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