Burl Ives

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television. Ives 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 Laughin'". A popular film actor through the late 1940s and '50s, Ives's best-known film roles included parts in So Dear to My Heart (1949) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), as well as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Ives is often remembered for his voice-over work as Sam the Snowman, narrator of the classic 1964 Christmas television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which continues to air annually around Christmas.

Known For

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

as Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt

East of Eden

as Sam the Sheriff

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

as Sam the Snowman (voice)

The Ewok Adventure

as Narrator (voice)

The Big Country

as Rufus Hannassey

White Dog

as Carruthers

Two Moon Junction

as Sheriff Earl Hawkins

Our Man in Havana

as Dr. Hasselbacher

Night Gallery

as Old Man Doubleday

Day of the Outlaw

as Jack Bruhn