Lance Kerwin

Lance Kerwin

Born: November 6, 1960
Died: January 24, 2023
in Newport Beach, California, USA
Lance Michael Kerwin (November 6, 1960 – January 24, 2023) was an American actor, known primarily for roles in television and film during his childhood and teen years in the 1970s. He played lead roles in the TV series James at 15, and the made-for-TV films The Loneliest Runner and Salem's Lot.

Kerwin was raised in Lake Elsinore, California. His father was an acting coach, who brought home scripts for his son to read. His mother was also a performer and, later, a talent agent. He was the youngest of five brothers. His brother Shane was his stand-in.

In the 1970s, Kerwin appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies and series. He was, said former theater critic and British Film Institute governor John Holmstrom, "probably America's leading boy actor of the late Seventies ... a handsome lad ... [with] considerable sensitivity as an actor". His serious acting roles often portrayed anguished characters facing difficult challenges, such as in The Loneliest Runner, The Boy Who Drank Too Much, and Children of Divorce.

Kerwin had a daughter with Kristen Lansdale, and four children with his wife Yvonne Kerwin. He gave up acting in the mid-1990s, but returned to the screen in 2022 for The Wind & the Reckoning, filmed in Hawaii.

In July 2010, it was reported that Kerwin was working as a pastor at Calvary Chapel in Kapaa, Hawaii, and a program leader at U-Turn for Christ, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization.

Kerwin died in San Clemente, California, on January 24, 2023, at the age of 62.

[preceding biography, edited, from Wikipedia]

Movies for Lance Kerwin...

