Protean Broadway actor-director-producer whose noteworthy stage performances include Iago to Paul Robeson's "Othello" (1942), a Tony-winning "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1946) and the prince in the Noel Coward musical, "The Girl Who Came to Supper" (1964).
Ferrer made his Hollywood debut in "Joan of Arc" (1948) and, thanks to his sonorous voice and urbane manner, excelled at playing pedants and snobs, like the pompous Nazi professor in Mel Brooks's 1983 remake of "To Be or Not to Be". He proved his versatility, though, as the murderous hypnotist in "Whirlpool" (1949), the defending officer in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), the sadistic Turkish bey in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and the ham actor in "Enter Laughing" (1966).
Ferrer's work as a film director has been generally undistinguished, one exception being his scathing look at the TV industry, "The Great Man" (1956). He was married to actress Uta Hagen (1938-48) and singer Rosemary Clooney (1953-66), and his son is character actor Miguel Ferrer.
- Also Credited As:
Jose Vicente Ferrer De Otero y Cintron
- Born:
January 8, 1912 in Santurce, Puerto Rico
- Died:
January 26, 1992.
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Job Titles:
Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, Assistant stage manager, Musician, French teacher
Family
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Daughter: Leticia Thyra Ferrer. born in 1940; mother, Uta Hagen
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Daughter: Maria Providencia Ferrer. born in 1957; mother ,Rosemary Clooney
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Daughter: Monsita Teresa Botwick. born in 1960; mother, Rosemary Clooney
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Father: Rafael Ferrer. from San Juan
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Half-brother: Rafael Ferrer.
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Mother: Maria Providencia Ferrer. from Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
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Sister: Elvira Villafane.
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Sister: Leticia Garcia.
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Son: Gabriel Vicente Ferrer. born in 1959; mother, Rosemary Clooney; married to singer-actress Debby Boone; they have four children together: Jordan (born c. 1980), twin girls Gabrielle and Dustin (born c. 1983) and Tessa (born c. 1986)
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Son: Miguel Jose Ferrer. born in 1955; mother, Rosemary Clooney; appeared with father in a 1981 episode of Magnum, P.I.
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Son: Rafael Francisco Ferrer. born in 1956; mother, Rosemary Clooney
Education
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Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, architecture and music composition, BA
Milestones
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1918 First visited the United States for an operation on his palate; family later moved to the USA when he was six
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1934 Made professional debut on a showboat on Long Island
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1935 Broadway debut in A Slight Case of Murder
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1935 Joined Joshua Logan s Suffern (New York) stock company as assistant stage manager
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1940 First major stage role in Broadway revival of Charley s Aunt
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1941 Broadway directing debut, Marcel Pagnol s Topaz
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1942 Played Iago to Paul Robson s Othello on Broadway
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1945 Broadway producing debut, Strange Fruit (also director)
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1945 Turned down lead in Billy Wilder s The Lost Weekend
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1946 Film debut as narrator of short, Bolivia
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1948 Film acting debut (feature) in Joan of Arc
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1949 Starred in TV version of his 1947 stage triumph, Cyrano de Bergerac ; also starred in 1950 film version
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1955 Film directing debut, The Shrike (also actor)
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1958 Co-writing debut, Oh, Captain on Broadway (also director)
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1990 Final stage performance opposite Mandy Patinkin in the RSC s musical Born Again (based on Ionesco s Rhinoceros )
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1990 Last American stage appearance at the Paper Mill Playhouse s revival of the Harold Rome musical Fanny in Millburn, New Jersey
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1991 Planned to return to Broadway in the spring of 1992 to star opposite Judd Hirsch in Herb Gardner s Conversations with My Father ; forced to bow out due to illness
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Organized a successful cruise ship band, the Pied Pipers, while a college student
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Recorded hit duets, Man and Woman with Rosemary Clooney in the mid-1950s