Requesting an exemption from military service on religious grounds, he incurred the wrath and scorn of the movie industry and some of the public by accepting classification as a conchie--a conscientious objector to war. Lew Ayres looks back on his career and how dancing with Lily Damita helped get him discovered. Though his movies were often minor, he seemed to approach them with ease. Legend has it that when Greta Garbo spotted the handsome young actor before the camera, she picked him from a score of aspirants to be her leading man in the film. He was buried under a simple headstone at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of musician Frank Zappa. I would like to be of service to my country in a constructive way and not a destructive way.. Requesting to go into the Army Medical Corps, Ayres, a certified first-aid instructor and active with the American Red Cross, wanted to help heal the wounds of war. [11] His third marriage, to Diana Hall, lasted from 1964 until his death in 1996. Ayres, as the crusading young physician, became a household symbol across the nation, embodying everything that was good and decent and upstanding--and American. These 7 Foreigners Helped Win the American Revolution. Los Angeles, CA: At the height of his popularity in November Lew Ayres was married to Ginger Rogers, rising young actress. Ayres ' college-boy good looks led to extra work in the movies, and before he was 21 the young actor was starring opposite Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929). After the war, Mr. Ayres returned to the screen, playing, naturally, a doctor: opposite Olivia de Havilland in ''The Dark Mirror,'' directed by Robert Siodmak. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Without a CO classification, he could be drafted and assigned to combat duty. He was also a musician; he was in a band as a teenager playing the banjo but his interest withered away to acting after he left school. The army changed that, he said. He left a national tour to pursue a career as an actor full-time. AYRES, Lew Source for information on Ayres, Lew: International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers dictionary. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Search instead in Creative? Actually, a Medical Corps assignment was a fait accompli, and Ayres knew it. [14][15] His body was buried under a simple headstone at Westwood Memorial Park in Westwood, Los Angeles. Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis. Browse 518 lew ayres stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. : December 28, 1908 (Minneapolis, MN) D.O.D. . Imagine what could be accomplished with such a singleness of mind and purpose in the civilian world., Lew Ayres died on December 30, 1996best remembered for the soldier he played on screen and the one he refused to play in real life. Grave Hunter Lew Ayres. Wrote Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper: It took couragefar greater courageto do what he did than to wheedle and pull strings to get an officers uniform, as many, without the courage and ability to measure up to it, have done. Director John Huston and actors Humphrey Bogart and Olivia de Havilland took out an ad in Variety to deny that the film community was ashamed of Ayresalthough they were careful to repudiate his pacifism by calling it the sad result of a sadder misconception. An editorial in the New York Times called the whole Ayres controversy overblown. Lew Ayres died December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday. He is survived by his third wife, Diana, and a son, Justin. In the first film, the young doctor turned his back on his father's small-town medical practice and became an intern in a large general hospital. Born Sunday, May 16, 1993 in Towson, MD, he was a son of Thomas E.. Mingling with men and seeing so much of reality, I got my head out of the clouds., He even developed a new appreciation for the power of cinema. 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. Funeral Home Services for Justin are being provided by Wetzel Funeral Home - Hanover. He studied medicine at the University of Arizona. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Over the years, Mr. Ayres played opposite Greta Garbo and Jane Wyman and became identified as Dr. Kildare in the MGM film series. Born: Lewis Frederick Ayres III in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 28 December 1908. Young Baum, recruited along with his German classmates by a fanatical schoolteacher, slogs painfully through an ever-grimmer war, watching his classmates fall one by one until he himself is shot dead while reaching beyond the protective lip of his trench for a butterfly. Justin Ayres Marriage & Family Therapist , , (424) 581-0140 About Verified by Psychology Today I am a Marriage and Family Therapist dedicated to a life that develops the wholeness of