Lance Kerwin Dies: ‘James At 15’, ‘Salem’s Lot’ Actor Was 62
He was not on the list.
Lance Kerwin, the former child actor who shot to fame in the late 1970s as the star of the sometimes controversial NBC teen drama series James at 15, died of undetermined causes Tuesday in San Clemente, California. He was 62. Kerwin was raised in Lake Elsinore, California.
His death was announced by his daughter Savanah in a Facebook post today.
Kerwin, who was a busy child actor throughout the ’70s, also starred in the 1979 TV miniseries Salem’s Lot, based on the novel by Steven King. He played the central character of Mark Petrie, the young horror film buff turned vampire hunter. In the film’s most chilling and memorable scene, he is visited by a schoolmate who has become a vampire and floats eerily outside Mark’s bedroom window.
Kerwin’s TV career began in the early- to mid-1970s with appearances on such shows as Emergency!, Little House on the Prairie and Wonder Woman, but his breakthrough role came in 1977 with James at 15. The coming-of-age drama series was an attempt by creator-writer Dan Wakefield to present a more realistic depiction of teenagers than was common at the time.
The show made headlines in 1978 when, with the new title James at 16, Kerwin’s title character lost his virginity with a Swedish exchange student.
Two years later, Kerwin co-starred in the TV-movie The Boy Who Drank Too Much, starring Scott Baio as a teenage alcoholic.
Kerwin continued acting throughout the mid-1990s, usually as a guest star on episodic TV. By the end of the decade he had retired from acting to become a youth minister. He later moved to Hawaii to work for the U-Turn for Christ ministry. A 2021 GoFundMe page indicated Kerwin had fallen on hard times after suffering various health issues.
He is survived by children Savanah, Fox, Terah, Kailani, and Justus. Information on a planned after-life ceremony is expected in the coming weeks.
Filmography
Emergency! (1973, TV Series) - Wheeler Boy
The Healers (1974, TV Movie) - Kennedy Brown
Little House on the Prairie (1974, TV Series) - Danny Peters
Shazam! (1974 TV Series) - Season 1 Episode 2 - Chad Martin
Cannon (1974 TV Series) - Season 4 Episode 6 - Unnamed Delivery Boy
The Greatest Gift (1974, TV Movie) - Ramey Holvak
Reflections of Murder (1974, TV Movie) - Chip
The Meanest Men in the West aka Bad Men of the West (1974, TV Series)
ABC Afterschool Specials (1974-1976, TV Series) - P.J. / The President's Son / Buzz / Peter Finley / Adam Rush / Ezzie
Gunsmoke (1975, TV Series) - Tommy Harker
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) - Boy in Blue-Striped Shirt (uncredited)
The Family Holvak (1975, TV Series) - Ramey Holvak
Sara (1976, TV Series) - Derek
Amelia Earhart (1976, TV Movie) - David Putnam
The Loneliest Runner (1976, TV Movie) - John Curtis as a Youth
The Death of Richie (1977, TV Movie) - Russell Werner
Wonder Woman (1977, TV Series) - Jeff Hadley
The Bionic Woman (1977, TV Series) - Prince Ishmail
Cheering Section (1977) - Bob
Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977, TV Movie) - Joe, Jr. (age 14)
James at 15 (1977-1978, TV Series) - James Hunter
The Busters (1978, TV Movie)
Salem's Lot (1979, TV Movie) - Mark Petrie
Once Upon a Midnight Scary (1979, TV Series)
The Boy Who Drank Too Much (1980, TV Movie) - Billy Carpenter
Children of Divorce (1980, TV Movie) - Tony Malik
Side Show (1981, TV Movie) - Nick Pallas
Advice to the Lovelorn (1981, TV Movie) - Larry Ames
CBS Schoolbreak Special (1982, TV Series) - Billy Lee Daniels
The Mysterious Stranger (1982, TV Movie) - #44
Trapper John, MD (1982-1985, TV Series) - Gary Gordon / 42
A Killer in the Family (1983, TV Movie) - Ray Tison
Faerie Tale Theatre: The Snow Queen (1985, TV Series) - Kay
The Fourth Wise Man (1985, TV Movie) - Passhur
Enemy Mine (1985) - Wooster
Murder She Wrote (1989, TV Series) - Eddie Frayne
Final Verdict (1991, TV Movie) - Harry Johnson
Outbreak (1995) - American Mercenary
The Wind & the Reckoning (2022)
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