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

• 1987Bay Coven — Ferry Captain
• The Ray Bradbury Theater — Don
• 1981The Amateur — CIA Security Guard
• 1979Plague — Escaping Guard
• 1979Search and Destroy — MacPherson
• 1978The Silent Partner — Detective #3
• Medical Story — Dr. Barrett
• 1974Only God Knows — Health Inspector
• 1973Class of '44 — Hotel Bartender, Ford Hotel Bartender (uncredited)
• 1973Incident on a Dark Street — Gallagher - Trenier's Lawyer
• Police Story
• Toma
• Search
• 1972The Longest Night — Agent Jones
• The Rookies — Price
• The Streets of San Francisco
• Alias Smith and Jones
• Columbo — Roger Dutton
• 1971Yuma — Capt. White
• Adam-12 — Father Joe
• The Mod Squad
• The Name of the Game — Billy Keaton, Stuart Clark
• The High Chaparral — Creed Hallock
• Run for Your Life — Alex Ryder
• The F.B.I. — SAC Gary Morgan, Chicago Special Agent, SAC William Converse, S.A.C. Douglas Parker, Clayton McGregor
• The Long, Hot Summer
• Profiles in Courage — Whitlock
• Arrest and Trial — Barry Pine
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Glendon Baker
• The Virginian — Oliver Smith
• Bus Stop
• 1961King of Kings — Man at Sermon on the Mount (uncredited)
• The Defenders — Jonathan Winthrop
• 1961The Pit and the Pendulum — Francis Barnard
• 1960Girl of the Night — Larry Taylor
• 1960The Crowded Sky — Mike Rule
• Rawhide
• Riverboat — Jefferson Carruthers
• 1958South Pacific — Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC
• 1957The Ninth Day — David McAdam
• 1957The Vintage — Ernesto Barandero
• 1956Gaby — Gregory Y. Wendell
• 1956Tea and Sympathy — Tom Robinson Lee
• 1956The Corn is Green — Morgan Evans
• Gunsmoke — Lute
• 1955The Cobweb — Steven W. Holte
• 1955The Quatermass Xperiment — Photo Lab Technician (uncredited)
• Climax! — Matt Sloane, Danny Barron/Steve Barron, Poggi
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Martin Didler
• General Electric Theater — Freddie
• 1953Horace Mann's Miracle — student
• 1953Rex Newman — Howie Madden
• The United States Steel Hour
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Peter Standish
• Lux Video Theatre — Tony
• Suspense — Derek Howard
• Studio One — The Boy
• The Philco Television Playhouse — George Avery

Appearances as themselves (4)

• 2005James Dean: Forever Young — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows — Self
• 1957Snowshoes: A Comedy of People and Horses — Self - Announcing Next Week's Show
• MGM Parade — self