Psyche or. The role made him a household name, introduced him to. Instead, the board inexplicably classified him IV-Emeant for those who objected to, The general public reacted just as harshly. I had imagined that war was a horrible thing. They sounded almost human, he recalled. After the war, he resumed his career and made scores of movies, but never reached the peak of his early Hollywood stardom. The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, A $150,000 executive protection dog? Lew Ayres was born on the 28th of December, 2008. It led to revisions of the rules, at which point Ayres was then able to join the Medical Corps. The obituary was featured in Evening. His motion pictures star is located at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard while his radio star is located at 1724 Vine Street. I don't have any proclivity for acting. For a guest role in Kung Fu ("The Vanishing Image", 1974) he was nominated for an Emmy. LEW AYRES - AUTOGRAPH - HFSID 298169. 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 a Golden Globe Award for best documentary in 1977.[6]. Lew Ayres Biography American actor onscreen from 1929. One may become a corporate partner or marry the daughter/son of one's employer. Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 - December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. The result was Altars of the World, a massive, three-part film dissertation finally edited down to a 2 1/2-hour movie. Hershey immediately ordered the California board to consider reclassifying Ayres, and his office told the local board that the widest possible publicity by you would have great morale effect on nation., While the draft board reassessed his classification, Ayres reached the camp at Wyeth, Oregon, on April 1, 1942. After being discovered by Ivan Kahn, a renowned talent agent, Lew Ayres made his movie debut in 1929 when he was included in the cast for the movie titled "The Kiss". HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Biography in: "American National Biography". For his contribution to motion pictures and radio, Ayres received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. That experience, coupled with his study of many philosophies, including Christianity and Buddhism, as well as what he called profound thinking, led him to pacifism. Following his death, he was interred next to. Ayres, who was the original Dr. Kildare, may be best remembered for his role as a disillusioned German soldier in the 1930 classic All Quiet on . Name. Lew Ayres, 88, an actor for nearly seven decades who was the original Dr. Kildare of the 1930s and who starred in the Academy Award-winning classic "All Quiet on the Western Front," died here Dec. 30. When the fighting moved north to Luzon in January 1945, Ayres followed, but he contracted dengue fever, a serious tropical illness. Businessman G. W. Mingus seethed, saying that when compared with Ayres, Benedict Arnold was a Sunday school teacher. Even the German-born Erich Maria Remarque, combat veteran and author of, Others took a more sympathetic or neutral view. But the musical life appealed to him more, and he toured with bands, playing the banjo, piano and guitar. Ayres told reporters that he was still a conscientious objector, but stressed that the Army Medical Corps was the place I want to beto be able to do some useful work. Sent to Camp Barkley, Texas, for training, he told the press, I hope they put me in a non-combat unit, but I cant be sure they will.. ; Lola Lane Receives $35,000 Cash in Los Angeles Suit", "GINGER ROGERS FREED; She Gets Divorce From Lew Ayres on Charge of Desertion", "Lew Ayres, the original Dr. Kildare who acted in films for", "Lew Ayres Took Faith Seriously As Actor, Citizen", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lew_Ayres&oldid=1125572210, This page was last edited on 4 December 2022, at 18:49. He became known for his work in All Quiet on the Western Front and The Kiss. He returned to acting in the films The Dark Mirror (1946) with Olivia de Havilland and The Unfaithful (1947) with Ann Sheridan. He was discovered in 1927 playing banjo in the Henry Halstead Orchestra as Halstead was recording one of the earliest Vitaphone movie shorts called Carnival Night in Paris (Warner Brothers, 1927). Justin Ayres. Lew Ayres - Biography - IMDb - imdb.com. Years later, television was periodically flooded with hospital dramas, from adaptations of ''Kildare'' and ''Ben Casey'' through ''St. There were many high points, beginning with his first major movie role in 1929, opposite Greta Garbo in ''The Kiss,'' and including a performance as the sweet-tempered alcoholic brother in Philip Barry's ''Holiday'' (1938), with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. He returned months later to pursue an acting career, but continued working full-time as a musician. Assigned to an evacuation hospital, he