Melchor Gastón Ferrer
(August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
before scoring notable film hits with ''
Scaramouche
Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...
'', ''
Lili
''Lili'' is a 1953 American film released by MGM. It stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets. The film won the Academy Award for ...
'' and ''
Knights of the Round Table
The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...
.'' He starred opposite his wife, actress
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
, in ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
,'' and produced her film
''Wait Until Dark''. He also acted extensively in European films, and appeared in several
cult hits, including ''
The Antichrist'' (1974), ''
The Suspicious Death of a Minor
''The Suspicious Death of a Minor'' ( it, Morte sospetta di una minorenne), a.k.a. ''Too Young to Die'', is a 1975 Italian ''giallo'' film directed by Sergio Martino.
Plot summary
Police detective Paolo Germi (Claudio Cassinelli) and the mys ...
'' (1975), ''
The Black Corsair
''The Black Corsair'' is an 1898 adventure novel written by Italian novelist Emilio Salgari. Set in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, the novel narrates the exploits of Emilio Roccanera, Lord of Ventimiglia and his attempts to ave ...
'' (1976), and ''
Nightmare City
''Nightmare City'' ( it, Incubo sulla città contaminata: released in the United States as ''City of the Walking Dead'') is a 1980 science-fiction horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film stars Hugo Stiglitz as a television news reporter ...
'' (1980).
Early life
Ferrer was born in
Elberon, New Jersey
Elberon is an unincorporated community that is part of Long Branch in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07740.
As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for ZIP ...
, of Spanish and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer (December 3, 1857 – February 23, 1920),
was born in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. ,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, of Catalan ancestry. José was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St. Vincent's Hospital in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He was 59 years old at the time of Mel's birth and died three years later. Mel Ferrer's US-born mother, Mary Matilda Irene (née O'Donohue; January 28, 1878 – February 19, 1967), 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 of
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, Irene Ferrer (as she was known) was named in 1934 as the New York State chairman of the Citizens Committee for Sane Liquor Laws.
His parents married on October 17, 1910, in New York.
His mother's family, the O'Donohues, were prominent
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Ferrer's aunt, Marie Louise O'Donohue, was named a
papal countess, and his mother's sister, Teresa Riley O'Donohue, a leading figure in American Roman Catholic charities and welfare organizations, was granted permission by
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
to install a private chapel in her New York City apartment.
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 and
electrocardiogram.
She died in 2004 in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City, New York, at age 89 of pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Their brother, Dr. Jose M. Ferrer (November 23, 1912 – December 24, 1982),
was a surgeon; he died at age 70 from complications of abdominal surgery. Their younger sister, Teresa Ferrer (March 30, 1919 – February 12, 2002), was the religion editor of ''The New York Herald Tribune'' and an education editor for ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
''. She died at age 82 from a thoracic aneurysm.
Ferrer was privately educated at the Bovée School in New York (where one of his classmates was the future author
Louis Auchincloss
Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...
) and
Canterbury Prep School in Connecticut. He attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
until his sophomore year, when he dropped out to devote more time to acting.
He worked as an editor of a small
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
newspaper and wrote the children's book ''Tito's Hats'' (Garden City Publishing, 1940).
Career
Early theatre work
Ferrer began acting in
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...
as a teenager and in 1937 won the Theatre Intime award for best new play by a Princeton undergraduate; the play was called ''Awhile to Work'' and co-starred another college student, Frances Pilchard, who would become Ferrer's first wife later the same year. At age twenty-one, 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
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
's ''
You Never Know'' and ''Everywhere I Roam''. After a bout with
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
, Ferrer worked as a disc jockey in Texas and Arkansas and moved to Mexico to work on the novel ''Tito's Hat'' (published 1940).
His first acting roles were in a revival of ''
Kind Lady'' (1940) and ''Cue for Passion'' (1940).
Columbia Pictures
Ferrer was contracted to
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
as a director, along with several other "potentials" who began as dialogue directors:
Fred Sears,
William Castle
William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...
