Name
John Kerr
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1931-11-15
Deathday
2013-02-02 (82 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
6.991
A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed ...
5.7
Patients and staff at a posh psychiatric clinic clash over who chooses the clinic’s new ...
6.169
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know on...
7.1
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated a...
5.933
When Navy pilot Dale Heath takes off, he doesn't expect his navigational equipment to fail...
6.5
The first manned spacecraft, fired from an English launchpad, is lost from radar before ro...
5.368
A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in or...
6.865
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumst...
7.056
Toronto, Canada. A few days before Christmas, Miles Cullen, a bored teller working at a ba...
- 1978 The Silent Partner as Detective #3
- 1961 The Pit and the Pendulum as Francis Barnard
- 1956 Tea and Sympathy as Tom Robinson Lee
- 1958 South Pacific as Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC
- 1955 The Cobweb as Steven W. Holte
- 1971 Yuma as Capt. White
- 1960 The Crowded Sky as Mike Rule
- 1973 Class of '44 as Hotel Bartender
- 1956 Gaby as Gregory Y. Wendell
- 1960 Girl of the Night as Larry Taylor
- 1957 The Vintage as Ernesto Barandero
- 1999 Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows as Self
- 1979 Search and Destroy as MacPherson
- 1973 Class of '44 as Ford Hotel Bartender (uncredited)
- 1957 The Ninth Day
- 1953 Horace Mann's Miracle as student
- 1955 The Quatermass Xperiment as Photo Lab Technician (uncredited)
- 1972 The Longest Night as Agent Jones
- 1973 Incident on a Dark Street as Gallagher - Trenier's Lawyer
- 1953 Rex Newman as Howie Madden
- 1974 Only God Knows as Health Inspector
- 1981 The Amateur as CIA Security Guard
- 1961 King of Kings as Man at Sermon on the Mount (uncredited)
- 1987 Bay Coven as Ferry Captain
- 1979 Plague as Escaping Guard
- 1957 Snowshoes: A Comedy of People and Horses as Self - Announcing Next Week's Show
- 1972 The Rookies ( 1 episode ) as Price
- 1965 The F.B.I. ( 3 episodes ) as SAC Gary Morgan
- 1972 The Streets of San Francisco ( 8 episodes )
- 1971 Alias Smith and Jones ( 1 episode )
- 1968 The Mod Squad ( 2 episodes )
- 1963 Arrest and Trial ( 30 episodes ) as Barry Pine
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Lute
- 1948 Studio One ( 1 episode )
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Freddie
- 1985 The Ray Bradbury Theater ( 1 episode ) as Don
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode )
- 1965 The Long, Hot Summer ( 26 episodes )
- 1961 Bus Stop ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Rawhide ( 0 episode )
- 1965 Run for Your Life ( 1 episode ) as Alex Ryder
- 1973 Police Story ( 5 episodes )
- 1967 The High Chaparral ( 1 episode ) as Creed Hallock
- 1962 The Virginian ( 1 episode ) as Oliver Smith
- 1972 Search ( 1 episode )
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Tony
- 1954 Climax! ( 1 episode ) as Matt Sloane
- 1953 The United States Steel Hour ( 1 episode )
- 1964 Profiles in Courage ( 1 episode ) as Whitlock
- 1948 The Philco Television Playhouse ( 1 episode ) as George Avery
- 1973 Toma ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Riverboat ( 1 episode ) as Jefferson Carruthers
- 1949 Suspense ( 1 episode ) as Derek Howard
- 1961 The Defenders ( 1 episode ) as Jonathan Winthrop
- 1965 The F.B.I. ( 1 episode ) as Chicago Special Agent
- 1965 The F.B.I. ( 1 episode ) as SAC William Converse
- 1965 The F.B.I. ( 1 episode ) as S.A.C. Douglas Parker
- 1965 The F.B.I. ( 1 episode ) as Clayton McGregor
- 1968 Adam-12 ( 1 episode ) as Father Joe
- 1971 Columbo ( 1 episode ) as Roger Dutton
- 1968 The Name of the Game ( 1 episode ) as Billy Keaton
- 1968 The Name of the Game ( 1 episode ) as Stuart Clark
- 1948 Studio One ( 1 episode ) as The Boy
- 1954 The Wonderful World of Disney ( 1 episode ) as Martin Didler
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Peter Standish
- 1954 Climax! ( 1 episode ) as Danny Barron/Steve Barron
- 1954 Climax! ( 1 episode ) as Poggi
- 1949 Suspense ( 1 episode )
- 1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ( 1 episode ) as Glendon Baker
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 2 episodes ) as self
- 1975 Medical Story ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Barrett
