Oscar Actors: Ayres, Lew–Background, Career, Awards (Dr. Kildare Series)

Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and TV career spanned 65 years.

He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in 9 movies.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948).

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 stepfather, William Gilmore, and half brother and sister to San Diego, California.

Small Band

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 (Warner Brothers, 1927).

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.

Ayres was discovered at a night club by talent agent Ivan Kahn.

He was cast to play opposite Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929).

But it was his leading role in the original version of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 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 (1931), with Jean Harlow.

His most successful movies at this time were those he made on loan to other studios, including The Doorway to Hell (1930) with James Cagney in a supporting role, and as Janet Gaynor’s leading man in both State Fair (1933) and Servants’ Entrance (1934), 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 (1936), 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 (1938).

The role earned him 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 (and again in a 1950s radio series) while also appearing in light comedies for MGM, including Spring Madness and Rich Man, Poor Girl (both 1938), The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939), and Fingers at the Window (1942).

His final film as Dr. Kildare, Born to Be Bad, was re-edited after he was drafted and declared himself conscientious objector in March 1942. This stance almost destroyed Ayres’ reputation until it was revealed that he had served honorably as a non-combatant medic from 1942 to 1946.

He returned to acting in the films The Dark Mirror (1946) with Olivia de Havilland and The Unfaithful (1947) with Ann Sheridan.

For his role in Johnny Belinda (1948) he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, while co-star Jane Wyman won 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, and the part going, in 1961, to Richard Chamberlain. He appeared as the Vice-President in Advise & Consent (1962), and in The Carpetbaggers (1964), but he was by then primarily a television actor, with only occasional film work.

For a guest role in Kung Fu (“The Vanishing Image”, 1974) he was nominated for an Emmy.

His documentary film Altars of the World (1976), based on a series of documentaries he made titled Altars of the East (1956), brought his Eastern philosophical beliefs to the screen and earned him critical acclaim and Golden Globe Award for best documentary in 1977.

Ayres guest-starred in an episode of The Bionic Woman (“Doomsday is Tomorrow”, 1977) as Dr. Elijah Cooper, an elderly nuclear scientist who attempts to blackmail the world into peace.

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 (1994), also starring Wagner.

World War II controversy
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.

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 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.

In 1960, Lew Ayres was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars.

Ayres died on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.

He was survived by his wife of 32 years, actress Diana Hall, and their son Justin Ayres.

Filmography

The Sophomore (1929) as Sophomore Fraternity Brother (uncredited)
Big News (1929) as Copyboy (uncredited)
The Kiss (1929) as Pierre

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as Paul
Common Clay (1930) as Hugh Fullerton
The Doorway to Hell (1930) as Louie
East Is West (1930) as Billy Benson
Many a Slip (1931) as Jerry Brooks
Iron Man (1931) as Kid Mason
Up for Murder (1931) as Robert Marshall
The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931) as Bucky O’Brien
Heaven on Earth (1931) as States
The Impatient Maiden (1932) as Dr. Myron Brown
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932) as Himself
Night World (1932) as Michael Rand
Okay, America! (1932) as Larry Wayne
State Fair (1933) as Pat Gilbert
Don’t Bet on Love (1933) as Bill McCaffery
My Weakness (1933) as Ronnie Gregory
Cross Country Cruise (1934) as Norman Winthrop
Let’s Be Ritzy (1934) as Jimmy Sterling
She Learned About Sailors (1934) as Larry Wilson
Servants’ Entrance (1934) as Erik Landstrom
Lottery Lover (1935) as Cadet Frank Harrington
Spring Tonic (1935) as Caleb Enix
The Silk Hat Kid (1935) as Eddie Howard
The Leathernecks Have Landed (1936) as Woodruff ‘Woody’ Davis
Panic on the Air (1936) as Jerry Franklin
Shakedown (1936) as Bob Sanderson
Lady Be Careful (1936) as Chester aka Dynamite
Murder with Pictures (1936) as Kent Murdock
The Crime Nobody Saw (1937) as Nick Milburn
The Last Train from Madrid (1937) as Bill Dexter
Hold ’em Navy (1937) as Tommy Graham
Scandal Street (1938) as Joe McKnight
King of the Newsboys (1938) as Jerry Flynn
Holiday (1938) as Ned Seton
Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938) as Henry Thayer
Young Dr. Kildare (1938) as Dr. James Kildare
Spring Madness (1938) as Sam Thatcher
The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939) as Eddie Burgess
Broadway Serenade (1939) as James Geoffrey Seymour
Calling Dr. Kildare (1939) as Dr. James Kildare
These Glamour Girls (1939) as Philip S. Griswold
The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939) as Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Kildare
Remember? (1939) as Sky Ames
Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case (1940) as Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Kildare
The Golden Fleecing (1940) as Henry Twinkle
Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940) as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare’s Crisis (1940) as Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Kildare
Maisie Was a Lady (1941) as Bob Rawlston
The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941) as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day (1941) as Dr. James Kildare
Dr. Kildare’s Victory (1942) as Dr. James Kildare
Fingers at the Window (1942) as Oliver Duffy
The Dark Mirror (1946) as Dr. Scott Elliott
The Unfaithful (1947) as Larry Hannaford
The Way of Peace (1947, Short) as Narrator (voice)
Johnny Belinda (1948) as Dr. Robert Richardson
The Capture (1950) as Vanner
New Mexico (1951) as Capt. Hunt
No Escape (1953) as John Howard Tracy
Donovan’s Brain (1953) as Dr. Patrick Cory
The Ford Show with Tennessee Ernie Ford (1958, TV Series) as Father John Gerald
The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1960, TV series) as Howard Moon
The Barbara Stanwyck Show (NBC, 1961, TV series) as Dr. Paul Harris
Advise & Consent (1962) as the (U.S.) Vice President – Harley Hudson
The Carpetbaggers (1964) as ‘Mac’ McAllister
The Big Valley (1967–1968, TV series) as Jason Fleet / Sheriff Roy Kingston
The Doris Day Show (1970, TV series) as William Tyler
My Three Sons (1970, TV series) Professor Harper
Earth II (1971, TV movie) as U.S. President Charles Carter Durant
The Biscuit Eater (1972) as Mr. Ames
The Man (1972) as U.S. Vice-President Noah Calvin
The Stranger (1973, TV movie) as Prof. Dylan MacAuley
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) as Mandemus
Hawaii Five-O (1973, TV series) as Dr. Elias Haig in “Anybody Can Build a Bomb” (S6/Ep12)
The Questor Tapes (1974, TV Movie) as Vaslovik
The Magician (1974, TV series) as Max Braden in “The Illusion Of The Evil Spikes”
Heat Wave! (1974, TV Movie) as Dr. Grayson
Columbo: Mind over Mayhem (NBC, 1974, TV Series) as Dr. Howard Nicholson
Little House on the Prairie (NBC, 1976)
The Bionic Woman (1977, TV Series) as Dr. Elijah Cooper
The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1977, TV series)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977, TV Series) as Doug Booth
End of the World (1977) as Beckerman
Damien: Omen II (1978) as Bill Atherton
Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World (1978) as Twelve Colonies President Adar
Salem’s Lot (1979, TV movie) as Jason Burke
Little House a new Beginning (1983) as Mr McCarey
The World of Don Camillo (1984) as Doc
Lime Street (1985–1986) as Henry Wade Culver
Highway to Heaven (1985–1989, TV Series) as Ivan Zelenka / Frank Worton / Harry Haynes