15 Celebs you forgot died in the 90s and the real stories behind their deaths (With Pictures)

5. Burl Ives (April 14th, 1995)

Burl Ives is recognized for his sing-song voice, most notably as Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  He was a member of a family with six siblings and first sang at his uncle’s “Old Soldier’s” reunion. He married Dorothy Koster Paul and had four children. Some of his notable songs are his renditions of Holly Jolly Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Go Tell Aunt Rhody.

Ives was an avid pipe and cigar smoker and was shown with a cigar in his mouth on the cover of his first album. He was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 1994 and had several unsuccessful operations. He decided not to go through with the surgeries anymore and fell into a coma, dying on April 14th, 1995.