Joe Kearns

[rcbrad]

Originally Posted by stevea

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.

[Hazel Anyday]

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. Luckily I haven't fallen thru a basement window.

[schmave]

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.

[stevea]

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.

[Scrabjan1]

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.

[stevea]

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.

[PracTz]

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.