Lew Ayres
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 28, 1908
- Died
- December 30, 1996 (aged 88)
- Birthplace
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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
Photos
Filmography
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
Movie · as Professor Cabel
MGM: When the Lion Roars
TV · 3 eps
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Movie · as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cast the First Stone
Movie · as Martin
Under Siege
Movie · as John Pace
L.A. Law
TV · as Lorimar Henderson · 1 ep
Outlaws
TV · 1 ep
Lime Street
TV · as Henry Wade Culver · 8 eps
Don Camillo
Movie · as Doc
Bruised Celluloid
Movie · as Himself
Highway to Heaven
TV · 3 eps
Finder of Lost Loves
TV · as Oliver Hawthorne · 1 ep
The A-Team
TV · as Bernie Greene · 1 ep
Fame
TV · 1 ep
Hotel
TV · as Nelson O'Neil · 1 ep
Cagney & Lacey
TV · 1 ep
Of Mice and Men
Movie · as Candy
Simon & Simon
TV · 1 ep
Reunion
Movie · as Bob Hollander
Magnum, P.I.
TV · as Sidney Dollinger · 1 ep
Letters from Frank
Movie · as Dan Miller
Trapper John, M.D.
TV · 1 ep
Knots Landing
TV · as Andrew Douglas · 1 ep
Salem's Lot
TV · as Jason Burke · 2 eps
Damien - Omen II
Movie · as Bill Atherton
Suddenly, Love
Movie · as Mr. Graham
Battlestar Galactica
Movie · as President Adar
The Story of Noah
Movie · as Noah
Battlestar Galactica
TV · as President Adar · 1 ep
Flying High
TV · as Wilbur Dodson · 1 ep
End of the World
Movie · as Com. Joseph Beckerman
The Love Boat
TV · as Carl Hooper · 1 ep
The Fantastic Journey
TV · as Rayat · 1 ep
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
Movie · as Allen Dulles
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage)
The Bionic Woman
TV · 2 eps
Quincy, M.E.
TV · 1 ep
Wonder Woman
TV · as Dr. Kenneth Wilson · 1 ep
The Questor Tapes
Movie · as Vaslovik
Heatwave!
Movie · as Dr. Grayson
Little House on the Prairie
TV · 1 ep
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Movie · as Mandemus
The Stranger
Movie · as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
Hawkins
TV · as Gus Bitterman · 1 ep
The Magician
TV · as Max Braden · 1 ep
The Man
Movie · as Noah Calvin
She Waits
Movie · as Dr. Sam Carpenter
The Biscuit Eater
Movie · as Mr. Ames
Kung Fu
TV · as Beaumont · 1 ep
The Streets of San Francisco
TV · 1 ep
Earth II
Movie · as President Charles Carter Durant
Columbo
TV · as Howard Nicholson · 1 ep
McMillan & Wife
TV · 1 ep
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
TV · 1 ep
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
TV · 1 ep
The Interns
TV · 1 ep
San Francisco International Airport
TV · 1 ep
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Movie · as Dr. Andrew Swanson
Hawaii Five-O
TV · as The Governor, Dr. Elias Haig, Comm. Reginald Blackwell · 1 ep
Cocoon
Movie · as The Governor
Here Come the Brides
TV · 1 ep
ABC Stage 67
TV · as Arthur · 1 ep
The F.B.I.
