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Melchor Gastón FerrerSome sources spell his first name as MELCHIOR but this is incorrect based on Ferrer's records at Princeton University. Also he was named for his paternal grandfather, Melchor Ferrer. And the name MELCHOR G. FERRER was used on the cover of Tito's Hats, a children's book that Ferrer wrote in 1940.Ancestry Library Edition (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on before scoring notable film hits with Scaramouche (1952), Lili (1953), and Knights of the Round Table (also 1953) . He starred opposite his wife, actress , in War and Peace (1956) and produced her film Wait Until Dark (1967).

Beginning in the 1970s, Ferrer acted extensively in Italian films and appeared in several , including The Antichrist (1974), The Black Corsair (1976) and (1980). He was also a co-founder of the La Jolla Playhouse.


Early life
Ferrer was born in Elberon, New Jersey, of Spanish and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer (December 3, 1857 – February 23, 1920), was born in , , of Spanish ancestry. José was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. 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),"Weddings: Ferrer-O'Donohue", The New York Times, October 19, 1910. 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 , Irene Ferrer (as she was known) was named in 1934 as the New York State chairman of the Citizens Committee for Sane Liquor Laws. Mel's parents married on October 17, 1910, in New York.

His mother's family, the O'Donohues, were prominent . One of his aunts, Marie Louise O'Donohue, was named a , while another aunt, Teresa Riley O'Donohue, a leading figure in American Roman Catholic charities and welfare organizations, was granted permission by Pope Pius XI 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 at 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 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 . She died at 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) and Canterbury Prep School in Connecticut. He attended Princeton University until his sophomore year, when he dropped out to devote more time to acting.

He worked as an editor of a small newspaper and wrote the children's book Tito's Hats (Garden City Publishing, 1940).


Career

Early theatre work
Ferrer began acting in 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."M.G. Ferrer Wins Prize Play Award", The New York Times, March 3, 1937, p. 27 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, 's You Never Know and Everywhere I Roam. After a bout with , 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 as a director, along with several other "potentials" who began as dialogue directors: Fred Sears, , Henry Levin and Robert Gordon.

Among the films he worked on were Louisiana Hayride (1944), They Live in Fear (1944), (1944), Together Again (1944), Meet Miss Bobby Socks (1944), Let's Go Steady (1944), Ten Cents a Dance (1945), and A Thousand and One Nights (1945). Some were "B" movies but others ( Thousand and One Nights) were more prestigious. Ferrer directed The Girl of the Limberlost (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 (no relation). He then directed José Ferrer in the 1946 stage production of Cyrano de Bergerac. He worked as an assistant on The Fugitive (1947), directed by John Ford in Mexico. Along with , and , he founded the La Jolla Playhouse in .


Screen actor
Ferrer made his screen acting debut with a starring role in (1949), playing a black person who passes for white. The film was controversial and much acclaimed.


Howard Hughes's RKO Studios
Ferrer had a supporting role in Born to Be Bad (1950) at , directed by . At that studio, he directed Claudette Colbert in The Secret Fury (1950) and directed or co-directed Vendetta (1950), The Racket (1951), and Macao (1952). He starred as a bullfighter in The Brave Bulls (1951) for at Columbia. Ferrer fought with over in (1952), directed by at RKO.


MGM
Ferrer went to MGM, replacing as the villain in Scaramouche (1952). The film, particularly notable for a long, climactic sword fight between Ferrer and , was a huge hit. The studio kept him on for Lili (1953) as the title character (played by )'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 with , was a flop, but Knights of the Round Table (1954), in which Ferrer played King Arthur, was another hit. Ferrer met actress at a party; she wanted to do a play together. They appeared in Ondine (1954) on Broadway, and married in Switzerland in September 1954.


Europe
Ferrer went to Italy to make (1954) and to England for Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955), directed by Powell and Pressburger. Neither film was widely seen, but War and Peace (1956) was a big success; Ferrer played Prince Andrei, co-starring with then-wife Audrey Hepburn. In France, he co-starred with in Elena and Her Men (1956), directed by .


