Burt Kearns

Burt Kearns is an American author, journalist, and television and film producer, writer and director, whom ''Vanity Fair'' referred to as "a show business and pop culture savant."

Kearns's book, ''Shemp! The Biography of the Three Stooges' Shemp Howard, The Face of Film Comedy'', was published on October 1, 2024, by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. Applause published Kearns’ book, '' Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel'', on April 2, 2024.

His biography of actor Lawrence Tierney, '' Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy'', was published in December, 2022 by the University Press of Kentucky. '' 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 by Chicago Review Press.

Kearns's first book, the television memoir '' Tabloid Baby'', was published in 1999.

In 2018, he became a contributor to the literary pop culture website, PleaseKillMe.com. In December 2021, he began to contribute written and video pieces to Legs McNeil’s literary pop culture website, Legsville.com.

Early career

After graduation from Fairfield University, 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 in 1981 he reported and wrote for neighborhood newspapers including The Westsider, East Side Express and Chelsea-Clinton News, before being hired on the assignment desk at WNEW-TV's ''10 O'Clock News''. Kearns also wrote for CBS News' '' Nightwatch'' and ''CBS Morning News'' and later became a producer for WNBC-TV's ''News 4's Eleven O'clock News''. He also worked as a writer for ''Spin'' magazine.

Television and film production

Writer and producer

Kearns was a creator and executive producer of ''Breaking the Ice'', a docuseries following the first diverse, competitive synchronized ice skating team. The series premiered on WE tv and streams on AMC's ALLBLK platform. He was a nonfiction television producer, writer, showrunner and consultant on '' Who Do You Believe?''; '' Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura''; '' Guinness World Records Unleashed''; '' True Tori''; ''Way Out West''; ''True Tori: True Confessions''; '' L.A. Hair Confidential''; ''Tori Spelling: Celebrity Lie Detector''; '' Mystery Millionaire''; '' Joe Rogan Questions Everything''; ''Dumbest Stuff on Wheels''; and '' Legend Quest''.

He appeared on-camera in, the Reelz nonfiction special program, ''Kardashian: The Man Who Saved OJ Simpson''. He was executive producer of the Reelz nonfiction specials, ''Time Presents: Celebrities On Trial'' and ''El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle In The Jungle''. Kearns also produced the documentary films ''Death of a Beatle'' (2000) and ''Bin Laden's Escape'' (2005) (with Parco Productions). Directed and produced the documentary, ''Boxing: A Different Look'' for Showtime and '' Hollywood Animal Crusaders'' for Animal Planet. Co-producer of the HBO documentary ''Panic''. Producer of Fox Television special, ''When Good Pets Go Bad 2'', and producer of the syndicated series, ''Strange Universe''.

Independent features and Good Story Productions

Kearns directed and produced the nonfiction film ''Telethon'' (2014) and produced the nonfiction film comedy '' High There'' which was released on VOD and limited edition DVD by BRINKvision on June 23, 2015. Kearns directed, wrote and produced the nonfiction film, ''El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story'', which was previewed on August 15, 2009 at the 35th annual The Fest For Beatles Fans in Chicago. '' High There'' and the Montez film were produced through his Good Story Productions production company.

Frozen Pictures

In 2000, Kearns formed the production company Frozen Television (later Frozen Pictures) with producer Brett Hudson. Kearns directed, wrote and produced many television shows and series under the Frozen banner, including the documentary series ''Adults Only: The Secret History of The Other Hollywood,'' ''The Secret History of Rock ‘n' Roll'' with Gene Simmons for Court TV, and ''All the Presidents' Movies.''

He directed and produced the 2008 Frozen Pictures documentary musical film, '' The Seventh Python'', about the career and influence of Monty Python collaborator and Bonzo Dog Band member Neil Innes, and directed and produced ''Basketball Man'', the 2007 Frozen Pictures documentary film that featured basketball stars and legends telling the story of the life and legacy of the game's inventor, Dr. James Naismith. The film was released on DVD on May 8, 2007.

Kearns received international attention, including front page stories in ''The New York Times'' and ''USA Today'', for his controversial Saintmychal.com website and documentary project that chronicled and inherently promoted the canonization of 9/11 hero Rev. Mychal Judge.

Tabloid television

Hired by 20th Century Fox as managing editor and producer of the nightly tabloid television series, ''A Current Affair'', in 1988, Kearns helped develop and expand the tabloid television genre. In 1990, Kearns accompanied executive producer and genre inventor Peter Brennan to Hollywood, where, as managing editor and producer of ''Hard Copy'' (1990–1993) and '' Premier Story'' (1994).

Kearns (and his coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall) was featured in Maury Povich's 1991 memoir, ''Current Affairs: A Life on the Edge''.

''Tabloid Baby''

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. The book was praised by Mike Wallace of CBS News' 60 Minutes as "sad, funny, undeniably authentic" and by tabloid television host Maury Povich as "The Bible".

Awards

* Emmy-winning newswriter, honored by New York City chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for contributing to the winning of Outstanding News Broadcast Emmy by WNBC-TV's ''News 4 New York'' at 6PM.

References

External links

*

Burt Kearns' Emmy award

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearns, Burt
Living people
American male journalists
American film producers
Place of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)
American television producers
American male screenwriters
Fairfield University alumni