JK
John Kerr
Actor
Died February 2, 2013 (81 years)
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.
Filmography
| 2012 | Not Fade Away · as Lt. Joseph Cable USMC in South Pacific |
| 2011 | |
| 1987 | Australian Dream · as Frank (The Swaggie) |
| 1987 | Bay Cove · as Ferry Captain |
| 1985 | The Park Is Mine · as Reporter - Conference |
| 1985 | The Ray Bradbury Theater (TV Series) · as Don |
| 1982 | Sons and Daughters (1982) (TV Series) · as Policeman |
| 1981 | The Amateur · as CIA Security Guard |
| 1979 | Plague · as Escaping Guard |
| 1979 | Search and Destroy · as MacPherson |
| 1978 | The Silent Partner · as Detective #3 |
| 1977 | Washington: Behind Closed Doors (TV Series) · as Ashton |
| 1976 | The Feather And Father Gang (TV Series) · as Martin Stoddard |
| 1976 | The New Avengers (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1975 | The Invisible Man (1975) (TV Series) · as Kirk |
| 1974 | Madhouse · as Francis Barnard (Clip from 'The Pit and the Pendulum') |
| 1974 | Only God Knows · as Health Inspector |
| 1973 | Incident on a Dark Street · as Gallagher - Trenier's Lawyer |
| 1973 | Class of '44 · as Ford Hotel Bartender |
| 1973 | Barnaby Jones (TV Series) · as Dr. Lincoln |
| 1973 | Police Story (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1972 | Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues · as Stockbroker |
| 1972 | The Rookies (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1972 | The Streets of San Francisco (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1971 | |
| 1971 | McMillan and Wife (TV Series) · as Richard Valentine |
| 1971 | Columbo (TV Series) · as Roger Dutton |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game (TV Series) · as Father Billy Keaton |
| 1968 | The Mod Squad (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1968 | Adam-12 (TV Series) · as Father Joe |
| 1967 | The High Chaparral (TV Series) · as Creed Hallock |
| 1965 | The F.B.I. (TV Series) · as SAC Gary Morgan |
| 1964 | Flipper (TV Series) · as Keller |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial (TV Series) · as Assistant Deputy District Attorney Barry Pine |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) · as Glendon Baker |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Oliver Smith |
| 1961 | King of Kings · as Man at Sermon on the Mount |
| 1961 | The Pit and the Pendulum · as Francis Barnard |
| 1960 | The Crowded Sky · as Mike Rule |
| 1960 | Girl of the Night · as Larry Taylor |
| 1960 | Checkmate (TV Series) · as Whit Kamens |
| 1959 | Riverboat (TV Series) · as Jefferson Carruthers |
| 1959 | Rawhide (TV Series) · as Bert Eaton |
| 1958 | South Pacific · as Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC |
| 1957 | Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Jim Whitlow |
| 1956 | Tea and Sympathy · as Tom Robinson Lee |
| 1955 | The Quatermass Xperiment · as Photo Lab Technician (uncredited) |
| 1955 | The Cobweb · as Steven W. Holte |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Lute |
| 1954 | Climax! (TV Series) · as Matt Sloane |
| 1954 | Disneyland (TV Series) · as Martin Didler |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Freddie |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Peter Standish |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Tony |
| 1949 | Suspense (TV Series) · as Derek Howard |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as The Boy |