Lew Ayres

Acting · 1.4 popularity

Age

117

Movies

Born: December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996
From: 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.

Works

99 films

All Quiet on the Western Front

19307.8

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

19735.7

Damien - Omen II

19786.4

The Dark Mirror

19467.0

Battlestar Galactica

19786.9

Advise & Consent

19627.2

Holiday

19387.3

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

19918.0

That's Entertainment, Part II

19767.0

Johnny Belinda

19486.9

Don Camillo

19845.7

The Carpetbaggers

19645.9

The Lottery Lover

19354.3

Fingers at the Window

19425.7

Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart

19946.9

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

19405.8

The Unfaithful

19475.9

The Man

19726.5

The Biscuit Eater

19726.3

Dr. Kildare's Crisis

19406.7

The Capture

19506.2

The Kiss

19296.4

End of the World

19773.9

The Stranger

19733.9

The Last Train from Madrid

19374.8

The Questor Tapes

19745.9

Earth II

19715.6

King of the Newsboys

19384.8

Dr. Kildare Goes Home

19406.8

The Ice Follies of 1939

19395.7

Maisie Was a Lady

19417.0

The Secret of Dr. Kildare

19396.1

Broadway Serenade

19396.6

The Golden Fleecing

19405.9

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case

19404.8

Under Siege

19867.5

New Mexico

19513.6

Young Dr. Kildare

19386.7

The Doorway to Hell

19306.5

The Impatient Maiden

19329.0

State Fair

19336.3

From the Ends of the Earth

19395.0

Spring Tonic

19356.5

Big News

19294.5

Remember?

19396.0

Iron Man

19315.7

The Spirit of Notre Dame

19317.3

Checking Out: Grand Hotel

20047.0

The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood

19327.0

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day

19416.8

These Glamour Girls

19395.9

No Escape

19534.7

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

19406.8

She Learned About Sailors

19344.0

Calling Dr. Kildare

19396.6

Scandal Street

19388.0

Of Mice and Men

19817.5

Murder with Pictures

19365.4

Okay, America!

19325.8

Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident

19767.0

Reunion

19808.0

Night World

19326.8

Rich Man, Poor Girl

19386.1

Dr. Kildare's Victory

19426.2

The People Vs. Dr. Kildare

19417.0

Suddenly, Love

19788.3

Servants' Entrance

19348.0

Heatwave!

19746.1

Letters from Frank

19798.0

My Weakness

19337.0

Donovan's Brain

19536.2

Cast the First Stone

19897.0

She Waits

19725.9

Lady Be Careful

19365.5

The Crime Nobody Saw

19375.5

Cross Country Cruise

19346.7

Blow-Ups of 1946

19466.0

The Leathernecks Have Landed

19367.0

Cocoon

19688.5

Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

196910.0

Let’s Be Ritzy

193410.0

Spring Madness

19384.9

Heaven on Earth

19315.3

The Upper Chamber

1963

Many a Slip

193110.0

The Story of Noah

19782.0

Hold 'Em Navy

19374.7

Common Clay

193010.0

Up for Murder

19314.8

Silk Hat Kid

19356.5

East Is West

19305.3

Shakedown

19369.0

The Family Nobody Wanted

1956

The Sophomore

19295.3

Don't Bet on Love

19338.0

The Way of Peace

19476.0

Bruised Celluloid

1984

Panic on the Air

19365.8

One Against Many

1956