Highest rated as cast or director
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.
Acted in 147
1990s
- 1994
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
Professor Cabel
- 1992
MGM: When the Lion Roars
TV
- 1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1980s
- 1989
Cast the First Stone
Martin
- 1986
Outlaws
TV
Under Siege
John Pace
- 1985
Lime Street
Henry Wade Culver · 8 episodes
- 1984
Don Camillo
Doc
- 1983
- 1982
- 1981
Of Mice and Men
Candy
- 1980
Reunion
Bob Hollander
1970s
- 1979
Letters from Frank
Dan Miller
- 1978
Suddenly, Love
Mr. Graham
The Story of Noah
Noah
- 1977
- 1976
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
Allen Dulles
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
- 1975
- 1974
Heatwave!
Dr. Grayson
The Questor Tapes
Vaslovik
- 1973
Hawkins
Gus Bitterman · 1 episode
The Stranger
Prof. Dylan MacAuley
- 1972
Kung Fu
Beaumont · 1 episode
The Man
Noah Calvin
She Waits
Dr. Sam Carpenter
- 1971
Earth II
President Charles Carter Durant
- 1970
San Francisco International Airport
TV
The Interns
TV
1960s
- 1969
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Dr. Andrew Swanson
- 1968
Cocoon
The Governor
- 1966
- 1965
- 1964
- 1963
- 1962
Saints and Sinners
TV
Advise & Consent
The Vice President
- 1961
- 1960
1950s
- 1959
- 1958
- 1956
The Family Nobody Wanted
Carl Doss
- 1955
- 1954
- 1953
No Escape
John Howard Tracy
- 1952
- 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV
- 1950
The Capture
Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
1940s
- 1948
Johnny Belinda
Robert Richardson
- 1947
The Unfaithful
Larry Hannaford
- 1946
- 1942
Fingers at the Window
Oliver Duffy
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Dr. James Kildare
- 1941
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Dr. James Kildare
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Maisie Was a Lady
Bob Rawlston
- 1940
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Dr. James Kildare
The Golden Fleecing
Henry Twinkle
1930s
- 1939
Remember?
Sky Ames
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
James Kildare
These Glamour Girls
Philip S. Griswold III
Calling Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Broadway Serenade
James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
The Ice Follies of 1939
Eddie Burgess
- 1938
Spring Madness
Sam Thatcher
Young Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Henry Thayer
King of the Newsboys
Jerry Flynn
Scandal Street
Joe McKnight
- 1937
Hold 'Em Navy
Tommy Graham
The Last Train from Madrid
Bill Dexter
The Crime Nobody Saw
Nick Milburn
- 1936
Murder with Pictures
Kent Murdock
Lady Be Careful
Chester aka Dynamite
Shakedown
Bob Sanderson
Panic on the Air
Jerry
The Leathernecks Have Landed
Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
- 1935
Silk Hat Kid
Eddie Howard
Spring Tonic
Caleb Enix
The Lottery Lover
Cadet Frank Harrington
- 1934
Servants' Entrance
Erik Landstrom
She Learned About Sailors
Larry Wilson
Let’s Be Ritzy
Jimmy Sterling
Cross Country Cruise
Norman Winthrop
- 1933
My Weakness
Ronnie Gregory
Don't Bet on Love
Bill McCaffrey
State Fair
Pat Gilbert
- 1932
Okay, America!
Larry Wayne
Night World
Michael Rand
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Lew Ayres
The Impatient Maiden
Dr. Myron Brown
- 1931
Heaven on Earth
States
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
Up for Murder
Robert Marshall
Iron Man
Kid Mason
Many a Slip
Jerry Brooks
- 1930
East Is West
Billy Benson
Common Clay
Hugh Fullerton
1920s
- 1929
The Kiss
Pierre
The Sophomore
Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
Directed 2
1970s
- 1976
Altars of the World
Director
1930s
- 1936
Hearts in Bondage
Director
Appearances7
1980s
- 1984
Bruised Celluloid
Himself
1950s
- 1955
1940s
- 1947
The Way of Peace
Narrator (voice)
- 1946
Blow-Ups of 1946
Self
- 1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
1930s
- 1939
From the Ends of the Earth
Self