Burt Kearns | |
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Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Fairfield University |
Occupations |
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Burt Kearns is an American author, journalist, and television and film producer, writer and director, whom Donald Liebenson of Vanity Fair referred to as a "show business and pop culture [savant]." [1]
Kearns's first book, the television memoir Tabloid Baby , was published in 1999. [2] The Show Won't Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage, which he wrote with Jeff Abraham, was published in 2019. [3] His biography of actor Lawrence Tierney, [4] Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy , was published in December, 2022 by the University Press of Kentucky. [5] [6] Applause Theatre & Cinema Books published Kearns’ book, Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel , [7] [8] on April 2, 2024. [9] Kearns's book, Shemp! The Biography of the Three Stooges' Shemp Howard, The Face of Film Comedy, was published on October 1, 2024, also by Applause. [10] [11]
In 2018, he became a contributor to the literary pop culture website, PleaseKillMe.com. [12] In December 2021, he began to contribute written and video pieces to Legs McNeil’s literary pop culture website, Legsville.com. [13]
Kearns produced, cowrote and edited the 2025 documentary film, Pusherman: Frank Lucas and the True Story of American Gangster, [14] [15] [16] directed by Legs McNeil. He was a creator and executive producer of Breaking the Ice, a docuseries following the first diverse, competitive synchronized ice skating team. [17] [18] The series premiered on WE tv in 2023 and streams on AMC's ALLBLK platform. [19]
He appeared on-camera in, and was an executive producer of, the Reelz nonfiction special program, Kardashian: The Man Who Saved OJ Simpson. [20] He was executive producer of the Reelz nonfiction special El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle In The Jungle. [21] Kearns was also director, writer and executive producer of Hollywood Animal Crusaders for Animal Planet [22] and co-producer of the HBO documentary Panic. [23] He was producer of the Fox Television special, When Good Pets Go Bad 2, [24] and the syndicated series, Strange Universe . [25]
Kearns produced the nonfiction film comedy High There . [26] [27] Kearns directed the nonfiction film, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, which opened on August 15, 2009 at the 35th annual The Fest For Beatles Fans in Chicago. [28] High There and the Montez film were produced through his Good Story Productions production company. [29]
In 2000, Kearns formed the production company Frozen Television (later Frozen Pictures) with producer Brett Hudson. [30] Kearns was an executive producer on All the Presidents' Movies for Bravo [31] and The Secret History of Rock ’n’ Roll with Gene Simmons [32] and Adults Only: The Secret History of The Other Hollywood for Court TV. [33]
With Hudson and Albert S. Ruddy, Kearns wrote and produced the 2006 Twentieth Century-Fox film, Cloud 9 , [34] starring Burt Reynolds, which was a joint production of Frozen and The Ruddy Morgan Organization. [35]
He directed and produced the 2008 documentary musical film, The Seventh Python , about the career and influence of Monty Python collaborator and Bonzo Dog Band member Neil Innes, [36] and directed and produced Basketball Man, the 2007 Frozen Pictures documentary film that featured interviews telling the story of the game's inventor, James Naismith. [37] [ non-primary source needed ] [38] The film was released on DVD on May 8, 2007. [38]
Kearns founded the website, Saintmychal.com, that chronicled and promoted the canonization of 9/11 victim Mychal Judge. [39] [40] [41]
After graduation from Fairfield University, [42] Kearns worked as a reporter and editor for the Acorn Press, a chain of newspapers in southern Connecticut and Westchester, New York. He then moved to Manhattan, where he was hired on the assignment desk, and went on to become a writer and show producer at WNEW-TV's 10 O'Clock News. Kearns also wrote for CBS News' Nightwatch and CBS Morning News and later became a newswriter and producer for WNBC-TV's News 4 New York and producer of the eleven o’clock newscast. [42] He also freelanced as a writer for Spin magazine. [43] [44] [45]
Kearns joined the show A Current Affair in 1988. [46] In fall of 1990, Kearns moved on to the rival show Hard Copy , as managing editor and producer. [47] In 1994, he was senior producer of Premier Story. [48] Kearns (and his coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall) was included in Maury Povich's 1991 memoir, Current Affairs: A Life on the Edge. [49]
Kearns left tabloid television and began writing Tabloid Baby in 1996. A combination memoir and exposé, the book was published in November 1999 by Hambleton-Hill's Celebrity Books imprint. [46]