Lew Ayres | |
|---|---|
 Ayres in the 1930s | |
| Born | Lewis Frederick Ayres III (1908-12-28)December 28, 1908 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | December 30, 1996(1996-12-30) (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1927–1989 |
| Known for | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) 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 filmAll Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playingDr. Kildare in nine films.[1] He was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Actor for his performance inJohnny Belinda (1948).
Ayres was born inMinneapolis[2] 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,[3] and half brother and sister toSan Diego, California.[4]
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 forbig bands, including theHenry Halstead Orchestra. He recorded one of the earliestVitaphone movie shorts calledCarnival 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, includingPhil Harris, on New Year's Eve the same year for the opening night of theBeverly Wilshire Hotel, a memorable occasion."[citation needed]
He left a national tour to pursue a career as an actor full-time.
Ayres was discovered at a nightclub by talent agent Ivan Kahn. He was cast to play oppositeGreta Garbo inThe Kiss (1929), but it was his leading role in the original version ofAll Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that made him a star, secured him a contract withUniversal—and made him aconscientious objector to World War II.
He made a number of mostly forgottenB movies for Universal, with the exception ofIron Man (1931), withJean Harlow. His most successful movies at this time were those he made on loan to other studios, includingThe Doorway to Hell (1930) withJames Cagney in asupporting role, and asJanet Gaynor'sleading man in bothState Fair (1933) andServants' Entrance (1934), which featured a combination of live action andWalt Disney animation in a musical dream sequence, both forFox Films.
Ayres left Universal to sign with Fox Films. In 1934, Fox listed him as one of its second tier stars.[5]
He moved topoverty row studioRepublic Pictures to pursue a second career as a director, including the filmHearts in Bondage (1936), starringJames Dunn andMae Clarke. He moved toParamount Pictures before finally being signed toMGM in 1938. At this time, he was loaned from Paramount to play the role of Ned inHoliday (1938).
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 (and again in a 1950s radio series) while also appearing in light comedies for MGM, includingSpring Madness andRich Man, Poor Girl (both 1938),The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939), andFingers at the Window (1942). His final film as Dr. Kildare,Born to Be Bad, was re-edited after he wasdrafted and declared himself aconscientious objector in March 1942.
He returned to acting in the filmsThe Dark Mirror (1946) withOlivia de Havilland andThe Unfaithful (1947) withAnn Sheridan. For his role inJohnny Belinda (1948) he received anAcademy Award nomination forBest Actor; co-starJane Wyman won for Best Actress.
Ayres gradually moved to television, appearing in severalanthology series inguest roles. In the summer of 1958, he hosted eleven original episodes of aCBSWestern anthology television series calledFrontier Justice, a production ofDick Powell'sFour Star Television. He was offered the part of Dr. Kildare in anNBC series but his prescient request that the show have nocigarette advertising led to the offer being withdrawn. (In 1961, the part went to Raymond Massey. He appeared (as the vice-president) inAdvise & Consent (1962), and inThe Carpetbaggers (1964), but he was, by then, primarily a television actor, with only occasional film work.
For a guest role inKung Fu ("The Vanishing Image", 1974) he was nominated for anEmmy.
His documentary filmAltars of the World (1976), based on a series of documentaries he made titledAltars of the East (1956), brought his Eastern philosophical beliefs to the screen and earned him critical acclaim and aGolden Globe Award forbest documentaryin 1977.[6]
Ayres guest-starred in an episode ofThe Bionic Woman ("Doomsday is Tomorrow", 1977) as Dr. Elijah Cooper, an elderly nuclear scientist who attempts to blackmail the world into peace. In 1973 he played a similar role onHawaii 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 ofRobert Wagner in the short-lived seriesLime Street. His last role was in the made-for-TV filmHart to Hart: Crimes of the Heart (1994), also starring Wagner.
In March 1942, Ayres was identified as a 4Econscientious objector and sent to a CO camp. As expected, the announcement that aHollywood actor objected to the war was a major source of public outcry and debate.[6]
Within a month it was determined that he had initially requested to be A-O-1, so that he could serve as a non-combatmedic. 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 theUnited States Army on May 18, 1942.[7]
He served as afirst 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 theinvasion of Leyte to set up evacuation hospitals, and there he provided care to soldiers and civilians in thePhilippines andNew Guinea. He donated all the money he had earned as a serviceman to theAmerican Red Cross.[8]
Serving for three and a half years in theMedical Corps, he was awarded threebattle stars. After the war, he resumed his career and made scores of movies, but never reached the peak of his early Hollywood stardom.[9]
Ayres was married three times. First to actressLola Lane from 1931 until 1933, although they were separated much of that period.[10] He met actressGinger Rogers while starring in the filmDon't Bet on Love in 1933 and they wed in 1934. They separated in 1936 and divorced in March 1940.[11] His third marriage, to Diana Hall, lasted from 1964 until his death in 1996.[9] Their son Justin was born in 1968.
Ayres was a strictvegetarian.[12][13]
In 1960, Lew Ayres was inducted into theHollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. Hismotion pictures star is located at 6385Hollywood Boulevard while his radio star is located at 1724Vine Street.[14][15]
Ayres died on December 30, 1996, two days after his 88th birthday.[16][17] His body was buried under a simple headstone atWestwood Memorial Park inWestwood, Los Angeles.[18]
