

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 Berlin's 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," "Lavender Blue" and "Funny Way of Laughin'". A popular film actor through the late 1940s and '50s, Ives's best-known film roles included parts in So Dear to My Heart, Ensign Pulver, East of Eden, Desire Under the Elms and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Ives is often remembered for his voice-over work as Sam the Snowman, the narrator of the classic 1964 Christmas television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which continues to air annually around Christmas.
Christmas specials filmography[]
Actor[]
Production | Year | Character |
---|---|---|
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1964 | Sam the Snowman |
The New Adventures of Heidi | 1978 | Grandfather |
Dolly: "A Down Home Country Christmas" | 1987 | Himself |
Archive footage | ||
My Music: Classic Christmas | 2019 | Himself |
Soundtrack[]
Production | Year | Song(s) |
---|---|---|
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1964 | "Silver and Gold" "A Holly Jolly Christmas" "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" |
Dolly: "A Down Home Country Christmas" | 1987 | "I'll Be Home with Bells On" "Down Home Country Christmas" "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" "Santa Went On a Diet" "Christmas Medley" |
The Epic of Detective Mandy: Book One - Satan Claus | 1989 | "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" |
Melrose Place: "A Melrose Place Christmas" | 1992 | "A Holly Jolly Christmas" |
The Ref | 1994 | |
Roswell: "A Roswell Christmas Carol" | 2000 | |
The Family Man | ||
Bad Santa | 2003 | |
The Simpsons: "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" | "Silver and Gold" | |
My Name is Earl: "White Lie Christmas" | 2005 | "A Holly Jolly Christmas" |
Bones: "The Santa in the Slush" | 2007 | |
Chuck: "Chuck vs. The Crown Vic" | ||
Christmas Tree of Might | 2010 | |
Eureka: "Do You See What I See" | 2011 | |
Regular Show: "The White Elephant Gift Exchange" | 2014 | |
Weihnachts-Männer | 2015 | |
Bull: "Home for the Holidays" | 2017 | |
Cannonball: "Christmas Cannonball" | ||
Violent Night | 2022 |
External links[]
content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
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