Lew Ayres


Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda.

Early life and career

Ayres was born in Minneapolis to Irma Bevernick and Louis Ayres, who divorced when he was four. Louis, an amateur musician and court reporter, remarried soon afterwards.
As a teen, he and his mother moved with his step-father, William Gilmore, and half-brother and sister to San Diego, California.
Leaving high school before graduating, he started a small band which traveled to Mexico. He returned months later to pursue an acting career, but continued working full-time as a musician. He played banjo and guitar for big bands, including the Henry Halstead Orchestra. He recorded one of the earliest Vitaphone movie shorts called Carnival Night in Paris.
Ayres wrote, "I was a member of Henry Halstead's orchestra in 1927 at the Mission Beach Ballroom in San Diego, California for the summer. My instruments were tenor banjo, long-neck banjo and guitar. After a hiatus, I rejoined Mr. Halstead with a new group, including Phil Harris, on New Year's Eve the same year for the opening night of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, a memorable occasion."
He left a national tour to pursue a career as an actor full-time.

Career

Ayres was discovered at a nightclub by talent agent Ivan Kahn. He was cast to play opposite Greta Garbo in The Kiss, but it was his leading role in the original version of All Quiet on the Western Front that made him a star, secured him a contract with Universal—and made him a conscientious objector to World War II.
He made a number of mostly forgotten B movies for Universal, with the exception of Iron Man, with Jean Harlow. His most successful movies at this time were those he made on loan to other studios, including The Doorway to Hell with James Cagney in a supporting role, and as Janet Gaynor's leading man in both State Fair and Servants' Entrance, which featured a combination of live action and Walt Disney animation in a musical dream sequence, both for Fox Films.
Ayres left Universal to sign with Fox Films. In 1934, Fox listed him as one of its second tier stars.
He moved to poverty row studio Republic Pictures to pursue a second career as a director, including the film Hearts in Bondage, starring James Dunn and Mae Clarke. He moved to Paramount Pictures before finally being signed to MGM in 1938. At this time, he was loaned from Paramount to play the role of Ned in Holiday.
The role earned him considerable critical attention, including interest from MGM to put him under contract specifically for the role of Dr. James Kildare in an upcoming film series. Ayres played the role in nine films from 1938 to 1942 while also appearing in light comedies for MGM, including Spring Madness and Rich Man, Poor Girl, The Ice Follies of 1939, and Fingers at the Window. His final film as Dr. Kildare, Born to Be Bad, was re-edited after he was drafted and declared himself a conscientious objector in March 1942.
He returned to acting in the films The Dark Mirror with Olivia de Havilland and The Unfaithful with Ann Sheridan. For his role in Johnny Belinda he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; co-star Jane Wyman won for Best Actress.
Ayres gradually moved to television, appearing in several anthology series in guest roles. In the summer of 1958, he hosted eleven original episodes of a CBS Western anthology television series called Frontier Justice, a production of Dick Powell's Four Star Television. He was offered the part of Dr. Kildare in an NBC series but his prescient request that the show have no cigarette advertising led to the offer being withdrawn. in Advise & Consent, and in The Carpetbaggers, but he was, by then, primarily a television actor, with only occasional film work.
For a guest role in Kung Fu he was nominated for an Emmy.
His documentary film Altars of the World, based on a series of documentaries he made titled Altars of the East, brought his Eastern philosophical beliefs to the screen and earned him critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award for best documentary in 1977.
Ayres guest-starred in an episode of The Bionic Woman as Dr. Elijah Cooper, an elderly nuclear scientist who attempts to blackmail the world into peace. In 1973 he played a similar role on Hawaii Five-O as a nuclear scientist who in a twist ending ends up dying of radiation from his own bomb.
In 1985, he was cast in his first series as a regular cast member, as the father of Robert Wagner in the short-lived series Lime Street. His last role was in the made-for-TV film Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Heart, also starring Wagner.

World War II conscientious objector and medic

In March 1942, Ayres was identified as a 4E conscientious objector and sent to a CO camp. As expected, the announcement that a Hollywood actor objected to the war was a major source of public outcry and debate. Within a month it was determined that he had initially requested to be A-O-1, so that he could serve as a non-combat medic. However, the military's policy that servicemen cannot request, or be guaranteed, where they will serve, forced him to request a 4E status. The U.S. military confirmed that they would place him as a medic and in April 1942, his status was changed. He enlisted in the United States Army on May 18, 1942.
He served as a first aid instructor in the United States Army before requesting a drop in rank in order to serve as a medic and chaplain's assistant in the Pacific. He was one of 16 medics who arrived under fire during the invasion of Leyte to set up evacuation hospitals, and there he provided care to soldiers and civilians in the Philippines and New Guinea. He donated all the money he had earned as a serviceman to the American Red Cross.
Serving for three and a half years in the Medical Corps, he was awarded three battle stars. After the war, he resumed his career and made scores of movies, but never reached the peak of his early Hollywood stardom.

Personal life

Ayres was married three times. First to actress Lola Lane from 1931 until 1933, although they were separated much of that period. He met actress Ginger Rogers while starring in the film Don't Bet on Love in 1933 and they wed in 1934. They separated in 1936 and divorced in March 1940. His third marriage, to Diana Hall, lasted from 1964 until his death in 1996. Their son Justin was born in 1968.
Ayres was a strict vegetarian.

