Biography
11 August 1914, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. From the age of five Martin took piano lessons and attended local public school, and also studied at Birmingham Southern College. Despite his classical training, however, he was inspired by the music of George Gershwin and gravitated towards the popular music of the day. In 1937 he appeared in a singing role in Hooray For What! on Broadway, where he met another young singer, Ralph Blane. Together with Blane, he and two others formed a vocal quartet named the Martins, who were distinguished by their jazzy harmonizing. Martin and Blane appeared with their group on Fred Allen’s popular radio show at the end of the decade, but most of Martin’s time and energies were directed towards Broadway, and he was active onstage and increasingly involved with offstage activities in the musical theatre. Among the shows with which he was associated were Irving Berlin’s Louisiana Purchase, for which he was vocal director and...
Read the Full Biography of Hugh Martin / Ralph Blane
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