAN. [sic] Again, my most appreciative thanks.

  She has also told me of your reiteration of the invitation for me to make my appearance at CAN CAN. I regret very much that I am not able to do this, but I greatly appreciate your kind thought.

  As for the suggestion re tickets for the producers of CAN CAN, as well as the writer, I think it would be a splendid gesture to send them tickets. The names and addresses are:

  MR. CY. FEUER

  158 East 63 St.

  New York 21, N.Y.

  MR. ERNEST MARTIN

  219 East 62 St.

  New York 21, N.Y.

  MR. ABE BURROWS

  1 West 81 St.

  New York 24, N.Y.

  Yours very sincerely,

  [unsigned]

  As always, the Starks periodically wrote to Porter, and he always responded politely but without disclosing details of his health or activities:

  19 April 1960: Cole Porter to Harriette and Sam Stark59

  Dear Harriette and Sam: –

  Thank you very much for the post card [sic] from Tucson.

  I hope you both will come and dine with me often during the Summer.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  There are no signs that Porter did any work during his winter in New York. The lack of detail in the few surviving letters discloses nothing of his professional life. In June he planned to make his annual trip to California:

  8 June 1960: Cole Porter to Robert Raison60

  Dear Bobbie: –

  I arrive Wednesday, June 15th. If it is convenient, please meet the plane and stay to dinner with me. I hope you can dine with me practically every night and be with me all day every Sunday for lunch and dinner.

  Telephone to Max* re June 15th, and say that you are coming.

  Love

  [signed:] Cole

  A day after writing this letter, on his sixty-ninth birthday, Porter was visited at home for the award of an honorary degree by his alma mater, Yale University. The address read:

  Cole Porter:

  As an undergraduate, you first won acclaim for writing the words and music of two of Yale’s perennial football songs. Since then you have achieved reputation as a towering figure in the American musical theater. Master of the deft phrase, the delectable rhyme, the distinctive melody, you are, in your own words and in your own field, the top. Confident that your graceful, impudent, inimitable songs will be played and sung as long as footlights burn and curtains go up, your Alma Mater confers upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.61

  The Starks were thrilled by the award:

  14 June 1960: Harriette and Sam Stark to Cole Porter62

  Congratulations on your doctorate. That puts you right up there with Dr. Rockwell, Dr. I.Q., Dr Jekyll, Dr. Cronkhite, Dr. Crippen, Dr. Spock, and Dr. Kildare. Love and welcome home.

  Harriette and Sam.

  18 June 1960: Cole Porter to Sam and Harriette Stark63

  Dear Sam and Harriet[te]:

  Thank you so much for the beautiful book on Paris and for your wire about my getting a Degree from Yale.

  Love –

  [signed:] Cole

  Porter also wrote to Goddard Lieberson of Columbia Records, who had helped to form the special collections at Yale University devoted to musical theatre and who had been instrumental in the degree being awarded to Porter:

  25 June 1960: Cole Porter to Goddard Lieberson64

  Dear Goddard:

  I received your ‘phone call but I didn’t call you back as I have not been feeling very well lately. I hope the next time you will call me and come out and have dinner with me.

  You were awfully nice to send me the letter to you from Yale University regarding Yale giving me a degree. I know how much you must have done to push this into a climax and I appreciate it awfully.

  All my best to you both –

  [signed:] Cole

  In August there was interest in a revival of Paris, Porter’s first successful Broadway musical:

  13 August 1960: Cole Porter to Robert Montgomery65

  Dear Bob:

  Mr. Gable has written me about producing PARIS and I have answered that he contact you.

  All my best –

  [signed:] Cole

  And in September there was a similar approach to revi
ve Out of This World:

  24 September 1960: Cole Porter to Robert Montgomery66

  Dear Bob:

  Regarding Mr. Douglas Crawford’s interest in producing OUT OF THIS WORLD in England. I should be delighted, if I don’t have to do any more work on it myself.

  All my best –

  [signed:] Cole

  Porter’s correspondence for the rest of the year remained perfunctory, as the following two letters to the Starks demonstrate:

  30 July 1960: Cole Porter to Harriette and Sam Stark67

  Dear Harriett[e] and Sam:

  Thank you so much for the beautiful postcard from San Francisco. I hope you are having a wonderful time.

