# Lew Ayres
**Lew Ayres** (born Lewis Frederick Ayres; 28 December 1908 – 30 December 1996) was an American actor whose six-decade career was defined by two contrasting roles: the disillusioned German conscript Paul Bäumer in the anti-war film *All Quiet on the Western Front* (1930) and the idealistic young surgeon of the MGM *Dr. Kildare* series.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) In 1942 he became one of the most publicized conscientious objectors of the Second World War, then served as a noncombatant Army medic under fire, and returned to Hollywood to an Academy Award nomination for *Johnny Belinda* (1948).[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 28 December 1908, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 30 December 1996, Los Angeles, two days after his 88th birthday[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000817/) |
| Breakthrough role | Paul Bäumer in *All Quiet on the Western Front* (1930), Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's novel; the film won the Oscar for Best Picture[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/01/01/lew-ayres-dies/41fbd427-2364-4432-81ca-2909e27f43c5/) |
| Signature series | Dr. James Kildare in nine MGM films beginning with *Young Dr. Kildare* (1938), opposite Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) • [5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/98485) |
| Wartime stance | Classified 1-A in 1942, requested exemption as a conscientious objector on religious grounds; served as an Army medic and chaplain's aide at the front[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html) |
| Awards | Academy Award nomination, Best Actor, for *Johnny Belinda* (1948); Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary of 1976 for *Altars of the World*[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-mn-14151-story.html) • [7](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9701/970101/01020039.htm) |
| Marriages | Lola Lane (1931–33), Ginger Rogers (1933–40), Diana Hall (1964 until his death, one son)[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) |
## Early career and stardom
Ayres studied medicine at the [University of Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-arizona) but was more interested in music, playing banjo in the college orchestra and later with a dance band at the Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood, where the talent scout [Paul Bern](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-bern) spotted him.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) After a minor role in *The Sophomore* (1929), MGM signed him to play opposite [Greta Garbo](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-garbo) in her last silent film, *The Kiss* (1929).[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
The casting that made his career came about partly by accident. Lewis Milestone, preparing to direct *All Quiet on the Western Front* at Universal, had intended to cast [Douglas Fairbanks Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-fairbanks-jr), but [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists), which held Fairbanks under contract, refused to loan him out. The dialogue director [George Cukor](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-cukor) shot a screen test of Ayres among other candidates, and Milestone saw it the same day he received the refusal. Ayres later said, "Milestone told me time and time again that if I had made the tests earlier I probably never would have been chosen."[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
As one of a group of schoolboys swept into the war by a jingoistic schoolmaster and then decimated in futile fighting, Ayres played the pain and resignation of innocence betrayed. In the film's famous ending, a sniper's bullet kills his character as he reaches from his trench for a butterfly.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) Ayres acknowledged the irony of the role's dominance over his later work: "Gee, I never topped what I did when I hardly knew what I was doing."[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html)
## The 1930s: decline and two comebacks
Universal signed Ayres to a contract and loaned him to Warner Bros. to play a feared gangster boss in *Doorway to Hell* (1930), which the *Independent* obituary calls a monumental piece of miscasting. He made more than 20 films over the next few years, mostly routine fare that eroded his reputation, and in 1936 tried directing with *Hearts in Bondage*, which was not a success.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) His AFI filmography lists 84 titles in total.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/98485)
His first comeback came in 1938. George Cukor cast him as [Katharine Hepburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/katharine-hepburn)'s alcoholic brother in *Holiday*, and MGM then put him in the title role of *Young Dr. Kildare*, an intern working under the elderly Dr. Gillespie ([Lionel Barrymore](https://www.edgepedia.org/lionel-barrymore)). The film was a hit and started a series; Ayres was working on his tenth Kildare film when he was drafted.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
## Conscientious objector and medic
In 1942, after the Selective Service Board classified him 1-A, Ayres requested exemption from combat service on religious grounds, having been profoundly affected by the anti-war message of *All Quiet on the Western Front*. The reaction was severe: [Louis B. Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-b-mayer) fired him and re-shot his scenes with Philip Dorn, exhibitors refused to book his films, pickets appeared outside cinemas showing the Kildare films, and *Variety* called him "a disgrace to the industry."[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