TV · as Marshall Winslow · 1 ep
The Big Valley
TV · as Sheriff Roy Kingston, Jason Fleet · 1 ep
The Carpetbaggers
Movie · as Mac McAllister
Slattery's People
TV · 1 ep
The Upper Chamber
Movie
Kraft Suspense Theatre
TV · as Dr. Thomas Clay · 1 ep
Advise & Consent
Movie · as The Vice President
The Virginian
TV · as Judge John Markham · 1 ep
Saints and Sinners
TV · 1 ep
Bus Stop
TV · 1 ep
Ben Casey
TV · 1 ep
My Three Sons
TV · 1 ep
Route 66
TV · 1 ep
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
TV · as Dr. Paul Harris · 1 ep
Laramie
TV · 1 ep
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV · as Howard Moon · 1 ep
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · 1 ep
One Against Many
Movie · as Dr. John Mohler
The Family Nobody Wanted
Movie · as Carl Doss
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV · as Clint Howard, Jud Lester, Jesse Martin · 1 ep
Gunsmoke
TV · as Jonathan Cole · 1 ep
Screen Director's Playhouse
TV · as Dr. John Mohler · 1 ep
MGM Parade
TV · as self · 1 ep
Climax!
TV · as Bob Kilgore · 1 ep
Donovan's Brain
Movie · as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
No Escape
Movie · as John Howard Tracy
Omnibus
TV · 1 ep
Cavalcade of America
TV · as Matt Needham · 1 ep
New Mexico
Movie · as Captain Hunt
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · 1 ep
The Capture
Movie · as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
The Ken Murray Show
TV · 1 ep
Johnny Belinda
Movie · as Robert Richardson
The Unfaithful
Movie · as Larry Hannaford
The Way of Peace
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Dark Mirror
Movie · as Scott Elliott
Blow-Ups of 1946
Movie · as Self
Fingers at the Window
Movie · as Oliver Duffy
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
Maisie Was a Lady
Movie · as Bob Rawlston
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
Movie · as James Kildare
The Golden Fleecing
Movie · as Henry Twinkle
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Movie · as Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie · as Self
Calling Dr. Kildare
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Movie · as James Kildare
Broadway Serenade
Movie · as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
The Ice Follies of 1939
Movie · as Eddie Burgess
These Glamour Girls
Movie · as Philip S. Griswold III
Remember?
Movie · as Sky Ames
From the Ends of the Earth
Movie · as Self
Holiday
Movie · as Ned Seton
Young Dr. Kildare
Movie · as Dr. James Kildare
King of the Newsboys
Movie · as Jerry Flynn
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Movie · as Henry Thayer
Spring Madness
Movie · as Sam Thatcher
Scandal Street
Movie · as Joe McKnight
The Crime Nobody Saw
Movie · as Nick Milburn
The Last Train from Madrid
Movie · as Bill Dexter
Hold 'Em Navy
Movie · as Tommy Graham
Shakedown
Movie · as Bob Sanderson
Murder with Pictures
Movie · as Kent Murdock
Panic on the Air
Movie · as Jerry
The Leathernecks Have Landed
Movie · as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
Lady Be Careful
Movie · as Chester aka Dynamite
Spring Tonic
Movie · as Caleb Enix
The Lottery Lover
Movie · as Cadet Frank Harrington
Silk Hat Kid
Movie · as Eddie Howard
Cross Country Cruise
Movie · as Norman Winthrop
She Learned About Sailors
Movie · as Larry Wilson
Servants' Entrance
Movie · as Erik Landstrom
Let’s Be Ritzy
Movie · as Jimmy Sterling
State Fair
Movie · as Pat Gilbert
Don't Bet on Love
Movie · as Bill McCaffrey
My Weakness
Movie · as Ronnie Gregory
Okay, America!
Movie · as Larry Wayne
The Impatient Maiden
Movie · as Dr. Myron Brown
Night World
Movie · as Michael Rand
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Movie · as Lew Ayres
Iron Man
Movie · as Kid Mason
Up for Murder
Movie · as Robert Marshall
Heaven on Earth
Movie · as States
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Movie · as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
Many a Slip
Movie · as Jerry Brooks
All Quiet on the Western Front
Movie · as Paul Bäumer
The Doorway to Hell
Movie · as Louie Ricarno
East Is West
Movie · as Billy Benson
Common Clay
Movie · as Hugh Fullerton
The Kiss
Movie · as Pierre
Big News
Movie · as Copyboy (uncredited)
The Sophomore
Movie · as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)