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