Death and legacy

In 1960, Lew Ayres was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. His motion pictures star is located at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard while his radio star is located at 1724 Vine Street.
Ayres died on December 30, 1996, two days after his 88th birthday. His body was buried under a simple headstone at Westwood Memorial Park in Westwood, Los Angeles.

Filmography

  • The Sophomore as Sophomore Fraternity Brother
  • Big News as Copyboy
  • The Kiss as Pierre
  • All Quiet on the Western Front as Paul
  • Common Clay as Hugh Fullerton
  • The Doorway to Hell as Louie
  • East Is West as Billy Benson
  • Many a Slip as Jerry Brooks
  • Iron Man as Kid Mason
  • Up for Murder as Robert Marshall
  • The Spirit of Notre Dame as Bucky O'Brien
  • Heaven on Earth as States
  • The Impatient Maiden as Dr. Myron Brown
  • The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood as Himself
  • Night World as Michael Rand
  • Okay, America! as Larry Wayne
  • State Fair as Pat Gilbert
  • Don't Bet on Love as Bill McCaffery
  • My Weakness as Ronnie Gregory
  • Cross Country Cruise as Norman Winthrop
  • Let's Be Ritzy as Jimmy Sterling
  • She Learned About Sailors as Larry Wilson
  • Servants' Entrance as Erik Landstrom
  • Lottery Lover as Cadet Frank Harrington
  • Spring Tonic as Caleb Enix
  • Silk Hat Kid as Eddie Howard
  • The Leathernecks Have Landed as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
  • Panic on the Air as Jerry Franklin
  • Shakedown as Bob Sanderson
  • Lady Be Careful as Chester aka Dynamite
  • Murder with Pictures as Kent Murdock
  • The Crime Nobody Saw as Nick Milburn
  • The Last Train from Madrid as Bill Dexter
  • Hold 'em Navy as Tommy Graham
  • Scandal Street as Joe McKnight
  • King of the Newsboys as Jerry Flynn
  • Holiday as Ned Seton
  • Rich Man, Poor Girl as Henry Thayer
  • Young Dr. Kildare as Dr. James Kildare
  • Spring Madness as Sam Thatcher
  • The Ice Follies of 1939 as Eddie Burgess
  • Broadway Serenade as James Geoffrey Seymour
  • Calling Dr. Kildare as Dr. James Kildare
  • These Glamour Girls as Philip S. Griswold
  • The Secret of Dr. Kildare as Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare
  • Remember? as Sky Ames
  • Dr. Kildare's Strange Case as Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare
  • The Golden Fleecing as Henry Twinkle
  • Dr. Kildare Goes Home as Dr. James Kildare
  • Dr. Kildare's Crisis as Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare
  • Maisie Was a Lady as Bob Rawlston
  • The People vs. Dr. Kildare as Dr. James Kildare
  • Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day as Dr. James Kildare
  • Dr. Kildare's Victory as Dr. James Kildare
  • Fingers at the Window as Oliver Duffy
  • The Dark Mirror as Dr. Scott Elliott
  • The Unfaithful as Larry Hannaford
  • The Way of Peace as Narrator
  • Johnny Belinda as Dr. Robert Richardson
  • The Capture as Vanner
  • New Mexico as Capt. Hunt
  • No Escape as John Howard Tracy
  • Donovan's Brain as Dr. Patrick Cory
  • The Ford Show with Tennessee Ernie Ford as Father John Gerald
  • The DuPont Show with June Allyson as Howard Moon
  • The Barbara Stanwyck Show as Dr. Paul Harris
  • Advise & Consent as the Vice President – Harley Hudson
  • The Carpetbaggers as 'Mac' McAllister
  • Gunsmoke as Cole in "The Prodigal"
  • The Big Valley as Jason Fleet / Sheriff Roy Kingston
  • Hawaii Five-O as Governor Paul Jameson
  • The Doris Day Show as William Tyler
  • My Three Sons Professor Harper
  • Earth II as U.S. President Charles Carter Durant
  • The Biscuit Eater as Mr. Ames
  • The Man as U.S. Vice President Noah Calvin
  • The Stranger as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
  • Battle for the Planet of the Apes as Mandemus
  • Hawaii Five-O as Dr. Elias Haig in "Anybody Can Build a Bomb"
  • Hawkins in "Blood Feud"
  • The Questor Tapes as Vaslovik
  • The Magician as Max Braden in "The Illusion Of The Evil Spikes"
  • Heat Wave! as Dr. Grayson
  • Columbo: Mind over Mayhem as Dr. Howard Nicholson
  • Kung Fu as Beaumont. Nominated for an Emmy, Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series - 1975.
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • The Bionic Woman as Dr. Elijah Cooper
  • The New Adventures of Wonder Woman as Dr. Kenneth Wilson
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Doug Booth
  • End of the World as Beckerman
  • Damien - Omen II as Bill Atherton
  • Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World as Twelve Colonies President Adar
  • Salem's Lot as Jason Burke
  • Little House a new Beginning as Mr McCarey
  • The World of Don Camillo as Doc
  • Lime Street as Henry Wade Culver
  • The A-Team as Bernie Greene
  • Highway to Heaven as Ivan Zelenka / Frank Worton / Harry Haynes