Lew Ayres
Born December 28, 1908 (Age: 117)
•
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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.
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.
Read more
Filmography
No Image
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004
•
as Self (archive footage)
•
Age: 95
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
•
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
•
Age: 82
Cast the First Stone
1989
•
as Martin
•
Age: 80
Of Mice and Men
1981
•
as Candy
•
Age: 72
Reunion
1980
•
as Bob Hollander
•
Age: 71
Suddenly, Love
1978
•
as Mr. Graham
•
Age: 69
The Story of Noah
1978
•
as Noah
•
Age: 69
Battlestar Galactica
1978
•
as President Adar
•
Age: 69
Damien - Omen II
1978
•
as Bill Atherton
•
Age: 69
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
•
as (archive footage)
•
Age: 67
Heatwave!
1974
•
as Dr. Grayson
•
Age: 65
The Questor Tapes
1974
•
as Vaslovik
•
Age: 65
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
•
as Mandemus
•
Age: 64
The Stranger
1973
•
as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
•
Age: 64
The Man
1972
•
as Noah Calvin
•
Age: 63
The Biscuit Eater
1972
•
as Mr. Ames
•
Age: 63
She Waits
1972
•
as Dr. Sam Carpenter
•
Age: 63
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969
•
as Dr. Andrew Swanson
•
Age: 60
Cocoon
1968
•
as The Governor
•
Age: 59
The Carpetbaggers
1964
•
as Mac McAllister
•
Age: 55
Advise & Consent
1962
•
as The Vice President
•
Age: 53
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956
•
as Carl Doss
•
Age: 47
No Image
One Against Many
1956
•
as Dr. John Mohler
•
Age: 47
Donovan's Brain
1953
•
as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
•
Age: 44
No Escape
1953
•
as John Howard Tracy
•
Age: 44
The Capture
1950
•
as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
•
Age: 41
Fingers at the Window
1942
•
as Oliver Duffy
•
Age: 33
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942
•
as Dr. James Kildare
•
Age: 33
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
•
as Dr. James Kildare
•
Age: 32
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
•
as Dr. James Kildare
•
Age: 32
Maisie Was a Lady
1941
•
as Bob Rawlston
•
Age: 32
Okay, America!
1932
•
as Larry Wayne
•
Age: 23
Night World
1932
•
as Michael Rand
•
Age: 23
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932
•
as Lew Ayres
•
Age: 23
The Impatient Maiden
1932
•
as Dr. Myron Brown
•
Age: 23
Heaven on Earth
1931
•
as States
•
Age: 22
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931
•
as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
•
Age: 22
Up for Murder
1931
•
as Robert Marshall
•
Age: 22
Iron Man
1931
•
as Kid Mason
•
Age: 22
Many a Slip
1931
•
as Jerry Brooks
•
Age: 22
East Is West
1930
•
as Billy Benson
•
Age: 21
The Doorway to Hell
1930
•
as Louie Ricarno
•
Age: 21
Common Clay
1930
•
as Hugh Fullerton
•
Age: 21
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
•
as Paul Bäumer
•
Age: 21