Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American folk 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 popularised traditional folk-songs. In 1942, he appeared in Irving Berlin's This Is the Army, and then became a major star of CBS radio. Under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Ives co-operated by naming names, and became temporarily unpopular in showbusiness.
In the 1960’s he sang many country hits such as A Little Bitty Tear and Funny Way of Laughing, while expanding his film career, notably as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Ives was a lifelong supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.

Biography

Les parents de Burl, Levi « Frank » Ives (1880–1947) et Cordelia « Dellie » White (1882–1954), ont six autres enfants : Audry, Artie, Clarence, Argola, Lillburn, et Norma. Son père fut le premier agriculteur et conciliateur de terrains pour le comté entre autres. C'est l'oncle de Burl, l'entendant chanter alors qu'il jardinait en compagnie de sa mère, qui l'invita à chanter aux réunions de vétérans de la guerre de leur ville, où il chanta la ballade Barbara Allen, impressionnant tout son public.

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