counseled and comforted sick and wounded GIs. Ayres was assigned to first-aid work and was popular with the other men. [7], 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. Long a student of comparative religion, he toured the country with his documentaries about the faiths of all nations. Ayres' college-boy good looks led to extra work in the movies, and before he was 21 the young actor was starring opposite Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929). I have a son in the Army as a private. Discover Lew Ayres's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. . Variety labeled Ayres a disgrace to the industry, and Nicholas Schenck, president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, declared him washed up. More than 100 theaters in Illinois refused to show his films, while the Fox Theatre in Hacksensack, New Jersey, stopped showing them after dozens of calls from angry patrons threatened a boycott. He portrayed Paul Bumera sensitive and doomed German infantryman increasingly disillusioned with the horrors of trench warfarein an earnest performance that, said the New York Times, made a riveting impression on the moviegoing public. The film packed a strong antiwar punch, and the entertainment journal Variety proclaimed: The League of Nations could make no better investment than to buy the master print, reproduce it in every language for every nation to be shown every year until the word War shall have been taken out of the dictionaries., As a box-office attraction, Ayres hit stride in the late 1930s with his role as Dr. James Kildare in nine B movies that sometimes earned more than the studios major productions. Yet their relationship fizzled out after just a couple of months. Justin Ayers; Parents. | Also learn how He earned most of Lew Ayres networth? Born 1968 Also known as. Now Hollywood Shuffle is a classic, Remember that Harry Styles Spitgate drama? Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where, and how you want to use this asset. He followed that in 1930 with "All Quiet on the Western Front," Lewis Milestone's acclaimed war film from Erich Maria Remarque's novel. Businessman G. W. Mingus seethed, saying that when compared with Ayres, Benedict Arnold was a Sunday school teacher. Even the German-born Erich Maria Remarque, combat veteran and author of All Quiet on the Western Front, weighed in, albeit reservedly, saying, I think we all should fight against Hitlerism., Others took a more sympathetic or neutral view. His greatest role and one that had a profound affect on the actor in real life, was. The film was a technical masterpiece, depicting the violence of the battlefield in graphic terms never before seen on the screen. Later in his career, Mr. Ayres eased into character roles. His wife, Diana Hall, is a former flight attendant. Mr. Ayres's role as the disillusioned young German soldier would be the most memorable of his career. Lew Ayres was in relationships with Christine Larson (1961), Nancy Valentine (1959), Joanne Dru (1958 - 1960), Mona Knox (1953), Coleen Gray (1951), Dorothy Patrick (1949), Estelita Rodriguez (1949), Jane Wyman (1948 - 1949), Janis Paige (1947), Helen Gilbert (1939), Sari Maritza (1938), Janet Gaynor (1933), Audrey Totter, Jean Harlow, Donna Reed It thus came as a shock to many when Ayres--drafted in January 1942 to do battle for his country--announced calmly that he would not fight. Pickets appeared at theaters playing Dr. Kildare films, and other theaters refused to book them. Wikipedia (30 entries) edit. [1] He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948). Translate; Trending; Random; Home Actor Lew Ayres. Like the female version, this would have involved an all masculine cast and the plot would have involved a man (Jeffrey Hunter) who recently discovers among his comrades that his wife is having an affair with another man (Earl Holliman) and after going to Reno to file for divorce and begin a new life, he later finds himself doing what he can to rectify matters later on when he discovers that the other man is only interested in money and position and he decides to win his true love back again. . On May 18, 1942, Ayres, grinning and bronzed by the sun and wind, as an AP story had it, was sworn in as a soldier in Portland, Oregon. Ayres was born in Minneapolis[2] to Irma Bevernick and Louis Ayres, who divorced when he was four. | "Making movies seemed to me very trivial," the actor said in 1946. . 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. Justin Ayers: Description: Justin Ayres is the son of Lew Ayres. I realized how important movies are to the lives of so many people. Horoscope and natal chart of Lew Ayres, born on 1908/12/28: you will find in this page an excerpt of the astrological portrait and the interpration of the planetary dominants. Education: Attended Lake Harriet Grammar School and West High School, Minneapolis; high school in San Diego, California. After the war he told Hollywood gossip queen Hedda Hopper that war was even more horrible than I had ever imagined it.. 