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.
2004
as Self (archive footage)
1994
as Professor Cabel
1992
1991
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1989
as Martin
1986
1986
as Lorimar Henderson
1986
as John Pace
1985
as Henry Wade Culver
1984
as Oliver Hawthorne
1984
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as Doc
1984
as Himself
1983
as Bernie Greene
1982
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as Candy
1981
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as Bob Hollander
1979
as Andrew Douglas
1979
as Dan Miller
1979
as Jason Burke
1979
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as Mr. Graham
1978
as Noah
1978
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as President Adar
1978
as President Adar
1978
as Bill Atherton
1977
as Carl Hooper
1977
as Com. Joseph Beckerman
1977
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as Allen Dulles
1976
as (archive footage)
1976
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as Dr. Kenneth Wilson
1974
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as Dr. Grayson
1974
as Vaslovik
1973
as Max Braden
1973
as Mandemus
1973
as Gus Bitterman
1973
as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
1972
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as Noah Calvin
1972
as Mr. Ames
1972
as Dr. Sam Carpenter
1971
as President Charles Carter Durant
1971
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as Howard Nicholson
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as Dr. Andrew Swanson
1968
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as The Governor
1968
as The Governor
1968
as Dr. Elias Haig
1968
as Comm. Reginald Blackwell
1966
as Arthur
1965
as Marshall Winslow
1965
as Sheriff Roy Kingston
1965
as Jason Fleet
1964
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as 'Mac' McAllister
1963
as Dr. Thomas Clay
1962
as Judge John Markham
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as The Vice President
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as Dr. Paul Harris
1959
as Howard Moon
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as Clint Howard
1956
as Jud Lester
1956
as Jesse Martin
1956
as Dr. John Mohler
1955
as Dr. John Mohler
1955
as Jonathan Cole
1954
as Bob Kilgore
1953
as Dr. Patrick J. Cory
1953
as John Howard Tracy
1952
as Matt Needham
1951
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as Capt. Hunt
1950
as Lin Vanner / Lindley Brown
1950
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as Dr. Robert Richardson
1947
as Larry Hannaford
1947
as Narrator (voice)
1946
as Self
1946
as Dr. Scott Elliott
1942
as Oliver Duffy
1942
as Dr. James Kildare
1941
as Dr. James Kildare
1941
as Dr. James Kildare
1941
as Bob Rawlston
1940
as Dr. James Kildare
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as Self
1940
as Dr. James Kildare
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as Henry Twinkle
1940
as Self
1940
as Dr. James Kildare
1939
as Sky Ames
1939
as Dr. James Kildare
1939
as Philip S. Griswold III
1939
as Self
1939
as Dr. James Kildare
1939
as James Geoffrey 'Jimmy' Seymour
1939
as Eddie Burgess
1938
as Sam Thatcher
1938
as Dr. James Kildare
1938
as Henry Thayer
1938
as Ned Seton
1938
as Jerry Flynn
1938
as Joe McKnight
1937
as Tommy Graham
1937
as Bill Dexter
1937
as Nick Milburn
1936
as Kent Murdock
1936
as Chester aka Dynamite
1936
as Bob Sanderson
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as Jerry Franklin
1936
as Woodruff 'Woody' Davis
1935
as Eddie Howard
1935
as Caleb Enix
1935
as Cadet Frank Harrington
1934
as Erik Landstrom
1934
as Larry Wilson
1934
as Jimmy Sterling
1934
as Norman Winthrop
1933
as Ronnie Gregory
1933
as Bill McCaffrey
1933
as Pat Gilbert
1932
as Larry Wayne
1932
as Michael Rand
1932
as Lew Ayres
1932
as Dr. Myron Brown
1931
as States
1931
as Edward Aloysius "Bucky" O'Brian
1931
as Robert Marshall
1931
as Kid Mason
1931
as Jerry Brooks
1930
as Billy Benson
1930
as Louie Ricarno
1930
as Hugh Fullerton
1930
as Paul Bäumer
1929
as Pierre Lassalle
1929
as Copyboy (uncredited)
1929
as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)