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Mel Ferrer | |
|---|---|
 Ferrer in 1960 | |
| Born | Melchor Gastón Ferrer (1917-08-25)August 25, 1917 Elberon, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | June 2, 2008(2008-06-02) (aged 90) |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1937–1998 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6, includingSean Hepburn Ferrer |
| Relatives | Emma Ferrer (granddaughter) |
Melchor Gastón Ferrer[1][2] (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence onBroadway before scoring notable film hits withScaramouche (1952),Lili (1953), andKnights of the Round Table (also 1953). He starred opposite his wife, actressAudrey Hepburn, inWar and Peace (1956) and produced her filmWait Until Dark (1967).
Beginning in the 1970s, Ferrer acted extensively in Italian films and appeared in severalcult hits, includingThe Antichrist (1974),The Black Corsair (1976) andNightmare City (1980). He was also a co-founder of theLa Jolla Playhouse.[3]
Ferrer was born inElberon, New Jersey, of Cuban and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer (December 3, 1857 – February 23, 1920),[2] was born inHavana,Cuba, of Spanish ancestry.[4][5] José was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St. Vincent's Hospital inNew York City. He was 59 years old at the time of Mel's birth and died three years later.[6] Mel Ferrer's US-born mother, Mary Matilda Irene (née O'Donohue; January 28, 1878 – February 19, 1967),[7] was a daughter of coffee broker Joseph J. O'Donohue, New York's City Commissioner of Parks, a founder of the Coffee Exchange, and a founder of the Brooklyn-New York Ferry. An ardent opponent ofProhibition, Irene Ferrer (as she was known) was named in 1934 as the New York State chairman of the Citizens Committee for Sane Liquor Laws.[8] Mel's parents married on October 17, 1910, in New York.[2]
His mother's family, the O'Donohues, were prominentRoman Catholics. One of his aunts, Marie Louise O'Donohue, was named apapal countess,[9] while another aunt, Teresa Riley O'Donohue, a leading figure in American Roman Catholic charities and welfare organizations, was granted permission byPope Pius XI to install a private chapel in her New York City apartment.[10]
Ferrer had three siblings. His elder sister, Dr. María Irené Ferrer (July 30, 1915 – November 12, 2004), was a cardiologist and educator who helped refine the cardiac catheter andelectrocardiogram.[11] She died in 2004 inManhattan at 89 of pneumonia and congestive heart failure.[11] Their brother, Dr. Jose M. Ferrer (November 23, 1912 – December 24, 1982),[2] was a surgeon; he died at 70 from complications of abdominal surgery. Their younger sister, Teresa Ferrer (March 30, 1919 – February 12, 2002), was the religion editor ofThe New York Herald Tribune and an education editor forNewsweek. She died at 82 from a thoracic aneurysm.[8][12]
Ferrer was privately educated at the Bovée School in New York (where one of his classmates was the future authorLouis Auchincloss) andCanterbury Prep School in Connecticut. He attendedPrinceton University until his sophomore year, when he dropped out to devote more time to acting.[13]
He worked as an editor of a smallVermont newspaper and wrote the children's bookTito's Hats (Garden City Publishing, 1940).[a]
Ferrer began acting insummer stock as a teenager and in 1937 won the Theatre Intime award for best new play by a Princeton undergraduate; the play was calledAwhile to Work and co-starred another college student, Frances Pilchard, who would become Ferrer's first wife later the same year.[14] At 21, he was appearing on the Broadway stage as a chorus dancer, making his debut there as an actor two years later. He appeared as a chorus dancer in two unsuccessful musicals,Cole Porter'sYou Never Know andEverywhere I Roam. After a bout withpolio, Ferrer worked as a disc jockey in Texas and Arkansas and moved to Mexico to work on the novelTito's Hat (published 1940).[citation needed]
His first acting roles were in a revival ofKind Lady (1940) andCue for Passion (1940).[15][16]
Ferrer was contracted toColumbia Pictures as a director, along with several other "potentials" who began as dialogue directors:Fred Sears,William Castle,Henry Levin andRobert Gordon.[17]
Among the films he worked on wereLouisiana Hayride (1944),They Live in Fear (1944),Sergeant Mike (1944),Together Again (1944),Meet Miss Bobby Socks (1944),Let's Go Steady (1944),Ten Cents a Dance (1945), andA Thousand and One Nights (1945). Some were "B" movies but others (Thousand and One Nights) were more prestigious. Ferrer directedThe Girl of the Limberlost (1945), starringRuth Nelson.
