{{Short description|Wife of Cole Porter (1883–1954)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Linda Lee Thomas | image = Linda Lee Thomas 1919.jpg | alt = | caption = Thomas in 1919 | birth_name = Linda Belle Lee | birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|11|17}} | birth_place = [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], [[Kentucky]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|05|20|1883|11|17}} | death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S. | resting_place = Peru, Indiana, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = | alma_mater = | spouse = {{plainlist| *{{marriage|[[Edward Russell Thomas]]|June 29, 1901|1912|reason=div}} *{{marriage|[[Cole Porter]]|1919}} }} | relatives = [[Lee family]] | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Linda Lee Thomas''' (November 17, 1883 – May 20, 1954) was an American socialite and the wife of [[musical theatre]] composer [[Cole Porter]].
== First marriage == [[File:The Lady in Blue (Mrs. Edward R. Thomas) by Emil Fuchs.jpg|thumb|''Lady in Blue'', painted by [[Emil Fuchs (artist)|Emil Fuchs]] in 1906]] Thomas was born Linda Belle Lee to the prominent [[Lee family]] of Virginia. Her father was Louisville banker William Paca Lee and her mother Lily Lee (née Hill). Friends introduced her to [[Edward Russell Thomas]], a son of [[Union Army]] general Samuel Thomas and owner of the ''[[New York Morning Telegraph]]'' (and who later became the first [[United States|American]] to kill someone in a [[car accident]]) {{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}. They married on June 29, 1901, at [[Newport, Rhode Island]]. She was 17. They lived a life of luxury, with houses in Palm Beach, Manhattan, and Newport. It was said that her favorite "department store" was [[Van Cleef & Arpels]]. They divorced on October 26, 1912,<ref name="ertobit">[https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/07/archives/-e-r-thomab-noted-sportsm-xis-was-an-owner-of-the-morning-telegraph.html E. R, THOMAS, NOTED SPORTSMAN, DIES], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (July 7, 1926)</ref> reportedly due to his abuse.
== Marriage to Porter == Thomas and [[Cole Porter]] met on January 30, 1918, at the wedding of Henry Potter Russell to heiress [[Ethel B. Borden|Ethel Borden Harriman]], daughter of railroad and investment banking tycoon [[J. Borden Harriman]] and his wife, née [[Florence Jaffray Harriman|Florence "Daisy" Hurst]], at the [[Hôtel Ritz Paris]].
Thomas and Cole were married on December 18, 1919, in the city hall of the [[8th arrondissement of Paris|8ème arrondissement]] of [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite book |last=McBrien |first=William |year=1998 |title=Cole Porter |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-58235-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/coleporterbiogra00mcbr_0/page/73 73] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/coleporterbiogra00mcbr_0/page/73 }}</ref>
From 1930 to 1939, the Porters lived at 13 rue Monsieur, a house next door to [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]], and with a garden adjoining the future residence of [[Nancy Mitford]]. They were married 34 years, and although they had no children born of their marriage, Thomas conceived and miscarried.<ref name=masterworks>{{cite web|url=https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/cole-porter/|title= Cole Porter|website= Masterworks Broadway|access-date= 20 December 2018|quote= "Her only pregnancy ended in a miscarriage."}}</ref> <ref name=screen>{{cite book |last=Peck |first=Ellen M. |date=May 3, 2018 |title=The Composer on Screen: Essays on Classical Music Biopics |chapter=Cole Porter's Fabulous Film Lives |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EspZDwAAQBAJ&q=cole+porter+miscarriage&pg=PT145 |editor1-last=Fryer |editor1-first=Paul |location=Jefferson, NC |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |page=139 |isbn=978-0-7864-9965-6 |quote="Sources close to Linda and Cole" [confirmed] "that she did indeed miscarry a child and they chose to keep it private."}}</ref> [[File:Cole Porter, Linda Lee Thomas, Bernard Berenson, and Howard Sturges in gondola, 1923.jpg|thumb|left|Cole Porter, Thomas, Bernard Berenson, and [[Howard Sturges]] in gondola, 1923]]
Thomas died from [[emphysema]] in 1954, aged 70, in the couple's apartment in the [[Waldorf Astoria New York|Waldorf Towers]]. She left an estate of over $1.5 million (over ${{Inflation|US|1.5|1954|r=1|fmt=c}} million today) in which Cole inherited a lifetime interest. Her jewelry collection included pieces by [[Paul Flato]].<ref>{{cite web |title=An Unusual Pair of Emerald and Diamond Clip-Brooches, Paul Flato |url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/an-unusual-pair-of-emerald-and-diamond-6197805-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6197805&lid=1 |website=Christies}}</ref> She was buried in the Porter family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery in [[Peru, Indiana]].
== Portrayals == Thomas is portrayed by [[Alexis Smith]] in the 1946 film ''[[Night and Day (1946 film)|Night and Day]]'' and by [[Ashley Judd]] in the 2004 film ''[[De-Lovely]]''. A one-woman show about her life with Porter, titled ''[[Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter]]'', starring jazz vocalist [[Stevie Holland]], ran [[Off-Broadway]] at the [[York Theatre]] in 2013.
== References == {{Commons category|Linda Lee Thomas}} {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Linda Lee}} [[Category:1883 births]] [[Category:1954 deaths]] [[Category:American socialites]] [[Category:Lee family (Virginia)|Linda]]