Cole Porter's

ole orter’s C P orthopaedic odyssey Cole Porter playing the piano at auditions for the musical “Wait for Baby,” July 7, 1936. © Bettmann/CORBIS. James G. Gamble, MD, PhD The author (AΩA, University of Maryland, 1974) is professor rap,andNewAgesmoothjazz.In2004,abiographicalfilm in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University entitledDelovely,starringKevinKlineandAshleyJudd,was School of Medicine and Packard Children’s Hospital at releasedandisavailablenowonDVD.A1964articleinthe Stanford. He is a previous contributor to The Pharos and is New York Timesnotedthat,“ThehallmarksofatypicalPorter a member of its editorial board. songwerelyricsthatwereurbaneorwittyandamelodywith asinuous,broodingquality.Someofhisbest-knownsongsin this vein were ‘What Is This Thing Called Love,’ ‘Nightand long with Jerome Kern, Richard Rogers, George Day,’‘LoveforSale,’and‘BegintheBeguine.’”1 Gershwin,andIrvingBerlin,ColePorterwrotesome Cole Porter’s life was remarkable from the musical, so- ofthemostmemorablemusicofthetwentiethcentury. cial,andmedicalstandpoints.Formorethanthirtyyears,he HisAsongsandlyricsremainpopularevenintheageofhiphop, wasaninternationalstar,athomeinHollywood,NewYork, 20 The Pharos/Winter2007 Year Production 1928 Paris Song Title 1930 “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” The New Yorkers 1933 “Love for Sale” Nymph Errant 1934 “Experiment” Anything Goes 1935 “I Get a Kick Out of You” Jubilee 1936 “Begin the Beguine” Red, Hot and Blue 1936 “It’s De-Lovely” Born to Dance 1937 “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” Rosalie 1938 “In The Still of the Night” Leave It to Me 1939 “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” DuBarry Was a Lady 1940 “But in the Morning No” Broadway Melody 1941 “I Concentrate on You” Let’s Face It “Make a Date with a Great 1943 Psychoanalyst” Something for the Boys “Hey Good Looking” 1944 Mexican Hayride 1948 “I Love You” Kiss Me, Kate 1950 “So in Love” Out of this World 1953 “Use Your Imagination” Can-Can 1955 “I Love Paris” Silk Stockings 1956 “All of You” High Society “True Love” Cole Porter playing the piano at auditions for the musical “Wait for Baby,” July 7, 1936. © Bettmann/CORBIS. London,Paris,andVenice.CharlesSchwartz,inhisbiography sustainedbilateralopen ofPorter,wrote,“Hisnameconjuredupalltheaccouterments legfracturesinahorse- [sic]ofinternationalglamour:elegantlydressedpeople,sump- back riding accident. tuoushouses,fancycars,manyservants.”2p2MarriedtoLinda These injuries occurred Lee Thomas, the two were the darlings of the Café Society beforetheavailabilityofintravenous intheyearsbetweenthetwoworldwars.ThePorterswerea antibiotics and modern techniques of fracture “musthave”foranyparty,andthenightwassuretobeasuc- management,andhedevelopedthedreadedcomplication cessifPortercouldbepersuadedtositdownatthepianoto of chronic osteomyelitis with a draining sinus that plagued playandsing.Althoughtheirmarriageappearedconventional himforthenexttwenty-oneyears.Scarcelyadaywentbythat fromtheoutside,ColeandLindaPorterhadaspecialrelation- hewasnotinpain.Heunderwentatleastthirty-threeopera- ship.Colewasalifelong,promiscuoushomosexual. tionsinafutileattempttogetthebonestohealanderadicate At forty-six, during the height of his career, Porter the infection. The osteomyelitis was so severe that in 1958 The Pharos/Winter2007 21 Cole Porter’s orthopaedic odyssey Porter’srightlegwasamputatedabovetheknee.Theampu- The urbane francophile tationprolongedhislifeforalmostsixyearsbutcompletely married a wealthy beauty extinguishedhiscreativity. No condition highlights the dramatic advances of ortho- paedicsurgerymorethanthemanagementofopenfractures andthepreventionofchronicosteomyelitis. Porter’sobituaryintheNew York Timestellsusthat“Porter was a trim, slight, dark man, groomed in subdued, elegant Porter’s parents—weak father, taste. He usually sported a boutonniere in the lapel of his well-tailored suits. His speech was quiet, reserved, almost determined mother clipped.”1Hiswealthpermittedhimtotravelandliveabroad atwill,andhehadaspecialloveofParisandthingsFrench.It waswhilehewasinParisin1918thathemethisfuturewife, ColePorterwasborninthesmalltownofPeru,Indiana, Linda Lee Thomas, a tall, slender divorcée with blond hair, onJune9,1891.Hisfather,Samuel,wasamarginallysuc- lightblueeyes,andfinelychiseledfeatures.Schwartzwrites, cessfulpharmacistandapassive,ineffectualhusband.His “She has been described as one of the outstanding beauties mother,Kate,wasastrong-willedanddeterminedwoman. ofhertime;shewasalsobrightandamusing,hadimpeccable She was the cherished daughter of one of the wealthiest manners and exceptional taste.”2p52 She was also indepen- meninIndiana,J.O.Cole,whohadobtainedhisfortune dentlywealthy.LindaLeewasfifteenyearsolderthanPorter, fromsmartlandinvestmentsthatyieldedcoal,timber,and