José Ferrer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids José Ferrer
Ferrer in 1952
Born	José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (1912-01-08)January 8, 1912 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Died	January 26, 1992(1992-01-26) (aged 80) Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, San Juan
Education	Princeton University (1933, B.Arch)
Occupation	Actor film director theatre director
Years active	1935–1992
Spouse(s)	Uta Hagen ​ ​ (m. 1938; div. 1948)​ Phyllis Hill ​ ​ (m. 1948; div. 1953)​ Rosemary Clooney ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1961)​ ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1967)​ Stella Magee ​ (m. 1977)​
Children	6, including Miguel Ferrer
Relatives	Debby Boone (daughter-in-law) Tessa Ferrer (granddaughter) George Clooney (nephew)
Awards	National Medal of Arts (1985)

José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (born January 8, 1912 – died January 26, 1992) was a famous actor and director. He was from Puerto Rico. José Ferrer was one of the most respected actors of his time. His career lasted almost 60 years, from 1935 to 1992.

He became very well-known for playing the character Cyrano de Bergerac in a play. For this role, he won the very first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1947. He played Cyrano again in a movie version in 1950. For the movie, he won an Academy Award. This made him the first Hispanic actor and the first person born in Puerto Rico to win an Oscar.

José Ferrer also starred in many other important films. These include Joan of Arc (1948), Moulin Rouge (1952), and The Caine Mutiny (1954). He also directed some movies, like I Accuse! (1958). Later in his career, he appeared in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Dune (1984). He was also very active as an actor and director on Broadway. He won another Tony Award for acting in The Shrike. He also won Tony Awards for directing The Shrike, The Fourposter, and Stalag 17.

José Ferrer was the father of actor Miguel Ferrer. He was also the uncle of actor George Clooney. In 1981, he was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1985, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Reagan. He was the first actor to get this special award.

Early life and education

José Ferrer was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father, Rafael Ferrer, was a lawyer and writer. His mother was María Providencia Cintrón. His grandfather, Gabriel Ferrer Hernández, was a doctor who supported Puerto Rico's independence from Spain. José had two younger sisters, Elvira and Leticia.

When José was two years old, his family moved to New York in 1914. He went to a boarding school in Switzerland called Institut Le Rosey. He was good at many languages, including Spanish, English, French, and Italian.

In 1933, Ferrer earned a degree in architecture from Princeton University. He also played piano in a band called "José Ferrer and His Pied Pipers." After Princeton, he studied languages at Columbia University in 1934–35.

Acting and directing career

Early theatre roles

José Ferrer started acting professionally in 1934. His first role was at a "showboat" theater on Long Island. In 1935, he became a stage manager at the Suffern Country Playhouse.

He made his first appearance on Broadway in 1935 in a play called A Slight Case of Murder. He also appeared in other plays like Stick-in-the-Mud (1935) and Spring Dance (1936). His first big success was in Brother Rat (1936–38), which ran for a long time.

He had another successful role in Mamba's Daughters (1939). Then he was in Key Largo (1939–40) with Paul Muni. José Ferrer had a huge personal success in Charley's Aunt (1940–41). He even played part of the role in women's clothing.

Directing and Cyrano success

Ferrer started directing on Broadway with Vickie (1942), where he also acted. He played Iago in a famous Broadway show of Othello (1943–44). Paul Robeson played Othello, and Ferrer's wife, Uta Hagen, played Desdemona. This production of Othello holds the record for the longest-running Shakespeare play in the United States.

Paul Robeson (Othello) and Ferrer (Iago) in the 1943 Broadway production of Othello

José Ferrer is best remembered for his role as Cyrano de Bergerac in the play of the same name. He first played Cyrano on Broadway in 1946. The show was a big hit, and Ferrer won the first-ever Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. On January 9, 1949, Ferrer played Cyrano on television for the first time.

First films and film stardom

Ferrer made his first movie in 1948. It was a colorful film called Joan of Arc. He played the weak King Charles VII. His acting earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

He then appeared in Whirlpool (1950) and Crisis (1950).

Ferrer in costume as Cyrano de Bergerac

Ferrer then played the main role in the movie Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). For this role, he won the Best Actor Oscar. He gave his Oscar award to the University of Puerto Rico.

