Burton Lane

Distinguished American songwriter/composer Burton Lane has written many memorable songs for stage and screen. Born in New York City, he began his long career at age 15 in the 1920s writing songs for Remick Music. Lane became well known in 1933 after penning the memorable "Everything I Have Is Yours" for the Joan Crawford, Clark Gable film Dancing Lady. Over his career, Lane wrote songs for over 30 feature films. His best known musicals are Finian's Rainbow, which he wrote in collaboration with E.Y. Harburg, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Alan Jay Lerner. Both were later made into films. The latter musical earned Lane and Lerner a Grammy. He has also won two Academy Award nominations for the songs "How About You" and "Too Late Now". Between 1985 he was on the board of ASCAP; earlier (1957-1966) he had served as the president of the Songwriters Guild (formerly the American Guild of Authors and Composers). Lane passed away on January 5, 1997 in New York at age 84.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide