Burl Ives
| Burl Ives | |
|---|---|
_1958.jpg)
Burl Ives in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof trailer, 1958
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| Born |
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives June 14, 1909 Hunt City, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 14, 1995 (aged 85) Anacortes, Washington, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Oral cancer |
| Resting place | Mound Cemetery, Hunt City Township, Jasper County, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Eastern Illinois University |
| Occupation | Actor, voice over actor, folk singer, writer, author |
| Years active | 1935–1993 |
| Spouse(s) |
Helen Peck Ehrlich (m. 1945; div. 1971) Dorothy Koster Paul (m. 1971; d. 1995) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Levi Ives Cordelia White |
 Wayfaring Stranger Burl Ives Performs at the Book and Author Luncheon, 17:33, Ives begins at 4:00, WNYC, 1954 |
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television.
He began as an itinerant singer and banjoist, and launched his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger, which popularized traditional folk songs. In 1942, he appeared in Irving Berlin's This Is the Army, and then became a major star of CBS radio. In the 1960s, he successfully crossed over into country music, recording hits such as "A Little Bitty Tear" and "Funny Way of Laughing". A popular film actor through the late 1940s and 1950s, Ives's best-known roles in that medium included parts in So Dear to My Heart and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Ives is often remembered for his starring role in the 1964 Christmas stop-motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which continues to air on CBS every Christmas season, as the voice of "Sam the Snowman", the special's host and narrator.
Ives was born near Hunt City, an unincorporated town in Jasper County, Illinois, near Newton, Illinois, to Levi "Frank" Ives (1880–1947) and Cordelia "Dellie" (née White) (1882–1954). He had six siblings: Audry, Artie, Clarence, Argola, Lillburn, and Norma. His father was first a farmer and then a contractor for the county and others. One day, Ives was singing in the garden with his mother, and his uncle overheard them. He invited his nephew to sing at the old soldiers' reunion in Hunt City. The boy performed a rendition of the folk ballad "Barbara Allen" and impressed both his uncle and the audience.
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