Born in Birmingham, AL. Martin began studying piano at age five. Though he originally intended to study classical music, it was the music of George Gershwin that made him decide on a career in popular music. He appeared in a number of Broadway shows and formed his own group "The Martins." Ralph Blane was a member of The Martins, and Blane and Martin would become close collaborators on compositions in future years. Martin and Blane wrote the music for "Best Foot Forward," which took them to MGM where they did some of their finest and most popular work. Other notable unnominated songs, written alone or in collaboration, include "Boy Next Door", "Forever and a Day", "Gotta Dance", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Meet Me in St. Louis", "On Such a Night as This", "Three Men on a Date", "What Do You Think I Am?" and "You're Lucky".

Nominated for Music Best Song 1944: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS "The Trolley Song" - Music & Lyric (w. Ralph Blane)  Nominated for Music Best Song 1945: GOOD NEWS "Pass That Peace Pipe" - Music & Lyric (w. Ralph Blane & Roger Edens) 2 nominations