About the Author

Hugh Martin (born in 1914) is an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, and vocal coach. He is best known for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis, in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world and is widely considered one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. He became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist in the 1950s including her legendary stint at the Palace. He is quite possibly the last original source for stories of the Golden Era of Broadway and Hollywood musicals.