Born June 14, 1909, in Hunt City Township, IL; died of cancer, April 14, 1995, in Anacortes, WA. Actor, singer, and writer. An Academy Award-winning actor, Ives was also a popular folk singer who was particularly known for children's recordings, including "I Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly)" and "On Top of Old Smoky." Ives began singing professionally at an early age and during the 1930s traveled widely throughout North America collecting material to add to his act. He settled in New York City, where he made his stage debut in1938 in I Married an Angel. He appeared in several Broadway productions, including The Boys from Syracuse, This Is the Army, and Sing Out, Sweet Land, before making his film debut in Smoky in 1946. In the 1950s and 1960s Ives appeared in such films as East of Eden, Desire under the Elms, Our Man in Havana,and Ensign Pulver in addition to the two roles for which he remains best known: his performance as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a role that he hadoriginated on Broadway; and his Academy Award- winning performance as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country in 1958. He occasionally acted in television series and was seen in the miniseries Roots in 1977. Ives's recording career spanned several decades beginning with "The Wayfaring Stranger" in 1949 and included such notable hits as "Foggy, Foggy Dew," "The Big Rock Candy Mountain," "Frosty the Snowman," "Holly Jolly Christmas," and "Blue Tail Fly." Ives's writings include the memoir Wayfaring Stranger, 1948, and several song books.
Books:
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: