Michael Kearns

Everything you want to know about Michael Kearns--theatre artist, teacher, activist, father--can be found in his 2012 autobiography, THE TRUTH IS BAD ENOUGH, What Became of The Happy Hustler?

Beginning in the early seventies with his appearance in the Los Angeles production of Tom Eyen's The Dirtiest Show In Town, Michael Kearns has been a significant figure in the international world of art and politics. In one of the Twentieth Century's most notorious hoaxes, Kearns was hired by Warner Books in 1974 to play the role of Grant Tracy Saxon, a fictitious character depicted in The Happy Hustler. The promotional blitz, encompassing a guest stint as John-Boy's college "Big Brother" on The Waltons, spanned over two years and resulted in Kearns' title as "the first openly gay actor in Hollywood." Kearns continued to establish himself as a mainstream actor (Murder She Wrote, Cheers, Body Double, Beverly Hills 90210, And The Band Played On) while immersing in the worldwide theatre scene. He has achieved international acclaim as a solo performer (intimacies, Rock, attachments, Tell Tale Kisses, Make Love Not War, Once Upon a Time in South Africa). His award-winning theatrical resume includes an international tour of Dream Man as well as Los Angeles appearances in Charles Ludlam's Camille, Bill and Eddie, Rubicon, the tenth year anniversary reading of The Normal Heart and the twentieth anniversary reading of The Boys in the Band. Kearns directed the world premieres of Eric Bentley's Round Two, Robert Chesley's Jerker, James Carroll Pickett's Bathhouse Benediction and the Off Broadway solo pieces, The Porcelain Penelope Freak Show and Elevator Sex. Kearns has also directed an international tour of Dream Man (Spain, Ireland, Scotland, America). In addition to having more than a dozen plays produced (Myron, Robert's Memorial, Barriers, Blessings, and Who's Afraid of Edward Albee? among them), he also co-wrote the screenplay of Nine Lives, based on his play, complications. The author of six theatre books published by Heinemann (T-Cells & Sympathy, Acting = Life, among them), his most recent--The Drama of AIDS, My Lasting Connections with Two Plays that Survived the Plague--was released in the fall of '09 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary tour of intimacies. Openly gay and publicly HIV-positive, the artist-activist is the recipient of several Lifetime Achievement Awards and Humanitarian Awards. Kearns is presently the Co-Artistic Director of the Skylight Theatre Company. As a director, he continues to work with Minerva Vier on her evolving Lucky piece and he has directed various incarnations of David Trudell's In Heat In Hollywood. He lives in Los Angeles with his daughter, filmmaker Katherine Kearns. He will again direct Trudell in Night & Dave, opening at Highways Performance Space in May.