Michael Kearns
Encyclopedia
Michael Kearns is an American actor, writer, director, teacher, producer, and activist. He is noted for being the first openly gay
actor, and after an announcement on Entertainment Tonight
in 1991, the first openly HIV positive actor in Hollywood.
. As a young man he attended the Goodman School of Drama
in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles
. For more than 25 years he has been active in the Los Angeles art and politics communities, maintaining a mainstream film and television career with a prolific career in the theatre. His activism is deeply integrated into his theatre works, and he has received grants from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
, the Brody Foundation, and PEN Center USA West. In 1984, along with playwright James Carroll Pickett, he co-founded Artists Confronting Aids (ACA), and is a current commissioner of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
(PFLAG).
, L.A. Parent, IN Magazine, and L.A. Weekly.
He is also author of five theatre books: T-Cells & Sympathy, Acting = Life, The Solo Performer's Journey, Getting Your Solo Act Together, and Life Expectancies. Both T-Cells & Sympathy and Acting = Life were nominated for Lambda Literary Award
s.
’s The Dirtiest Show In Town
at the Ivar Theatre.
In 2005—2006, Kearns was the Artist Director of Space At Fountain’s End where he curated and produced eighteen months of artistic expression including theatre, performance, jazz, fine art, photography, and poetry. Also in ’06, Kearns directed Lan Tran’s Elevator Sex (Off Broadway), The Tina Dance (throughout Los Angeles), and the twentieth anniversary production of Robert Chesley’s Jerker
.
The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
awarded Kearns with a COLA Fellowship to create a new work, Make Love Not War, that premiered in 2005. The COLA performances “represent a non-thematic cross section of very current work by some of Los Angeles’ best artists,” according to Noel Korten, Curator and Director of Exhibitions of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
.
His two widely-lauded solo theatrepieces, Intimacies and More Intimacies, in which he portrays a dozen culturally diverse people with HIV/AIDS, were produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago
, Portland
, Eugene
, Minneapolis, Santa Barbara
, San Antonio, Austin
, San Diego, St. Louis, Tucson, Phoenix
, Washington D.C., New York City
, San Diego, Hartford, New Haven, Northhampton, Sydney
(Australia), Liverpool
, London
, and Manchester
(England).
In addition to other solo performance pieces (including The Truth Is Bad Enough, Attachments, Rock, and Tell Tale Kisses, Kearns has written several full-length plays: Myron, Mijo, Robert's Memorial, Who’s Afraid of Edward Albee?, Blessings, Barriers, and the lyrics for Homeless, A Street Opera. Kearns co-wrote the screenplay for Nine Lives, based on his play, Complications. His solo piece Going In: Once Upon A Time in South Africa chronicles the time he spent in Johannesburg
with his daughter, working at an orphanage.
for their 1986—87 season and of Artists Confronting AIDS for a decade, from 1984—1994.
He directed the Los Angeles premieres of Robert Chesley's Night Sweat and Jerker, Rebecca Ranson's Warren, Eric Bentley
’s Round Two, Clark Carlton’s Self Help, Syd Rushing’s We Are One, Melanie DuPuy’s Heroine and Doug Holsclaw's Life Of The Party. Throughout ’04 and ’05, Kearns directed a series of Precious Chong’s Porcelain Penelope Shows that played in several Los Angeles venues as well as Off-Broadway
.
's Camille at Highways in Santa Monica
, garnering rave reviews from the Los Angeles critics, as well as a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award nomination for his performance. "An actor giving the performance of his life," said Richard Shelton, theater reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. In addition to winning a Drama-Logue Award and a Robby Award, he was nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
for Lead Performance. The artist has received numerous acting awards, including the 1999 Garland Award for his critically acclaimed performance in Robert Harders’ Bill and Eddie.
Kearns has both directed and appeared in Jerker
(Los Angeles, San Diego, Des Moines), and originated the role of Christopher, on stage and on video, in Pickett's Dream Man (which has played New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, L.A., Portland, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Edinburgh
, Düsseldorf
, Frankfurt
, and London
). Two revivals of James Carroll Pickett’s Dream Man (with American actor Jimmy Shaw) were directed by Kearns: at Madrid
’s DT Espacio Escenico as part of the Festival Version Original (2005) and the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
(2007).
in the mid-seventies, amidst a shocking amount of homophobia
. He subsequently made television history 1991 announcing on Entertainment Tonight
that he was HIV positive, and the in 1992, as an openly HIV-impacted actor, guesting on a segment of ABC TV
's Life Goes On
in which he played a character who had the virus. He played Cleve Jones
in the HBO adaptation of Randy Shilts
' And the Band Played On
, appeared in A Mother's Prayer, It's My Party
and had a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210
... a variety of shows that depicted HIV/AIDS.
