John Kerr

Born: 1931-11-15

John Grinham Kerr (November 15, 1931 – February 2, 2013), was an American actor and lawyer. He made his Broadway debut in 1953 in Mary Coyle Chase's Bernardine, a high-school comedy for which he won a Theatre World Award. In 1953-54, he received critical acclaim as a troubled prep school student in Robert Anderson's play Tea and Sympathy. In 1954, he won a Tony Award for his performance, and he starred in the film version in 1956. Kerr's first television acting role was in 1954 on NBC's Justice as a basketball player who believes that gamblers have ruined his success on the court. His mother appeared with him on the series, which focuses on the cases of attorneys with the Legal Aid Society of New York. He made The Cobweb for MGM, who liked his work so much they co-starred him with Leslie Caron in Gaby (1956), the third remake of Waterloo Bridge, which, in its original pre-Code 1931 version, featured John's grandfather, actor Frederick Kerr. Kerr starred with Deborah Kerr (no relation) in Tea and Sympathy in 1956. In a widely publicized decision in 1956, Kerr declined to play the role of Charles Lindbergh in The Spirit of St. Louis because he did not respect Lindbergh's early support of the Nazi regime in Germany prior to America's entry into World War II. "I don't admire the ideals of the hero", Mr. Kerr told The New York Post. The part went to James Stewart. Kerr had a major role in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (1958), playing Lt. Joe Cable, the newly arrived marine about to be sent on a dangerous spy mission. In The Crowded Sky (1960), Kerr played a pilot who helps the Captain (Dana Andrews) steer a crippled airliner back to earth. Another film appearance was in Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum (1961). In 1963, Kerr had a continuing role on Arrest and Trial, playing Assistant DA Barry Pine. During the 1960s, Kerr guest starred on several TV series including The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Rawhide, Gunsmoke and Adam-12. He had a regular role on the ABC-TV primetime TV series, Peyton Place, playing District Attorney John Fowler during the 1965-66 season. Also in 1964-65 he appeared as guest star on several episodes of Twelve O'Clock High. In the 1970s, Kerr had a recurring role as prosecutor Gerald O'Brien on The Streets of San Francisco and he made guest appearances in several other TV programs including The Mod Squad, Columbo, McMillan and Wife, Barnaby Jones and The Feather and Father Gang. Kerr's last acting appearance was a minor role in The Park Is Mine (1986), a made-for-TV movie starring Tommy Lee Jones.


Placeholder

The Pit and the Pendulum

as Francis Barnard
Released: 1961-08-12

In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances...

Movie page

The Quatermass Xperiment

as Photo Lab Technician (uncredited)
Released: 1955-08-26

The first manned spacecraft, fired from an English launchpad, is first lost from radar, then...

Movie page

South Pacific

as Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC
Released: 1958-03-18

Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one...

Movie page

The Silent Partner

as Detective #3
Released: 1978-09-07

Toronto, Canada. A few days before Christmas, Miles Cullen, a bored teller working at a bank...

Movie page

The Longest Night

as Agent Jones
Released: 1972-09-12

The daughter of a wealthy family is kidnapped and imprisoned underground in a custom-built,...

Movie page

Tea and Sympathy

as Tom Robinson Lee
Released: 1956-09-27

A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed...

Movie page

The Cobweb

as Steven W. Holte
Released: 1955-06-07

Patients and staff at a posh psychiatric clinic clash over who chooses the clinic’s new drapes -...

Movie page

The Crowded Sky

as Mike Rule
Released: 1960-09-02

When Navy pilot Dale Heath takes off, he doesn't expect his navigational equipment to fail and...

Movie page

Yuma

as Capt. White
Released: 1971-03-02

A down-and-dirty town is forced to shape up when a new marshal (Clint Walker) comes to town....

Movie page

Search and Destroy

as MacPherson
Released: 1979-07-05

The hunter becomes the prey as a Vietnam veteran (Perry King) tries to ferret out the real...

Movie page

The Vintage

as Ernesto Barandero
Released: 1957-05-08

A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a...

Movie page

Only God Knows

as Health Inspector
Released: 1974-09-13

The sponsors of a drug-rehabilitation center stage a robbery to maintain funding of the...

Movie page

Incident on a Dark Street

as Gallagher - Trenier's Lawyer
Released: 1973-01-13

A small-time hood is murdered just as he is about to blow the whistle on an organized crime ring.

Movie page

Class of '44

as Hotel Bartender
Released: 1973-04-10

During the last years of World War II, Hermie, Oscy, and Benjie are coming of age. They went...

Movie page

Class of '44

as Ford Hotel Bartender (uncredited)
Released: 1973-04-10

During the last years of World War II, Hermie, Oscy, and Benjie are coming of age. They went...

