Lew Ayres
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.
157 acting credits · 2 directing credits
Acting · 157
Columbo
1971
The Love Boat
1977
The A-Team
1983
Magnum, P.I.
1980
Knots Landing
1979
Little House on the Prairie
1974
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Quincy, M.E.
1976
L.A. Law
1986
The Virginian
1962
Hotel
1982
My Three Sons
1960
Climax!
1954
Ben Casey
1961
The F.B.I.
1965
Route 66
1960
The Big Valley
1965
Cagney & Lacey
1982
Simon & Simon
1981
Highway to Heaven
1984
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
Fame
1982
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Omnibus
1952
Gunsmoke
1955
Battlestar Galactica
1978
The Bionic Woman
1976
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963
Wonder Woman
1975
Laramie
1959
Cavalcade of America
1952
McMillan & Wife
1971
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
ABC Stage 67
1966
MGM Parade
1955
The Magician
1973
Finder of Lost Loves
1984
Salem's Lot
1979
Bus Stop
1961
Here Come the Brides
1968
Flying High
1978
Hawkins
1973
Saints and Sinners
1962
The Fantastic Journey
1977
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
Outlaws
1986
Damien - Omen II
1978
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
Lime Street
1985
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Slattery's People
1964
The Interns
1970
San Francisco International Airport
1970
Battlestar Galactica
1978
Holiday
1938
Kung Fu
1972
The Man
1972
The Dark Mirror
1946
Advise & Consent
1962
The Unfaithful
1947
The Capture
1950
Donovan's Brain
1953
Under Siege
1986
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
Suddenly, Love
1978
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Lady Be Careful
1936
Remember?
1939
Johnny Belinda
1948
Night World
1932
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969
Fingers at the Window
1942
From the Ends of the Earth
1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
The Last Train from Madrid
1937
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931
The Kiss
1929
Don Camillo
1984
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939
Cocoon
1968
Earth II
1971
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976
Heatwave!
1974
Don't Bet on Love
1933
Spring Tonic
1935
The Carpetbaggers
1964
The Doorway to Hell
1930
The Biscuit Eater
1972
Broadway Serenade
1939
Of Mice and Men
1981
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936
State Fair
1933
End of the World
1977
Common Clay
1930
Iron Man
1931
These Glamour Girls
1939
Cross Country Cruise
1934
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
The Story of Noah
1978
The Lottery Lover
1935
Cast the First Stone
1989
My Weakness
1933
Reunion
1980
New Mexico
1951
Murder with Pictures
1936
She Learned About Sailors
1934
The Sophomore
1929
Maisie Was a Lady
1941
The Ken Murray Show
1950
The Golden Fleecing
1940
King of the Newsboys
1938
She Waits
1972
The Questor Tapes
1974
East Is West
1930
Spring Madness
1938
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
Young Dr. Kildare
1938
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004
Up for Murder
1931
Letters from Frank
1979
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
The Impatient Maiden
1932
No Escape
1953
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
Shakedown
1936
The Stranger
1973
Panic on the Air
1936
Bruised Celluloid
1984
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
Servants' Entrance
1934
Scandal Street
1938
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932
Okay, America!
1932
Hold 'Em Navy
1937
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938
Silk Hat Kid
1935
Heaven on Earth
1931
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
Many a Slip
1931
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956
Big News
1929
One Against Many
1956
Let’s Be Ritzy
1934
The Way of Peace
1947