Other television and film credits include Cheers
, Murder, She Wrote
, The Waltons
, L.A. Tool & Die, Knots Landing
, General Hospital
, Days of our Lives
, The Fall Guy
, A River Made to Drown In
, Kentucky Fried Movie, and Brian De Palma
's Body Double
.
and the Victory Fund.
1987: American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) of Southern California, Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter, award plaque.
1989: Bay Area Theater Civics Award.
1992: The Mayor of St.Louis
, the artist's hometown, proclaimed November 19, 1992 as "Michael Kearns Day."
1993: Won a Drama-Logue
and a Robby Award for his performance in Camille and was nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
for Lead Performance.
1999: Received the Victory Award from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
.
2000: Back Stage West Garland Award.
2002: Playwrights’ Arena Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theatre.
2005: he received a 2005 Robert Chesley
Playwrighting Award for Lifetime Achievement.
2007: LA Weekly
“Queen of Angels” award for his luminous track record in L.A.’s theatre history.
2009: STAGE Producers Award for long-standing commitment to worldwide battle against HIV/AIDS.
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
actor, and after an announcement on Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
in 1991, the first openly HIV positive actor in Hollywood.
Early life and education
Kearns was born in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. As a young man he attended the Goodman School of Drama
Goodman School of Drama
The Goodman School of Drama is now renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University. Founded in 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, a city with a rich theatrical heritage, the Goodman School became part of DePaul University in 1978 and was renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1982...
in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. For more than 25 years he has been active in the Los Angeles art and politics communities, maintaining a mainstream film and television career with a prolific career in the theatre. His activism is deeply integrated into his theatre works, and he has received grants from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department is the official Los Angeles, California, USA arts council.The agency approves the design of structures built on or over City property and accepts works of art to be acquired by the City...
, the Brody Foundation, and PEN Center USA West. In 1984, along with playwright James Carroll Pickett, he co-founded Artists Confronting Aids (ACA), and is a current commissioner of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is a socio-political group of family members and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Its mission statement describes the goals of PFLAG as promoting health and well being of LGBT persons as well as actively supporting...
(PFLAG).
Author
Kearns is a regular contributor to a number of magazines and newspapers, including the Frontiers, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, L.A. Parent, IN Magazine, and L.A. Weekly.
He is also author of five theatre books: T-Cells & Sympathy, Acting = Life, The Solo Performer's Journey, Getting Your Solo Act Together, and Life Expectancies. Both T-Cells & Sympathy and Acting = Life were nominated for Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
s.
Personal life
In 1995, Kearns began proceedings that resulted in his adoption in 1997 of an African-American child. He presently lives in Los Angeles with his daughter who turned fourteen in August 2008.Theater
Kearns made his Los Angeles theatrical debut in Tom EyenTom Eyen
Tom Eyen was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and theatre director.Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum...
’s The Dirtiest Show In Town
The Dirtiest Show in Town
The Dirtiest Show in Town is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Jeff Barry.An attack on both air pollution, the Vietnam War, urban blight and computerized conformity, it is filled with sex, nudity, and strong lesbian and gay male characters, and culminates in a massive...
at the Ivar Theatre.
In 2005—2006, Kearns was the Artist Director of Space At Fountain’s End where he curated and produced eighteen months of artistic expression including theatre, performance, jazz, fine art, photography, and poetry. Also in ’06, Kearns directed Lan Tran’s Elevator Sex (Off Broadway), The Tina Dance (throughout Los Angeles), and the twentieth anniversary production of Robert Chesley’s Jerker
Jerker
Jerker, or The Helping Hand: A Pornographic Elegy with Redeeming Social Value and a Hymn to the Queer Men of San Francisco in Twenty Telephone Calls, Many of Them Dirty is a 1986 one-act play by Robert Chesley. The two-character play traces the relationship that develops between a disabled Vietnam...
.
The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department is the official Los Angeles, California, USA arts council.The agency approves the design of structures built on or over City property and accepts works of art to be acquired by the City...
awarded Kearns with a COLA Fellowship to create a new work, Make Love Not War, that premiered in 2005. The COLA performances “represent a non-thematic cross section of very current work by some of Los Angeles’ best artists,” according to Noel Korten, Curator and Director of Exhibitions of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery is located in the Barnsdall Art Park in Los Angeles, California. It focuses on the arts and artists of Southern California.-Main building:...
.
His two widely-lauded solo theatrepieces, Intimacies and More Intimacies, in which he portrays a dozen culturally diverse people with HIV/AIDS, were produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Minneapolis, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, San Antonio, Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, San Diego, St. Louis, Tucson, Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Washington D.C., New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, San Diego, Hartford, New Haven, Northhampton, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
(Australia), Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
(England).