Movie page

Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows

as Self
Released: 1999-01-11

The life of legendary actor Anthony Perkins is recounted by friends and family, colleagues and...

Movie page

Girl of the Night

as Larry Taylor
Released: 1960-11-11

Bobbie is a sensitive, lonely call girl who is manipulated and ultimately used by her madam.

Movie page

Gaby

as Gregory Y. Wendell
Released: 1956-05-09

A ballerina resorts to prostitution when her fiance is reported killed in World War II.

Movie page

The Ninth Day

as uncredited
Released: 1957-01-10

After World War III a small group of people live in the desert. A young man tries to run away,...

Movie page

Rex Newman

as Howie Madden
Released: 1953-09-11

Rex Newman, Reporter for the Globe and News.

Movie page

Columbo

as Roger Dutton
First aired: 1971-09-15

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently...

TV Show page

Adam-12

as Father Joe
First aired: 1968-09-21

Adam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police...

TV Show page

The Virginian

as Oliver Smith
First aired: 1962-09-19

The Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming Territory of the 1890s is owned in sequence by Judge Henry Garth,...

TV Show page

Climax!

as Matt Sloane
First aired: 1954-10-07

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...

TV Show page

Climax!

as Danny Barron/Steve Barron
First aired: 1954-10-07

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...

TV Show page

Climax!

as Poggi
First aired: 1954-10-07

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...

TV Show page

The High Chaparral

as Creed Hallock
First aired: 1967-09-10

The High Chaparral is an American Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and...

TV Show page

The Rookies

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-09-11

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows...

TV Show page

The Philco Television Playhouse

as George Avery
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

TV Show page

Rawhide

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-01-09

The tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across...

TV Show page

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

as Glendon Baker
First aired: 1962-09-20

A continuation of the anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, hosted by the master of...

TV Show page

The F.B.I.

as SAC Gary Morgan
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

TV Show page

The F.B.I.

as Chicago Special Agent
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

TV Show page

The F.B.I.

as SAC William Converse
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

TV Show page

The F.B.I.

as S.A.C. Douglas Parker
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

TV Show page

The F.B.I.

as Clayton McGregor
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

TV Show page

The Defenders

as Jonathan Winthrop
First aired: 1961-09-16

The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed...

TV Show page

Studio One

as uncredited
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

TV Show page

Studio One

as The Boy
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

TV Show page

Run for Your Life

as Alex Ryder
First aired: 1965-09-13

Run for Your Life is an American television drama series starring Ben Gazzara as a man with only...

TV Show page

The Streets of San Francisco

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-09-23

Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate...

TV Show page

The Name of the Game

as Billy Keaton
First aired: 1968-09-20

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and...

TV Show page

The Name of the Game

as Stuart Clark
First aired: 1968-09-20

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and...

TV Show page

Gunsmoke

as Lute
First aired: 1955-09-10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...

TV Show page

Arrest and Trial

as Assistant Deputy District Attorney Barry Pine
First aired: 1963-09-15

Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American crime/legal drama series that ran during the 1963-1964...

TV Show page

Alias Smith and Jones

as uncredited
First aired: 1971-01-05

Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to...

TV Show page

Police Story

as uncredited
First aired: 1973-03-20

Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and...

TV Show page

Riverboat

as Jefferson Carruthers
First aired: 1959-09-13

Riverboat is a 44-episode western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds...

TV Show page

The Mod Squad

as uncredited
First aired: 1968-09-24

The Mod Squad was the enormously successful groundbreaking "hippie" undercover cop show that ran...

TV Show page

Suspense

as Derek Howard
First aired: 1949-01-06

An anthology series adapted from the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program,...

TV Show page

Suspense

as uncredited
First aired: 1949-01-06

An anthology series adapted from the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program,...

TV Show page

The Ray Bradbury Theater

as Don
First aired: 1985-05-21

A Canadian-produced fantastic anthology series scripted by famed science-fiction author Ray...

TV Show page

The United States Steel Hour

as uncredited
First aired: 1953-10-27

The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television...

TV Show page

The New Avengers

as uncredited
First aired: 1976-10-22

The New Avengers is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series broadcast during...

TV Show page

Search

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-09-13

Search is an American science fiction series that aired on Wednesday nights on NBC at 10 pm ET,...

TV Show page

Bus Stop

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-10-01

Bus Stop is a 26-episode American drama which aired on ABC from October 1, 1961, until March 25,...

TV Show page

The Wonderful World of Disney

as Martin Didler
First aired: 1954-10-27

Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different...

TV Show page

Toma

as uncredited
First aired: 1973-03-21

Toma is an American crime drama series that ran on ABC in 1973 and 1974.

TV Show page

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as uncredited
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

TV Show page

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Peter Standish
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

TV Show page

General Electric Theater

as Freddie
First aired: 1953-02-01

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...

TV Show page