Early career When he was 15, Cole dropped out of high school to pursue a music career. After his brother Eddie, a bassist, came home from touring with
Noble Sissle, they formed a sextet and recorded two singles for
Decca in 1936 as Eddie Cole's Swingsters. They performed in a revival of the musical
Shuffle Along. Nat Cole went on tour with the musical. In 1937, he married Nadine Robinson, who was a member of the cast. After the show ended in Los Angeles, Cole and Nadine settled there while he looked for work.
1940s Cole recorded "
Sweet Lorraine" in 1940, and it became his first hit. According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that Cole sing the song. Cole's version was that one night a customer demanded that he sing, but because it was a song he did not know, he sang "Sweet Lorraine" instead. As people heard Cole's vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged. In 1941, the trio recorded "That Ain't Right" for Decca, followed the next year by "All for You" for
Excelsior. Cole was the original house pianist for
Jazz at the Philharmonic and performed at the first recorded concert in 1944. He was credited on
Mercury as "Shorty Nadine", a derivative of his wife's name, because Cole had an exclusive contract with
Capitol since signing with the label the year before. He used a variety of other
pseudonyms for the same reason, including Eddie Laguna, Sam Schmaltz, Nature Boy and A Guy, "or whatever name for himself he could think of, but only as an instrumentalist, never as a vocalist." Cole recorded with
Illinois Jacquet and
Lester Young. They performed on the radio programs
Swing Soiree,
Old Gold,
The Chesterfield Supper Club,
Kraft Music Hall, and
The Orson Welles Almanac. Cole began recording and performing pop-oriented material in which he was often accompanied by a
string orchestra. Cole's stature as a popular star was cemented by hits such as "All for You" (1943), "
The Christmas Song" (1947), "
(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", "
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" (1946), "
There! I've Said It Again" (1947), "
Nature Boy" (1948),
1950s Cole continued his popular success without a break in the 1950s, recording "
Frosty the Snowman" (No. 8 in 1950), "
Mona Lisa" (No. 1 song of 1950), "
Orange Colored Sky" (1950), "
Too Young" (the No. 1 song of 1951). 1951's "
Unforgettable" (No. 9) was made famous again in 1991 by Cole's daughter Natalie when modern recording technology was used to reunite father and daughter in a duet. The duet version rose to the top of the pop charts, almost forty years after its original popularity. On June 7, 1953, Cole performed for the ninth
Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at
Wrigley Field in Chicago, which was produced annually by
Leon Hefflin, Sr. Featured that day were
Roy Brown and his Orchestra,
Shorty Rogers,
Earl Bostic,
Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, and
Louis Armstrong and his All Stars with
Velma Middleton. On November 5, 1956, ''The Nat 'King' Cole Show'' debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American. The fifteen minute show was increased to a half-hour in July 1957.
Rheingold Beer was a regional sponsor, but a national sponsor was never found. The show was in trouble financially despite efforts by NBC,
Harry Belafonte,
Tony Bennett,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Eartha Kitt,
Frankie Laine,
Peggy Lee, and
Mel Tormé. Cole decided to end the program, and the last episode aired on December 17, 1957. Commenting on the lack of sponsorship, Cole said shortly after its demise: "
Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." Throughout the 1950s, Cole continued to record hits that sold millions throughout the world, such as "
Smile", "
Pretend", "
A Blossom Fell", and "If I May". His pop hits were collaborations with
Nelson Riddle, Cole performed in many short films (such as
The Nat King Cole Musical Story (1955)), sitcoms, and television shows, and appeared in big screen productions that included
The Blue Gardenia (1953),
China Gate (1957), and
St. Louis Blues (1958), where he played
W. C. Handy.
1960s In 1960, Cole's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle left Capitol to join
Reprise Records, which was established by Frank Sinatra. Riddle and Cole recorded one final hit album,
Wild Is Love, with lyrics by
Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Cole later retooled the concept album into an
Off-Broadway show, ''I'm with You''. Nevertheless, Cole recorded several hit singles during the 1960s, including "Let There Be Love" with
George Shearing in 1961, the country-flavored hit "
Ramblin' Rose" in August 1962 (reaching No. 2 on the Pop chart), "
Dear Lonely Hearts" (No. 13), "
That Sunday, That Summer" (No. 12) and "
Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (his final top-ten hit, reaching number 6 on the Pop chart). In January 1964, Cole made one of his final television appearances, on
The Jack Benny Program. He was introduced as "the best friend a song ever had" and sang "
When I Fall in Love".
Cat Ballou (1965), Cole's final film, was released several months after his death. Cole's final studio album was titled
L-O-V-E. The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. Earlier on, Cole's shift to traditional pop led some jazz critics and fans to accuse him of selling out, but he never abandoned his jazz roots; as late as 1956, Cole recorded an all-jazz album,
After Midnight, and many of his albums after this are fundamentally jazz-based, being scored for big band without strings, although the arrangements focus primarily on the vocal rather than instrumental leads. ==Personal life==