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. Sitelinks. That gave the boys what they neededrest and a chance to get out of themselves. https://www.historynet.com/good-conscientious-objector-lew-aryres/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot. 1934. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. In 1974, he had appeared in a small role as Dr. Emil Vaslovik, creator of the title android, in The Questor Tapes, written for television by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon and directed by Richard A. Colla, who, almost four years later, again directed him in Battlestar Galactica: "Saga of a Star World". 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. He admitted he was never a great one for mixing with people and, despite his profession, felt that movies were trivial in the grand scheme of things. Ayres, too, continued to play his part. But it actually surpassed anything Id dreamed of, he said. "But when I went overseas, I changed my mind. He was a conscientious objector during World War II, which made him rather unpopular at the studio. Add a New Bio. ''Young Dr. Kildare'' in 1938 was a popular breakthrough, followed by eight more Kildare films. : symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. He was 88. Justin Ayres Professor at University of Philosophical Research Los Angeles County, California, United States 273 followers 274 connections Join to connect University of Philosophical Research. Will the luck of the Irish affect the Oscars? While never a general-run, box-office smash, the movie received critical acclaim and won a Golden Globe Award. CAPTION: LEW AYRES. He said that to bear arms would cause him ''to live in a nightmare of hypocrisy.''. The tension had brought the men to a nervous silence until Lew announced, "Frankly, I always had a double for this sort of thing." The spell was broken. Hes a strange man, very strange, fan magazine Photoplay proclaimed. Lew Ayres (1908-1996) starred opposite Greta Garbo in one of the last silent films, The Kiss (1929), then starred in 1930's Oscar-winning talking film, All Quiet on the Western Front. Brigadier General Roy C. Helfebower, commander of the medical training center, called him an excellent soldier and said he felt confident Ayres would render valuable service before his army career ends. An unnamed officer added, I wish I had a whole battalion of men just like him.. Pacifism, it said, is a doctrine for the other-worldly and for saints, and there will never be enough of those to interfere with our war efforts., Ironically, it was a soldier, Private Eugene B. Crowe, who offered the staunchest support in a letter to Time magazine, writing: Lew Ayres, instead of being detrimental to our public good, is indicative of what the American people wrote into their Bill of Rights and what we fight our wars aboutthe right to freedom in a democracy.. The YOUNG DR. KILDARE did not make many friends when he became a conscientious objector during World War II due to his faith in the Bible and God. At this time, he was loaned from Paramount to play the role of Ned in Holiday (1938). justin ayres son of lew ayres. The family requests that donations be made to the ASPCA, Actors and Others for Animals, and the Motion Picture Country Home. Considerably thinner and much more mature in appearance, noted the New York Times, Ayres came back a hero in Hollywoods eyes after meritorious service in the Pacific, his more than three years in the army having won the respect and admiration of his former detractors., Ayres, too, was changed. Copy and paste this as text into your genealogy software or website His film career resumed, and while it never flourished as it had before, it meshed with a burgeoning commitment to religion that became the passion of his contemplative life. Most Popular Boost Birthday Show Birthday. At the University of Arizona, he studied medicine, a career that he later undertook with dedication on the screen. "We were in the landing craft heading for the beach," Ayres said. The army banned his movies from military bases, stating that soldiers were not particularly interested in seeing the current pictures in which Lew Ayres appears., The general public reacted just as harshly. Before the war, he had been one of the most popular leading men in the movies. Relation: Name: Birth: Father: Lew Ayres: Dec 28 1908: Mother: Diana Hall: Spotted an error? 