Lew Ayres
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.
TV Shows(59)
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
Outlaws
1986
L.A. Law
Lorimar Henderson
1986
Lime Street
Henry Wade Culver
1985
Finder of Lost Loves
Oliver Hawthorne
1984
Highway to Heaven
1984
The A-Team
Bernie Greene
1983
Hotel
1982
Cagney & Lacey
1982
Fame
1982
Simon & Simon
1981
Magnum, P.I.
Sidney Dollinger
1980
Knots Landing
Andrew Douglas
1979
Salem's Lot
Jason Burke
1979
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
Flying High
1978
Battlestar Galactica
President Adar
1978
The Love Boat
Carl Hooper
1977
The Fantastic Journey
Rayat
1977
Quincy, M.E.
1976
The Bionic Woman
1976
Wonder Woman
Dr. Kenneth Wilson
1975
Little House on the Prairie
1974
The Magician
Max Braden
1973
Hawkins
Gus Bitterman
1973
Kung Fu
Beaumont
1972
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
McMillan & Wife
1971
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
Columbo
Howard Nicholson
1971
San Francisco International Airport
1970
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
The Interns
1970
Here Come the Brides
1968
Hawaii Five-O
The Governor
1968
ABC Stage 67
Arthur
1966
The F.B.I.
Marshall Winslow
1965
The Big Valley
Sheriff Roy Kingston
1965
Slattery's People
1964
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Dr. Thomas Clay
1963
The Virginian
Judge John Markham
1962
Saints and Sinners
1962
Ben Casey
1961
Bus Stop
1961
Route 66
1960
My Three Sons
1960
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Dr. Paul Harris
1960
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Howard Moon
1959
Laramie
1959
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Clint Howard
1956
Screen Director's Playhouse
Dr. John Mohler
1955
MGM Parade
self
1955
Gunsmoke
Jonathan Cole
1955
Climax!
Bob Kilgore
1954
Omnibus
1952
Cavalcade of America
Matt Needham
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
The Ken Murray Show
1950
Movies(98)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Self (archive footage)
2004
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
Professor Cabel
1994
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
Cast the First Stone
Martin
1989
Under Siege
John Pace
1986
Don Camillo
Doc
1984
Bruised Celluloid
Himself
1984
Of Mice and Men
Candy
1981
Reunion
Bob Hollander
1980
Letters from Frank
Dan Miller
1979
Suddenly, Love
Mr. Graham
1978
The Story of Noah
Noah
1978
Battlestar Galactica
President Adar
1978
Damien - Omen II
Bill Atherton
1978
End of the World
Com. Joseph Beckerman
1977
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
Allen Dulles
1976
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
Heatwave!
Dr. Grayson
1974
The Questor Tapes
Vaslovik
1974
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Mandemus
1973
The Stranger
Prof. Dylan MacAuley
1973
The Man
Noah Calvin
1972
The Biscuit Eater
Mr. Ames
1972
She Waits
Dr. Sam Carpenter
1972
Earth II
President Charles Carter Durant
1971
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Dr. Andrew Swanson
1969
Cocoon
The Governor
1968
The Carpetbaggers
Mac McAllister
1964
Advise & Consent
The Vice President
1962
The Family Nobody Wanted
Carl Doss
1956
One Against Many
Dr. John Mohler
1956
Donovan's Brain
Dr. Patrick J. Cory
1953
No Escape
John Howard Tracy
1953
New Mexico
Capt. Hunt
1951
The Capture
Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
1950
Johnny Belinda
Dr. Robert Richardson
1948
The Unfaithful
Larry Hannaford
1947
The Way of Peace
Narrator (voice)
1947
Blow-Ups of 1946
Self
1946
The Dark Mirror
Dr. Scott Elliott
1946
Fingers at the Window
Oliver Duffy
1942
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Dr. James Kildare
1942
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Dr. James Kildare
1941
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
1941
Maisie Was a Lady
Bob Rawlston
1941
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Dr. James Kildare
1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Self
1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Dr. James Kildare
1940
The Golden Fleecing
Henry Twinkle
1940
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
1940
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
Dr. James Kildare
1940
Remember?
Sky Ames
1939
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
1939
These Glamour Girls
Philip S. Griswold III
1939
From the Ends of the Earth
Self
1939
Calling Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
1939
Broadway Serenade
James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
Eddie Burgess
1939
Spring Madness
Sam Thatcher
1938
Young Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
1938
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Henry Thayer
1938
Holiday
Ned Seton
1938
King of the Newsboys
Jerry Flynn
1938
Scandal Street
Joe McKnight
1938
Hold 'Em Navy
Tommy Graham
1937
The Last Train from Madrid
Bill Dexter
1937
The Crime Nobody Saw
Nick Milburn
1937
Murder with Pictures
Kent Murdock
1936
Lady Be Careful
Chester aka Dynamite
1936
Shakedown
Bob Sanderson
1936
Panic on the Air
Jerry Franklin
1936
The Leathernecks Have Landed
Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
1936
Silk Hat Kid
Eddie Howard
1935
Spring Tonic
Caleb Enix
1935
The Lottery Lover
Cadet Frank Harrington
1935
Servants' Entrance
Erik Landstrom
1934
She Learned About Sailors
Larry Wilson
1934
Let’s Be Ritzy
Jimmy Sterling
1934
Cross Country Cruise
Norman Winthrop
1934
My Weakness
Ronnie Gregory
1933
Don't Bet on Love
Bill McCaffrey
1933
State Fair
Pat Gilbert
1933
Okay, America!
Larry Wayne
1932
Night World
Michael Rand
1932
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Lew Ayres
1932
The Impatient Maiden
Dr. Myron Brown
1932
Heaven on Earth
States
1931
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
1931
Up for Murder
Robert Marshall
1931
Iron Man
Kid Mason
1931
Many a Slip
Jerry Brooks
1931
East Is West
Billy Benson
1930
The Doorway to Hell
Louie Ricarno
1930
Common Clay
Hugh Fullerton
1930
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul Bäumer
1930
The Kiss
Pierre Lassalle
1929
Big News
Copyboy (uncredited)
1929
The Sophomore
Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
1929