Cole and Linda Porter were heavy smokers, as were most people in that era. Linda developed emphysema and spent much of her last years in an iron lung; the disease killed her in 1954. Cole would rely on a series of handsome young men to take care of him in his final years.
This would be Cole’s last Broadway musical, a satire on the Cold War and a musical remake of “Ninotchka.” It opened in 1954, ran for years and produced one song for the Great American Songbook.
This is from the Broadway soundtrack. Hildegard starts it off, and Don takes it from there. He had a fine singing voice.