Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

, and performer.

Life and career

Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Broken Arrow is a city located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, primarily in Tulsa County, with a portion in western Wagoner County. It is the largest suburb of Tulsa. According to the 2010 census, Broken Arrow has a popul ...

. He attended

Tulsa Central High School Central High School is the oldest high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1906 as Tulsa High School, and located in downtown Tulsa until 1976. The school now has a campus in northwest Tulsa. Tulsa Central is part of the Tulsa Public ...

. He studied singing with Estelle Liebling in New York City. He began his career as a radio singer for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the 1930s before turning to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where he was featured in ''New Faces of 1936'' (1936), ''

Hooray for What! ''Hooray for What!'' is an anti-warConnema, Richar''Hooray for What!'' is a Hilarious Send-up of America Talkin' Broadway Regional News & reviews: San Francisco, undated but presumably November 2004 when 42nd Street Moon Productions performed the ...

'' (1937), and ''Louisiana Purchase'' (1940). In 1940 he formed a vocal quartet ("The Martins") with his friend

Hugh Martin Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...

which performed on radio and in nightclubs. Martin and Blane formed a songwriting partnership. Together they wrote music and lyrics to '' Best Foot Forward'' (1941) and ''

Three Wishes for Jamie ''Three Wishes for Jamie'' is a musical with a book by Charles O'Neal and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Ralph Blane. Based on O'Neal's 1949 novel ''The Three Wishes of Jamie McRuin'', the fantasy focuses on the title character, a young Ir ...

'' (1952). The duo penned many American standards for the stage and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

musicals. The team's best-known songs include " The Boy Next Door", "

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. I ...

" and "

The Trolley Song "The Trolley Song" is a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. In a 1989 NPR interview, Blane said the song was inspired by a picture of a trolleycar in a turn-of-t ...

", all written for the 1944 film musical ''

Meet Me in St. Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas film, Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith famil ...

''. Facing the challenge of writing a song about a trolley, the duo visited a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

, and in a book they found the caption "Clang, clang, clang went the trolley", which formed the nucleus for the lyric of their song, which earned them their first

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nomination (their second was for "Pass That Peace Pipe", written in collaboration with

Roger Edens Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "go ...

for the 1947 film adaptation of '' Good News''). ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' was adapted for a 1989 Broadway musical of the same name. Blane also collaborated with

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

, and

Kay Thompson Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink; November 9, 1909''"In the St. Louis Registry of Births, in the volume covering the period July 1909 – January 1910, on page 85, is the following entry: "Catherine Louise Fink, November 9, 1909."''

, among others. In 1983, Blane was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
. In 1991, Blane sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at The Magic Kingdom in performances of
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
World's Christmas Candlelight Processional. George Kennedy narrated the Christmas Story during the performances. He is buried in Broken Arrow's Park Grove Cemetery.

References

External links
* *
Musicmatch.com – Ralph Blane Biography
Archived fro
original
June 21, 2003.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blane, Ralph 1914 births 1995 deaths Central High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni American male composers American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists Broadway composers and lyricists People from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Songwriters from Oklahoma 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters