ACTOR LEW AYRES, 88, ORIGINAL DR. KILDARE.Byline: Minerva Canto can·to n. pl. can·tos One of the principal divisions of a long poem. [Italian, from Latin cantus, song; see canticle. Associated Press Lew Ayres, the original Dr. Kildare who acted in films for six decades and weathered the furor raised by his objection to combat duty in World War II, has died. He was 88. Ayres died in his sleep Monday after being in a coma for several days, said Diana Ayres, his wife of 31 years. ``He was a renaissance man,'' she said. ``He was so far ahead of his time.'' Justin Ayres, Ayres' 28-year-old son, said he was a great father. ``He showed me some real important things about what it's like to be a human being,'' he said. ``He was always willing to laugh, smile, offer me a hug or give me a cookie.'' During his long career, Ayres played opposite Greta Garbo, starred in the Oscar-winning ``All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front unromanticized novel of WWI and its unsung heroes. [Ger. Lit.: All Quiet on the Western Front] See : Antimilitarism All Quiet on the Western Front ,'' and became identified as Dr. Kildare in the MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. film series. Shunned by the studios after he became a conscientious objector conscientious objector, person who, on the grounds of conscience, resists the authority of the state to compel military service. Such resistance, emerging in time of war, may be based on membership in a pacifistic religious sect, such as the Society of Friends during the war, he managed to revive his career and get an Academy Award nomination for ``Johnny Belinda'' in 1948. In the 1990s, Ayres was still playing character roles in television dramas. Long a student of comparative religion, he also toured the country with his documentaries about the faiths of all nations. During the 1930s, Ayres starred in ``Common Clay,'' ``The Doorway to Hell,'' ``The Spirit of Notre Dame,'' ``State Fair,'' ``The Last Train from Madrid,'' ``Hold 'em Navy,'' ``Holiday'' and other films. He was born Lewis Ayer in Minneapolis, on Dec. 28, 1908, and studied medicine at the University of Arizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. . But the musical life appealed to him more, and he toured with bands as banjo banjo, stringed musical instrument, with a body resembling a tambourine. The banjo consists of a hoop over which a skin membrane is stretched; it has a long, often fretted neck and four to nine strings, which are plucked with a pick or the fingers. , piano and guitar player. While playing in a Hollywood nightclub in 1928, he was discovered for films. ``I decided I would quit pictures after I went into the service,'' the actor said in 1946. ``I thought I might enter the ministry or medicine - some field where I could accomplish something important. Making movies seemed to me very trivial. ``But when I went overseas, I changed my mind. I realized how important movies are to the lives of so many people. Why, I even became a fan myself.'' A memorial service will be held Jan. 14 at the Westwood Presbyterian Church. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the ASPCA ASPCA abbr. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ASPCA n abbr (= American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) → SPA f , Actors and Others for Animals, and the Motion Picture Country Home. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: AYRES |
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