Lew Ayres

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1908-12-28

Deathday 1996-12-30 (88 years old)

Place of Birth Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Also Known As Lewis Frederick Ayre III

Lew Ayres

Biography

Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. A college dropout, he was found by a talent scout in the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and entered Hollywood as a bit player. He was leading man to Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), but it was the role of Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that was his big break. He was profoundly affected by the anti-war message of that film, and when, in 1942, the popular star of Young Dr. Kildare (1938) and subsequent Dr. Kildare films was drafted, he was a conscientious objector. America was outraged, and theaters vowed never to show his films again, but quietly he achieved the Medical Corps status he had requested, serving as a medic under fire in the South Pacific and as a chaplain's aid in New Guinea and the Phillipines. His return to film after the war was undistinguished until Johnny Belinda (1948) - his role as the sympathetic physician treating the deaf-mute Jane Wyman won him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Subsequent movie roles were scarce; an opportunity to play Dr. Kildare in television was aborted when the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. He continued to act, but in the 1970s put his long experience into a project to bring to the west the philosophy of the East - the resulting film, Altars of the World (1976), while not a box-office success, won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. Lew Ayres died in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.

Known For

Actor

2004
Checking Out: Grand Hotel

as Self (archive footage)

1994
1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)

1989
1986
Under Siege

as John Pace

1986
L.A. Law

as Lorimar Henderson

1985
Lime Street

as Henry Wade Culver

1984
1984
1984
Finder of Lost Loves

as Oliver Hawthorne

1983
The A-Team

as Bernie Greene

1982
1982
1981
1980
Reunion

as Bob Hollander

1979
Letters from Frank

as Dan Miller

1979
Knots Landing

as Andrew Douglas

1979
Salem's Lot

as Jason Burke

1978
Suddenly, Love

as Mr. Graham

1978
1978
Battlestar Galactica

as President Adar

1978
Damien: Omen II

as Bill Atherton

1978
Battlestar Galactica

as President Adar

1977
End of the World

as Com. Joseph Beckerman

1977
The Love Boat

as Carl Hooper

1976
That's Entertainment, Part II

as (archive footage)

1975
Wonder Woman

as Dr. Kenneth Wilson

1974
Heatwave!

as Dr. Grayson

1974
The Questor Tapes

as Vaslovik

1973
The Stranger

as Prof. Dylan MacAuley

1973
The Magician

as Max Braden

1973
Hawkins

as Gus Bitterman

1972
The Man

as Noah Calvin

1972
The Biscuit Eater

as Mr. Ames

1972
She Waits

as Dr. Sam Carpenter

1971
Earth II

as President Charles Carter Durant

1971
Columbo

as Howard Nicholson

1968
Cocoon

as The Governor

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as The Governor

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Dr. Elias Haig

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Comm. Reginald Blackwell

1966
ABC Stage 67

as Arthur

1965
The F.B.I.

as Marshall Winslow

1965
The Big Valley

as Sheriff Roy Kingston

1965
The Big Valley

as Jason Fleet

1964
The Carpetbaggers

as 'Mac' McAllister

1963
Kraft Suspense Theatre

as Dr. Thomas Clay

1962
Advise & Consent

as The Vice President

1962
The Virginian

as Judge John Markham

1960
The Barbara Stanwyck Show

as Dr. Paul Harris

1956
One Against Many

as Dr. John Mohler

1955
Screen Director's Playhouse

as Dr. John Mohler

1955
Gunsmoke

as Jonathan Cole

1954
Climax!

as Bob Kilgore

1953
Donovan's Brain

as Dr. Patrick J. Cory

1953
No Escape

as John Howard Tracy

1952
Cavalcade of America

as Matt Needham

1951
New Mexico

as Capt. Hunt

1950
The Capture

as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown

1948
Johnny Belinda

as Dr. Robert Richardson

1947
The Unfaithful

as Larry Hannaford

1947
The Way of Peace

as Narrator (voice)

1946
1946
The Dark Mirror

as Dr. Scott Elliott

1942
Fingers at the Window

as Oliver Duffy

1942
Dr. Kildare's Victory

as Dr. James Kildare

1941
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day

as Dr. James Kildare

1941
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare

as Dr. James Kildare

1941
Maisie Was a Lady

as Bob Rawlston

1940
Dr. Kildare's Crisis

as Dr. James Kildare

1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home

as Dr. James Kildare

1940
The Golden Fleecing

as Henry Twinkle

1940
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case

as Dr. James Kildare

1939
Remember?

as Sky Ames

1939
The Secret of Dr. Kildare

as Dr. James Kildare

1939
These Glamour Girls

as Philip S. Griswold III

1939
Calling Dr. Kildare

as Dr. James Kildare

1939
Broadway Serenade

as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour

1939
The Ice Follies of 1939

as Eddie Burgess

1938
Spring Madness

as Sam Thatcher

1938
Young Dr. Kildare

as Dr. James Kildare

1938
Rich Man, Poor Girl

as Henry Thayer

1938
Holiday

as Ned Seton

1938
King of the Newsboys

as Jerry Flynn

1938
Scandal Street

as Joe McKnight

1937
Hold 'Em Navy

as Tommy Graham

1937
1937
The Crime Nobody Saw

as Nick Milburn

1936
Murder with Pictures

as Kent Murdock

1936
Lady Be Careful

as Chester aka Dynamite

1936
Shakedown

as Bob Sanderson

1936
Panic on the Air

as Jerry Franklin

1936
The Leathernecks Have Landed

as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis

1935
Silk Hat Kid

as Eddie Howard

1935
Spring Tonic

as Caleb Enix

1935
The Lottery Lover

as Cadet Frank Harrington

1934
Servants' Entrance

as Erik Landstrom

1934
1934
Let’s Be Ritzy

as Jimmy Sterling

1934
Cross Country Cruise

as Norman Winthrop

1933
My Weakness

as Ronnie Gregory

1933
Don't Bet on Love

as Bill McCaffrey

1933
State Fair

as Pat Gilbert

1932
Okay, America!

as Larry Wayne

1932
Night World

as Michael Rand

1932
The Impatient Maiden

as Dr. Myron Brown

1931
Heaven on Earth

as States

1931
The Spirit of Notre Dame

as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian

1931
Up for Murder

as Robert Marshall

1931
Iron Man

as Kid Mason

1931
Many a Slip

as Jerry Brooks

1930
East Is West

as Billy Benson

1930
The Doorway to Hell

as Louie Ricarno

1930
Common Clay

as Hugh Fullerton

1930
1929
The Kiss

as Pierre Lassalle

1929
Big News

as Copyboy (uncredited)

1929
The Sophomore

as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)

Director

1976
1936
Hearts in Bondage

as Director