Lew Ayres
Acting
Born: December 28, 1908 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died: December 30, 1996 (aged 88)
Highest Rated
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
The A-Team
1983
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
Little House on the Prairie
1974
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
Columbo
1971
Damien - Omen II
1978
Salem's Lot
1979
Wonder Woman
1975
Magnum, P.I.
1980
Holiday
1938
Battlestar Galactica
1978
The Bionic Woman
1976
Photos (3)
Movies (91)
Damien - Omen II
Bill Atherton
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul Bäumer
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Mandemus
Battlestar Galactica
President Adar
Advise & Consent
The Vice President
The Dark Mirror
Scott Elliott
Holiday
Ned Seton
The Kiss
Pierre
Johnny Belinda
Robert Richardson
The Carpetbaggers
Mac McAllister
King of the Newsboys
Jerry Flynn
Don Camillo
Doc
The Man
Noah Calvin
The Biscuit Eater
Mr. Ames
Let’s Be Ritzy
Jimmy Sterling
The Unfaithful
Larry Hannaford
End of the World
Com. Joseph Beckerman
The Last Train from Madrid
Bill Dexter
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
Broadway Serenade
James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
Calling Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Under Siege
John Pace
The Lottery Lover
Cadet Frank Harrington
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Capture
Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
Murder with Pictures
Kent Murdock
New Mexico
Captain Hunt
Donovan's Brain
Dr. Patrick J. Cory
Fingers at the Window
Oliver Duffy
Letters from Frank
Dan Miller
The Stranger
Prof. Dylan MacAuley
The Questor Tapes
Vaslovik
Earth II
President Charles Carter Durant
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
Allen Dulles
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
James Kildare
The Golden Fleecing
Henry Twinkle
Okay, America!
Larry Wayne
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Dr. James Kildare
The Ice Follies of 1939
Eddie Burgess
Don't Bet on Love
Bill McCaffrey
Reunion
Bob Hollander
Cocoon
The Governor
Iron Man
Kid Mason
These Glamour Girls
Philip S. Griswold III
Suddenly, Love
Mr. Graham
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Night World
Michael Rand
Young Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Dr. James Kildare
The Impatient Maiden
Dr. Myron Brown
Scandal Street
Joe McKnight
Maisie Was a Lady
Bob Rawlston
Spring Madness
Sam Thatcher
Heatwave!
Dr. Grayson
My Weakness
Ronnie Gregory
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Dr. Andrew Swanson
Of Mice and Men
Candy
Heaven on Earth
States
Hold 'Em Navy
Tommy Graham
She Learned About Sailors
Larry Wilson
The Doorway to Hell
Louie Ricarno
Many a Slip
Jerry Brooks
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
Professor Cabel
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Henry Thayer
Shakedown
Bob Sanderson
State Fair
Pat Gilbert
Cast the First Stone
Martin
The Leathernecks Have Landed
Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
Spring Tonic
Caleb Enix
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Dr. James Kildare
The Crime Nobody Saw
Nick Milburn
Big News
Copyboy (uncredited)
Servants' Entrance
Erik Landstrom
No Escape
John Howard Tracy
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
James Kildare
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Lew Ayres
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Dr. James Kildare
East Is West
Billy Benson
Lady Be Careful
Chester aka Dynamite
The Sophomore
Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
Remember?
Sky Ames
She Waits
Dr. Sam Carpenter
The Family Nobody Wanted
Carl Doss
The Way of Peace
Narrator (voice)
The Story of Noah
Noah
Up for Murder
Robert Marshall
Common Clay
Hugh Fullerton
Cross Country Cruise
Norman Winthrop
Panic on the Air
Jerry
Silk Hat Kid
Eddie Howard
TV Shows (62)
Columbo
Howard Nicholson · 1 eps
The Love Boat
Carl Hooper · 1 eps
The A-Team
Bernie Greene · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-O
The Governor · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-O
Dr. Elias Haig · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-O
Comm. Reginald Blackwell · 1 eps
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1 eps
Magnum, P.I.
Sidney Dollinger · 1 eps
Simon & Simon
1 eps
Little House on the Prairie
1 eps
L.A. Law
Lorimar Henderson · 1 eps
The Virginian
Judge John Markham · 1 eps
Knots Landing
Andrew Douglas · 1 eps
Quincy, M.E.
1 eps
My Three Sons
1 eps
Cagney & Lacey
1 eps
Hotel
Nelson O'Neil · 1 eps
Climax!
Bob Kilgore · 1 eps
The Streets of San Francisco
1 eps
The Big Valley
Sheriff Roy Kingston · 1 eps
The Big Valley
Jason Fleet · 1 eps
Highway to Heaven
3 eps
Route 66
1 eps
The F.B.I.
Marshall Winslow · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Jonathan Cole · 1 eps
Ben Casey
1 eps
Trapper John, M.D.
1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Clint Howard · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Jud Lester · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Jesse Martin · 1 eps
The Bionic Woman
2 eps
Fame
1 eps
Here Come the Brides
1 eps
Battlestar Galactica
President Adar · 1 eps
Omnibus
1 eps
McMillan & Wife
1 eps
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Dr. Thomas Clay · 1 eps
Laramie
1 eps
Wonder Woman
Dr. Kenneth Wilson · 1 eps
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1 eps
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1 eps
The Fantastic Journey
Rayat · 1 eps
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Howard Moon · 1 eps
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Dr. Paul Harris · 1 eps
Cavalcade of America
Matt Needham · 1 eps
Finder of Lost Loves
Oliver Hawthorne · 1 eps
Salem's Lot
Jason Burke · 2 eps
ABC Stage 67
Arthur · 1 eps
The Magician
Max Braden · 1 eps
Screen Director's Playhouse
Dr. John Mohler · 1 eps
Flying High
Wilbur Dodson · 1 eps
Bus Stop
1 eps
Saints and Sinners
1 eps
Hawkins
Gus Bitterman · 1 eps
The Interns
1 eps
Lime Street
Henry Wade Culver · 8 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1 eps
Outlaws
1 eps
Slattery's People
1 eps
MGM: When the Lion Roars
3 eps
San Francisco International Airport
1 eps
Kung Fu
Beaumont · 1 eps
