John Kerr dead at 81: actor who played suspected gay teenager in the play Tea and Sympathy and in the Hollywood movie adaptation Kerr, best known for playing the sensitive (and suspected to be gay) adolescent opposite Deborah Kerr (no relation, different pronunciation -- see below) in Tea and Sympathy both on Broadway and in the movies, died of heart failure at Huntington Hospital in the Los Angeles "suburb" of Pasadena this past Saturday, February 1. Kerr was 81 years old. (Picture: Publiicity shot of Kerr ca. 1955.) Born John Grinham Kerr on Nov. 15, 1931, in New York, he was part of a show business (chiefly stage) family. His mother was theater actress June Walker, among whose Broadway credits are The Farmer Takes a Wife and the role of Lorelei Lee in the 1926 production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes); Walker was also featured in a few movies, e.g., as Robert Montgomery's love interest...
- 2/9/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Mostly a TV actor, but John Kerr did star in my favorite Vincent Price film The Pit And The Pendulum as Francis Barnard, who creeped along the the dank corridors and musty passageways of Price’s Spanish castle while investigating the death of his sister. No one can forget the last minutes of the film where Kerr was almost disemboweled while tied to the title device. Kerr also had major roles in the musical South Pacific (1958) and Tea And Sympathy (1956). No word on the cause of death, his website (http://www.fitweb.or.jp/~johnkerr/) simply posted: “John Kerr passed away on Saturday February 2, 2013. It was sudden and he had no pain. With deepest regret, Barbara and his family.”
From Variety:
John Kerr, a Tony winner and the star of the films “Tea and Sympathy” and “South Pacific,” died suddenly after a short illness on Feb. 2. He was 81. Kerr began...
From Variety:
John Kerr, a Tony winner and the star of the films “Tea and Sympathy” and “South Pacific,” died suddenly after a short illness on Feb. 2. He was 81. Kerr began...
- 2/8/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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