Burl Ives Biography

Fast Facts

• In 1986, he was given the DeMolay Legion of Honor
• Received the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America
• Was taught at Indiana State Teachers College and The Juilliard School
• Was jailed in the 1930s for singing "Foggy, Foggy Dew" in Mona, Utah, where authorities deemed the song too bawdy
• Quote: "I would change the words when I knew I had better ones․ I would change the tune when I knew it would help the song․"
• Cooperated with the House Unamerican Activities Committee to avoid being blacklisted himself, and his friend Pete Seeger felt that Ives had sold him out
• Widely regarded for his folk tunes, he is best known for voicing Sam the Snowman in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer․"
• Was drafted into the U․S․ Army during World War II