,
Henry Levin and
Robert Gordon Robert Gordon may refer to:
Entertainment
* Robert Gordon (actor) (1895–1971), silent-film actor
* Robert Gordon (director) (1913–1990), American director
* Robert Gordon (singer) (1947–2022), American rockabilly singer
* Robert Gordon (scr ...
.
Among the films he worked on were ''
Louisiana Hayride
''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...
'' (1944), ''
They Live in Fear
''They Live in Fear'' is a 1944 American film starring Otto Kruger.
The film was known as ''America's Children''. Filming was announced in August 1943. Otto Kruger joined the film in March 1944.SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD New York Times 3 ...
'' (1944), ''
Sergeant Mike
''Sergeant Mike'' is a 1944 American drama film directed by Henry Levin, which stars Larry Parks, Jeanne Bates, and Loren Tindall.
Cast list
* Larry Parks as Pvt. Tom Allen
* Jeanne Bates as Terry Arno
* Loren Tindall as Simms
* Jim Bannon as P ...
'' (1944), ''
Together Again'' (1944), ''
Meet Miss Bobby Socks
''Meet Miss Bobby Socks'' is a 1944 American musical comedy film directed by Glenn Tryon and starring Bob Crosby and Lynn Merrick. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on October 12, 1944.
Cast
*Bob Crosby as Don Collins
*Lynn Merrick as He ...
'' (1944), ''
Let's Go Steady'' (1944), ''
Ten Cents a Dance'' (1945), and ''
A Thousand and One Nights'' (1945). Some of these were "B" movies but others (''Thousand and One Nights'') were more prestigious. Ferrer directed ''
The Girl of the Limberlost
''The Girl of the Limberlost'' is a 1945 American drama film starring Ruth Nelson, Dorinda Clifton, and Loren Tindall, and directed by Mel Ferrer. The film is based on a 1909 novel by Gene Stratton-Porter, which was previously filmed in 1909 as ...
'' (1945), starring
Ruth Nelson.
Broadway
Eventually, he returned to Broadway, where he starred in ''
Strange Fruit'' (1945–46), a play based on the novel by
Lillian Smith. It was directed by
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...
(no relation). He then directed José Ferrer in the 1946 stage production of ''
Cyrano de Bergerac
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...
''.
He worked as an assistant on ''
The Fugitive'' (1947), directed by John Ford in Mexico. Along with
Gregory Peck,
Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actre ...
and
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and '' Sab ...
, he founded the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
.
Screen actor
Ferrer made his screen acting debut with a starring role in ''
Lost Boundaries
''Lost Boundaries'' is a 1949 American film starring Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer (in his first leading role), and Susan Douglas Rubeš. Directed by Alfred L. Werker, it is based on William Lindsay White's story of the same title, a nonfiction ...
'' (1949), playing a black person who
passes for white. The film was controversial but much acclaimed.
Howard Hughes' RKO Studios
Ferrer had a supporting role in ''
Born to Be Bad'' (1950) at
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
, directed by
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film '' Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features p ...
. At that studio, he directed
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...
in ''
The Secret Fury
''The Secret Fury'' is a 1950 American psychological thriller film noir directed by Mel Ferrer and starring Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan and Jane Cowl.
Plot
A wealthy classical pianist, Ellen, is accused of already being married when she atte ...
'' (1950) and directed or co-directed ''
Vendetta
Vendetta may refer to:
* Feud or vendetta, a long-running argument or fight
Film
* ''Vendetta'' (1919 film), a film featuring Harry Liedtke
* ''Vendetta'' (1950 film), an American drama produced by Howard Hughes
* ''Vendetta'' (1986 film), a ...
'' (1950), ''
The Racket'' (1951) and ''
Macao
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
'' (1952). He starred as a bullfighter in ''
The Brave Bulls
''The Brave Bulls'' (aka ''Toros Bravos'' and ''The Brave Bulls, A Novel'') is a 1949 Western novel written by Tom Lea (his first) about the raising of bulls, on the ranch Las Astas, for bullfighting in Mexico.
Las Astas is based on the real ...
'' (1951) for
Robert Rossen
Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades.
