Oscar Profile #170: Lew Ayres

Born December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Irma and Louis Ayres II, an amateur musician and court reporter, Louis III (Lew) was a member of Henry Halstead’s orchestra in 1927 when he left to pursue an acting career. Discovered by a talent agent in 1929, he had two uncredited roles before being cast opposite Greta Garbo in his first credited film, 1929’s The Kiss. Although highly successful, it was his next film, 1930’s All Quiet on the Western Front, which would made him world-famous at 21.

Early marriages to Lola Lane (1931-33) and Ginger Rogers (1934-40) ended in divorce. He had been separated from both actresses long before his official divorce dates. In the meantime his career kept him busy. Early successes in 1930’s The Doorway to Hell and 1933’s State Fair came amidst a number of undistinguished films. A standout supporting role as Katharine Hepburn’s alcoholic brother in 1938’s Holiday brought renewed interest in the actor. On the strength of that performance he was signed by MGM to the starring role in the Dr. Kildare series which allowed him to appear in other, albeit less successful, films prior to being drafted in 1942.

The anti-war message of All Quiet on the Western Front had a profound effect on the actor and he became a conscientious objector during World War II which, as expected, brought an enormous outcry from the public and exhibitors refused to show his films. Ayres became a medic and performed several documented acts of heroism under fire thus regaining the public’s admiration. He donated his Army salary to the American Red Cross.

Ayres’ first post-war role was as the psychiatrist who has to determine which of the twin sisters played by Olivia de Havilland in 1946’s The Dark Mirror is a murderess. The film was a major hit, as was 1948’s Johnny Belinda opposite Jane Wyman, in which he again played a doctor. The film brought him his only Oscar nomination.

In 1949, MGM renewed the Dr. Kildare series for radio with Ayres and Lionel Barrymore, but it only lasted through 1951. With film roles on the wane, Ayres entered TV where he appeared in numerous anthology series for many years. In 1960, he filmed a pilot for a Dr. Kildare series and was offered a contract by the studio. He accepted on the condition that no cigarette ads would be allowed on the show. The offer was withdrawn and Dr. Kildare was re-cast with Richard Chamberlain as a much younger Kildare, which became a hit that ran from 1961-66.

Ayres remained a busy actor for the rest of his life, mostly on TV, but did appear in an occasional film, most notably 1962’s Advise & Consent; 1978’s Damien: Omen II and 1979’s Salem’s Lot, made for TV but later released theatrically. Married to third wife Diana Hall in 1964, the couple’s only child, Justin Ayres, was born in 1968. Justin is now a production assistant on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

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

ESSENTIAL FILMS

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1939), directed by Lewis Milestone

Ayres received his first on-screen billing opposite no less a star than Greta Garbo in 1929’s The Kiss, but it was his portrayal of the disillusioned German soldier in the Oscar winning film version of Erich Maria Remarque’s masterful novel that made him world-famous at the age of 21.

The young actor goes from schoolboy to tenderfoot soldier to a heartsick seasoned veteran during the course of World War I. The film’s strong anti-war message had a profound effect on Ayres, who served in World War II as a conscientious objector who couldn’t kill, but served with distinction as an Army medic under fire.

YOUNG DR. KILDARE (1938), directed by Harold S. Bucquet

After a series of forgettable films, Ayres’ portrayal of Katharine Hepburn’s alcoholic brother in the 1938 remake of Holiday so impressed the MGM suits that they signed him to the nine film series in which he and Lionel Barrymore as his mentor, Dr. Gillespie, set the mold for all subsequent older-younger doctor pairings. The two actors play off each other brilliantly from the start. The series, which began with this film, was so popular that when Ayres was drafted, it continued through 1948 with six more films with Barrymore and other actors playing other doctors.

Ayres and Barrymore were reunited as Kildare and Gillespie for radio in 1949, but their earlier success could not be duplicated. Ayes did a pilot for a TV series in 1960 but when he asked that no commercials for cigarettes be allowed on the show, MGM withdrew the offer and the show became a hit from 1961-1966 with Richard Chamberlain and Raymond Massey in the Ayres-Barrymore roles.

JOHNNY BELINDA (1948), directed by Jean Negulesco

Ayres, who had wanted to be a doctor growing up, got to play one on the screen more than once. His first post-war film, 1946’s The Dark Mirror with Ayres as a psychiatrist opposite Olivia de Havilland as good and evil twins, led to his casting as the country doctor falsely accused of fathering deaf mute Jane Wyman’s baby in the hugely successful Johnny Belinda. The film brought him his only Oscar nomination and Wyman her only Oscar.

Ayres’ brief affair with Wyman led to Wyman’s divorce from Ronald Reagan.

ADVISE & CONSENT (1962), directed by Otto Preminger

Next to playing doctors, Ayres played statesmen more more frequently than any other character. In Preminger’s film of Allen Drury’s best-seller, the actor plays the amiable Vice President and President Pro Tempore of the Senate who may have to cast the deciding vote in the controversial selection of President Franchot Tone’s candidate for Secretary of State, Henry Fonda. With a top-notch cast that also includes Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon and Don Murray at their best, Ayres still manages to stand out.

SALEM’S LOT (1979), directed by Tobe Hooper

Arguably the best film version of a Stephen King novel, this made for TV movie which was later released theatrically.

The vampire movie brings horror to a bucolic Peyton Place setting. David Soul as a novelist and Lance Kerwin as an intrepid teenage horror fan are the film’s stars, and they’re both quite good, but the standout performances are those of James Mason as a moody vampire and Ayres as Soul’s former teacher. There are also good supporting performances from Bonnie Bedelia, Elisha Cook, George Dzunda and Ed Flanders.