Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (14 June 1909 – 14 April 1995) was an Academy Award winning American actor and acclaimed folk music singer and author. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie The Big Country.
Born near Hunt City in Jasper County, Illinois, Ives is probably best remembered for his music. The prominent music critic John Rockwell has been quoted in the New York Times as saying that "Ives's voice... had the sheen and finesse of opera without its latter-day Puccinian vulgarities and without the pretensions of operatic ritual. It was genteel in expressive impact without being genteel in social conformity. And it moved people."
From 1927 to 1929 Ives attended Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in Charleston (now Eastern Illinois University), where he played football. One day during his junior year, he was sitting in English class, listening to a lecture on Beowulf, when he suddenly realized that he was wasting his time. So he got up to leave, but as he...
Created by dipity
on Jan 30, 2008
Last updated: 03/04/10 at 03:08 AM
Update Sources
