Years later, he became a film critic for Time, wrote a biography of the actor, Marlon Brando, and became friends with the man who directed both the play and the film, EliaKazan.
Educated at Harvard University, Kerr received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a sensitive school boy who was bullied for being a suspected homosexual in Elia Kazan's 1953 Broadway production of Tea and Sympathy.