Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives ( born June 14, 1909 in Hunt City, Illinois, † April 14, 1995 in Anacortes, Washington) was an American folk singer, author and actor.
Life
In the 1930s Ives began to draw as a musician through the country. In the 1940s, he had a popular radio program. In 1948 he published his first book, The Wayfaring Stranger.
1946 Ives played the singing cowboy in the film Smoky, king of the prairie. Among the many other films in which he starred, including East of Eden (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Big Country (1958 ), for which he won an Academy Award as Best Male Supporting Actor, as well as Our Man in Havana (1959 ) based on the novel by Graham Greene.
In the 1940s he had with some old folk songs success, including " Lavender Blue " (his first hit, a folk song from the 17th century), " Foggy Foggy Dew " ( an Irish folk song ), Blue Tail Fly " ( a song from the civil war ), and " Big Rock Candy Mountain " ( an old hobo song ).
In the 1950s Ives cooperated with the Committee on Un-American Activities and denounced Pete Seeger and others as possible Communists.
In the 1960s Ives began singing country title. In 1962 he had three Top 20 hits hits with "A Little Bitty Tear", "Call Me Mr In-Between " and " Funny Way of Laughing ". Also in 1962 he succeeded with Mary Ann Regrets his last Top 40 hit. Although he could be placed in the following two years, four times in the charts, but only to the lower ranks.
He was in several television productions, including as a narrator in the puppet film nosed Reindeer (1964 ), Pinocchio (1968) and Roots ( 1977). In Rudolph The Red- he also sang his most successful play " Holly Jolly Christmas".
Burl Ives died at the age of 85 years to cancer.