His 1949 film '' All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Be ...
at Columbia. Ferrer fought with
Arthur Kennedy over
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
in ''
Rancho Notorious'' (1952), directed by
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
at RKO.
MGM
Ferrer went to MGM, replacing
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentine-American actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.
Biography Argentina
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos was born in Buenos Aires, Ar ...
as the villain in ''
Scaramouche
Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...
'' (1952). The film, particularly notable for a long, climactic sword fight between Ferrer and
Stewart Granger, was a huge hit. The studio kept him on for ''
Lili
''Lili'' is a 1953 American film released by MGM. It stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets. The film won the Academy Award for ...
'' (1953) as the title character (played by
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French-American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. She is one ...
)'s love interest. It was another big success; Ferrer and Caron also got a hit single out of it, "Hi-Lili-Hi-Lo". ''
Saadia
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
'' (1953), which Ferrer made with
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...
, was a flop, but ''
Knights of the Round Table
The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...
'' (1954), in which Ferrer played King Arthur, was another hit. Ferrer met actress
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
at a party; she wanted to do a play together. They appeared in ''Ondine'' (1954) on Broadway and wed in 1954.
Europe
Ferrer went to Italy to make ''
Proibito'' (1954) and to England for ''
Oh... Rosalinda!!'' (1955), directed by
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. ...
. Neither film was widely seen, but ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' (1956) was a big success; Ferrer played Prince Andrei, co-starring with then-wife Audrey Hepburn. In France, he co-starred with
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
in ''
Elena and Her Men'' (1956), directed by
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
.
United States
Ferrer and Hepburn made ''
Mayerling
Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in t ...
'' (1957) for American television; it was released theatrically in some countries. Ferrer returned to MGM to make ''
The Vintage
''The Vintage'' is a 1957 American crime drama film directed by Jeffrey Hayden and starring Pier Angeli, Mel Ferrer, John Kerr, Michèle Morgan and Theodore Bikel. The screenplay was written by Michael Blankfort, based on a novel by Ursula Kei ...
'' (1957) with
Pier Angeli, which was a big flop. He made two films for
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
: an all-star adaptation of ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the b ...
'' (1957) and ''
Fräulein
''Fräulein'' ( , ) is the German language honorific for unmarried women, comparable to Miss in English and Mademoiselle in French.
Description
''Fräulein'' is the diminutive form of ''Frau'', which was previously reserved only for marrie ...
'' (1958), a war story with
Dana Wynter
Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...
. At MGM, he played one of the last three people on Earth in ''
The World, the Flesh and the Devil'' (1959), another flop. Ferrer went to Italy to star in
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...
's vampire movie ''
Blood and Roses
''Blood and Roses'' (french: Et mourir de plaisir, lit=And die of pleasure) is a 1960 erotic horror film directed by Roger Vadim. It is based on the novella ''Carmilla'' (1872) by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, shifting the book's setting in 1 ...
'' (1960). After an English horror film, ''
The Hands of Orlac ''The Hands of Orlac'' may refer to:
* ''Les Mains d'Orlac'', a novel by Maurice Renard
and several adaptations of that novel:
* The Hands of Orlac (1924 film), ''The Hands of Orlac'' (1924 film), an Austrian film
* The Hands of Orlac (1935 film) ...
'' (1960), he starred in the Italian adventure film ''
Charge of the Black Lancers'' (1962). He was one of several stars in ''
The Devil and the Ten Commandments'' (1962) and ''
The Longest Day'' (1962). He had a cameo in his wife's ''
Paris When It Sizzles
''Paris When It Sizzles'' is a 1964 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine from a screenplay by George Axelrod, based on the 1952 French film ''Holiday for Henrietta'' by Julien Duvivier and Henri Jeanson. The film stars William ...
'' (1964) and was
Marcus Aurelius Cleander
Marcus Aurelius Cleander ( gr, Μᾶρκος Αὐρήλιος Κλέανδρος; died 19 April 190), commonly known as Cleander, was a Roman freedman who gained extraordinary power as chamberlain and favourite of the emperor Commodus, rising ...
in ''
The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964).
