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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
December 28, 1908
Died
December 30, 1996
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As
- Lewis Frederick Ayre III
Lew Ayres
1.0 Popularity
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
🎬
7.0
Self (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004
6.5
Professor Cabel
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994
7.8
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
7.7
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
0.0
Martin
Cast the First Stone
1989
6.8
Outlaws
1986
7.0
Lorimar Henderson
L.A. Law
1986
7.5
John Pace
Under Siege
1986
5.5
Henry Wade Culver
Lime Street
1985
5.7
Oliver Hawthorne
Finder of Lost Loves
1984
Credits
🎬
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
as Self (archive footage)
2004
7.0
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
as Professor Cabel
1994
6.5
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
7.8
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
7.7
Cast the First Stone
as Martin
1989
0.0
Outlaws
1986
6.8
L.A. Law
as Lorimar Henderson
1986
7.0
Under Siege
as John Pace
1986
7.5
Lime Street
as Henry Wade Culver
1985
5.5
Finder of Lost Loves
as Oliver Hawthorne
1984
5.7
Highway to Heaven
1984
7.4
Don Camillo
as Doc
1984
5.6
Bruised Celluloid
as Himself
1984
0.0
The A-Team
as Bernie Greene
1983
7.5
Hotel
1982
6.8
Cagney & Lacey
1982
7.0
Fame
1982
6.8
Of Mice and Men
as Candy
1981
7.1
Simon & Simon
1981
6.7
Magnum, P.I.
as Sidney Dollinger
1980
7.3
Reunion
as Bob Hollander
1980
0.0
Knots Landing
as Andrew Douglas
1979
6.7
Letters from Frank
as Dan Miller
1979
0.0
Salem's Lot
as Jason Burke
1979
6.8
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
6.5
Suddenly, Love
as Mr. Graham
1978
9.0
The Story of Noah
as Noah
1978
2.0
Battlestar Galactica
as President Adar
1978
6.9
Flying High
1978
4.5
Battlestar Galactica
as President Adar
1978
7.1
Damien - Omen II
as Bill Atherton
1978
6.4
The Love Boat
as Carl Hooper
1977
6.3
End of the World
as Com. Joseph Beckerman
1977
3.6
The Fantastic Journey
as Rayat
1977
5.9
Quincy, M.E.
1976
7.5
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
as Allen Dulles
1976
0.0
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
6.9
The Bionic Woman
1976
6.9
Wonder Woman
as Dr. Kenneth Wilson
1975
7.0
Little House on the Prairie
1974
7.9
Heatwave!
as Dr. Grayson
1974
5.9
The Questor Tapes
as Vaslovik
1974
5.7
The Magician
as Max Braden
1973
6.7
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
as Mandemus
1973
5.7
Hawkins
as Gus Bitterman
1973
7.2
The Stranger
as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
1973
3.6
Kung Fu
as Beaumont
1972
7.7
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
7.0
The Man
as Noah Calvin
1972
6.3
The Biscuit Eater
as Mr. Ames
1972
6.2
She Waits
as Dr. Sam Carpenter
1972
5.7
Earth II
as President Charles Carter Durant
1971
5.1
McMillan & Wife
1971
6.9
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
6.3
Columbo
as Howard Nicholson
1971
8.1
San Francisco International Airport
1970
0.0
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
7.6
The Interns
1970
5.0
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
as Dr. Andrew Swanson
1969
0.0
Here Come the Brides
1968
6.3
Hawaii Five-O
as The Governor
1968
7.1
Hawaii Five-O
as Dr. Elias Haig
1968
7.1
Hawaii Five-O
as Comm. Reginald Blackwell
1968
7.1
Cocoon
as The Governor
1968
8.0
ABC Stage 67
as Arthur
1966
6.2
The F.B.I.
as Marshall Winslow
1965
5.4
The Big Valley
as Sheriff Roy Kingston
1965
6.1
The Big Valley
as Jason Fleet
1965
6.1
Slattery's People
1964
5.0
The Carpetbaggers
as 'Mac' McAllister
1964
5.8
Kraft Suspense Theatre
as Dr. Thomas Clay
1963
5.3
The Virginian
as Judge John Markham
1962
6.4
Saints and Sinners
1962
6.0
Advise & Consent
as The Vice President
1962
7.2
Ben Casey
1961
5.6
Bus Stop
1961
0.0
Route 66
1960
6.3
My Three Sons
1960
6.5
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
as Dr. Paul Harris
1960
6.2
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
as Howard Moon
1959
6.3
Laramie
1959
6.6
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
5.8
The Family Nobody Wanted
as Carl Doss
1956
0.0
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Clint Howard
1956
6.0
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Jud Lester
1956
6.0
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Jesse Martin
1956
6.0
🎬
One Against Many
as Dr. John Mohler
1956
0.0
Screen Director's Playhouse
as Dr. John Mohler
1955
6.5
Gunsmoke
as Jonathan Cole
1955
6.6
Climax!
