Hi everyone,

I was watching my Bonus Features on the Season 1 DVD of "Dennis The Menace," and on one of the Bonus Features featuring Gloria Henry (STILL with us at age 90) & Jeannie Russell (a.k.a. Margaret Wade), Gloria mentioned the timeline surrounding the demise of Joe Kearns, a.k.a. Mr. Wilson.

According to Gloria, Joe Kearns, hours after filming the 100th episode of "Dennis," had a Massive Stroke at home--and died within hours, causing production to be temporarily shut down while Columbia Screen Gems wondered what to do with this sudden circumstance.

Rather than killing off Joe's character of George Wilson, Screen Gems ultimately decided, in May 1962, to have Gale Gordon portray Mr. Wilson's brother, John, who the following Fall moved in next door, with his OWN wife Eloise (Sara Seegar), with George & Martha having moved away.

In Spring 1963, Jay North, by this time aged 11, was deemed by CBS "too old" to continue portraying Dennis, despite the fact that according to http://dennistvshow.com (citing the Nielsen ratings) the show was #17 in the Nielsen ratings (a slight dip from its previous Nielsen rating of #11), hence why CBS canceled "Dennis The Menace" after Season 4.

Hi everyone,

I was watching my Bonus Features on the Season 1 DVD of "Dennis The Menace," and on one of the Bonus Features featuring Gloria Henry (STILL with us at age 90) & Jeannie Russell (a.k.a. Margaret Wade), Gloria mentioned the timeline surrounding the demise of Joe Kearns, a.k.a. Mr. Wilson.

According to Gloria, Joe Kearns, hours after filming the 100th episode of "Dennis," had a Massive Stroke at home--and died within hours, causing production to be temporarily shut down while Columbia Screen Gems wondered what to do with this sudden circumstance.

Rather than killing off Joe's character of George Wilson, Screen Gems ultimately decided, in May 1962, to have Gale Gordon portray Mr. Wilson's brother, John, who the following Fall moved in next door, with his OWN wife Eloise (Sara Seegar), with George & Martha having moved away.

In Spring 1963, Jay North, by this time aged 11, was deemed by CBS "too old" to continue portraying Dennis, despite the fact that according to http://dennistvshow.com (citing the Nielsen ratings) the show was #17 in the Nielsen ratings (a slight dip from its previous Nielsen rating of #11), hence why CBS canceled "Dennis The Menace" after Season 4.

Joseph Kearns certainly didn't die within hours. He died six days after his stroke, and from all accounts his prognosis was poor at best from the start. From some threads on here, it seems unclear whether the show actually shut down production at all. We're not totally sure whether Kearns even began filming "Dennis and the Dodger," the first post-George episode, before he got sick.
The transition between the two Mr. Wilsons is one of the more popular discussion items around here.

Just saw him in a few episodes of the sitcom The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet.

With the sketchy information I found about Joseph Kearns, I was left with the impression that he died quickly. It's good to find out more information about him, he was one of the reasons I enjoyed the show so much.

Just saw him in a few episodes of the sitcom The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet.

Yes, he shows up on quite a few and even though I enjoyed him immensely on Dennis The Menace, it was great seeing him in another venue.

Always the BEST Mr. Wilson!!

Great actor did a lot of work in Old Time Radio also :)

I liked Mr George Wilson better than Mr John Wilson. I recall Kearns on an episode of I Love Lucy.

Joseph Kearns was a very busy actor on radio. He played in many many radio dramas and westerns (mainly on CBS) and played a regular role in the Jack Benny Show as the keeper of Jack's underground cave where he kept his money. He also appeared in many different TV shows of the '50's, he pops up when you least expect him. When he does he always has black hair, appearing much younger than his gray hair look on Dennis. I think they must have applied this gray on the Dennis shows to make Kearns look older.

Joseph Kearns was an interesting individual, I read that he loved pipe organ music and even had a pipe organ in his N.Y. apartment. I don't know how much his neighbors loved him when Joe would put on a concert:eek: but I found this fact very interesting about him. Too bad he died so very young.

Does anyone know what happened to his pipe organ. I thought based on an article that he had it in a house not an apartment, "he built his house around his pipe organ". Who lives there now and what has happened to the organ?

View pictures by clicking to the next..... Not sure the status of the house today though..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/41929062@N04/3946959587/in/photostream/

Here is a little more of what happened to the organ....
From jim Thompson who lived there from 1979 through 1991...
When I moved into the house in 1979 it looked exactly as it does in the photo set but with one major exception. The Pipe organ had been COMPLETELY extracted. This happened a few years earlier leaving a perfectly livable dwelling but on that contained several curiously empty hidden rooms (two of which were vast in size), a towering 2 story open space between rooms, and a wall of giant louvered panels upstairs. Outside in the lower level garage large runs of 2' air ducts, thick bundles of discontented electrical cables and a small closed off room containing a very large AC unit were found. The decor of each room and selection of every appliance inside the home is the very essence of 1950's chic. A SHRINE to that era. Except for the "extraction" and a paint job very little has been altered either to the outside or the inside of the structure since it was first built. the home continues to stand today at 6126 carlos Ave. In Hollywood, CA. The pipe organ has found a New home at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield, Ohio..... Sounds like along the way somebody took a hefty paycheck selling that organ to the theatre.......