Eventually, he returned to Broadway, where he starred inStrange Fruit (1945–46), a play based on the novel byLillian Smith. It was directed byJosé Ferrer (no relation). He then directed José Ferrer in the 1946 stage production ofCyrano de Bergerac.[18] He worked as an assistant onThe Fugitive (1947), directed by John Ford in Mexico. Along withGregory Peck,Dorothy McGuire andJoseph Cotten, he founded theLa Jolla Playhouse inSan Diego.[19]
Ferrer made his screen acting debut with a starring role inLost Boundaries (1949), playing a black person whopasses for white. The film was controversial and much acclaimed.[20]
Ferrer had a supporting role inBorn to Be Bad (1950) atRKO, directed byNicholas Ray. At that studio, he directedClaudette Colbert inThe Secret Fury (1950) and directed or co-directedVendetta (1950),The Racket (1951), andMacao (1952). He starred as a bullfighter inThe Brave Bulls (1951) forRobert Rossen at Columbia. Ferrer fought withArthur Kennedy overMarlene Dietrich inRancho Notorious (1952), directed byFritz Lang at RKO.
Ferrer went to MGM, replacingFernando Lamas as the villain inScaramouche (1952). The film, particularly notable for a long, climactic sword fight between Ferrer andStewart Granger, was a huge hit. The studio kept him on forLili (1953) as the title character (played byLeslie Caron)'s love interest. It was another big success; Ferrer and Caron also got a hit single out of it, "Hi-Lili-Hi-Lo".Saadia (1953), which Ferrer made withCornel Wilde, was a flop, butKnights of the Round Table (1954), in which Ferrer played King Arthur, was another hit. Ferrer met actressAudrey Hepburn at a party; she wanted to do a play together. They appeared inOndine (1954) on Broadway, and married in Switzerland in September 1954.[21]
Ferrer went to Italy to makeProibito (1954) and to England forOh... Rosalinda!! (1955), directed byPowell and Pressburger. Neither film was widely seen, butWar and Peace (1956) was a big success; Ferrer played Prince Andrei, co-starring with then-wife Audrey Hepburn. In France, he co-starred withIngrid Bergman inElena and Her Men (1956), directed byJean Renoir.
Ferrer and Hepburn madeMayerling (1957) for American television; it was released theatrically in some countries. Ferrer returned to MGM to makeThe Vintage (1957) withPier Angeli, which was a big flop. He made two films for20th Century Fox: an all-star adaptation ofThe Sun Also Rises (1957) andFräulein (1958), a war story withDana Wynter. At MGM, he played one of the last three people on Earth inThe World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959), another flop.[citation needed] Ferrer went to Italy to star inRoger Vadim's vampire movieBlood and Roses (1960). After an English horror film,The Hands of Orlac (1960), he starred in the Italian adventure filmCharge of the Black Lancers (1962). He was one of several stars inThe Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962) andThe Longest Day (1962). He had a cameo in his wife'sParis When It Sizzles (1964) and wasMarcus Aurelius Cleander inThe Fall of the Roman Empire (1964).[citation needed]
Ferrer then turned to television, doing some directing for the seriesThe Farmer's Daughter (1963–66) starringInger Stevens,William Windom, andCathleen Nesbitt. Ferrer had a supporting role inSex and the Single Girl (1964). From 1981 to 1984, he appeared oppositeJane Wyman as Angela Channing's attorney (and briefly her husband),Phillip Erikson, onFalcon Crest (as well as directing several episodes). He played a blackmailing reporter in theColumbo episode "Requiem for a Fallen Star", starringAnne Baxter. He appeared oppositeCyd Charisse in an episode of the long-runningAngela Lansbury series,Murder She Wrote, and appeared in two television miniseries,Peter the Great (1986) andDream West (1986). Later credits includeEye of the Widow (1991) andCatherine the Great (1995).[citation needed]
Ferrer produced and starred in the biopicEl Greco (1966), playing thefamous painter. He also producedWait Until Dark (1967), starring his wife, another big hit.[22]
He and Hepburn divorced in 1968.[23]
Ferrer was mostly a jobbing actor in the 1970s, working much in Italy. Among his credits wereA Time for Loving (1972);The Antichrist (1974) in Italy;Brannigan (1974), a crime drama set inLondon that starredJohn Wayne;Silent Action (1975) andThe Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975), both forSergio Martino;The Net (1975), shot in Germany;The Black Corsair (1976), an Italian swashbuckler;Gangbuster (1977) in Italy;The Pyjama Girl Case (1977);Seagulls Fly Low (1977).
