Lew Ayres
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
162
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-12-28
Day of death
1996-12-30 (88 years old)
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Lew Ayres
Biography
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
Columbo
Magnum, P.I.
Quincy, M.E.
The Love Boat
The A-Team
L.A. Law
Little House on the Prairie
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
The Virginian
The F.B.I.
Knots Landing
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Highway to Heaven
The Big Valley
The Big Valley
Climax!
Hotel
Gunsmoke
Don Camillo
Simon & Simon
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Bionic Woman
Battlestar Galactica
Laramie
Ben Casey
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
My Three Sons
Route 66
Fame
Omnibus
Cagney & Lacey
Shakedown
Trapper John, M.D.
Battlestar Galactica
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Remember?
Iron Man
Wonder Woman
Under Siege
McMillan & Wife
King of the Newsboys
The Streets of San Francisco
Reunion
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Biscuit Eater
Finder of Lost Loves
New Mexico
Cocoon
The Lottery Lover
Bus Stop
Cavalcade of America
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Hawkins
Salem's Lot
The Magician
Flying High
MGM Parade
The Carpetbaggers
ABC Stage 67
Many a Slip
The Questor Tapes
Here Come the Brides
She Waits
Damien - Omen II
Slattery's People
Saints and Sinners
Okay, America!
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Fantastic Journey
The Interns
Silk Hat Kid
The Dark Mirror
Lime Street
Holiday
Outlaws
Night World
Young Dr. Kildare
San Francisco International Airport
End of the World
Donovan's Brain
MGM: When the Lion Roars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Johnny Belinda
The Unfaithful
Kung Fu
Advise & Consent
Broadway Serenade
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Earth II
The Ice Follies of 1939
The Golden Fleecing
That's Entertainment, Part II
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Blow-Ups of 1946
Suddenly, Love
Cast the First Stone
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
The Kiss
State Fair
The Doorway to Hell
The Stranger
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
The Last Train from Madrid
These Glamour Girls
The Impatient Maiden
The Capture
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
The Spirit of Notre Dame
From the Ends of the Earth
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Maisie Was a Lady
The Man
Calling Dr. Kildare
Big News
Lady Be Careful
The Ken Murray Show
Servants' Entrance
Letters from Frank
Cross Country Cruise
Spring Tonic
Murder with Pictures
Fingers at the Window
Of Mice and Men
Heatwave!
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
No Escape
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Hold 'Em Navy
Don't Bet on Love
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
East Is West
Panic on the Air
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
The Leathernecks Have Landed
Scandal Street
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
She Learned About Sailors
The Story of Noah
My Weakness
Let’s Be Ritzy
Common Clay
The Family Nobody Wanted
Heaven on Earth
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Bruised Celluloid
Spring Madness
The Sophomore
The Crime Nobody Saw
Dr. Kildare's Victory
The Way of Peace
Up for Murder
One Against Many