207924


The house today looks nothing like it was in the 50's....

Joseph Kearns was a fantastic actor and also portrayed Mr. George Wilson great. He and Dennis(Jay North) had many comedic moments in the show. Gale Gordon just could not pick up that sort of chemistry with Jay. Not that Gale wasn't a great actor himself, but by that time Jay was getting older and maybe like it said the comedy wasn't working as much any longer.

Hi everyone,

I was watching my Bonus Features on the Season 1 DVD of "Dennis The Menace," and on one of the Bonus Features featuring Gloria Henry (STILL with us at age 90) & Jeannie Russell (a.k.a. Margaret Wade), Gloria mentioned the timeline surrounding the demise of Joe Kearns, a.k.a. Mr. Wilson.

According to Gloria, Joe Kearns, hours after filming the 100th episode of "Dennis," had a Massive Stroke at home--and died within hours, causing production to be temporarily shut down while Columbia Screen Gems wondered what to do with this sudden circumstance.

I was watching Ep 100 "The Man Next Door" today, and was wondering about the transom scenes with both North and Kearns going thru a transom window, down into a basement. I watched closely and it appeared North really did the stunt, and it appeared he did it successfully. I again watched closely as Kearns did it, and he fell. Now, yes, it could have been a stunt double taking the fall. But if they forced Kearns to do it, and the fall wasn't planned.... It makes me wonder if this could have contributed to his illness and subsequent death, IF it was him doing these stunts.

In the DVD interview or another, Gloria Henry attributed Kearns' problems to using Metrecal, a 60s diet drink. That sounds like an urban legend to me, particularly since Kearns didn't seem to slim down any.

I was watching Ep 100 "The Man Next Door" today, and was wondering about the transom scenes with both North and Kearns going thru a transom window, down into a basement. I watched closely and it appeared North really did the stunt, and it appeared he did it successfully. I again watched closely as Kearns did it, and he fell. Now, yes, it could have been a stunt double taking the fall. But if they forced Kearns to do it, and the fall wasn't planned.... It makes me wonder if this could have contributed to his illness and subsequent death, IF it was him doing these stunts.

In the DVD interview or another, Gloria Henry attributed Kearns' problems to using Metrecal, a 60s diet drink. That sounds like an urban legend to me, particularly since Kearns didn't seem to slim down any.

I see no reason for Gloria to make this up. I heard somewhere that the issue was not so much the Metecal in itself, but the fact that this was mostly what he consumed for a considerable amount of time. Sadly, he punished his body by not getting enough proper nutrition from actual food, which supposedly caused his premature death.

Falling like the way Mr. Wilson did, assuming it wasn't planned and that it was really Kearns doing it, can produce a lot of stress on the system and on a already weak heart perhaps be enough of a shock to cause a heart attack.

Who knows, but dying from a sudden shock to the system from this fall sounds more like a cause of death than going on a weird diet. I lost 60 pounds over a year's time and I'm not dead yet.:wave: Luckily I haven't fallen thru a basement window.;)

Funny ... my mother mentioned exactly the same thing on the phone the other day after "The Man Next Door" aired on Antenna TV. I assured her it had to be a stunt double. I just don't see any way Kearns would have done that himself, especially at his age.
As far as weight loss, I never thought his diet looked like it was working. And we know a heck of a lot more about nutrition and proper dieting nowadays than they did in 1962.

IIRC there was a camera switch around that time, so it certainly could be a stuntman for Kearns.

With Jay North I saw no camera switch indicating a stunt substitute. I think North did it all. Which is kind of odd, considering the risk. HE was the star of the show.

Another stuntman episode was a slightly earlier appearance by E. E. Horton as Uncle Ned, doing his exercise routines. There were most certainly stunt doubles for both Horton and Kearns, and maybe Anderson, on the parallel bars scene, and maybe others.

Very interesting thread.

I remember in earlier seasons Dennis would drum on his stomach and talk about Mr. Wilson’s bay window. I noticed in his last episode he didn’t have that bay window. Maybe he lost weight but wasn’t too healthy. Wonder how Dennis dealt with Joseph Kearns’s death. Seems with how he was treated by his aunt and uncle they didn’t offer emotional therapy. Hope he got some help from his TV mom and dad. I bet Jay and Joseph were good friends.

It might have been an interview I saw with Gloria Henry and Jeannie Russell, but one of them said Joe Kearns was kind of stand-offish. Gale Gordon was a big ol' friendly teddy bear, on the other hand (supposedly).

With regard to Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry, Jay supposedly had very limited contact with any cast members, including Billy Booth. When he wasn't in a scene, he was either in school or in his dressing room. Sad.

I believe that Jay North was quite shaken by Mr. Kearns's sudden death so it could be that despite the older performer being standoffish to others in the cast and Jay being kept apart when not shooting scenes, that they did somehow get to know and befriend each other.

I think Jay and Gale Gordon did their best to get along and be professional to each other but they simply didn't have the same chemistry as Jay had had with Mr. Kearns.