Lew Ayres
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 28, 1908
- Died
- Dec 30, 1996 (aged 88)
- Place of birth
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Credits
- 158
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
1983TV
Bernie Greene
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973Movie
Mandemus
Little House on the Prairie
1974TV
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930Movie
Paul Bäumer
Damien - Omen II
1978Movie
Bill Atherton
Columbo
1971TV
Howard Nicholson
Filmography
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004Movie
Self (archive footage)
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994Movie
Professor Cabel
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992TV
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991Movie
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cast the First Stone
1989Movie
Martin
Outlaws
1986TV
L.A. Law
1986TV
Lorimar Henderson
Under Siege
1986Movie
John Pace
Lime Street
1985TV
Henry Wade Culver
Finder of Lost Loves
1984TV
Oliver Hawthorne
Highway to Heaven
1984TV
Don Camillo
1984Movie
Doc
Bruised Celluloid
1984Movie
Himself
The A-Team
1983TV
Bernie Greene
Hotel
1982TV
Nelson O'Neil
Cagney & Lacey
1982TV
Fame
1982TV
Of Mice and Men
1981Movie
Candy
Simon & Simon
1981TV
Magnum, P.I.
1980TV
Sidney Dollinger
Reunion
1980Movie
Bob Hollander
Knots Landing
1979TV
Andrew Douglas
Letters from Frank
1979Movie
Dan Miller
Salem's Lot
1979TV
Jason Burke
Trapper John, M.D.
1979TV
Suddenly, Love
1978Movie
Mr. Graham
The Story of Noah
1978Movie
Noah
Battlestar Galactica
1978Movie
President Adar
Flying High
1978TV
Wilbur Dodson
Battlestar Galactica
1978TV
President Adar
Damien - Omen II
1978Movie
Bill Atherton
The Love Boat
1977TV
Carl Hooper
End of the World
1977Movie
Com. Joseph Beckerman
The Fantastic Journey
1977TV
Rayat
Quincy, M.E.
1976TV
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976Movie
Allen Dulles
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976Movie
(archive footage)
The Bionic Woman
1976TV
Wonder Woman
1975TV
Dr. Kenneth Wilson
Little House on the Prairie
1974TV
Heatwave!
1974Movie
Dr. Grayson
The Questor Tapes
1974Movie
Vaslovik
The Magician
1973TV
Max Braden
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973Movie
Mandemus
Hawkins
1973TV
Gus Bitterman
The Stranger
1973Movie
Prof. Dylan MacAuley
Kung Fu
1972TV
Beaumont
The Streets of San Francisco
1972TV
The Man
1972Movie
Noah Calvin
The Biscuit Eater
1972Movie
Mr. Ames
She Waits
1972Movie
Dr. Sam Carpenter
Earth II
1971Movie
President Charles Carter Durant
McMillan & Wife
1971TV
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971TV
Columbo
1971TV
Howard Nicholson
San Francisco International Airport
1970TV
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970TV
The Interns
1970TV
Hawaii Five-O
1969TV
The Governor, Dr. Elias Haig, Comm. Reginald Blackwell
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969Movie
Dr. Andrew Swanson
Here Come the Brides
1968TV
Cocoon
1968Movie
The Governor
ABC Stage 67
1966TV
Arthur
The F.B.I.
1965TV
Marshall Winslow
The Big Valley
1965TV
Sheriff Roy Kingston, Jason Fleet
Slattery's People
1964TV
The Carpetbaggers
1964Movie
Mac McAllister
The Upper Chamber
1963Movie
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963TV
Dr. Thomas Clay
The Virginian
1962TV
Judge John Markham
Saints and Sinners
1962TV
Advise & Consent
1962Movie
The Vice President
Ben Casey
1961TV
Bus Stop
1961TV
Route 66
1960TV
My Three Sons
1960TV
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960TV
Dr. Paul Harris
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959TV
Howard Moon
Laramie
1959TV
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958TV
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956Movie
Carl Doss
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956TV
Clint Howard, Jud Lester, Jesse Martin
One Against Many
1956Movie
Dr. John Mohler
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955TV
Dr. John Mohler
MGM Parade
1955TV
self
Gunsmoke
1955TV
Jonathan Cole
Climax!
1954TV
Bob Kilgore
Donovan's Brain
1953Movie
Dr. Patrick J. Cory
No Escape
1953Movie
John Howard Tracy
Omnibus
1952TV
Cavalcade of America
1952TV
Matt Needham
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951TV
New Mexico
1951Movie
Captain Hunt
The Capture
1950Movie
Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
The Ken Murray Show
1950TV
Johnny Belinda
1948Movie
Robert Richardson
The Unfaithful
1947Movie
Larry Hannaford
The Way of Peace
1947Movie
Narrator (voice)
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946Movie
Self
The Dark Mirror
1946Movie
Scott Elliott
Fingers at the Window
1942Movie
Oliver Duffy
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942Movie
Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941Movie
Dr. James Kildare
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941Movie
Dr. James Kildare
Maisie Was a Lady
1941Movie
Bob Rawlston
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940Movie
Dr. James Kildare
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940Movie
Self
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940Movie
Dr. James Kildare
The Golden Fleecing
1940Movie
Henry Twinkle
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940Movie
Self
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940Movie
James Kildare
Remember?
1939Movie
Sky Ames
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939Movie
James Kildare
These Glamour Girls
1939Movie
Philip S. Griswold III
From the Ends of the Earth
1939Movie
Self
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939Movie
Dr. James Kildare
Broadway Serenade
1939Movie
James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939Movie
Eddie Burgess
Spring Madness
1938Movie
Sam Thatcher
Young Dr. Kildare
1938Movie
Dr. James Kildare
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938Movie
Henry Thayer
Holiday
1938Movie
Ned Seton
King of the Newsboys
1938Movie
Jerry Flynn
Scandal Street
1938Movie
Joe McKnight
Hold 'Em Navy
1937Movie
Tommy Graham
The Last Train from Madrid
1937Movie
Bill Dexter
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937Movie
Nick Milburn
Murder with Pictures
1936Movie
Kent Murdock
Lady Be Careful
1936Movie
Chester aka Dynamite
Shakedown
1936Movie
Bob Sanderson
Panic on the Air
1936Movie
Jerry
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936Movie
Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
Silk Hat Kid
1935Movie
Eddie Howard
Spring Tonic
1935Movie
Caleb Enix
The Lottery Lover
1935Movie
Cadet Frank Harrington
Servants' Entrance
1934Movie
Erik Landstrom
She Learned About Sailors
1934Movie
Larry Wilson
Let’s Be Ritzy
1934Movie
Jimmy Sterling
Cross Country Cruise
1934Movie
Norman Winthrop
My Weakness
1933Movie
Ronnie Gregory
Don't Bet on Love
1933Movie
Bill McCaffrey
State Fair
1933Movie
Pat Gilbert
Okay, America!
1932Movie
Larry Wayne
Night World
1932Movie
Michael Rand
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932Movie
Lew Ayres
The Impatient Maiden
1932Movie
Dr. Myron Brown
Heaven on Earth
1931Movie
States
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931Movie
Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
Up for Murder
1931Movie
Robert Marshall
Iron Man
1931Movie
Kid Mason
Many a Slip
1931Movie
Jerry Brooks
East Is West
1930Movie
Billy Benson
The Doorway to Hell
1930Movie
Louie Ricarno
Common Clay
1930Movie
Hugh Fullerton
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930Movie
Paul Bäumer
The Kiss
1929Movie
Pierre
Big News
1929Movie
Copyboy (uncredited)
The Sophomore
1929Movie
Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)