In addition to other solo performance pieces (including The Truth Is Bad Enough, Attachments, Rock, and Tell Tale Kisses, Kearns has written several full-length plays: Myron, Mijo, Robert's Memorial, Who’s Afraid of Edward Albee?, Blessings, Barriers, and the lyrics for Homeless, A Street Opera. Kearns co-wrote the screenplay for Nine Lives, based on his play, Complications. His solo piece Going In: Once Upon A Time in South Africa chronicles the time he spent in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
with his daughter, working at an orphanage.
As a director
Kearns directed and co-produced the Artists Confronting AIDS’ landmark productions of AIDS/US in 1986, AIDS/US II in 1990, and AIDS/US/TEENS in 1994. He co-founded the S.T.A.G.E. (Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event) benefit, now in its 22nd year. He served as Artistic Director of Celebration TheatreCelebration Theatre
The Celebration Theatre is a 501 non-profit theatre company in Los Angeles, founded in 1982. The company is located in West Hollywood, on the west end of Theatre Row, and specializes in works representing the Gay and Lesbian experience.-History:...
for their 1986—87 season and of Artists Confronting AIDS for a decade, from 1984—1994.
He directed the Los Angeles premieres of Robert Chesley's Night Sweat and Jerker, Rebecca Ranson's Warren, Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley is a critic, playwright, singer, editor and translator. He became an American citizen in 1948, and currently lives in New York City...
’s Round Two, Clark Carlton’s Self Help, Syd Rushing’s We Are One, Melanie DuPuy’s Heroine and Doug Holsclaw's Life Of The Party. Throughout ’04 and ’05, Kearns directed a series of Precious Chong’s Porcelain Penelope Shows that played in several Los Angeles venues as well as Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
.
As an actor
In 1993, Kearns played the title role in Charles LudlamCharles Ludlam
Charles Braun Ludlam was an American actor, director, and playwright.-Early life:Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in Greenlawn, New York, on Long Island, and attended Harborfields High School. The fact that he was gay was not a...
's Camille at Highways in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, garnering rave reviews from the Los Angeles critics, as well as a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award nomination for his performance. "An actor giving the performance of his life," said Richard Shelton, theater reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. In addition to winning a Drama-Logue Award and a Robby Award, he was nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle is an organization located in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in the Greater Los Angeles Area....
for Lead Performance. The artist has received numerous acting awards, including the 1999 Garland Award for his critically acclaimed performance in Robert Harders’ Bill and Eddie.
Kearns has both directed and appeared in Jerker
Jerker
Jerker, or The Helping Hand: A Pornographic Elegy with Redeeming Social Value and a Hymn to the Queer Men of San Francisco in Twenty Telephone Calls, Many of Them Dirty is a 1986 one-act play by Robert Chesley. The two-character play traces the relationship that develops between a disabled Vietnam...
(Los Angeles, San Diego, Des Moines), and originated the role of Christopher, on stage and on video, in Pickett's Dream Man (which has played New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, L.A., Portland, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). Two revivals of James Carroll Pickett’s Dream Man (with American actor Jimmy Shaw) were directed by Kearns: at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
’s DT Espacio Escenico as part of the Festival Version Original (2005) and the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival is a theatrical event held annually in Dublin, Republic of Ireland during the first two weeks of May. The eight festival will be held from 2–15 May 2011 with 30 productions participating, staging over 200 individual performances and events. Over 70%...
(2007).
Television and film
Long before coming out of the closet was considered a career move in the entertainment industry, Kearns was the first Hollywood actor on record to come outComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
in the mid-seventies, amidst a shocking amount of homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. He subsequently made television history 1991 announcing on Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
that he was HIV positive, and the in 1992, as an openly HIV-impacted actor, guesting on a segment of ABC TV
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Life Goes On
Life Goes On (TV series)
Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky...
in which he played a character who had the virus. He played Cleve Jones
Cleve Jones
Cleve Jones is an American AIDS and LGBT rights activist. He conceived of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt which has become, at 54 tons, the world's largest piece of community folk art as of 2009...
in the HBO adaptation of Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts was a pioneering gay American journalist and author. He worked as a freelance reporter for both The Advocate and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as for San Francisco Bay Area television stations....
' And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic is a nonfiction book written by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts, published in 1987...
, appeared in A Mother's Prayer, It's My Party
It's My Party (film)
It's My Party is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Randal Kleiser, it was one of the first feature films to address the topic of AIDS patients dying with dignity....
and had a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
... a variety of shows that depicted HIV/AIDS.
