John Kerr died this Saturday, Feb. 2 at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, Calif at the age of 81 from heart failure.
The stage and screen actor, known for his roles in films South Pacific and The Pit and the Pendulum, died of heart failure, his son Michael told The Associated Press.
Kerr won a Tony Award in 1954 for his role as Tom Robinson Lee, a prep school student who is bullied for being a suspected homosexual, in Elia Kazan's Broadway production of play Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy. He also starred in the 1956 film version of the play.
The Harvard-educated Kerr also played a district attorney on TV in "Peyton Place" in the mid-1960s. After leaving show business, he became a lawyer specializing in personal injury law.
Kerr is survived by his wife, Barbara Chu, stepchildren Sharon and Chris Chu, daughters Rebecca Kerr, Jocelyn Kerr-Thantrakul and son Michael Kerr from his first marriage, and seven grandchildren.
