Ralph Rainger
Ralph Rainger (October 7, 1901 – October 23, 1942) was an American composer of popular music principally for films.
Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, Rainger embarked on a legal career before escaping to Broadway where he became Clifton Webb's accompanist.
His first hit "Moanin' Low," with lyrics by Howard Dietz, was written for Webb's co-star Libby Holman in the 1929 revue The Little Show. Moving to Hollywood, Rainger teamed up with lyricist Leo Robin to produce a string of successful film songs.
In the years that followed, Rainger wrote or collaborated on such hit songs as "Louise," "Love in Bloom" (comedian Jack Benny’s theme song), "Faithful Forever," "June in January," "Blue Hawaii" and "Thanks for the Memory," which won and Academy Award and which entertainer Bob Hope adopted as his signature song.
Rainger paid one year's tuition fees to the Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg in advance so that Schönberg could pay for the transportation of his belongings to Los Angeles from Paris in 1933.
Rainger's career was tragically cut short by a fatal plane crash near Palm Springs, California, in 1942. He was a passenger aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner that was involved in a midair collision with a U.S. Army Air Corps bomber; he was 41 years old.
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Film credits
- 1932 - The Big Broadcast
- 1932 - A Farewell to Arms
- 1932 - This Is the Night
- 1933 - A Bedtime Story
- 1933 - From Hell to Heaven
- 1933 - She Done Him Wrong
- 1933 - International House
- 1933 - Three-Cornered Moon
- 1934 - Kiss and Make up
- 1934 - Come On, Marines
- 1934 - Bolero
- 1934 - All of Me
- 1934 - Little Miss Marker
- 1934 - Search for Beauty
- 1934 - Six of a Kind
- 1935 - The Devil Is a Woman
- 1935 - The Big Broadcast of 1936
- 1935 - Ruggles of Red Gap
- 1936 - The Big Broadcast of 1937
- 1936 - Rhythm on the Range
- 1936 - Rose of the Rancho
- 1936 - Poppy
- 1936 - Palm Springs
- 1936 - Three Cheers for Love
- 1937 - King of Gamblers
- 1937 - The Big Broadcast of 1938, including the Academy Award winning song "Thanks for the Memory"
- 1937 - Blossoms on Broadway
- 1937 - Hills of Old Wyoming
- 1937 - Ebb Tide
- 1937 - Swing High, Swing Low
- 1937 - Waikiki Wedding
- 1937 - Souls at Sea
- 1938 - Her Jungle Love
- 1938 - Artists and Models Abroad
- 1938 - Romance in the Dark
- 1938 - The Texans
- 1939 - Gulliver's Travels, including the Academy Award nominated song "Faithful Forever"
- 1939 - $1,000 a Touchdown
- 1941 - Cadet Girl
- 1941 - A Yank in the R.A.F.
- 1941 - Tall, Dark and Handsome
- 1941 - Rise and Shine
- 1941 - New York Town
- 1942 - Footlight Serenade
- 1942 - True to the Army
- 1942 - My Gal Sal
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