Title: 100 Greatest Kid Stars
Released: June 13, 2005
Type: TV
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Outbreak
Title: Outbreak
Character: American Mercenary
Released: March 10, 1995
Type: Movie
A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col. Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined, and to prevent an over reaction by the White House.
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Final Verdict
Title: Final Verdict
Character: Harry Johnson
Released: September 9, 1991
Type: Movie
A trial lawyer risks losing his family and career when he defends a client who he knows to be guilty as charged.
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Title: The New Lassie
Released: September 8, 1989
Type: TV
The New Lassie is an American children and family oriented drama series which aired in first-run syndication from September 8, 1989 to February 15, 1992. The series stars Will Estes as Will McCullough, Lassie's new master. Real life husband and wife Christopher and Dee Wallace-Stone co-starred as Will's parents. The New Lassie is essentially a sequel to the 1954 series, and was the latest in the line of works featuring the Lassie character, which debuted in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home, followed by several more movies and the aforementioned television series, which ran from 1954 to 1973.
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Enemy Mine
Title: Enemy Mine
Character: Joey Wooster
Released: December 12, 1985
Type: Movie
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
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The Fourth Wise Man
Title: The Fourth Wise Man
Character: Passhur
Released: March 30, 1985
Type: Movie
Artaban is a young Magus (Wise Man) who desires to follow the star to the birthplace of the coming King, against the counsel of his friends and family. Carrying three precious jewels to give to the baby Messiah, Artaban and his reluctant servant Orontes set off to join the caravan of the three other wise men. They miss the caravan, but Artaban continues the search for his King, always one step behind. Artaban spends much of his remaining wealth and all of his energy helping the poor and unfortunate people he meets, until at the end of his life he finally finds Jesus--at His trial! Has Artaban wasted his life in a foolish quest? Will he ever get the chance to present his gifts to the King?
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Title: Finder of Lost Loves
Character: Adam Hill
Released: September 22, 1984
Type: TV
The Finder of Lost Loves TV show was a 60 minute drama series on ABC about a private investigator who specialized in finding lost loves from the past for his heartbroken clients.
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A Killer in the Family
Title: A Killer in the Family
Character: Ray Tison
Released: October 30, 1983
Type: Movie
Three teenage boys break their father out of prison only to discover that he is a murderous sociopath. Based on a true story.
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The Mysterious Stranger
Title: The Mysterious Stranger
Character: #44
Released: October 11, 1982
Type: Movie
The film version of the same-titled book by Mark Twain. A young printer's apprentice imagines himself back in the days of Guttenberg, helping him to print the Bible. The next thing he knows he has conjured up a young spirit from the future who casts spells over striking printers and causes general mischief.
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Title: Faerie Tale Theatre
Character: Kay
Released: September 11, 1982
Type: TV
A live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales.
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Title: Hotel
Released: August 21, 1982
Type: TV
Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty. Based on Arthur Hailey's 1965 novel of the same name, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling and set in the elegant and fictitious St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco. Establishing shots of the hotel were filmed in front of The Fairmont San Francisco atop the Nob Hill neighborhood. Episodes followed the activities of passing guests, as well as the personal and professional lives of the hotel staff.
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Advice to the Lovelorn
Title: Advice to the Lovelorn
Character: Larry Ames
Released: November 30, 1981
Type: Movie
A failed pilot for a series centering on Maggie Dale, an advice columnist. This was somewhat in the tradition of shows like Fantasy Island. When she receives a letter, the writer's situation is played out for us, then she writes her advice and the writer reads her response and does his/her best to act upon it.
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Title: Simon & Simon
Released: November 24, 1981
Type: TV
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981 to January 21, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two brothers who run a private detective agency together.
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Side Show
Title: Side Show
Character: Nick Pallas
Released: June 5, 1981
Type: Movie
A teenage boy who runs off to join the circus as a side show puppeteer stumbles onto the dark secrets of the fellow performers.
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Children of Divorce
Title: Children of Divorce
Character: Tony Malik
Released: November 24, 1980
Type: Movie
The conflict and separation of their parents and the impact on four youngsters from three socially different families is the thrust of this drama.
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The Boy Who Drank Too Much
Title: The Boy Who Drank Too Much
Character: Billy Carpenter
Released: February 6, 1980
Type: Movie
A high school athlete is well on the road to becoming an alcoholic like his ex-hockey pro father until his teammate and best friend commits himself to saving him from his self-destructive habit.
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Title: Salem's Lot
Character: Mark Petrie
Released: November 17, 1979
Type: TV
Ben Mears has returned to his hometown to write a book about the supposedly haunted Marsten House. When people around the Marsten House start dying mysteriously, Mears discovers that the owner of the mansion is actually a vampire who is turning them into an army of undead slaves.
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Title: CBS Library
Character: Russ
Released: October 21, 1979
Type: TV
Short-lived live-action anthology series based on stories from children's books.
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Title: Trapper John, M.D.
Released: September 23, 1979
Type: TV
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable doctor who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986.
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The Meanest Men in the West
Title: The Meanest Men in the West
Released: May 4, 1978
Type: Movie
Bronson and Marvin star as murderous half-brothers who are running from the law as well as each other. A climatic confrontation proves to each of them just how mean the other can be. "The Meanest Men in the West" is actually an amalgam of two episodes of the hit 1960's TV series, "The Virginian." In one installment, a wealthy man's daughter is kidnapped by a nasty gunslinger. But the crime is only just a means for the ruffian to draw the tough title character into a blood- thirsty revenge scheme. In the second, a drifter burglarizes the Shiloh ranch. Then an unhinged girl relies on the man to aid in her flight from home.
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Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy
Title: Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy
Character: Joe, Jr. (Age 14)
Released: September 18, 1977
Type: Movie
The story of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's older brother Joseph, who undertakes a dangerous mission during World War II.
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James at 15
Title: James at 15
Character: James Hunter
Released: September 5, 1977
Type: Movie