Back on Broadway, Ferrer directed and starred in a show called Twentieth Century (1950–51). He also directed the very popular plays Stalag 17 (1951–52) and The Fourposter (1951–53).

He returned to movies in the comedy Anything Can Happen (1952). He also played the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the movie Moulin Rouge (1952).

Ferrer directed and starred in The Shrike (1952) on Broadway. He also directed My Three Angels (1953–54), which was very successful.

He had another movie hit with Miss Sadie Thompson (1953).

Ferrer as Lieutenant Barney Greenwald in The Caine Mutiny, released in 1954

In 1954, he starred in The Caine Mutiny. He played a defense lawyer named Barney Greenwald. This movie was a huge success. He also played Sigmund Romberg in Deep in My Heart (1955).

Directing films

José Ferrer started directing movies with The Shrike (1955), where he also acted. He went to England to direct and star in a war film called The Cockleshell Heroes (1955). This movie was popular in Britain.

He also wrote, directed, and starred in The Great Man (1956). He directed and starred in two more films for MGM: I Accuse! (1958), where he played Captain Alfred Dreyfus, and The High Cost of Loving (1958).

In 1958, Ferrer narrated a children's album called Tubby the Tuba. It was nominated for a Grammy Award. He also directed the play The Andersonville Trial (1959–60), which was a hit.

Later career

Ferrer directed two more films for 20th Century Fox: Return to Peyton Place (1961) and State Fair (1962).

He had a small but important role in the very successful movie Lawrence of Arabia (1962). He said this was his best performance on screen. He also appeared in Nine Hours to Rama (1963).

Ferrer returned to Broadway to star in the musical The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963–64). He also narrated the first episode of the TV show Bewitched in 1964.

He appeared in the French film Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964), playing Cyrano again. In Hollywood, he played Herod Antipas in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He was also in Ship of Fools (1965).

A very important role in his later stage career was playing Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote in the musical Man of La Mancha. Ferrer took over the role in 1966 and toured with the show.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ferrer appeared in many TV shows and movies. Some of these include The Big Bus (1976), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Sentinel (1977), and Fedora (1978). He also voiced Ben Haramed in The Little Drummer Boy (1968).

In 1980, he played Justice Abe Fortas in the TV movie Gideon's Trumpet. He also appeared in Dune (1984) as Emperor Shaddam IV. From 1982 to 1985, he was the artistic director of the Coconut Grove Theatre in Miami.

Ferrer made his last appearance as Cyrano by performing a short part of the play for the 1986 Tony Awards TV show. He also had a recurring role as Julia Duffy's father in the TV series Newhart.

His final performances included roles in Old Explorers (1990) and The Perfect Tribute. He was cast in a Broadway play in 1991 but had to leave due to poor health.

Legacy and family

• José Ferrer was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award.
• In 2005, a special award for Hispanic actors was renamed the HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Award in his honor.
• He was recognized for his work in theater and film by being inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He also received the National Medal of Arts.
• His sons Rafael Ferrer and Miguel Ferrer, his daughter Letty Ferrer, and his granddaughter Tessa Ferrer all became actors.
• Ferrer donated his Academy Award to the University of Puerto Rico. Sadly, the award was stolen in 2000.
• On April 26, 2012, the United States Postal Service released a stamp in Ferrer's honor.

Personal life

José Ferrer was married five times and had six children.

• He married Uta Hagen in 1938. They had one daughter, Leticia. They divorced in 1948.
• He married Phyllis Hill in 1948. They divorced in 1953.
• He married Rosemary Clooney in 1953. They had five children: Miguel, Maria, Gabriel, Monsita, and Rafael. They divorced in 1961.
• Ferrer and Clooney remarried in 1964 but divorced again in 1967.
• He married Stella Magee in 1977. They stayed together until his death in 1992.

Through his marriage to Rosemary Clooney, José Ferrer was the uncle of actor George Clooney. He was also the father-in-law to singer Debby Boone and the grandfather of actress Tessa Ferrer.

Death

José Ferrer died from colorectal cancer in Coral Gables, Florida, on January 26, 1992. He was 80 years old. He was buried in Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: José Ferrer (actor) para niños

• Miguel Ferrer