Lance Kerwin

Born

November 6, 1960

Died

January 24, 2023 (62 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

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]

The Wind & the Reckoning

The Wind & the Reckoning

Anderson

10.0

2022

100 Greatest Kid Stars

(4 episodes)

0.0

2005

Outbreak

Outbreak

American Mercenary

6.6

1995

Final Verdict

Final Verdict

Harry Johnson

0.0

1991

Challenger

Challenger

6.2

1990

The New Lassie

The New Lassie

(1 episode)

6.7

1989

Enemy Mine

Enemy Mine

Joey Wooster

6.9

1985

The Fourth Wise Man

The Fourth Wise Man

Passhur

6.9

1985

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Eddie Frayne · (1 episode)

7.5

1984

Finder of Lost Loves

Finder of Lost Loves

Adam Hill · (1 episode)

5.7

1984

A Killer in the Family

A Killer in the Family

Ray Tison

6.5

1983

The Mysterious Stranger

The Mysterious Stranger

#44

8.0

1982

Faerie Tale Theatre

Faerie Tale Theatre

Kay · (1 episode)

8.1

1982

Hotel

Hotel

(1 episode)

6.8

1982

Advice to the Lovelorn

Advice to the Lovelorn

Larry Ames

5.0

1981

Simon & Simon

Simon & Simon

(1 episode)

6.7

1981

Side Show

Side Show

Nick Pallas

7.0

1981

Children of Divorce

Children of Divorce

Tony Malik

6.0

1980

The Boy Who Drank Too Much

The Boy Who Drank Too Much

Billy Carpenter

2.0

1980

Salem's Lot

Salem's Lot

Mark Petrie · (2 episodes)

6.8

1979

CBS Library

CBS Library

Russ · (1 episode)

10.0

1979

Trapper John, M.D.

Trapper John, M.D.

(1 episode)

6.5

1979

The Meanest Men in the West

The Meanest Men in the West

4.1

1978

Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy

Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy

Joe, Jr. (Age 14)

0.0

1977

James at 15

James at 15

James Hunter

0.0

1977

James at 16

James at 16

James Hunter · (21 episodes)

6.1

1977

Cheering Section

Cheering Section

Bob

2.0

1977

The Death of Richie

The Death of Richie

Russell Werner

6.8

1977

The Loneliest Runner

The Loneliest Runner

John Curtis as a Youth

6.9

1976

Battle of the Network Stars

Battle of the Network Stars

(2 episodes)

7.2

1976

Amelia Earhart

David Putnam

0.0

1976

Good Heavens

Good Heavens

(1 episode)

5.5

1976

The Bionic Woman

The Bionic Woman

(1 episode)

7.0

1976

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman

Jeff Hadley · (1 episode)

7.0

1975

Long Way Home

Long Way Home

Ramey Holvak

0.0

1975

The Family Holvak

(10 episodes)

0.0

1975

Reflections of Murder

Reflections of Murder

Chip

7.0

1974

The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift

Ramey Holvak

2.0

1974

The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer

The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer

Todd Swimmer

6.0

1974

Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie

(1 episode)

7.9

1974

The Healers

The Healers

Kennedy Brown

0.0

1974

Police Story

Police Story

Joey Jr. · (1 episode)

6.9

1973

ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

Ezzie · (1 episode)

6.4

1972

ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

Peter Finley · (1 episode)

6.4

1972

ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

Buzz · (1 episode)

6.4

1972

ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

Adam Rush · (1 episode)

6.4

1972

ABC Afterschool Special

ABC Afterschool Special

P.J. / The President's Son · (1 episode)

6.4

1972

Emergency!

Emergency!

Wheeler Boy · (1 episode)

7.8

1972

Cannon

Cannon

(1 episode)

6.5

1971

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

Tommy Harker · (1 episode)

6.6

1955