Trivia: Jack Kearns

[Ric]

This might already be in a book somewhere, but I learned this factoid today, while researching 1920s newspapers.
What was the real name of Jack Kearns - perhaps most famous for managing Jack Dempsey and Mickey Walker?

[Jaclem]

I'm betting Jackie McKernan, but I'd like to know your source of information. Interesting Kearns note: He managed Joey Maxim when he was light heavy champ, and to get his shot at the title Archie Moore had to make an agreement that if he won, his new manager would be.....surprise...Jack Kearns.

[zurdo]

My favorite Kearns anecdote is about how he worked in a place where they weighed gold ..During the Alaska gold rush of the late 1890s.... Kearns. put extra grease in his hair to make it sticky..he would the handle the gold the prospectors brought in all day. he would make sure to often run his fingers trough his greasy do. At the end of the day he'd go back and wash the gold dust out of his hair....I guess he made a nice litle side income that way..

[Ric]

Jaclem: John L. McKernan, according to the WENATCHEE DAILY WORLD newspaper of March 16, 1934, p. 17. It reported that he was being sued for paternity by Elizabeth Williams, who claimed her daughter, Mary Helen McKernan, was his.
Tex Rickard was at the Klondike Gold Rush as well. His mother lived in Seattle when he became a big-wig New York promoter.

[Jaclem]

Thanks Ric. Very informative. Have read tons of stuff about Kearns in relation to Dempsey, walker, etc and this never came up. Very colorful character, very shifty about past.

there was a screenplay titled, I think, The Sweet Science...don't think it was ever porduced and the childhood name of Kearns is given as Jackie McKernan but I had no way to check veracity. would like to hear other stories about this fabulous character. Did you know that when they were together, there were crazy rumors that Dempsey and Kearns were..as we'd say now...gay? And that was the reason Kearns split when Dempsey married the actress whose name escapes me...oops..Estelle Taylor. I doubt if anyone ever went up to Dempsey and asked him to his face his sexual orientation;especially if they saw the Willard fight.

Thanks again. Good question...a real stumper.

[wouter]

I always thought that story from the Klondike was about Tex Richard. What does everyone think of the story Kearns spread after his split with Dempsey, that Jack's gloves were loaded for his fight with Willard?
I personally tend to believe it's true, I'll elaborate on that later.

[zurdo]

I think you could be correct wouter...that story might be about Tex Rickard....

It's been quite a few years since I read the story
so it's possible that icould have mixed them up..

[Ric]

March 18, 1932, Chicago: Kearns granted a default divorce from Legana Kearns of New York City.

[Ric]

Per the Dec. 19, 1918 TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE newspaper:
George "Biddy" Bishop moved to Spokane from San Francisco soon after the great 1906 earthquake.
While in Spokane he met Jack Kearns, champion Jack Dempsey's future manager. Kearns was driving a horse team at this time. Bishop and Kearns joined forces to start a weekly newspaper, but the paper folded after only two editions had been published.
Kearns then went on to manage Kid Scaler. Kearns then moved to Vancouver, B.C., where he hooked up with Fighting Dick Hyland.
From there, Kearns went to San Francisco where he became the pilot of Fighting Billy Murray. They went to Australia, where Kearns had Joe Bonds sent over to fight under his guidance.
When Kearns returned to San Francisco from Australia, Jack Curley turned over to Kearns management of "an obscure boxer in Salt Lake City."

[Joe Richmond]

Recently I ran across story of the Abe Attell vs Eddie Marino fight held at Sandpoint, Idaho July 29, 1908. The referee was a guy named "Kearns", first name missing. Since Marino was based at Seattle in those days, is it possible that ref was "Doc" Kearns? Attell won the decision in the non-title fight.