as Bob Kilgore
1954
3.3
Donovan's Brain
as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
1953
6.1
No Escape
as John Howard Tracy
1953
4.5
Omnibus
1952
6.0
Cavalcade of America
as Matt Needham
1952
3.5
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
7.2
New Mexico
as Capt. Hunt
1951
3.1
The Capture
as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
1950
6.1
🎬
The Ken Murray Show
1950
7.0
Johnny Belinda
as Dr. Robert Richardson
1948
6.8
The Unfaithful
as Larry Hannaford
1947
5.8
The Way of Peace
as Narrator (voice)
1947
5.5
Blow-Ups of 1946
as Self
1946
6.0
The Dark Mirror
as Dr. Scott Elliott
1946
6.9
Fingers at the Window
as Oliver Duffy
1942
5.5
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Dr. James Kildare
1942
5.8
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
as Dr. James Kildare
1941
6.6
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
as Dr. James Kildare
1941
6.8
Maisie Was a Lady
as Bob Rawlston
1941
6.8
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
as Dr. James Kildare
1940
6.0
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
as Self
1940
6.7
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
as Dr. James Kildare
1940
6.8
The Golden Fleecing
as Henry Twinkle
1940
5.3
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as Self
1940
5.5
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
as Dr. James Kildare
1940
4.6
Remember?
as Sky Ames
1939
5.8
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
as Dr. James Kildare
1939
5.6
These Glamour Girls
as Philip S. Griswold III
1939
5.5
From the Ends of the Earth
as Self
1939
0.0
Calling Dr. Kildare
as Dr. James Kildare
1939
6.1
Broadway Serenade
as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
1939
6.2
The Ice Follies of 1939
as Eddie Burgess
1939
5.6
Spring Madness
as Sam Thatcher
1938
3.9
Young Dr. Kildare
as Dr. James Kildare
1938
6.5
Rich Man, Poor Girl
as Henry Thayer
1938
5.9
Holiday
as Ned Seton
1938
7.3
King of the Newsboys
as Jerry Flynn
1938
4.0
Scandal Street
as Joe McKnight
1938
0.0
Hold 'Em Navy
as Tommy Graham
1937
3.0
The Last Train from Madrid
as Bill Dexter
1937
4.3
The Crime Nobody Saw
as Nick Milburn
1937
4.3
Murder with Pictures
as Kent Murdock
1936
5.1
Lady Be Careful
as Chester aka Dynamite
1936
4.0
Shakedown
as Bob Sanderson
1936
0.0
Panic on the Air
as Jerry Franklin
1936
5.3
The Leathernecks Have Landed
as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
1936
5.0
Silk Hat Kid
as Eddie Howard
1935
6.0
Spring Tonic
as Caleb Enix
1935
5.3
The Lottery Lover
as Cadet Frank Harrington
1935
3.0
Servants' Entrance
as Erik Landstrom
1934
0.0
She Learned About Sailors
as Larry Wilson
1934
2.5
Let’s Be Ritzy
as Jimmy Sterling
1934
0.0
Cross Country Cruise
as Norman Winthrop
1934
6.0
My Weakness
as Ronnie Gregory
1933
0.0
Don't Bet on Love
as Bill McCaffrey
1933
0.0
State Fair
as Pat Gilbert
1933
6.2
Okay, America!
as Larry Wayne
1932
5.3
Night World
as Michael Rand
1932
6.7
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
as Lew Ayres
1932
0.0
The Impatient Maiden
as Dr. Myron Brown
1932
0.0
Heaven on Earth
as States
1931
3.0
The Spirit of Notre Dame
as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
1931
6.3
Up for Murder
as Robert Marshall
1931
3.5
Iron Man
as Kid Mason
1931
5.4
Many a Slip
as Jerry Brooks
1931
0.0
East Is West
as Billy Benson
1930
4.0
The Doorway to Hell
as Louie Ricarno
1930
6.3
Common Clay
as Hugh Fullerton
1930
0.0
All Quiet on the Western Front
as Paul Bäumer
1930
7.7
The Kiss
as Pierre Lassalle
1929
6.3
Big News
as Copyboy (uncredited)
1929
4.2
The Sophomore
as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
1929
4.5