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. Lew Ayres Movie Actor #92809. Two months later, Ayres did his best, and he impressed all as serious and helpful and friendly with everyone he meets, a, IN THE FALL OF 1945, Ayres returned home to a public that was starkly different than it had been three years earlier. In 1931, he appeared in Iron Man, and in 1979, he appeared in the miniseries, Salem's Lot. Had portrayed the title character for the syndicated radio show "The Story of Dr. Kildare" (1950-1951). He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Radio at 1724 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. "You're finished in pictures!" With Hollywood stars like Clark Gable, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda already in uniform or soon to be, and others like John Wayne flying below the radar with draft deferments, the Ayres story made front-page news. Born Lewis Frederick Ayres III on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927. N.B. My instruments were tenor banjo, long-neck banjo and guitar. Wrote Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper: It took couragefar greater courageto do what he did than to wheedle and pull strings to get an officers uniform, as many, without the courage and ability to measure up to it, have done. Director John Huston and actors Humphrey Bogart and Olivia de Havilland took out an ad in, Ironically, it was a soldier, Private Eugene B. Crowe, who offered the staunchest support in a letter to. Copy to clipboard. . Ayres laughed when he mentioned Leyte. George Washington had complained vociferously about the flood of questionable foreign volunteers. I think the same thing applies to the civilian world.. Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. His films include the Oscar-winning "All Quiet on the Western Front," 1930 and "Johnny Belinda," 1948, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Lew Ayres was born on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is Actor, Soundtrack, Director. IN THE FALL OF 1945, Ayres returned home to a public that was starkly different than it had been three years earlier. Had one son with Diana Hall: Justin Ayres. He was born Lewis Ayer in Minneapolis. Cast as Paul Baumer, the sensitive young soldier in Lewis Milestone's disturbing film version of Erich Maria Remarque's antiwar novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front,'' Mr. Ayres made a riveting impression on the moviegoing public. I kind of analyzed why they remember that so well and it seemed to be that in a subliminal way, in a kind of another sense, the butterfly, which emerges from being only a caterpillar, is a little bit like - maybe they don't think that way - men reaching for his soul. Sale Price $126.00. They had one son, Justin, born in 1968. During this time, Ayres also co-starred with Joan Crawford and James Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939. Upcoming Birthday Currently, Lew Ayres is 113 years, 7 months and 23 days old. Died in his sleep after being in a coma for several days. The reception was an. He was buried under a simple headstone at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of musician Frank Zappa. He was 88. In a case of life imitating art, Mr. Ayres was a conscientious objector during World War II and for that reason became a Hollywood outcast. On August 28, 2018, he was honored with a day of his film work during the TCM Summer Under The Stars. Lewis Fredrick Lew Ayers (28 Dec 1908 - 30 Dec 1996) 0 references . Lew Ayres (1908-1996) became known to the public when he portrayed the leading character in the epic war film All Quiet on the Western Front. The public did not learn of Ayress classification until March 30, 1942, the day before he left for Oregon. His co-star, Jane Wyman, won an Oscar for her role as a deaf-mute victim of a brutal rape. 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. A year later, Ayres was selected for the leading role of Paul Baum in All Quiet on the Western Front.. It wasnt so much that, Ayres responded. Noting how much he learned from associating with soldiers, of sharing a common lot and working toward a common end, he felt that other American youngsters might benefit in the same manner by serving a short hitch in a peacetime army. He began to think that peacetime conscription might be a good idea. He was a college dropout, dance-band musician, still in his teens, when he was discovered by Hollywood talent scouts and made his film debut in The Sophomore (1929) and appeared opposite Greta Garbo in The Kiss that same year. Leyte was a populated island, and civilian casualties were inevitable. His last role was in the made-for-TV film Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Heart (1994), also starring Wagner. His first wife was the actress Lola Lane. But if the government could play the story the right waypainting Ayres as a good CO it could encourage other objectors to serve as I-A-O uniformed noncombatants instead of in IV-E civilian work camps. More than many actors, Mr. Ayres seemed to suffer from the moral judgments of the movie industry. 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.