Burl Ives (1909–95) originated the role of Harvey ‘Big Daddy’ Pollitt in the 1955 New York stage production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, also starring in the 1958 film version of Tennessee Williams’ mid-century melodrama. Best known as a singer of folk and country ballads, Ives dropped out of college in 1930 to hitchhike through 46 American states, ‘playing banjo and doing odd jobs’ before getting his own radio show (Severo 1995).
Ives’ experience of poverty aligns with Williams’ presentation of Big Daddy as a former blue-collar farmhand whose grit and talent get him promoted to the role of overseer. His devotion to the land is such that his employers bequeath him their estate. As Big Daddy, Ives’ barnstorming, authentic ‘larger-than-life performance… had critics and audiences cheering’ (Severo 1995). ‘I was typecast a bit and not everyone thought I could act’, Ives once said. ‘But that didn’t matter to me because I always saw myself as an entertainer. The movies, plays, music. It’s all entertainment of one kind or another’ (Ives in Severo 1995). This no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach seems highly reminiscent of the Pollitts’ patriarch.
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