Lew Ayres
Acting
1908-12-28 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004 · Movie
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994 · Movie
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992 · Series
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · Movie
Cast the First Stone
1989 · Movie
Outlaws
1986 · Series
L.A. Law
1986 · Series
Under Siege
1986 · Movie
Lime Street
1985 · Series
Finder of Lost Loves
1984 · Series
Highway to Heaven
1984 · Series
Don Camillo
1984 · Movie
Bruised Celluloid
1984 · Movie
The A-Team
1983 · Series
Hotel
1982 · Series
Cagney & Lacey
1982 · Series
Fame
1982 · Series
Of Mice and Men
1981 · Movie
Simon & Simon
1981 · Series
Magnum, P.I.
1980 · Series
Reunion
1980 · Movie
Knots Landing
1979 · Series
Letters from Frank
1979 · Movie
Salem's Lot
1979 · Series
Trapper John, M.D.
1979 · Series
Suddenly, Love
1978 · Movie
The Story of Noah
1978 · Movie
Battlestar Galactica
1978 · Movie
Flying High
1978 · Series
Battlestar Galactica
1978 · Series
Damien - Omen II
1978 · Movie
The Love Boat
1977 · Series
End of the World
1977 · Movie
The Fantastic Journey
1977 · Series
Quincy, M.E.
1976 · Series
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976 · Movie
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · Movie
Altars of the World
1976 · Movie
The Bionic Woman
1976 · Series
Wonder Woman
1975 · Series
Little House on the Prairie
1974 · Series
Heatwave!
1974 · Movie
The Questor Tapes
1974 · Movie
The Magician
1973 · Series
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973 · Movie
Hawkins
1973 · Series
The Stranger
1973 · Movie
Kung Fu
1972 · Series
The Streets of San Francisco
1972 · Series
The Man
1972 · Movie
The Biscuit Eater
1972 · Movie
She Waits
1972 · Movie
Earth II
1971 · Movie
McMillan & Wife
1971 · Series
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971 · Series
Columbo
1971 · Series
San Francisco International Airport
1970 · Series
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970 · Series
The Interns
1970 · Series
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969 · Movie
Here Come the Brides
1968 · Series
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · Series
Cocoon
1968 · Movie
ABC Stage 67
1966 · Series
The F.B.I.
1965 · Series
The Big Valley
1965 · Series
Slattery's People
1964 · Series
The Carpetbaggers
1964 · Movie
The Upper Chamber
1963 · Movie
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963 · Series
The Virginian
1962 · Series
Saints and Sinners
1962 · Series
Advise & Consent
1962 · Movie
Ben Casey
1961 · Series
Bus Stop
1961 · Series
Route 66
1960 · Series
My Three Sons
1960 · Series
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960 · Series
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 · Series
Laramie
1959 · Series
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 · Series
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956 · Movie
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Series
One Against Many
1956 · Movie
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955 · Series
MGM Parade
1955 · Series
Gunsmoke
1955 · Series
Climax!
1954 · Series
Donovan's Brain
1953 · Movie
No Escape
1953 · Movie
Omnibus
1952 · Series
Cavalcade of America
1952 · Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Series
New Mexico
1951 · Movie
The Capture
1950 · Movie
The Ken Murray Show
1950 · Series
Johnny Belinda
1948 · Movie
The Unfaithful
1947 · Movie
The Way of Peace
1947 · Movie
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946 · Movie
The Dark Mirror
1946 · Movie
Fingers at the Window
1942 · Movie
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942 · Movie
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941 · Movie
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941 · Movie
Maisie Was a Lady
1941 · Movie
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940 · Movie
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940 · Movie
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940 · Movie
The Golden Fleecing
1940 · Movie
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940 · Movie
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940 · Movie
Remember?
1939 · Movie
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939 · Movie
These Glamour Girls
1939 · Movie
From the Ends of the Earth
1939 · Movie
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939 · Movie
Broadway Serenade
1939 · Movie
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939 · Movie
Spring Madness
1938 · Movie
Young Dr. Kildare
1938 · Movie
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938 · Movie
Holiday
1938 · Movie
King of the Newsboys
1938 · Movie
Scandal Street
1938 · Movie
Hold 'Em Navy
1937 · Movie
The Last Train from Madrid
1937 · Movie
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937 · Movie
Murder with Pictures
1936 · Movie
Lady Be Careful
1936 · Movie
Shakedown
1936 · Movie
Hearts in Bondage
1936 · Movie
Panic on the Air
1936 · Movie
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936 · Movie
Silk Hat Kid
1935 · Movie
Spring Tonic
1935 · Movie
The Lottery Lover
1935 · Movie
Servants' Entrance
1934 · Movie
She Learned About Sailors
1934 · Movie
Let’s Be Ritzy
1934 · Movie
Cross Country Cruise
1934 · Movie
My Weakness
1933 · Movie
Don't Bet on Love
1933 · Movie
State Fair
1933 · Movie
Okay, America!
1932 · Movie
Night World
1932 · Movie
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932 · Movie
The Impatient Maiden
1932 · Movie
Heaven on Earth
1931 · Movie
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931 · Movie
Up for Murder
1931 · Movie
Iron Man
1931 · Movie
Many a Slip
1931 · Movie
East Is West
1930 · Movie
The Doorway to Hell
1930 · Movie
Common Clay
1930 · Movie
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 · Movie
The Kiss
1929 · Movie
Big News
1929 · Movie
The Sophomore
1929 · Movie