(written from a Production point of view)
Virginia Kearns (30 November 1939 – 19 April 2016; age 76) was a hair stylist who worked on the Star Trek: Voyager first season episode "Caretaker". She received no credit for this work but received an Emmy Award nomination in the category Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series in 1995 which she shared with Josée Normand, Patricia Miller, Shawn McKay, Karen Asano-Myers, Dino Ganziano, Rebecca De Morrio, Barbara Minster, Janice D. Brandow, Gloria Ponce, Caryl Codon-Tharp, Katherine Rees, Patricia Vecchio, Faith Vecchio, and Audrey Levy.
Kearns earned an Emmy Award nomination in the category Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special in 1987 for her work on the television mini-series Amerika. In 1989 she won an Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series for her work on the Quantum Leap episode "Double Identity – November 8, 1965", starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. In 2000 she won another Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for her work on the television music drama Introducing Dorothy Dandridge which she shared with Hazel Catmull, Kathrine Gordon, and Katherine Rees. This film featured Brent Spiner, Tom Virtue, Irene Roseen, Mark Bramhall, Billy Mayo, Raphael Sbarge, Benjamin Brown, and Clement von Franckenstein and makeup artists Richard Snell and Elizabeth Rabe.
Kearns started her career at NBC and became a TV Tape member in 1975 where she worked on many variety specials and game shows. She became a journeyman in 1977 and was appointed to the Local 706 Executive Board where she served on the Negotiations Board as well.
Other projects, Kearns worked as hair stylist on include Lucan (1977-1978), Family Ties (1982), Hill Street Blues (1983-1986), Out of This World (1987), Full House (1987, with Karen Kubeck), and Quantum Leap (1989), the television drama The First Time (1982, with Wes Dawn), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, with Craig Reardon, Michael Shawn McCracken, and Margaret Prentice), [1] Policewoman Centerfold (1983, directed by Reza Badiyi), The 22nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (1987) and The 23rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (1988), the television drama Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story (1995), the thriller Maternal Instincts (1996), Once You Meet a Stranger (1996), Nelanie Darrow (1997), Houdini (1998, with Donna Cicatelli-Lewis, Judy Crown, Elizabeth Rabe, Cheri Ruff, and Warren Lewis), and The Thirteenth Floor (1999, with Katherine Rees and Erwin H. Kupitz).
She retired in 2000 and passed away from cardiopulmonary failure and lung cancer on 19 April 2016. (Local 706 – The Artisan, summer 2016 edition, p.32 [2])