In the U.S., he was inHi-Riders (1978),The Norseman (1978),Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979), andThe Fifth Floor (1979). In 1979, he portrayed Dr. Brogli in an episode ofReturn of the Saint. In Europe, he was inThe Visitor (1979),Island of the Fishmen (1980),Nightmare City (1980),The Great Alligator River (1980) andEaten Alive! (1980). He went to Germany forLili Marleen (1981). He worked in two of Spanish actressMarisol's film vehicles:Cabriola andLa chica del molino rojo, being the director of the first and acting in the second.
For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Mel Ferrer has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Blvd.
Ferrer married five times, to four women, with whom he had six children. His wives were:
Before his marriage to Elizabeth Soukhotine in 1971, Ferrer had a relationship with 29-year-old interior designerTessa Kennedy.[27][28]
A resident ofCarpinteria, California,[12] Ferrer died of heart failure at a convalescent home inSanta Barbara, California on June 2, 2008, at age 90.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | The Fugitive | Father Serra | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Lost Boundaries | Scott Mason Carter | |
| 1950 | Born to Be Bad | Gobby | |
| 1951 | The Brave Bulls | Luis Bello | |
| 1952 | Rancho Notorious | Frenchy Fairmont | |
| Scaramouche | Noel, Marquis de Maynes | ||
| 1953 | Lili | Paul Berthalet | |
| Knights of the Round Table | King Arthur | ||
| Saadia | Henrik | ||
| 1954 | Proibito | Don Paolo Salinas | |
| 1955 | Oh... Rosalinda!! | Capt. Alfred Westerman | |
| 1956 | War and Peace | Prince Andrei Bolkonsky | |
| Elena and Her Men | Henri de Chevincourt | ||
| 1957 | The Vintage | Giancarlo Barandero | |
| The Sun Also Rises | Robert Cohn | ||
| 1958 | Fräulein | Maj. Foster MacLain | |
| 1959 | The World, the Flesh and the Devil | Benson Thacker | |
| 1960 | Blood and Roses | Leopoldo De Karnstein | |
| L'Homme à femmes | Georges Gauthier | ||
| The Hands of Orlac | Stephen Orlac | ||
| 1961 | Love, Freedom and Treachery [it] | Mirko | |
| 1962 | Charge of the Black Lancers | Andrea Di Tula | |
| The Devil and the Ten Commandments | Philip Allan | Segment: "Luxurieux point ne seras" | |
| The Longest Day | Maj. General Robert Haines | [29] | |
| Marco Polo | Unfinished | ||
| 1963 | Charade | Man Smoking Cigarette in Nightclub | Uncredited |
| 1964 | Paris When It Sizzles | Costume Party Jekyll & Hyde | |
| The Fall of the Roman Empire | Cleander | ||
| Sex and the Single Girl | Rudy | ||
| Who Are My Own [es] | Juan Bautista de La Salle | ||
| 1966 | El Greco | El Greco | |
| 1967 | Wait Until Dark | Radio Announcer (voice) | Uncredited |
| 1972 | A Time for Loving | Dr. Harrison | |
| 1973 | The Girl from the Red Cabaret [es] | Dalton Harvey | |
| 1974 | The Antichrist | Massimo Oderisi | |
| 1975 | Brannigan | Fields | |
| Silent Action | District Attorney Mannino | ||
| The Suspicious Death of a Minor | Police Superintendent | ||
| The Net | Aurelio Morelli | ||
| 1976 | Eaten Alive | Harvey Wood | |
| The Black Corsair | Van Gould | ||
| 1977 | Gangbuster | Peseti, the Boss | |
| 1978 | Seagulls Fly Low | Roberto Micheli | |
| The Pyjama Girl Case | Professor Henry Douglas | ||
| Hi-Riders | Sheriff | ||
