Lew Ayres
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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
Credits
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
as Mandemus
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
as Paul Bäumer
Damien - Omen II (1978)
as Bill Atherton
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
as President Adar
Advise & Consent (1962)
as The Vice President
Holiday (1938)
as Ned Seton
Johnny Belinda (1948)
as Robert Richardson
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
as (archive footage)
The Carpetbaggers (1964)
as Mac McAllister
The Dark Mirror (1946)
as Scott Elliott
Don Camillo (1984)
as Doc
The Last Train from Madrid (1937)
as Bill Dexter
End of the World (1977)
as Com. Joseph Beckerman
Fingers at the Window (1942)
as Oliver Duffy
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Kiss (1929)
as Pierre
The Biscuit Eater (1972)
as Mr. Ames
The Lottery Lover (1935)
as Cadet Frank Harrington
Earth II (1971)
as President Charles Carter Durant
The Story of Noah (1978)
as Noah
Calling Dr. Kildare (1939)
as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)
as Dr. James Kildare
Don't Bet on Love (1933)
as Bill McCaffrey
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart (1994)
as Professor Cabel
Under Siege (1986)
as John Pace
Let’s Be Ritzy (1934)
as Jimmy Sterling
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare (1941)
as Dr. James Kildare
The Capture (1950)
as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
The Man (1972)
as Noah Calvin
Hollywood: Style Center of the World (1940)
as Self
The Leathernecks Have Landed (1936)
as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
Donovan's Brain (1953)
as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)
as Eddie Burgess
She Learned About Sailors (1934)
as Larry Wilson
Bruised Celluloid (1984)
as Himself
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities (1969)
as Dr. Andrew Swanson
Maisie Was a Lady (1941)
as Bob Rawlston
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940)
as James Kildare
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound (1940)
as Self
King of the Newsboys (1938)
as Jerry Flynn
Okay, America! (1932)
as Larry Wayne
The Family Nobody Wanted (1956)
as Carl Doss
The Stranger (1973)
as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939)
as James Kildare
New Mexico (1951)
as Captain Hunt
The Doorway to Hell (1930)
as Louie Ricarno
Cast the First Stone (1989)
as Martin
From the Ends of the Earth (1939)
as Self
Dr. Kildare's Crisis (1940)
as Dr. James Kildare
The Sophomore (1929)
as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
Remember? (1939)
as Sky Ames
Murder with Pictures (1936)
as Kent Murdock
Dr. Kildare's Victory (1942)
as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)
as Dr. James Kildare
The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931)
as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976)
as Allen Dulles
The Questor Tapes (1974)
as Vaslovik
The Golden Fleecing (1940)
as Henry Twinkle
Checking Out: Grand Hotel (2004)
as Self (archive footage)
She Waits (1972)
as Dr. Sam Carpenter
Broadway Serenade (1939)
as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
The Unfaithful (1947)
as Larry Hannaford
Scandal Street (1938)
as Joe McKnight
Of Mice and Men (1981)
as Candy
East Is West (1930)
as Billy Benson
Panic on the Air (1936)
as Jerry
Big News (1929)
as Copyboy (uncredited)
Heaven on Earth (1931)
as States
Lady Be Careful (1936)
as Chester aka Dynamite
Cocoon (1968)
as The Governor
Heatwave! (1974)
as Dr. Grayson
Suddenly, Love (1978)
as Mr. Graham
Shakedown (1936)
as Bob Sanderson
No Escape (1953)
as John Howard Tracy
Night World (1932)
as Michael Rand
Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938)
as Henry Thayer
These Glamour Girls (1939)
as Philip S. Griswold III
Reunion (1980)
as Bob Hollander
State Fair (1933)
as Pat Gilbert
Spring Madness (1938)
as Sam Thatcher
The Way of Peace (1947)
as Narrator (voice)
Spring Tonic (1935)
as Caleb Enix
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932)
as Lew Ayres
Letters from Frank (1979)
as Dan Miller
Cross Country Cruise (1934)
as Norman Winthrop
The Crime Nobody Saw (1937)
as Nick Milburn
The Impatient Maiden (1932)
as Dr. Myron Brown
Up for Murder (1931)
as Robert Marshall
The Upper Chamber (1963)
Actor
Iron Man (1931)
as Kid Mason
Servants' Entrance (1934)
as Erik Landstrom
Blow-Ups of 1946 (1946)
as Self
Hold 'Em Navy (1937)
as Tommy Graham
Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
as Dr. James Kildare
Silk Hat Kid (1935)
as Eddie Howard
One Against Many (1956)
as Dr. John Mohler
Common Clay (1930)
as Hugh Fullerton
My Weakness (1933)
as Ronnie Gregory
Many a Slip (1931)
as Jerry Brooks