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| Portrays: | President Adar | ||||
| Date of Birth: | December 28, 1908 | ||||
| Date of Death: | December 30, 1996 | ||||
| Age at Death: | 88 | ||||
| Nationality: |  USA
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Lew Ayres (28 December 1908—December 30, 1996) was an American actor.
Ayres career in films began in 1929 opposite [w:Greta Garbo|Greta Garbo]] in The Kiss. The following year his role in the anti-war film All Quiet On The Western Front elevated him to leading man status which peaked in the series of Doctor Kildare movies for MGM between 1938 and 1942. His declaration of conscientious objector status in World War II led to a critical and popular backlash that caused MGM to drop him from the Kildare series. He would serve as a medic during the war.
After the war, Ayres career resumed, but despite an Academy Award nomination for Johnny Belinda (1948) he never achieved his earlier pre-war stardom again and became more of a character actor in films with a heavier concentration of television roles.
His TV roles spanned the gamut from science fiction and fantasy (Kung Fu, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Questor Tapes) to popular drama (Marcus Welby, Hawaii Five-O, Magnum, Knots Landing).
Ayres portrayed the misguided President Adar in the Original Series.
Notes
- Lew Ayres article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- Lew Ayres' "Find a Grave" Memorial