Lew Ayres
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.
Filmography · 154
Columbo
1971 · Howard Nicholson
The Love Boat
1977 · Carl Hooper
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
The A-Team
1983 · Bernie Greene
Little House on the Prairie
1974
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · The Governor
Magnum, P.I.
1980 · Sidney Dollinger
Simon & Simon
1981
The Virginian
1962 · Judge John Markham
My Three Sons
1960
Knots Landing
1979 · Andrew Douglas
L.A. Law
1986 · Lorimar Henderson
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Clint Howard
Climax!
1954 · Bob Kilgore
Gunsmoke
1955 · Jonathan Cole
Cagney & Lacey
1982
Highway to Heaven
1984
The Bionic Woman
1976
The F.B.I.
1965 · Marshall Winslow
Route 66
1960
The Big Valley
1965 · Sheriff Roy Kingston
Hotel
1982 · Nelson O'Neil
Ben Casey
1961
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
McMillan & Wife
1971
Fame
1982
Laramie
1959
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963 · Dr. Thomas Clay
Omnibus
1952
Battlestar Galactica
1978 · President Adar
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
MGM Parade
1955 · self
Wonder Woman
1975 · Dr. Kenneth Wilson
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
Finder of Lost Loves
1984 · Oliver Hawthorne
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960 · Dr. Paul Harris
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 · Howard Moon
Salem's Lot
1979 · Jason Burke
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955 · Dr. John Mohler
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 · Paul Bäumer
Cavalcade of America
1952 · Matt Needham
Bus Stop
1961
The Magician
1973 · Max Braden
Flying High
1978
Here Come the Brides
1968
ABC Stage 67
1966 · Arthur
Damien - Omen II
1978 · Bill Atherton
Slattery's People
1964
Hawkins
1973 · Gus Bitterman
The Fantastic Journey
1977 · Rayat
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973 · Mandemus
The Interns
1970
Saints and Sinners
1962
Battlestar Galactica
1978 · President Adar
Lime Street
1985 · Henry Wade Culver
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
Outlaws
1986
Advise & Consent
1962 · The Vice President
San Francisco International Airport
1970
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · (archive footage)
Holiday
1938 · Ned Seton
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · actor 'Advise and 'Con...
Kung Fu
1972 · Beaumont
The Dark Mirror
1946 · Scott Elliott
Fingers at the Window
1942 · Oliver Duffy
The Carpetbaggers
1964 · Mac McAllister
The Last Train from Madrid
1937 · Bill Dexter
Johnny Belinda
1948 · Robert Richardson
From the Ends of the Earth
1939 · Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940 · Self
Young Dr. Kildare
1938 · Dr. James Kildare
The Unfaithful
1947 · Larry Hannaford
The Stranger
1973 · Prof. Dylan MacAuley
The Lottery Lover
1935 · Cadet Frank Harrington
The Questor Tapes
1974 · Vaslovik
The Man
1972 · Noah Calvin
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939 · Dr. James Kildare
End of the World
1977 · Com. Joseph Beckerman
Donovan's Brain
1953 · Dr. Patrick J. Cory
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994 · Professor Cabel
The Golden Fleecing
1940 · Henry Twinkle
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940 · Dr. James Kildare
Remember?
1939 · Sky Ames
Don Camillo
1984 · Doc
The Kiss
1929 · Pierre
The Capture
1950 · Lin Vanner / Lindley B...
Earth II
1971 · President Charles Cart...
Broadway Serenade
1939 · James Geoffrey 'Jimmy'...
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939 · Eddie Burgess
Spring Madness
1938 · Sam Thatcher
These Glamour Girls
1939 · Philip S. Griswold III
New Mexico
1951 · Captain Hunt
Murder with Pictures
1936 · Kent Murdock
Suddenly, Love
1978 · Mr. Graham
Cast the First Stone
1989 · Martin
Night World
1932 · Michael Rand
She Learned About Sailors
1934 · Larry Wilson
The Impatient Maiden
1932 · Dr. Myron Brown
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939 · James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941 · Dr. James Kildare
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936 · Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940 · Dr. James Kildare
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938 · Henry Thayer
The Biscuit Eater
1972 · Mr. Ames
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940 · James Kildare
Letters from Frank
1979 · Dan Miller
Okay, America!
1932 · Larry Wayne
Maisie Was a Lady
1941 · Bob Rawlston
Heatwave!
1974 · Dr. Grayson
Cocoon
1968 · The Governor
State Fair
1933 · Pat Gilbert
Iron Man
1931 · Kid Mason
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931 · Edward Aloysius "Bucky...
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940 · Self
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942 · Dr. James Kildare
Heaven on Earth
1931 · States
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941 · Dr. James Kildare
Common Clay
1930 · Hugh Fullerton
Reunion
1980 · Bob Hollander
Big News
1929 · Copyboy (uncredited)
Lady Be Careful
1936 · Chester aka Dynamite
King of the Newsboys
1938 · Jerry Flynn
Scandal Street
1938 · Joe McKnight
Of Mice and Men
1981 · Candy
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976 · Allen Dulles
The Doorway to Hell
1930 · Louie Ricarno
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932 · Lew Ayres
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969 · Dr. Andrew Swanson
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946 · Self
No Escape
1953 · John Howard Tracy
My Weakness
1933 · Ronnie Gregory
Panic on the Air
1936 · Jerry
Under Siege
1986 · John Pace
Let’s Be Ritzy
1934 · Jimmy Sterling
Up for Murder
1931 · Robert Marshall
Cross Country Cruise
1934 · Norman Winthrop
She Waits
1972 · Dr. Sam Carpenter
Don't Bet on Love
1933 · Bill McCaffrey
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937 · Nick Milburn
Hold 'Em Navy
1937 · Tommy Graham
Silk Hat Kid
1935 · Eddie Howard
Shakedown
1936 · Bob Sanderson
East Is West
1930 · Billy Benson
Spring Tonic
1935 · Caleb Enix
Many a Slip
1931 · Jerry Brooks
Servants' Entrance
1934 · Erik Landstrom
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956 · Carl Doss
The Story of Noah
1978 · Noah
The Way of Peace
1947 · Narrator (voice)
The Sophomore
1929 · Sophomore Fraternity B...
Bruised Celluloid
1984 · Himself