A 15-year-old whose family moves from Oregon to Boston misses the girlfriend he left behind, so he runs away to see her. On the way he hooks up with a female art student in her 20s who is also hitchhiking across the country, from whom he learns some valuable lessons about life. This was the pilot film for the two-season series.
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Title: James at 16
Character: James Hunter
Released: September 5, 1977
Type: TV
James at 15 (later James at 16) is an American drama series that aired on NBC during the 1977–1978 season. Protagonist James Hunter is the son of a college professor who has moved his family across the country to take a teaching job, transplanting James from Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts. James has a hard time fitting into his new surroundings.
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Cheering Section
Title: Cheering Section
Character: Bob
Released: August 19, 1977
Type: Movie
It's the Autumn of '77! High School The Way It Is!
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The Death of Richie
Title: The Death of Richie
Character: Russell Werner
Released: January 10, 1977
Type: Movie
A sensitive but confused teenager feels pressure from all directions and turns to drugs, which causes problems for him in school and at home.
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The Loneliest Runner
Title: The Loneliest Runner
Character: John Curtis as a Youth
Released: December 20, 1976
Type: Movie
A young boy who still wets the bed finds escapism from his abusive mother and his own embarrassment by going running after school.
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Title: Battle of the Network Stars
Released: November 13, 1976
Type: TV
Battle of the Network Stars was a series of competitions where television stars from ABC, CBS, and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of nineteen of these competitions were held, all of which were aired by ABC. In 2013, the show appeared in TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.
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Amelia Earhart
Title: Amelia Earhart
Character: David Putnam
Released: October 25, 1976
Type: Movie
Biography follows the life of famed woman pilot Amelia Earhart, including her marriage to a famous publisher and her disappearance during a flight in 1937.
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Title: Good Heavens
Released: February 29, 1976
Type: TV
Good Heavens was an ABC comedy anthology series produced by Columbia Pictures Television that aired between February 29 to June 26, 1976. It ranked #17 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1975-76 television season. The main character was Mr. Angel, who was an Emissary of Heaven that came down to Earth to grant wishes to those who had performed a good deed. Episodes featured actors such as Don Ameche, Susan Dey, Sandy Duncan, Pat Harrington Jr., Florence Henderson, Alex Karras, Penny Marshall, Hugh O'Brian, Loretta Swit, Brenda Vaccaro, and Fred Willard.
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Title: The Bionic Woman
Released: January 14, 1976
Type: TV
After fully recovering from her near fatal bout of bionic rejection, Jaime Sommers, the first female cyborg, is assigned to spy missions of her own.
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Title: Wonder Woman
Character: Jeff Hadley
Released: November 7, 1975
Type: TV
With the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Athena, the speed of Mercury and the beauty of Aphrodite, she’s Wonder Woman. Beautiful Amazon princess Wonder Woman travels to 1940s America disguised as Diana Prince, assistant to handsome but trouble-prone Major Steve Trevor. Using her golden belt, which imbues her with astonishing strength, her bullet-deflecting bracelets, a golden lasso that dispels dishonesty and an invisible supersonic plane, Wonder Woman combats evil.
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Long Way Home
Title: Long Way Home
Character: Ramey Holvak
Released: September 7, 1975
Type: Movie
The Holvak family house the escaped convict named Craw that the son befriends. Reverend Holvak's faith is tested and young Ramey faces a choice between a friendship and his family.
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Title: The Family Holvak
Released: September 7, 1975
Type: TV
The Family Holvak is an American drama series that aired on CBS from September, 1975 to June 28, 1977. The series centers on Rev. Tom Holvak, played by Glenn Ford, and his family living in the South during the Great Depression.
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Reflections of Murder
Title: Reflections of Murder
Character: Chip
Released: November 24, 1974
Type: Movie
The wife and mistress of the abusive headmaster of a boy's school plot and carry out his murder. They dump his body in the murky swimming pool at the school and await for it to surface. After several days, some unusual circumstances point to clues that he is not dead after all.
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The Greatest Gift
Title: The Greatest Gift
Character: Ramey Holvak
Released: November 4, 1974
Type: Movie
Reverend Holvak, a weak rural preacher from the 1940s, fights stiff-necked church deacons along with a violent, bullying sheriff whilst protecting his loved ones.
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The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer
Title: The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer
Character: Todd Swimmer
Released: November 1, 1974
Type: Movie
Clifford Swimmer, an angry and abusive man cruel to his wife and son, wants out if his marriage. With the help of a scientist he clones a replacement who takes over as head of the family while the real Clifford travels the world. The clone turns out to be a gentle and sensitive husband and father, a complete opposite of the original, and the wife and son come to love him. When the real Clifford comes back and finds his family happy with the clone he becomes angry and jealous and things take a deadly turn.
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Title: Little House on the Prairie
Released: September 11, 1974
Type: TV
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.
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The Healers
Title: The Healers
Character: Kennedy Brown
Released: May 22, 1974
Type: Movie
The director of an urban medical center faces various major problems during the course of running the hospital.
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Title: Police Story
Character: Joey Jr.
Released: March 20, 1973
Type: TV
Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV. Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots.
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Title: ABC Afterschool Special
Character: Buzz
Released: October 4, 1972
Type: TV
Dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
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Title: ABC Afterschool Special
Character: Peter Finley
Released: October 4, 1972
Type: TV
Dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
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Title: ABC Afterschool Special
Character: Adam Rush
Released: October 4, 1972
Type: TV
Dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
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Title: ABC Afterschool Special
Character: Ezzie
Released: October 4, 1972
Type: TV
Dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
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Title: Emergency!
Character: Wheeler Boy
Released: January 22, 1972
Type: TV
The crew of Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, particularly the paramedic team, and Rampart Hospital respond to emergencies in their operating area.
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Title: Cannon
Released: September 14, 1971
Type: TV
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.
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Title: Gunsmoke
Character: Tommy Harker
Released: September 10, 1955
Type: TV
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.