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Burl Ives biography

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Quick Facts

  • PLACE OF DEATH: Anacortes, Washington
  • Originally: Charles Icle Ivanhoe Ives
more about Burl

Best Known For

Actor and singer Burl Ives recorded more than 100 albums during his lifetime. His hits include “Frosty the Snowman” and “The Blue Tail Fly.”


Synopsis

Burl Ives was born on June 14, 1909, in Jasper County, Illinois. He learned Scottish, English and Irish ballads from his grandmother and he later hitchhiked around the U.S. collecting songs. He recorded more than 100 albums with hits such as “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and “Frosty the Snowman.” A respected actor, he also appeared on Broadway and in films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and East of Eden.

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(born June 14, 1909, Jasper county, Ill., U.S.—died April 14, 1995, Anacortes, Wash.) U.S. singer and actor. Ives began performing at age four and learned Scottish, English, and Irish ballads from his grandmother. He left college to hitchhike around the U.S., collecting songs from hoboes and drifters. Soon after his postwar concert debut in New York City, he was hailed by Carl Sandburg as “the mightiest ballad singer of this or any other century.” He recorded more than 100 albums and had hits with “I Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly),” “The Blue Tail Fly,” “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and “A Little Bitty Tear.” He appeared in many films—including East of Eden (1955), Desire Under the Elms (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and The Big Country (1958, Academy Award)—and on Broadway.

Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com

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