After working in a labor camp, Ayres volunteered for noncombatant duty and served on the battlefront as a medic and chaplain's aide, in the South Pacific and in [New Guinea](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-guinea).[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000817/) According to the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-walk-of-fame) profile, the armed forces initially would not guarantee him a Medical Corps position, and his public stance contributed to revisions of the rules, after which he was able to join the Medical Corps.[8](https://walkoffame.com/lew-ayres/) Overseas he changed his mind about retiring from movies: "I realised how important movies are to the lives of so many people," he said.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
## Return to Hollywood
Restored to favor, Ayres starred opposite [Olivia de Havilland](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-de-havilland) in [Robert Siodmak](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-siodmak)'s *The Dark Mirror* (1946) as a psychiatrist investigating twin sisters, one of them a murderer, though he later said he had played the part too lightly. In Vincent Sherman's *The Unfaithful* (1947) he was a lawyer defending [Ann Sheridan](https://www.edgepedia.org/ann-sheridan) on a murder charge.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
*Johnny Belinda* (1948) brought his second comeback and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a doctor who teaches a deaf woman, played by [Jane Wyman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-wyman), how to communicate. Wyman won the Oscar for the role.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-mn-14151-story.html) Later film work included *Donovan's Brain* (1953), *The Capture* (1950), Otto Preminger's political drama *Advise and Consent* (1962), in which he played the Vice President, *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973), and *Damien: Omen II* (1978).[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html) • [5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/98485) He also worked frequently in television, including a 1977 episode of *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* as Mary Richards' much older love interest.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-oscar-lew-ayres-hacksaw-ridge-20170117-story.html) An opportunity to play Dr. Kildare on television fell through when the network refused his request for no cigarette sponsorship.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000817/)
## Religion and the documentaries
In 1954 Ayres embarked on a world tour to compile a documentary, *Altars of the East*, which he wrote, produced, narrated, and financed. It began a decade of study of comparative religion, which he called "the most meaningful thing I have ever done," and led to several documentaries on the world's religions.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html) In 1957 Secretary of State John Foster Dulles appointed him to a three-year term on the US National Committee for Unesco.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
The culminating work was *Altars of the World* (1976), a 2 1/2-hour documentary on Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Islam, drawn from more than 40,000 miles of travel in the Far and Near East with a cameraman. It was not a box-office success but won critical acclaim and the Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary of 1976.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-mn-14151-story.html) • [7](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9701/970101/01020039.htm) Ayres described his aim as impartiality, with narration showing how each culture is linked by a common tenet, the Golden Rule. Of his own beliefs he said, "I'm religious, but not of any specific religious group," and "I also love all religions."[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html)
## Death
Ayres died in Los Angeles on 30 December 1996, two days after his 88th birthday, after several days in a coma, according to his wife Diana, whom he had married 31 years earlier.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000817/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-mn-14151-story.html) Looking back on his profession, he told an interviewer, "If I were young again, I don't think I'd be an actor... my field would be philosophy."[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
## References
1. [Obituary: Lew Ayres, The Independent (Tom Vallance, 31 December 1996)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-lew-ayres-1281178.html)
2. [Lew Ayres, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000817/)
3. [Ayres Backs His Project Religiously, Los Angeles Times (Pat H. Broeske, 6 April 1991)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-06-ca-1733-story.html)
4. [Lew Ayres Dies, The Washington Post (1 January 1997)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/01/01/lew-ayres-dies/41fbd427-2364-4432-81ca-2909e27f43c5/)
5. [Lew Ayres filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/98485)
6. [Lew Ayres, Star of Dr. Kildare Movie Series, Dies, Los Angeles Times (Eric Malnic, 31 December 1996)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-mn-14151-story.html)
7. [Lew Ayres, 'Dr. Kildare,' Dies at 88, Roanoke Times (1 January 1997)](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9701/970101/01020039.htm)
8. [Lew Ayres, Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://walkoffame.com/lew-ayres/)
9. [Old Hollywood's Lew Ayres served his country as a conscientious objector, Los Angeles Times (17 January 2017)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-oscar-lew-ayres-hacksaw-ridge-20170117-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames A to Bo*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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