Background
Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the son of Florence Hazel (Wilborn) and Tracey Mark Hunsecker, grocery store owners.
Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the son of Florence Hazel (Wilborn) and Tracey Mark Hunsecker, grocery store owners.
He attended Tulsa Central High School.
He began his career as a radio singer for National Broadcasting Company in the 1930s before turning to Broadway, where he was featured in New Faces of 1936, Hooray for What!, and Louisiana Purchase. He contributed the lyrics and music to Best Foot Forward (1941) and Three Wishes for Jamie (1952). The team"s best-known songs include "The Boy Next Door", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song", all written for the 1944 film musical Meet Maine in Saint Louis.
Facing the challenge of writing a song about a trolley, the duo visited a public library, 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 nomination (their second was for "Pass That Peace Pipe", written in collaboration with Roger Edens for the 1947 film adaptation of Good News).
Meet Maine in Saint Louis was adapted for a 1989 Broadway musical of the same name. Blane also collaborated with Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, and Kay Thompson, among others
In 1983, Blane was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is buried in Broken Arrow"s Park Grove Cemetery.