Joseph Kearns

Joseph Kearns

Joseph Kearns (February 12, 1907 - February 17, 1962) was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as Mr. Wilson in the 1960s television series "Dennis the Menace".

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, his family moved to California when he was very young. He went to college at the University of Utah, where he earned his tuition by teaching a course in theatrical makeup. Kearns started out in radio and theatre as a pipe organist; years later, he even built his Hollywood home around a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ.

He began his acting career in radio in the 1930s (playing the Crazyquilt Dragon in the serial "The Cinnamon Bear"), becoming especially active during the 1940s, with appearances on the shows "The Adventures of Sam Spade", "Burns and Allen", and "Silver Theater", amongst many others. On "Suspense", he was almost a mainstay, heard regularly as the host "The Man in Black" in the early years, announcing many episodes in the later run, and playing supporting and occasional lead roles in hundreds of shows throughout the series' tenure in Hollywood, from judges to kindly old-timers to cowards.

His best-remembered regular role was that of Ed, the security guard for Jack Benny's underground money vault, on "The Jack Benny Program". The 'running gag' was that Benny had kept Ed on duty at the vault's door so long that the guard was not up to speed on current events; when Benny informed him that "The War (World War II) had ended," Ed asked whether the "North" or the "South" had won, assuming that the American Civil War was the one Benny was referring to. He was also the first actor to play the part of Matt Grebb, one of a pair of police detectives in the radio version of the procedural cop series "The Lineup", relinquishing the role to Wally Maher in 1951.

Joseph Kearns made his onscreen film debut in "Hard, Fast and Beautiful" (1951). He was the voice of the Doorknob in Disney's animated "Alice in Wonderland" (1951). Kearns appeared in several other movies, making his final film appearance as the crime photographer in "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959).

On television, Kearns reprised his radio roles on Jack Benny's TV series, and also appeared on "Our Miss Brooks" (1953-55) as Superintendent Stone (a role he had also played on radio). But he is best remembered as the long-suffering neighbor Mr. George Wilson in "Dennis the Menace" (1959-62), which was based on the popular comic strip by Hank Ketcham.

Kearns died in the middle of the third season of "Dennis" from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was replaced by Gale Gordon, who played George Wilson's brother John. Strangely enough, the last episode that aired before his death, "Where There's a Will," was about Mr. Wilson making out a will and having to explain to Dennis that Dennis would inherit Mr. Wilson's gold watch when he dies. In the show's storyline, it was explained that George and Martha Wilson were taking a cruise trip and John Wilson was caring for their home while they were away. When the series returned for the fourth season that fall, John Wilson had his wife, Eloise, living there with him, and there was no further reference to George and Martha.

elected filmography

*"Anatomy of a Murder" (1959)
*"The Gift of Love " (1958)
*"Our Miss Brooks" (1956)
*"Alice in Wonderland " (voice) (1951)
*"Hard, Fast and Beautiful" (1951)

External links

*
* [http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/sel_by_actor_index_2.php?actor_first=Joseph&actor_last=Kearns Great Character Actors: Joseph Kearns]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5434 Find-A-Grave profile for Joseph Kearns]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Joseph Kearns — (12 février 1907, Salt Lake City, Utah – 17 février 1962, Los Angeles, Californie) est un acteur américain. Biographie Cette section est vide, insuffisamment détaillée ou incomplète. Votre aide est la bienvenue !… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joseph L. Rawlins — Joseph Lafayette Rawlins Joseph Lafayette Rawlins (* 28. März 1850 in Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, Utah; † 24. Mai 1926 in Salt Lake City) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker (Demokratische Partei) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joseph Rawlins — Joseph Lafayette Rawlins Joseph Lafayette Rawlins (* 28. März 1850 in Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, Utah; † 24. Mai 1926 in Salt Lake City) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker (Demokratische Partei) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. — Infobox Ambassador name=Joseph Patrick Joe Kennedy, Sr. imagesize=144px order=44th ambassador from=United States country=the United Kingdom term start=1938 term end=1940 president=Franklin D. Roosevelt predecessor=Robert Worth Bingham… …   Wikipedia

  • Joseph "The Animal" Barboza — Infobox Person name=Joseph Barboza 300px|right|thumb caption= BPD mugshot of Joseph Barboza birth date=September 20, 1932 birth place=New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA death date=February 11, 1976 death place=San Francisco, California, USAJoseph… …   Wikipedia

  • Nick Kearns — Nicholas Joseph (Nick) Kearns (16 January 1920 24 July 1980) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1980, representing the electorate of Bankstown. Kearns was …   Wikipedia

  • Doris Kearns Goodwin — Born Doris Helen Kearns January 4, 1943 (1943 01 04) (age 68) Brooklyn, New York Nationality American Education Colby College (B.A) Harvard Univers …   Wikipedia

  • St.-Joseph-Gesellschaft vom Hl. Herzen — Die St. Josephs Gesellschaft vom Hl. Herzen (lat.: Societas Sodalium Sancti Joseph a Sacro Corde, engl.: St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart, Kurzform: Josephite Fathers, Ordenskürzel: SSJ) ist eine in den Vereinigten Staaten römisch… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series) — This article is about the 1959 American series. For other uses, see Dennis the Menace (disambiguation). Dennis the Menace CBS promotional title card for Dennis the Menace. Genre Sitcom …   Wikipedia

  • It's a Small World (Leave It to Beaver episode) — Infobox Television episode Title =It s a Small World Series =Leave It to Beaver Caption =Mathers and Sullivan Season = Episode = Airdate =April 23, 1957 Production = Pilot Writer = Joe Connelly Bob Mosher Director = Jerry Hopper Guests =Diane… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”