Burton Lane, 84; Composed Music for ‘Finian’s Rainbow’

Burton Lane, the under-sung music man who was best known for the Broadway musicals and Hollywood films “Finian’s Rainbow” and “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” has died. He was 84.

Lane, who had suffered a stroke, died Sunday at his home in New York City.

The composer was nominated for an Academy Award twice, first for “How About You” from the 1941 film “Babes on Broadway” and then for “Too Late Now” from the 1951 film “Royal Wedding.”

His first movie credit came in 1933 for “Everything I Have Is Yours” and other tunes in “Dancing Lady,” with Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Fred Astaire in his film debut.

He was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and served as president of the American Guild of Authors and Composers.

Nevertheless, he felt that business-oriented Broadway had passed him by.

“I’d love to do a show a year. And I could do one a year, easily. But no one’s asking me,” Lane told The Times in 1990. “I keep writing even though my songs are not recorded. I’ve written so many now that I have a wonderful medley I do called ‘Private Hits for Private Homes’--tunes that only see the light of day when I write and play for my friends.”

He was, however, asked by Michael Feinstein to collaborate on two albums in the early 1990s titled “Michael Feinstein Sings the Burton Lane Songbook.” Lane accompanied Feinstein on piano. The material spanned five decades, from “Moments Like This” and “How’dja Like to Love Me?” written in 1938 to “I Can Hardly Wait” composed in 1990.

Lane’s first show tunes were heard on Broadway when he was only 18 and contributed songs to the 1930 revue “Three’s a Crowd.”

The first show for which he wrote the complete score was “Hold On to Your Hats,” a 1940 production that starred Al Jolson and Martha Raye. The hit of the show was “There’s a Great Day Coming Manana.”

He teamed with E.Y. “Yip” Harburg for the 1947 musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” known for such songs as “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?”

In 1965, the music for “On a Clear Day” won a Grammy for Lane and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. They also were nominated for Broadway’s Tony award.

Lane’s last Broadway production was the short-lived “Carmelina,” another collaboration with Lerner, in 1979.

Lane is survived by his wife, Lynn; a daughter, Diana, and three stepdaughters, Elizabeth, Peggy and Hillary Kaye.