Other television and film credits include Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, L.A. Tool & Die, Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
, General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
, Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
, The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is an American action/adventure television program produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas. Majors and Barr are the only two actors to appear in all 112 episodes of the series...
, A River Made to Drown In
A River Made to Drown In
A River Made to Drown In is a 1997 drama film starring Michael Imperioli, Richard Chamberlain, Ute Lemper and James Duval. Directed by James Merendino, Merendino had his name removed and the film is credited to Alan Smithee...
, Kentucky Fried Movie, and Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
's Body Double
Body Double
Body Double is a 1984 American thriller film directed by Brian De Palma starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, and Gregg Henry. The film is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Rear Window, and Dial M for Murder. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio...
.
Filmography
- Nine LivesNine Lives (2005 film)Nine Lives is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay, an example of hyperlink cinema, relates nine short, loosely intertwined tales with nine different women at their cores. Their themes include parent-child relationships, fractured love, adultery,...
(2004) - River Made to Drown In (1997)
- Beverly Hills, 90210Beverly Hills, 90210Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
(3 episodes, 1996) (TV) - It's My PartyIt's My Party (film)It's My Party is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Randal Kleiser, it was one of the first feature films to address the topic of AIDS patients dying with dignity....
(1996) - A Mother's PrayerA Mother's PrayerA Mother's Prayer is a 1995 film made for the USA Network starring Linda Hamilton, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, as a woman who learns she has contracted the AIDS virus and must make future plans for the care of her only son. The film, which counts Kate Nelligan, S. Epatha Merkerson and...
(1995) (TV) - And the Band Played OnAnd the Band Played OnAnd the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic is a nonfiction book written by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts, published in 1987...
(1993) (TV) - Life Goes OnLife Goes On (TV series)Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky...
(1992) (TV) - Knots LandingKnots LandingKnots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
(1991) (TV) - Dream Man (1991)
- Street Asylum (1990)
- Murder, She WroteMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(1985) (TV) - The Execution (1985) (TV)
- The Fall GuyThe Fall GuyThe Fall Guy is an American action/adventure television program produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas. Majors and Barr are the only two actors to appear in all 112 episodes of the series...
(1985) (TV) - Body DoubleBody DoubleBody Double is a 1984 American thriller film directed by Brian De Palma starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, and Gregg Henry. The film is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Rear Window, and Dial M for Murder. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio...
(1984) - Making of a Male ModelMaking of a Male ModelMaking of a Male Model is a 1983 American TV movie starring Joan Collins and Jon-Erik Hexum. It was produced by ABC and released on October 9, 1983.-Plot:...
(1983) (TV) - CheersCheersCheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
(1983) (TV) - L.A. Tool & Die (1979)
- The Kentucky Fried MovieThe Kentucky Fried MovieThe Kentucky Fried Movie is an American comedy film, released in 1977 and directed by John Landis. The film's writers were the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. This same team would go on to write and direct Airplane!, Top Secret! and the Police Squad! television series and its...
(1977) - Flush (1977)
- The WaltonsThe WaltonsThe Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
(1974) (TV)
Recognition
Kearns has been honored by the L.A. Weekly, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Gay and Lesbian Rights Chapter of the ACLU, National Coming Out DayNational Coming Out Day
National Coming Out Day is an internationally observed civil awareness day celebrating individuals who publicly identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender—coming out regarding one's sexual orientation and/or gender identity being akin to a cultural rite of passage for LGBT people...
and the Victory Fund.
1987: American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU) of Southern California, Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter, award plaque.
1989: Bay Area Theater Civics Award.
1992: The Mayor of St.Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, the artist's hometown, proclaimed November 19, 1992 as "Michael Kearns Day."
1993: Won a Drama-Logue
Drama-Logue Award
The Drama-Logue Award was a theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would receive a certificate at an annual awards ceremony...
and a Robby Award for his performance in Camille and was nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle is an organization located in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in the Greater Los Angeles Area....
for Lead Performance.
1999: Received the Victory Award from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials in US political life.The Victory Fund was founded in 1991...
.
2000: Back Stage West Garland Award.
2002: Playwrights’ Arena Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theatre.
2005: he received a 2005 Robert Chesley
Robert Chesley
Robert Chesley was a playwright, theater critic and musical composer....
Playwrighting Award for Lifetime Achievement.
2007: LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
“Queen of Angels” award for his luminous track record in L.A.’s theatre history.
2009: STAGE Producers Award for long-standing commitment to worldwide battle against HIV/AIDS.
Additional reading
- "A Red Thead Runs Through It" by Polly Warfield, Back Stage West
- Complete works of Michael Kearns at Online Archive of California
External links
- Official website
- Official youtube page
- Tia Kearns at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...