John Grinham Kerr (November 15, 1931 – February 2, 2013), was an American actor from a family rooted in British and Broadway stage, and a 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 considerable 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.
John 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. His only other notable film appearance was in Roger Corman’s The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), co-starring with Vincent Price and Barbara Steele
In 1963, Kerr had a continuing role on “Arrest and Trial” playing Assistant DA Barry Pine. In 1965, Kerr guest starred on NBC’s The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He had a regular role on the ABC-TV primetime TV series, Peyton Place, playing District Attorney John Fowler during the 1965-66 season. In 1964-65 he appeared as guest star on several episodes of Twelve O’Clock High. During the 1970s, Kerr had a recurring role as prosecutor Gerald O’Brien on the Quinn Martin television series The Streets of San Francisco. His last appearance as an actor was in 1986, in a minor role in The Park Is Mine, a made-for-TV movie starring Tommy Lee Jones.
He graduated law school, and passed the California bar in 1970. He since pursued a full-time career as a Beverly Hills lawyer, but still accepted occasional small roles in a variety of television productions over the years. He retired from legal practice in 2000.
John Kerr Cause of Death
John Kerr died of congestive heart failure. John Kerr was 81 years old at the time of his death.
South Pacific – Younger Than Springtime