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