Burl Ives

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 Berlins 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 Ivess bestknown 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 voiceover work as Sam the Snowman narrator of the classic 1964 Christmas television special Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer which continues to air annually around Christmas