Television
Ferrer then turned to television, doing some directing for the series ''
The Farmer's Daughter'' (1963–66) starring
Inger Stevens
Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970) was a Swedish-American film, stage and Golden Globe-winning television actress.
Early life
Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per ...
,
William Windom
William Windom (May 10, 1827January 29, 1891) was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 ...
, and
Cathleen Nesbitt
Cathleen Nesbitt (born Kathleen Mary Nesbitt; 24 November 18882 August 1982) was an English actress.
Biography
Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire,Before 1 April 1974 Birkenhead was in Cheshire England to Thomas and Mary Catherine (née Parry) Nesb ...
. Ferrer had a supporting role in ''
Sex and the Single Girl
''Sex and the Single Girl'' is a 1962 non-fiction book by American writer Helen Gurley Brown, written as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage. The ...
'' (1964). From 1981 to 1984, he appeared opposite
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)["Actress, P ...](_blank)
as Angela Channing's attorney (and briefly her husband),
Phillip Erikson, on ''
Falcon Crest
''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...
'' (as well as directing several episodes). He played a blackmailing reporter in the ''
Columbo'' episode "Requiem for a Fallen Star", starring
Anne Baxter. He appeared opposite
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.
After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...
in an episode of the long-running
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
series, ''
Murder She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series ...
'', and appeared in two television miniseries, ''
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
'' (1986) and ''
Dream West
''Dream West'' is a 1986 American television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and directed by Dick Lowry.
Development
The seven-hour miniseries was broken into three parts (2 hours, 2 hours, and 3 hours). Part 1 aired on Sunday, April 13 ...
'' (1986). Later credits include ''
Eye of the Widow
''Eye of the Widow'' (french: SAS : L'Œil de la veuve) is a 1991 French-American action film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, the last of his career. It was released in France on October 17, 1991, and in the Philippines on October 14, 1992.
Plot ...
'' (1991) and ''
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
'' (1995).
Producer
Ferrer produced and starred in the biopic ''
El Greco'' (1966), playing the
famous painter. He also produced ''
Wait Until Dark
''Wait Until Dark'' is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed on Broadway in 1966 and often revived since then. A Wait Until Dark (film), film version was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year.
Synopsis
Susy Hendrix ...
'' (1967), starring his wife, another big hit.
He and Hepburn divorced in 1968.
Later acting career
Ferrer was mostly a jobbing actor in the 1970s, working much in Italy. Among his credits were ''
A Time for Loving
''A Time for Loving'' is from an original screenplay by the French playwright Jean Anouilh, commissioned by the producer Anatole de Grunwald before he died in 1967, which was finally produced by his younger brother Dimitri de Grunwald with Ch ...
'' (1972); ''
The Antichrist'' (1974) in Italy; ''
Brannigan'' (1974), a crime drama set in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
that starred
John Wayne; ''
Silent Action
''Silent Action'' ( it, La polizia accusa: il Servizio Segreto uccide, lit=The Police Accuse... The Secret Service Kills) is a 1975 Italian ''poliziottesco'' film directed by Sergio Martino.
The film's plot alludes to the Golpe Borghese, a failed ...
'' (1975) and ''
The Suspicious Death of a Minor
''The Suspicious Death of a Minor'' ( it, Morte sospetta di una minorenne), a.k.a. ''Too Young to Die'', is a 1975 Italian ''giallo'' film directed by Sergio Martino.
Plot summary
Police detective Paolo Germi (Claudio Cassinelli) and the mys ...
'' (1975), both for
Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.
Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...
; ''
The Net'' (1975), shot in Germany; ''
The Black Corsair
''The Black Corsair'' is an 1898 adventure novel written by Italian novelist Emilio Salgari. Set in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, the novel narrates the exploits of Emilio Roccanera, Lord of Ventimiglia and his attempts to ave ...
'' (1976), an Italian swashbuckler; ''
Gangbuster'' (1977) in Italy; ''
The Pyjama Girl Case
''La ragazza dal pigiama giallo'' (Italian for ''The Girl in the Yellow Pyjamas'') is a 1977 Italian giallo film directed by Flavio Mogherini, distributed internationally as ''The Pyjama Girl Case''.
