Acting · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA · Born December 28, 1908
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.
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994
as Professor Cabel
TVMGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
MoviePreminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieCast the First Stone
1989
as Martin
TVOutlaws
1986
TVL.A. Law
1986
as Lorimar Henderson
MovieUnder Siege
1986
as John Pace
TVLime Street
1985
as Henry Wade Culver
TVFinder of Lost Loves
1984
as Oliver Hawthorne
TVHighway to Heaven
1984
MovieDon Camillo
1984
as Doc
MovieBruised Celluloid
1984
as Himself
TVThe A-Team
1983
as Bernie Greene
TVHotel
1982
as Nelson O'Neil
TVCagney & Lacey
1982
TVFame
1982
MovieOf Mice and Men
1981
as Candy
TVSimon & Simon
1981
TVMagnum, P.I.
1980
as Sidney Dollinger
MovieReunion
1980
as Bob Hollander
TVKnots Landing
1979
as Andrew Douglas
MovieLetters from Frank
1979
as Dan Miller
TVSalem's Lot
1979
as Jason Burke
TVTrapper John, M.D.
1979
MovieSuddenly, Love
1978
as Mr. Graham
MovieThe Story of Noah
1978
as Noah
MovieBattlestar Galactica
1978
as President Adar
TVFlying High
1978
TVBattlestar Galactica
1978
as President Adar
MovieDamien - Omen II
1978
as Bill Atherton
TVThe Love Boat
1977
as Carl Hooper
MovieEnd of the World
1977
as Com. Joseph Beckerman
TVThe Fantastic Journey
1977
as Rayat
TVQuincy, M.E.
1976
MovieFrancis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976
as Allen Dulles
MovieThat's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
TVThe Bionic Woman
1976
TVWonder Woman
1975
as Dr. Kenneth Wilson
TVLittle House on the Prairie
1974
MovieHeatwave!
1974
as Dr. Grayson
MovieThe Questor Tapes
1974
as Vaslovik
TVThe Magician
1973
as Max Braden
MovieBattle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
as Mandemus
TVHawkins
1973
as Gus Bitterman
MovieThe Stranger
1973
as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
TVKung Fu
1972
as Beaumont
TVThe Streets of San Francisco
1972
MovieThe Man
1972
as Noah Calvin
MovieThe Biscuit Eater
1972
as Mr. Ames
MovieShe Waits
1972
as Dr. Sam Carpenter
MovieEarth II
1971
as President Charles Carter Durant
TVMcMillan & Wife
1971
TVOwen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
TVColumbo
1971
as Howard Nicholson
TVSan Francisco International Airport
1970
TVThe Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
TVThe Interns
1970
MovieMarcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969
as Dr. Andrew Swanson
TVHere Come the Brides
1968
MovieCocoon
1968
as The Governor
TVHawaii Five-O
1968
as The Governor
TVABC Stage 67
1966
as Arthur
TVThe F.B.I.
1965
as Marshall Winslow
TVThe Big Valley
1965
as Sheriff Roy Kingston
TVSlattery's People
1964
MovieThe Carpetbaggers
1964
as Mac McAllister
The Upper Chamber
1963
TVKraft Suspense Theatre
1963
as Dr. Thomas Clay
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Judge John Markham
TVSaints and Sinners
1962
MovieAdvise & Consent
1962
as The Vice President
TVBen Casey
1961
TVBus Stop
1961
TVRoute 66
1960
TVMy Three Sons
1960
TVThe Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
as Dr. Paul Harris
TVThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Howard Moon
TVLaramie
1959
TVWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
MovieThe Family Nobody Wanted
1956
as Carl Doss
TVDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Clint Howard
One Against Many
1956
as Dr. John Mohler
TVScreen Director's Playhouse
1955
as Dr. John Mohler
TVMGM Parade
1955
as self
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Jonathan Cole
TVClimax!
1954
as Bob Kilgore
MovieDonovan's Brain
1953
as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
MovieNo Escape
1953
as John Howard Tracy
TVOmnibus
1952
TVCavalcade of America
1952
as Matt Needham
TVSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
MovieNew Mexico
1951
as Captain Hunt
MovieThe Capture
1950
as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
The Ken Murray Show
1950
MovieJohnny Belinda
1948
as Robert Richardson
MovieThe Unfaithful
1947
as Larry Hannaford
MovieThe Way of Peace
1947
as Narrator (voice)
MovieBlow-Ups of 1946
1946
as Self
MovieThe Dark Mirror
1946
as Scott Elliott
MovieFingers at the Window
1942
as Oliver Duffy
MovieDr. Kildare's Victory
1942
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieDr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieThe People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieMaisie Was a Lady
1941
as Bob Rawlston
MovieDr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieA New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
as Self
MovieDr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieThe Golden Fleecing
1940
as Henry Twinkle
MovieHollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
as Self
MovieDr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
as James Kildare
MovieRemember?
1939
as Sky Ames
MovieThe Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
as James Kildare
MovieThese Glamour Girls
1939
as Philip S. Griswold III
MovieFrom the Ends of the Earth
1939
as Self
MovieCalling Dr. Kildare
1939
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieBroadway Serenade
1939
as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
MovieThe Ice Follies of 1939
1939
as Eddie Burgess
MovieSpring Madness
1938
as Sam Thatcher
MovieYoung Dr. Kildare
1938
as Dr. James Kildare
MovieRich Man, Poor Girl
1938
as Henry Thayer
MovieHoliday
1938
as Ned Seton
MovieKing of the Newsboys
1938
as Jerry Flynn
MovieScandal Street
1938
as Joe McKnight
MovieHold 'Em Navy
1937
as Tommy Graham
MovieThe Last Train from Madrid
1937
as Bill Dexter
MovieThe Crime Nobody Saw
1937
as Nick Milburn
MovieMurder with Pictures
1936
as Kent Murdock
MovieLady Be Careful
1936
as Chester aka Dynamite
MovieShakedown
1936
as Bob Sanderson
MoviePanic on the Air
1936
as Jerry
MovieThe Leathernecks Have Landed
1936
as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
MovieSilk Hat Kid
1935
as Eddie Howard
MovieSpring Tonic
1935
as Caleb Enix
MovieThe Lottery Lover
1935
as Cadet Frank Harrington
MovieServants' Entrance
1934
as Erik Landstrom
MovieShe Learned About Sailors
1934
as Larry Wilson
MovieLet’s Be Ritzy
1934
as Jimmy Sterling
MovieCross Country Cruise
1934
as Norman Winthrop
MovieMy Weakness
1933
as Ronnie Gregory
MovieDon't Bet on Love
1933
as Bill McCaffrey
MovieState Fair
1933
as Pat Gilbert
MovieOkay, America!
1932
as Larry Wayne
MovieNight World
1932
as Michael Rand
MovieThe Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932
as Lew Ayres
MovieThe Impatient Maiden
1932
as Dr. Myron Brown
MovieHeaven on Earth
1931
as States
MovieThe Spirit of Notre Dame
1931
as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
MovieUp for Murder
1931
as Robert Marshall
MovieIron Man
1931
as Kid Mason
MovieMany a Slip
1931
as Jerry Brooks
MovieEast Is West
1930
as Billy Benson
MovieThe Doorway to Hell
1930
as Louie Ricarno
MovieCommon Clay
1930
as Hugh Fullerton
MovieAll Quiet on the Western Front
1930
as Paul Bäumer
MovieThe Kiss
1929
as Pierre
MovieBig News
1929
as Copyboy (uncredited)
MovieThe Sophomore
1929
as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