  I would love to see you. Some day when you aren’t too busy please Telephone me around 2:00 P.M.

  Lots of love –

  [signed:] Cole

  1 November 1960: Cole Porter to Sam and Harriette Stark68

  Dear Sam and Harriett[e]: –

  Thank you so much for the record which Max has sent on to me. I do appreciate your thoughtfulness.

  It is nice to be back in New York, but I do miss California too.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  The following letter from Mrs Smith to Stark hints at why there had not been more letters:

  18 November 1960: Madeline P. Smith to Sam Stark69

  Dear Mr. Stark: –

  I am going to take the liberty of acknowledging your letter of Nov. 11th to Mr. Porter, as he has not been well at all of late – eats hardly anything, and is weak. As a matter of fact, we have finally got him to agree to go to the hospital next week for a complete check-up. He left for Williamstown, as usual, today.

  He has been passing up answering his mail and that is why you do not hear from him direct, although he read your letter and commented on your change of address (which I will note in our files). [. . .]

  Stark responded: ‘I appreciated your letter of November 18 although it was a sad one for me to receive, even though I have been expecting news like this. In my own happiness I had neglected seeing Mr. Porter, but mainly because I could not face seeing him in the state he has reached. I had a letter from Fred Astaire several weeks ago expressing concern about Mr. Porter’s health and state of mind.’70 Mrs Smith’s reply confirms Stark’s suspicions about Porter’s condition: ‘Mr. Porter is at Harkness Pavilion, where they are trying to build him up a bit. He has eaten so very little of late, and become thinner; so we finally, at long last, persuaded him to have the Doctor and finally go up to the hospital (but very grudgingly, I can assure you.) They want to get him a little stronger before they take further tests, etc., so we are hoping that the stay there will really do him good.’71

  In fact, Porter’s stay at the Pavilion lasted over seven months. His Christmas telegram to the Starks was sent from the hospital:

  21 December 1960: Cole Porter to Sam and Harriette Stark72

  HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND LOVE=COLE.

  Early in the New Near, Mrs Smith reported to Stark: ‘The Doctor tells me that Mr. P. has improved a great deal; is no longer anemic; much more alive, willing to talk and participate; and there is absolutely no TB or cancer. So, this sounds encouraging – even though the nurses tell me that Mr. P. still eats far too little. They have begun exercises, both arm and leg – hoping to get him physically underway. He has even asked for several visitors – one at a time.’73 One such visitor was Alan Jay Lerner, the lyricist of My Fair Lady:

  17 February 1961: Madeline P. Smith to Alan Jay Lerner74

  Dear Mr. Lerner: –

  Mr. Porter has asked me to thank you for him for your good letter from Paris. He was pleased to hear from you, and hopes that you (alone, or with Mrs. Lerner) can find time to drop in to see him at Harkness Pavilion when you return. He has been getting along very well there, but still finds difficulty in using his artificial leg. He sends his best to you both.

  Yours sincerely,

  [signed:] Madeline P. Smith

  (Secretary to COLE PORTER)

  If Porter’s behaviour appeared to have become more regular in these letters, the next one from Mrs Smith to Stark painted a darker picture. By the end of February, Porter had not yet opened his Christmas presents:

  27 February 1961: Madeline P. Smith to Sam Stark75

  Oh. Mr. Stark – I am so conscience smitten about Mr. Porter’s Christmas presents! Believe it or not, they are piled up just outside my door awaiting his return from the hospital. I tried several suggestions to get him to look at them at the hospital, such as asking if we should not send them one at a time, etc. – but his instructions were: “NO. Just keep them there until I get back, so I can have the pleasure of opening them myself.” So, nothing to do but await his return, and that may be the end of this week. I sent tentative acknowledgements to people whose name was on the outside of the package, but mostly there must be cards inside – and I did not feel at liberty to open Mr. P’s own packages (much as I would like to.) So, it won’t be long now before you hear from The Little Boss himself.

  You can’t imagine how he has improved: gain of 20 pounds or more; looks perfectly fine; is cheerful; and, in fact, I think he likes being up there at Harkness Pavilion, for he does not rebel at all, and seems only mildly interested in any date of release. I only hope we can keep him in this improved condition when he does get home. It was three months yesterday since he went up to the hospital. He has been having one visitor a day, at 5:30 each afternoon, for quite some time. His two valets alternate going up and wheeling him to the Solarium, making the drinks and canapes, etc. – so it is fairly pleasant for him. He has taken to watching the late, late T.V. shows also, so this brings his sleeping hours far into the morning. However, he seems to thrive on it all. (Could it be the nurses??!)