Film information
The film is based on a real ...
'' (1977); ''
Seagulls Fly Low'' (1977).
In the U.S., he was in ''
Hi-Riders
''Hi-Riders'' is a 1978 action film written and directed by Greydon Clark.
Plot
Mark and Lynn (Darby Hinton and Diana Peterson) are drawn into acts of hatred and revenge after trying to collect on a bet with a "Hi-Rider," a drag-racing car c ...
'' (1978), ''
The Norseman'' (1978), ''
Guyana: Crime of the Century'' (1979), and ''
The Fifth Floor'' (1979). In 1979, he portrayed Dr. Brogli in an episode of ''
Return of the Saint
''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian bro ...
''. In Europe, he was in ''
The Visitor'' (1979), ''
Island of the Fishmen'' (1980), ''
Nightmare City
''Nightmare City'' ( it, Incubo sulla città contaminata: released in the United States as ''City of the Walking Dead'') is a 1980 science-fiction horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film stars Hugo Stiglitz as a television news reporter ...
'' (1980), ''
The Great Alligator River
''The Great Alligator River'', originally ''Il fiume del grande caimano'' and also known as ''Alligators'', ''Caiman'', ''Big Alligator River'' and ''The Big Caimano River'', is a 1979 Italian adventure film directed by Sergio Martino. In the film, ...
'' (1980) and ''
Eaten Alive!
''Eaten Alive!'' ( it, Mangiati vivi!) is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film is about a young woman (Janet Agren) who is searching for her sister after her abduction by a cult in the jungles of New Guinea.
Synopsis
A ...
'' (1980). He went to Germany for ''
Lili Marleen
"Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...
'' (1981). He worked in two of Spanish actress
Marisol's film vehicles: ''
Cabriola
''Cabriola'' is a 1965 Spanish musical comedy film starring Marisol and Ángel Peralta Pineda. It was written and directed by Mel Ferrer
Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and ...
'' and ''
La 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 the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
at 6268 Hollywood Blvd.
Personal life
Ferrer married five times, to four women, with whom he had six children. His wives were:
# Frances Gunby Pilchard, his first and third wife, an actress who became a sculptor. They married in 1937, and divorced in 1939 after having one child together, who died before their divorce.
# Barbara C. Tripp, whom Ferrer married in 1940 and later divorced. They had two children: daughter Mela Ferrer (born 1943) and son Christopher Ferrer (born 1944).
# Frances Gunby Pilchard, for the 2nd time; they remarried in 1944, and divorced in 1953, after having two more children together: Pepa Philippa Ferrer (born 1941, conceived during his marriage with Tripp) and Mark Young Ferrer (born 1944).
#
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
, to whom he was married from 1954 until 1968. They had one son,
Sean Hepburn Ferrer (born 1960).
# Elizabeth , from Belgium, to whom he was married from 1971 to his death in 2008.
[
Before his marriage to Elizabeth Soukhotine in 1971, Ferrer had a relationship with 29-year-old interior designer ]Tessa Kennedy
Tessa Georgina Kennedy (born 6 December 1938) is a British interior designer, whose clients include multi-national corporations, royalty, celebrities and many European hotels, restaurants and clubs. Her elopement with society portrait painter D ...
.
Besides English, Ferrer was also fluent in Spanish and French.
Death
A resident of Carpinteria, California, Ferrer died of heart failure at a convalescent home in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
on June 2, 2008, at age 90.
Filmography
Actor
Film
Television
Director
Dialogue coach
Radio
Notes
References
External links
Mel Ferrer, a Reluctant Movie Star, Dies at 90
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Mel
1917 births
2008 deaths
American male film actors
American male stage actors
Male actors from New Jersey
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
American people of Cuban descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Spanish descent
People from Long Branch, New Jersey
People with polio
People from Carpinteria, California
20th-century American male actors
Canterbury School (Connecticut) alumni
American male television actors
American film producers
American theatre directors
American film directors
American television directors