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HR0476 |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives are proud to recognize the life and legacy of |
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| those individuals that have distinguished themselves through |
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| significant personal achievement; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives was born on June 14, 1909 in Hunt City; |
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| he was the son of Levi "Frank" Ives and Cordelia "Dellie" |
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| White; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives' musical talent was recognized at an |
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| early age; one day, Mr. Ives was singing in the garden with his |
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| mother, and his uncle overheard them; he invited his nephew to |
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| sing at the old soldiers' reunion in Hunt City; young Burl |
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| performed a rendition of the folk ballad "Barbara Allen" and |
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| impressed both his uncle and the audience; and
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| WHEREAS, From 1927 to 1929, Burl Ives attended Eastern |
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| Illinois State Teachers College in Charleston (now Eastern |
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| Illinois University), where he played football; during his |
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| junior year, while sitting in English class listening to a |
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| lecture on Beowulf, he suddenly realized that he was wasting |
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| his time in school and rose up to leave; as he walked out the |
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| door, the professor made a snide remark and Mr. Ives slammed |
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| the door behind him; 60 years later, the school named a |
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HR0476 |
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| building after its most famous dropout; and
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| WHEREAS, During the early 1930s, Burl Ives traveled about |
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| the U.S. as an itinerant singer, earning his way by doing odd |
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| jobs and playing his banjo; around 1931, he landed on WBOW |
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| radio in Terre Haute, Indiana; he also went back to school, |
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| attending classes at Indiana State Teachers College (now |
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| Indiana State University); and |
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| WHEREAS, In 1940, Burl Ives began his own radio show, |
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| titled "The Wayfaring Stranger" after one of his ballads; the |
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| show became very popular; in the 1940s, he popularized several |
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| traditional folk songs, such as "Lavender Blue", "Foggy Foggy |
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| Dew", "Blue Tail Fly", and "Big Rock Candy Mountain"; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives was drafted to serve in the military in |
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| early 1942; he first spent time at Camp Dix in New Jersey, then |
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| at Camp Upton in New York, where he joined the cast of Irving |
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| Berlin's "This Is the Army"; when the show went to Hollywood, |
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| he was transferred to the Army Air Force; he was honorably |
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| discharged in September of 1943; in December of 1943, Ives |
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| returned to New York City and went to work again for CBS radio |
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| for $100 a week; and
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| WHEREAS, On December 6, 1945, Burl Ives married 29-year-old |
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| script writer Helen Peck Ehrlich; the pair would later adopt a |
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| son (Alexander); the following year, Mr. Ives was cast as a |
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| singing cowboy in the film "Smoky"; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives continued his burgeoning movie career |
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| during the 1950s, with roles in "East of Eden" in 1955, "Cat on |
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| a Hot Tin Roof" in 1958, "The Big Country" in 1958, which won |
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| him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and "Our Man in |
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| Havana" in 1959; and |
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| WHEREAS, In the 1960s, Burl Ives began singing country |
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| music with greater frequency; in 1962, he released three |
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| country music hits, "A Little Bitty Tear", "Call Me Mr. |
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| In-Between", and "Funny Way of Laughing"; all three songs also |
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| became big pop music hits; and
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| WHEREAS, During the 1960s and 1970s, Burl Ives took on a |
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| number of television roles; he played the narrator, Sam the |
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| Snowman, in the animated television special, Rudolph the |
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| Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964; Mr. Ives' song "A Holly Jolly |
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| Christmas", featured during the special, remains a popular tune |
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| during the Christmas season; he also performed in Pinocchio in |
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| 1968 and Roots in 1977; he was the star of two television |
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| series, "O.K. Crackerby!" (1965-1966) and "The Bold Ones: The |
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| Lawyers" (1969-1972); in 1962, he starred alongside Rock Hudson |
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| in the movie "The Spiral Road"; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives and Helen Peck Ehrlich divorced in 1971; |
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| he then married Dorothy Koster Paul in London, England in that |
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| same year and adopted her two children, Kevin and Robbie; and
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| WHEREAS, On October 25, 1975, Burl Ives was awarded the |
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| prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit |
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| in honor of his vast influence on American vocal music; and |
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| WHEREAS, In the 1970s, Burl Ives lent his name and image to |
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| the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's "This Land is Your Land, |
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| Keep It Clean" campaign; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives passed away at the age of 85 on April |
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| 14, 1995 in Anacortes, Washington after a valiant fight against |
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| cancer; he is interred at Mound Cemetery in Hunt City Township |
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| in Jasper County; and
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives appeared in many Broadway shows, |
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| including "The Boys From Syracuse", "Heavenly Express", "This |
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| is the Army", "Sing Out Sweet Land", "Paint Your Wagon", and |
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| "Dr. Cook's Garden"; his most notable Broadway performance, |
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| however, was the role of Big Daddy Cane in "Cat on a Hot Tin |
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| Roof", a role written specifically for Ives by Tennessee |
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| Williams; he would later reprise the role in the 1958 movie |
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| version; and |
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives published his autobiography, "The |
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| Wayfaring Stranger", in 1948; he also wrote or compiled several |
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| other books, including the "Burl Ives Songbook" (1953), "Tales |
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| of America" (1954), "Sea Songs of Sailing, Whaling, and |
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| Fishing" (1956), and "The Wayfaring Stranger's Notebook" |
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| (1962); and
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| WHEREAS, During the course of the multi-decade career; Burl |
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| Ives recorded more than 100 albums and scored dozens of hits; |
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| his music is still adored and emulated by countless numbers of |
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| fans and fellow musicians; and |
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| WHEREAS, Burl Ives' legacy lives on through his legions of |
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| devoted fans and his unforgettable catalog of incredible music; |
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| his contributions to the world of music and the people of the |
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| State of Illinois are enormous; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Burl Ives on |
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| June 14, 2009 and urge the citizens of the State of Illinois to |
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| celebrate as well; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to the family of Burl Ives, the Jasper County Board, |
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| and the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce as a symbol of our |