I only vaguely remember Burl as a singer; his recordings (and even video performances of his songs) don't get replayed on contemporary media hardly ever.

But as an actor? "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is on TCM in heavy rotation; I haven't yet gotten tired of watching it, so I get to see Burl Ives as an actor on a regular basis, at least once every couple of months.

The film features great performances by Paul Newman and Liz Taylor, and Burl absolutely holds his own with those superstars in a large and important supporting role.

The real-life Burl Ives may or may not have "hated children" (a la W.C. Fields), but that nasty Big Daddy character he was able to portray so well was certainly capable of hating anyone and everyone!