James V. Kern

James V. Kern (September 22, 1909, New York City, New York – November 9, 1966, Encino, California) was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director.

Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorney. He sang with the George Olsen Trio, and appeared with the Olsen orchestra in the musical Good News. From 1927 to 1939, he sang with and wrote for the Yacht Club Boys quartet, with whom he appeared in several motion pictures.

He became a screenwriter and later a director. In film, he directed mainly "B" pictures, but after he moved to television, he directed hundreds of series episodes. He was one of the house directors on I Love Lucy in the 1950s. He directed My Three Sons for most of two seasons in the 1960s. When he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 57, several episodes of the show remained only partially completed for the 1966/67 season, so director James Sheldon was brought in by series producers to round out the season.

He joined ASCAP in 1955. His popular-song compositions include "Easy Street," "Lover, Lover," "Little Red Fox," and "Shut the Door."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James V. Kern is known for work in directing across film and television.

New Release currently presents 25 verified screen credits connected to this profile. Selected work includes Pigskin Parade (1936), My Three Sons (1960), Maverick (1957), I Love Lucy (1951), The Donna Reed Show (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), My Favorite Martian (1963), The Millionaire (1955).

The recorded credits span 1936 to 1963, including 6 movies and 19 TV shows. The filmography below lists available titles, release years and known roles.

This profile is updated as additional verified information becomes available.