Michael Kearns, an actor and activist known for appearances in television and film as well as his work in theater, died Monday at age 76. The cause of death was not immediately available. Kearns was born in St. Louis on January 8, 1950, and trained at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago before launching a career in entertainment spanning multiple decades.
Kearns appeared in numerous television programs including Cheers, Beverly Hills, 90210, Days of Our Lives, Murder, She Wrote, and Knots Landing. His film credits included The Kentucky Fried Movie and Body Double. He also maintained an active theater career, appearing in productions such as Tubstrip on Broadway in 1974 and subsequently in various stage productions throughout his career.
A significant aspect of Kearns’ legacy involved his work directing the world premiere of Robert Chesley’s Jerker, a play centered on two gay men who connect over a phone-sex line. The production generated considerable controversy during the initial AIDS crisis. When excerpts were broadcast on radio station KPFK-FM, an evangelical minister’s complaint led the FCC to warn the station about airing what it deemed indecent material. Kearns later expressed frustration with what he viewed as discriminatory treatment of the work, noting that similar content involving heterosexual characters would likely have faced different scrutiny.
Kearns came out as gay in the mid-1970s and became a public advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness. In 1991, he announced on NBC that he was HIV positive, stating his decision was motivated by a commitment to reduce stigma around the condition. He co-founded Artists Confronting AIDS during the 1980s and served as artistic director at the Celebration Theatre from 1986 to 1987. Later, he founded QueerWise, a spoken word collective, in 2011 and authored several books about acting.
Kearns is survived by his adopted daughter, Katherine.
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