| The Norseman | King Eurich | ||
| Yesterday's Tomorrow [de] | Colonel Stone | ||
| The Fifth Floor | Dr. Sidney Coleman | ||
| L'immoralità [it] | Vera's husband | ||
| 1979 | Screamers | Radcliffe | U.S. cut only |
| The Visitor | Dr. Walker | ||
| The Great Alligator River | Joshua | ||
| 1980 | Eaten Alive! | Professor Carter | |
| Nightmare City | General Murchison | ||
| 1981 | Lili Marleen | David Mendelsson | |
| Vultures on the City [fr] | Sheriff | ||
| 1982 | A Thousand Billion Dollars | Cornelius A. Woeagen | |
| Deadly Game [it] | Stephan Mathiesen | ||
| 1984 | A Soft Sunset | Franz Bollenstein | |
| 1991 | Eye of the Widow | Frankenheimer |
| Year | Title | Contributed to | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Other | |||
| 1944 | Louisiana Hayride | Yes | As dialogue coach | ||
| They Live in Fear | Yes | ||||
| Sergeant Mike | Yes | ||||
| Together Again | Yes | ||||
| Meet Miss Bobby Socks | Yes | ||||
| 1945 | Let's Go Steady | Yes | |||
| Ten Cents a Dance | Yes | ||||
| Boston Blackie's Rendezvous | Yes | ||||
| A Thousand and One Nights | Yes | ||||
| The Girl of the Limberlost | Yes | Directorial Debut | |||
| 1947 | The Fugitive | Yes | As directorial assistant | ||
| 1950 | The Secret Fury | Yes | |||
| Vendetta | Yes | ReplacedStuart Heisler | |||
| 1951 | The Racket | Yes | Uncredited; directed additional scenes | ||
| 1952 | Macao | Yes | Uncredited; directed one day of reshoots[30] | ||
| 1959 | Green Mansions | Yes | |||
| 1965 | Cabriola | Yes | Executive | Yes | Also writer |
| 1966 | El Greco | Yes | |||
| 1967 | Wait Until Dark | Yes | |||
| 1971 | The Night Visitor | Yes | |||
| 1972 | Embassy | Yes | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–1954 | Omnibus | Chairman of the Board / Jeff Talbot | 2 episodes |
| 1957 | Producers' Showcase | Crown Prince Rudolph | Episode: "Mayerling" |
| ITV Play of the Week | Episode: "Lost Boundaries" | ||
| 1959 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Marshal Monty Elstrode | Episode: "The Ghost" |
| Rendezvous | Episode: "London in the Spring" | ||
| 1963 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Peter Carrington | Episode: "The Fifth Passenger" |
| 1973 | Columbo | Jerry Parks | Episode: "Requiem for a Falling Star" |
| Carola | Gen. Franz von Clodius | Television film | |
| Tenafly | Charlie Rush | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Search | John Rickman | Episode: "Suffer My Child" | |
| 1974 | Police Story | Dr. Ross | Episode: "Wyatt Earp Syndrome" |
| Marcus Welby, M.D. | Carlo | Episode: "Designs" | |
| 1976 | Ellery Queen | Brandon Childs | Episode: "The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger" |
| Origins of the Mafia | Armando Della Morra | Episode: "La legge" | |
| 1977 | Hawaii Five-O | Emil Radick / Father Neill | 2 episodes |
| Baretta | Alex Kramer | Episode: "Everybody Pays the Fare" | |
| The Fantastic Journey | Appolonius | Episode: "Funhouse" | |
| Lanigan's Rabbi | Mike Rushmore | Episode: "In Hot Weather, the Crime Rate Soars" | |
| The New Adventures of Wonder Woman | Fritz Gerlich | Episode: "Anschluss '77" | |
| Logan's Run | Analog | Episode: "Man Out of Time" | |
| Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress | David | Television film | |
