John Grinham Kerr (November 15, 1931 â€" February 2, 2013) was an
American actor and attorney. He began his professional career on
Broadway, earning critical acclaim for his performances in Mary Coyle
Chase's Bernardine and Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy, before
transitioning into a screen career. He reprised his role in the film
version of Tea and Sympathy, which won him a Golden Globe Award for
Most Promising Newcomer, and portrayed Joseph Cable in the Rodgers and
Hammerstein movie musical South Pacific. He subsequently appeared in
number of television series, including a starring role on the
primetime soap opera Peyton Place.In the 1970s, he largely moved away
from acting to become a lawyer, making a few small cameos in
Canadian-produced films like The Silent Partner and The Amateur. He
operated a legal practice in Beverly Hills until 2000, when he retired
from the profession.Kerr's parents, British-born Geoffrey Kerr and
American-born June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his
grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a British trans-Atlantic character
actor in the period 1880â€"1930; Kerr developed an early interest in
following in their footsteps.He grew up in the New York City area, and
went to Phillips Exeter Academy in New England; after graduating from
Harvard, he worked at the nearby Brattle Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts and in summer stock. For some time he pursued graduate
studies in the Russian (now Harriman) Institute of Columbia
University.
American actor and attorney. He began his professional career on
Broadway, earning critical acclaim for his performances in Mary Coyle
Chase's Bernardine and Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy, before
transitioning into a screen career. He reprised his role in the film
version of Tea and Sympathy, which won him a Golden Globe Award for
Most Promising Newcomer, and portrayed Joseph Cable in the Rodgers and
Hammerstein movie musical South Pacific. He subsequently appeared in
number of television series, including a starring role on the
primetime soap opera Peyton Place.In the 1970s, he largely moved away
from acting to become a lawyer, making a few small cameos in
Canadian-produced films like The Silent Partner and The Amateur. He
operated a legal practice in Beverly Hills until 2000, when he retired
from the profession.Kerr's parents, British-born Geoffrey Kerr and
American-born June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his
grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a British trans-Atlantic character
actor in the period 1880â€"1930; Kerr developed an early interest in
following in their footsteps.He grew up in the New York City area, and
went to Phillips Exeter Academy in New England; after graduating from
Harvard, he worked at the nearby Brattle Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts and in summer stock. For some time he pursued graduate
studies in the Russian (now Harriman) Institute of Columbia
University.
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