Lew Ayres
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.
Acting (95 movies)
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
End of the World
1977
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973
Of Mice and Men
1981
Damien - Omen II
1978
Suddenly, Love
1978
The Kiss
1929
Shakedown
1936
The Doorway to Hell
1930
Donovan's Brain
1953
Johnny Belinda
1948
The Capture
1950
The Dark Mirror
1946
The Questor Tapes
1974
Holiday
1938
Fingers at the Window
1942
Advise & Consent
1962
No Escape
1953
Okay, America!
1932
State Fair
1933
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
The Unfaithful
1947
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
Earth II
1971
Young Dr. Kildare
1938
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942
Maisie Was a Lady
1941
Broadway Serenade
1939
New Mexico
1951
East Is West
1930
The Golden Fleecing
1940
King of the Newsboys
1938
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937
The Impatient Maiden
1932
Don't Bet on Love
1933
Iron Man
1931
Murder with Pictures
1936
Panic on the Air
1936
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939
These Glamour Girls
1939
Spring Tonic
1935
The Man
1972
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938
Remember?
1939
The Last Train from Madrid
1937
Spring Madness
1938
Common Clay
1930
Don Camillo
1984
My Weakness
1933
Up for Murder
1931
Night World
1932
Battlestar Galactica
1978
Heatwave!
1974
Cross Country Cruise
1934
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969
Big News
1929
Reunion
1980
The Sophomore
1929
The Stranger
1973
She Learned About Sailors
1934
The Carpetbaggers
1964
Heaven on Earth
1931
Bruised Celluloid
1984
She Waits
1972
Servants' Entrance
1934
Under Siege
1986
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1994
Cast the First Stone
1989
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936
Hold 'Em Navy
1937
The Way of Peace
1947
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
The Spirit of Notre Dame
1931
The Lottery Lover
1935
Let’s Be Ritzy
1934
Silk Hat Kid
1935
The Biscuit Eater
1972
The Story of Noah
1978
Lady Be Careful
1936
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Scandal Street
1938
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
Letters from Frank
1979
Cocoon
1968
Many a Slip
1931
The Family Nobody Wanted
1956
Directing (2 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|