  All is well at the Waldorf apartment. Pep* is now nearly 15 years old, and still going pretty strong, though he spends most of his time sleeping and gets up on his feet in a rather lumbering fashion – unless it is his dinner that is forthcoming.

  We have been snowed in most of the Winter. I don’t suppose you ever have much winter in San F.

  My best to you and Mrs. Stark,

  Sincerely,

  [signed:] Madeline P. Smith

  Porter did not change his mind about the presents until mid-March:

  17 March 1961: Cole Porter to Sam Stark76

  Dear Sam: –

  At long last I have allowed my Christmas presents to be brought up to the hospital, one at a time, and have just had your beautiful package opened, to find the great bottle of “Courvoisier” and the beautiful long-stemmed glasses, all superbly packed in the carrying case. What a handsome present!

  I hope you will forgive me for this long delay in acknowledging, and will accept my most grateful thanks.

  I had no idea I would be here at Harkness Pavilion such a long time – but I do not expect to have to stay much longer. They tell me I am “fine” now.

  Love to you and Harriette,

  [signed:] Cole

  But the composer’s optimism about being discharged was sadly ill-founded:

  29 May 1961: Madeline P. Smith to Sam Stark77

  Dear Mr. Stark: –

  Believe it or not, Mr. Porter is still in the hospital. He complains a bit about bursitis in his shoulder, but otherwise, has been getting on famously, but just doesn’t come out of the hospital!

  This morning I find a large envelope on my desk with a note from him, saying “Keep these photographs, and thank Mr. Stark very much for them. I enjoyed seeing them a lot. And send them my love.”

  So, that’s it.

  Sincerely,

  [signed:] Madeline P. Smith

  [handwritten note at bottom:] and what a BEAUTIFUL abode you have! (with the million-$ view.)

  The date of 9 June marked Porter’s seventieth birthday but it was not marked formally or publicly because he believed his birth year to have been 1892 rather than 1891. As usual, though, the Starks remembered it was his birthday:

&
nbsp; 12 June 1961: Cole Porter to Sam and Harriette Stark78

  Dear Sam and Harriette: –

  How wonderful of you both to remember my birthday and send me the beautiful flowers. I have been enjoying them so much, and send you my most appreciative thanks,

  and love,

  [signed:] Cole

  In July, Porter was finally released from the hospital:

  3 July 1961: Madeline P. Smith to Sam Stark79

  Dear Mr. Stark: –

  Mr. Porter asks me to send you and Mrs. Stark his thanks for the “Cosmic View” book. This will give him something to think about!

  By the time this letter reaches you, Mr. Porter will be back in his Waldorf apartment – after seven months and eight days at Harkness Pavilion. He returns here tomorrow afternoon, and leaves on Thursday, the 6th, for California. He is greatly improved, but we wish he were even better, for he still has very little appetite, and is not inclined to do any work, in spite of the many manuscripts offered him. We do hope the California sun, the swimming pool, and some outdoor life will be a telling factor out there.

  He sends you his love - - and perhaps you will hear from him personally after he gets settled for the summer. He has not been taking on his dictation jobs yet – just notes in brief for me to augment.

  Best personal regards,

  Sincerely,

  [signed:] Madeline P. Smith*

  Mrs Smith elaborated on Porter’s condition just over a week later, to both Bella Spewack† and in more detail to the Starks:80

  . . . Mr. Porter, at long, long last (7 months and 8 days), came home to his apartment, stayed only 2 nights and then took off for California a week ago today. He looked splendid, but I note that he is still nervous and eats very little. Last summer he had hardly any guests at all, and came back to New York looking so thin and listless - - I hope it won’t be like that this year. If only he would take it into his super-talented mind to work, it would be his salvation – but nothing and no one has so far been able to stir him into action.

  I might add that, in the course of the somewhat sparse conversation, he mentioned those fine photographs of your San Francisco home. They must have made an impression, as indeed they would on anybody who sees them . . .