Burt Kearns

Burt Kearns
NationalityAmerican
Alma materFairfield University
Occupations
  • author
  • writer
  • film director
  • journalist
  • television and film producer

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]

Television and film production

Writer and producer

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]

Independent features and Good Story Productions

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]

Frozen Pictures

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][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]

Early career

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 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]

Awards

References

  1. ^ Liebenson, Donald (4 September 2019). "Killer Set: The Strange History of Performers Dying Onstage". Vanity Fair.
  2. ^ Tabloidbaby (2010-12-19). "tabloid baby: Buy, bye". tabloid baby. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  3. ^ "'Show Won't Go On': Book Compiles Performers Who Died Onstage". NPR.org.
  4. ^ "Home". lawrencetierneybook.com.
  5. ^ "Book About Late Actor and Notorious Bad Guy Lawrence Tierney Set from Writer-Producer Burt Kearns". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Lawrence Tierney Bio Etches Vivid Portrait of Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy | Features | Roger Ebert". 27 November 2022.
  7. ^ Vognar, Chris (2024-03-27). "The photo that wrapped Marlon Brando's homoerotic swagger in a tight leather jacket". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  8. ^ "Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel =March 29, 2024". Library Journal.
  9. ^ Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via rowman.com.
  10. ^ Shemp! The Biography of the Three Stooges' Shemp Howard, The Face of Film Comedy. Retrieved 4 February 2024 – via rowman.com.
  11. ^ "A neglected Marx Brother and an unsung Stooge finally get their due =October 18, 2024". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ "Search for "burt kearns"". PleaseKillMe. 28 March 2018.
  13. ^ "You searched for burt kearns".
  14. ^ "DVD Review: Pusherman – Frank Lucas & the True Story of American Gangster". 26 June 2025.
  15. ^ "'Pusherman' Director Legs McNeil Reveals the Real Story of 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 June 2025.
  16. ^ Moseley, Eunice (2025-07-09). "The Pulse of Entertainment: Legs McNeil Releases 'Pusherman: Frank Lucas and The True Story of American Gangsta'". EURweb. Retrieved 2025-08-06.
  17. ^ Grodeska, J. F. (25 July 2023). "Groundbreaking Docuseries With Jersey Shore Roots". Jersey Shore Scene. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  18. ^ Pendleton, Tonya (2023-04-28). "'Breaking the Ice' docuseries on diverse ice skating team comes to We TV in July". UPI. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Breaking News - WE tv Greenlights Ice Skating Docuseries "Breaking the Ice"". thefutoncritic.com via press release from AMC Networks. 2023-04-27. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  20. ^ Sorokach, Josh (June 12, 2017). "Did You Know There's A New O.J. Simpson Documentary On Netflix?". Decider.com.
  21. ^ Galloway, Stephen (9 March 2016). "The Strange, Ongoing Saga of Sean Penn, el Chapo and Who Was (And Wasn't) Making a Movie". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ^ "Burt Kearns".
  23. ^ "Bad Boy TV".
  24. ^ "Steve Dunleavy and the Rise of Tabloid TV". The New York Observer. 6 December 1999.
  25. ^ https://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/kearns-burt-6018/ Executive Producer of Strange Universe is Art Bell's guest
  26. ^ Diaz, Dave. "High There". Anchorage Press. Archived from the original on 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  27. ^ "An Interview with Burt Kearns, Producer - High There - The Documentary Dude". The Documentary Dude. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  28. ^ Tabloidbaby (2009-08-16). "tabloid baby: The more they saw Chris Montez at the Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, the more they wanted to call him". tabloid baby. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  29. ^ "Welcome". Good Story Productions. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  30. ^ "Frozen Pictures to Bring Beach Volley-Ball to the Small Screen". 28 September 2004.
  31. ^ Kumar, Martha Joynt (2007). "A Review of: "All the Presidents' Movies, executive producers, Bill Knoedelseder, Burt Kearns, Brett Hudson, and Irv Letofsky"". Political Communication. 24: 99–104. doi:10.1080/10584600600977102. S2CID 146325033.
  32. ^ "Unmasked Gene Simmons Lifts Curtain on Rock". ABC News.
  33. ^ https://mubi.com/en/films/adults-only-the-secret-history-of-the-other-hollywood/cast
  34. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/599892156/?match=1&terms=burt%20reynolds%20cloud%209
  35. ^ "Bibliograph".
  36. ^ "LAist Movie Review: The Seventh Python". 27 June 2008.
  37. ^ goodstory (2006-10-30), Red Auerbach's last interview (from 'Basketball Man'), archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2016-04-09
  38. ^ a b "Basketball Man - Movie".
  39. ^ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  40. ^ Wakin, Daniel J. (2002-09-27). "Killed on 9/11, Fire Chaplain Becomes Larger Than Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  41. ^ "The making of St. Mychal". USA Today. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  42. ^ a b "Burt Kearns: Tabloid TV Revolution" (PDF). www.fairfield.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  43. ^ SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. 1988-09-01.
  44. ^ SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. 1988-11-01.
  45. ^ SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. 1989-03-01.
  46. ^ a b Elder, Sean (1999-12-08). "Tabloid nation". www.salon.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2000. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  47. ^ Rader, Peter (2012-04-13). Mike Wallace: A Life. Macmillan. p. 239. ISBN 9781466802254.
  48. ^ "Burt Kearns". www.lukeford.net. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  49. ^ Povich, Maury (1992-01-01). Current Affairs: A Life on the Edge. Berkley Books. ISBN 9780425132449.
  50. ^ Team, The Good Story (September 24, 2014). "Good Story News: Emmy anniversary".
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