Editing Burl Ives (section)

===1960s–1990s===
In the 1960s, Ives began singing [[country music]] with greater frequency. In 1962, he released three songs that were popular with both country music and popular music fans: "[[A Little Bitty Tear]]", "Call Me Mister In-Between", and "[[Funny Way of Laughin']]". His records, recorded in Nashville for [[Decca Records]], were produced by [[Owen Bradley]], one of the record producers who (along with [[Chet Atkins]]) helped define the [[Nashville Sound]] style of country music that expanded the music's appeal to a wider audience. Bradley used the [[Nashville A-Team]] of session musicians behind Ives, including the [[Anita Kerr Singers]], which enhanced Ives' appeal. Bradley also produced the recording of Ives's perennial Holiday favorite "[[A Holly Jolly Christmas]]" in Nashville.

Ives had several film and television roles during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, he sang the folk song, "[[I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly]]" for a short film of the same name produced by the [[National Film Board of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjK4pnbW-6o&ab_channel=NFB | title=I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly | website=[[YouTube]] | date=October 26, 2016 }}</ref> In 1962, he starred with [[Rock Hudson]] in ''[[The Spiral Road]],'' which was based on a novel of the same name by [[Jan de Hartog]]. He also starred in Disney's ''[[Summer Magic (film)|Summer Magic]]'' with [[Hayley Mills]], [[Dorothy McGuire]], and [[Eddie Hodges]], and a score by [[Robert B. Sherman|Robert]] and [[Richard M. Sherman|Richard Sherman]]. In 1964, he played the genie in the movie ''[[The Brass Bottle (1964 film)|The Brass Bottle]]'' with [[Tony Randall]] and [[Barbara Eden]].

Ives's "[[A Holly Jolly Christmas]]" and "Silver and Gold" became Christmas standards after they were first featured in the 1964 NBC-TV presentation of the [[Rankin/Bass]] stop-motion animated family special [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)|''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'']]. [[Johnny Marks]] had composed the title song (originally an enormous hit for singing cowboy [[Gene Autry]]) in 1949, and producers [[Arthur Rankin, Jr.]] and [[Jules Bass]] retained him to compose the TV special's soundtrack. Ives voiced Sam the Snowman, the banjo-playing "host" and narrator of the story, explaining how Rudolph used his "nonconformity", as Sam refers to it, to save Christmas from being cancelled due to an impassable blizzard. The following year, Ives rerecorded all three of the Johnny Marks hits which he had sung in the TV special, but with a more "pop" feel. He released them all as singles for the 1965 holiday season, capitalizing on their previous success.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} In 2022, 27 years after his death, "[[A Holly Jolly Christmas]]", made the [[Billboard Year-End]] chart.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Hot 100 Songs | magazine=Billboard | date=January 2, 2013 | url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/hot-100-songs/ | access-date=June 22, 2023}}</ref>

Ives performed in other television productions, including ''[[Pinocchio (1968 film)|Pinocchio]]'' and ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]].''

He starred in short-lived ''[[O.K. Crackerby!]]'' (1965–66), a comedy which costarred Hal Buckley, Joel Davison, and [[Brooke Adams (actress)|Brooke Adams]], about the presumed richest man in the world, which replaced [[Walter Brennan]]'s somewhat similar ''[[The Tycoon (TV series)|The Tycoon]]'' on the ABC schedule from the preceding year.

He played Walter Nichols in the drama ''[[The Bold Ones: The Lawyers]]'' (1969–72), a segment of the [[wheel series]] ''[[The Bold Ones]]''.

Ives narrated the [[1971 Washington Redskins season|1971 season]] highlight film for the [[Washington Commanders|Washington Redskins]] of the [[National Football League]] produced by [[NFL Films]]. The Executive Producer was NFL Films founder [[Ed Sabol]], and chief producer was Ed's son, [[Steve Sabol]]. Ed and Steve Sabol are members of the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]].

Ives occasionally starred in macabre-themed productions. In 1970, for example, he played the title role in ''The Man Who Wanted to Live Forever'', in which his character attempts to harvest human organs from unwilling donors. In 1972, he appeared as old man Doubleday in the episode "The Other Way Out" of [[Rod Serling]]'s ''[[Night Gallery]]'', in which his character seeks a gruesome revenge for the murder of his granddaughter.

In honor of Ives's influence on American vocal music, on October 25, 1975, he was awarded the [[University of Pennsylvania Glee Club]] Award of Merit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/gleeclub/MEMBERS_merit.html |title = The University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit Recipients |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209191432/http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/gleeclub/MEMBERS_merit.html |archive-date=February 9, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> This award, initiated in 1964, was "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year who has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."

When [[America Sings]] opened at [[Disneyland]] in 1974, Ives voiced the main host, Sam Eagle, an [[Audio-Animatronics|Audio-Animatronic]].

In 1976, Ives was featured as a main character in ''Little House on the Prairie'' season 3 episode 10 titled "The Hunters". Ives played an old fur trapper who was blind and afraid to leave the comfort and safety of his cabin which he shared with his adult son (Johnny Crawford). In this episode Ives paired off with Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) to help rescue her injured father who was accidentally shot while hunting for venison.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=The Odessa American |location=Odessa, Texas| date=December 19, 1976 | page=101 | title=Burl Ivest Cast as Blind Man | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-odessa-american-burl-ives-blind-man/123170223/}}</ref>

Ives lent his name and image to the U.S. [[Bureau of Land Management]]'s "This Land Is Your Land – Keep It Clean" campaign in the 1970s. He was portrayed with the program's fictional spokesman, [[Johnny Horizon]].

Burl Ives was seen regularly in television commercials for [[Luzianne]] tea for several years during the 1970s and 1980s, when he was the company's commercial spokesman.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/jun/30/summertime-perfect-time-southern-style-sw-20110630/| title=Summertime perfect time for Southern-style sweet tea| newspaper=[[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]]| first=Jeannie| last=Stone|access-date=2020-03-26| date=June 30, 2011}}</ref>

In 1982 he played Carruthers, a dog trainer, in [[Samuel Fuller]]'s controversial and critically acclaimed film ''[[White Dog (1982 film)|White Dog]]''.

In 1989, Ives officially announced his retirement from show business on his 80th birthday. However, he continued to do occasional benefit concert performances of his own accord until 1993.