| Joseph Kearns | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 12, 1907 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Died | February 17, 1962 (aged 55) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Joseph Kearns (February 12, 1907 – February 17, 1962) was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as George Wilson ("Mr. Wilson") on CBS's television series Dennis the Menace from 1959 until his death in 1962.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kearns's 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, among 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 radio 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. He appeared in regular roles on The Mel Blanc Show and The Harold Peary Show.[citation needed]
Kearns made his onscreen film debut in Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951). He was the voice of the Doorknob in Disney's animated film, 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 The Jack Benny Program and also appeared with Eve Arden and Richard Crenna in Our Miss Brooks (1953-1955) as Superintendent Stone (a role he had also played on radio).
Kearns played Fred, a neighbor of the fictitious child psychologist Dr. Tom Wilson, portrayed by Stephen Dunne (1918-1977), in the short-lived 1955 CBS sitcom, Professional Father. Phyllis Coates, later the first Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman, played Fred's wife, Madge. Barbara Billingsley, later of Leave It to Beaver, and Beverly Washburn, a prominent child actress, also starred in this series.[citation needed]
From 1957-59, Kearns appeared as Augustus P. Tobey in eight episodes of How to Marry a Millionaire, based on the 1953 Marilyn Monroe film of the same name. His co-stars were Barbara Eden and Merry Anders as Loco Jones and Michelle "Mike" Page, respectively, who portrayed young women in New York City seeking to land millionaire husbands.
His final role was as George Wilson in CBS's Dennis the Menace based on the popular comic strip by Hank Ketcham. Kearns died of a cerebral hemorrhage in the middle of the third season of Dennis the Menace. He was 55 years old.
He was replaced by Gale Gordon, who played George Wilson's brother John. On the last episode that aired before Kearns's death, "Where There's a Will", the story dealt with Mr. Wilson making out a will and having to explain that Dennis would inherit his 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.[citation needed]
Selected 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
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