anditwasrumoredthatherprevioushusband,newspaperheir oil.J.O.hadhadgreatexpectationsforhisonlygrandchild EdwardR.Thomas,hadabusedher.Perhapsthispartiallyac- in the business world, but Kate had different ideas. She countsforhertoleranceofPorter’sbehavior.Shefosteredhis nurtured and encouraged Cole’s interest in music, im- creativitywhileoverlookinghisexcesses.Fromtheoutset,the mersing him in violin, piano, and composition. At Kate’s twoseemedtohaveanunderstandingaboutthelimitsoftheir insistence, Cole was sent East for a primary education at marriage.Porter,likeothersofhisgeneration,hidhishomo- WorcesterAcademyandthentocollegeatYale.Biographer sexualitybehindafaçadeofheterosexuality.Nonetheless,the WilliamMcBrienwrotethatPorter“hadanutterlycharm- couplewasemotionallybonded,andinallhishomosexuallove ingLeprechaun...personality,whichcoupledwithhisgift affairs,Porterencouragedfriendshipbetweenhisloversand of song, endeared him to everyone.”3p55 After graduation hiswife.3p103Theirmarriagelastedforthirty-fiveyears,until from Yale in 1913, Porter entered Harvard Law School, Linda’sdeathfromemphysemain1954.4pxv essentially to placate his grandfather. His interest in law wasminimalandhisexposurewasbrief.Atthedean’ssug- gestionhetransferredtotheSchoolofArtsandSciences, Crushed legs . should wherehetooktwomusiccoursesbeforeabandoningcam- they amputate? puslifefortheglitterofNewYorkCity.Hewasdetermined tomakeacareerasapopularsongwriter. Hisfirstprofessionalmusical,See America First,opened onMarch28,1916.Itwasacertifiedflop,closingafteronly In 1937 Porter returned to the United States while Linda fifteen performances. Discouraged and depressed, Porter remainedinParis.ItwasadifficulttimeforLinda,andshe left for Paris, where he served for a time as a volunteer wascontemplatingdivorceduetoPorter’sincreasinglyindis- ambulancedriverfortheFrenchArmedForces.However, creethomosexualaffairs.5p109Onhisfirstweekendbackinthe he could not stay away from music for long. McBrien States,PorteracceptedaninvitationfromCountessEdithdi tells us that Porter’s experiences at Worcester, Yale, and ZoppolatostayatherestateinMillNeck,nearOysterBayon Harvardgavehimauniquestylisticoverviewandversatil- LongIsland.5p111OnOctober24,whileridinginthewoods, itythatnoothercomposerscouldchallenge.3p76Hecould hishorseshied,reared,andfellonitsside,crushinghisleg. composeandarrangebeautifulmusic,andhecouldwrite Inattemptingtorise,thefrightenedhorsefellagain,thistime unforgettablelyrics.DaleHarriswrote,“All[hissongsof- onPorter’sotherleg,resultinginbilateralopenfractures.He fer]sophisticatedviewsoflove;theyexpresseroticfeeling wastakentothehospitalinGlenCove.Hewasinshockand ratherthantendernessorexhilaration.”3p135Hiscareergot unconscious for two days.5p112 Dr. Joseph B. Connolly, the a needed boost in 1928 when he wrote “Let’s Do It” for attending surgeon, observed such severe fractures that he theBroadwayproductionofParis.Hecontinuedtowrite recommendedbilateralamputationsinatelephoneconversa- unforgettablescoresforBroadwayandHollywoodforthe tionwithLinda.2p180BothLindainParisandhismotherKate nextthirtyyears. in Indiana rejected the idea of amputations, knowing that 22 The Pharos/Winter2007 Porter’s vanity could not withstand such mutilation. After Personal communication with Dr. Allen Silverstein, the Dr. Connolly promised to delay amputation, Linda rushed director of the Medical Records Department of New York backtotheStatesandconsultedwithDr.JohnJ.Moorhead, Hospital, indicates that Porter’s medical records at Doctors anorthopaedicsurgeonfromNewYorkCity.Dr.Moorhead HospitalandmanyoftherecordsfromColumbiahavebeen agreedthatamputationwasprobablythebesttreatment,but lost.However,wecandeducewhathistreatmentmusthave acquiescedtoLinda’spleatotrytosavePorter’slegs. beenbyconsultingthecontemporaryliteratureandreviewing Porter’sleftleghadsustainedanopenfractureofthetibia thehistoryofopenfracturetreatment. andfibula.Ontherighthesustainedanopen,severelycom- minuted fracture of the tibia and fibula with damage to the Open fracture treatment common peroneal nerve. Today we would call this a Grade Hippocrates: Grave prognosis III fracture or a mangled extremity.6p626 Porter was eventu- BythetimeColePorterhadhisaccidentin1937,surgeons allytransferredtoDoctor’sHospitalinManhattan,wherehe had inherited a long and distinguished history of fracture treatment, but open fractures were still life-threatening. Hippocrates (460–377 BC) wrote about open fractures and discussedtheirgraveprognosis.Deathtypicallyresultedfrom tetanus, gangrene, or septicemia.7p86 Ambrose Paré (1510– 1590) advocated amputation of limbs with open fractures, particularlyfracturesthathadoccurredduringbattle.In1564 Paréintroducedtheuseofligaturestocontrolthehemorrhage fromsuchamputations.7p90 The Civil War: Amputations Thenextsignificantadvancementinthetreatmentofopen

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