| 1978 | Black Beauty | Nicholas Skinner | Television miniseries |
| How the West Was Won | Hale Burton | 3 episodes | |
| The Return of Captain Nemo | Dr. Robert Cook | Television film | |
| 1979 | Return of the Saint | Dr. Paolo Brogli | Episode: "Vicious Circle" |
| Eischied | Episode: "Who Is the Missing Woman?" | ||
| 1979–1980 | Dallas | Harrison Page | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Top of the Hill | Andreas Heggener | Television film |
| Hagen | Poole | Episode: "The Straw Man" | |
| The Memory of Eva Ryker | Dr. Sanford | Television film | |
| Fugitive Family | Anthony Durano | Television film | |
| 1981 | Behind the Screen | Evan Hammer | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1981–1984 | Falcon Crest | Phillip Erikson | 54 episodes |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Moriarity / Lord Collingwood | Episode: "The Case Against Mr. Roarke/Save Sherlock Holmes" |
| One Shoe Makes It Murder | Carl Charnock | Television film | |
| 1984 | Finder of Lost Loves | George Matthews | Episode: "Forgotten Melodies" |
| 1985 | Seduced | Arthur Orloff | Television film |
| Hotel | Garrett Hardy / Anthony Palandrini | 2 episodes | |
| The Love Boat | Jack Powers | 2 episodes | |
| Glitter | Episode: "Nightfall" | ||
| 1985–1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Miles Austin / Eric Brahm | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Peter the Great | Frederick | Television miniseries |
| Outrage! | Judge Michael Lengel | Television film | |
| Dream West | Judge Elkins | Television miniseries | |
| 1989 | Wild Jack | Television miniseries | |
| 1989–1990 | Christine Cromwell | Doctor | 4 episodes |
| 1995 | Catherine the Great | Patriarch | Television film |
| 1998 | Stories from My Childhood | Geppetto (voice) | Episode: "Pinocchio and the Golden Key" |
| Year | Title | Contributed to | Role | Original venue | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actor | Director | Producer | |||||
| 1939 | American Landscape | Yes | Abraham Cohen | Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre,Ann Arbor | [31] | ||
| Captain Brassbound's Conversion | Yes | American Bluejacket | [31] | ||||
| 1940 | Kind Lady | Yes | Peter Stanard | Playhouse Theatre, Broadway | [31] | ||
| Cue for Passion | Yes | Reporter | Royale Theatre, Broadway | [32] | |||
| 1945–46 | Strange Fruit | Yes | Tracy Deen | [32] | |||
| 1946–47 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Yes | Alvin Theatre, Broadway | [32] | |||
| Yes | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway | [32] | |||||
| 1947 | Dear Ruth | Yes | La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego | [31] | |||
| 1949 | Command Decision | Yes | [31] | ||||
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Yes | [31] | |||||
| Ring Round the Moon | Yes | [31] | |||||
| 1950 | Our Town | Yes | [31] | ||||
| 1951 | The Voice of the Turtle | Yes | Yes | Bill Page | [31] | ||
| 1952 | Strike a Match | Yes | Yes | [31] | |||
| 1952–53 | Yes | Yes | U.S. tour | [31] | |||
| 1954 | Ondine | Yes | Hans von Wittenstein zu Wittenstein | 46th St. Theatre, Broadway | [31] | ||
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Family Theater | Hound of Heaven[33] |
| 1953 | Radio Theater | Undercurrent[34] |