United States
Ferrer and Hepburn made Mayerling (1957) for American television; it was released theatrically in some countries. Ferrer returned to MGM to make (1957) with , which was a big flop. He made two films for 20th Century Fox: an all-star adaptation of The Sun Also Rises (1957) and Fräulein (1958), a war story with . 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 's vampire movie Blood and Roses (1960). After an English horror film, The Hands of Orlac (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 (1964) and was Marcus Aurelius Cleander 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 , William Windom, and . Ferrer had a supporting role in Sex and the Single Girl (1964). From 1981 to 1984, he appeared opposite as Angela Channing's attorney (and briefly her husband), , on (as well as directing several episodes). He played a blackmailing reporter in the episode "Requiem for a Fallen Star", starring . He appeared opposite in an episode of the long-running series, Murder She Wrote, and appeared in two television miniseries, Peter the Great (1986) and (1986). Later credits include Eye of the Widow (1991) and Catherine the Great (1995).


Producer
Ferrer produced and starred in the biopic El Greco (1966), playing the . He also produced Wait Until Dark (1967), starring his wife, another big hit.

He and Hepburn divorced in 1968.


Later acting career and European films
Ferrer was mostly a jobbing actor in the 1970s, working much in Italy. Among his credits were A Time for Loving (1972); The Antichrist (1974) in Italy; Brannigan (1974), a crime drama set in that starred ; (1975) and The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975), both for ; 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 in (1978), (1978), (1979), and The Fifth Floor (1979). In 1979, he portrayed Dr. Brogli in an episode of Return of the Saint. In Europe, he was in The Visitor (1979), Island of the Fishmen (1980), (1980), The Great Alligator River (1980) and Eaten Alive! (1980). He went to Germany for Lili Marleen (1981). He worked in two of Spanish actress Marisol's film vehicles: 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 at 6268 Hollywood Blvd.


Personal life
Ferrer married five times, to four women, with whom he had six children. His wives were:
  1. Frances Gunby Pilchard, his first and third wife, an actress who became a sculptor."Catharsis", Time, February 10, 1941 They married in 1937, and divorced in 1939 after having one child together, who died before their divorce.
    (2001). 9781101127780, Penguin. .
  2. Barbara C. Tripp, whom Ferrer married in 1940 and later divorced. They had two children: daughter Mela Ferrer and son Christopher Ferrer.
  3. Frances Gunby Pilchard, for the 2nd time; they remarried in 1944, and later divorced, after having two more children together: Pepa Philippa Ferrer, who was conceived during his marriage with Tripp, and Mark Young Ferrer.
  4. , to whom he was married from 1954 until 1968. They had one son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer.
  5. Elizabeth Soukhotine, 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 .

(2025). 9780425182123, Penguin Publishing.
(2025). 9781853755149, Prion.


Death
A resident of Carpinteria, California, Ferrer died of heart failure at a convalescent home in Santa Barbara, California on June 2, 2008, at age 90.


Filmography

Film

Actor
1947The FugitiveFather SerraUncredited
1949Scott Mason Carter
1950Born to Be BadGobby
1951The Brave BullsLuis Bello
1952Frenchy Fairmont
ScaramoucheNoel, Marquis de Maynes
1953LiliPaul Berthalet
Knights of the Round Table
SaadiaHenrik
1954Don Paolo Salinas
1955Oh... Rosalinda!!Capt. Alfred Westerman
1956War and PeacePrince Andrei Bolkonsky
Elena and Her MenHenri de Chevincourt
1957Giancarlo Barandero
The Sun Also RisesRobert Cohn
1958FräuleinMaj. Foster MacLain
1959The World, the Flesh and the DevilBenson Thacker
1960Blood and RosesLeopoldo De Karnstein
L'Homme à femmesGeorges Gauthier
The Hands of OrlacStephen Orlac
1961Mirko
1962Charge of the Black LancersAndrea Di Tula
The Devil and the Ten CommandmentsPhilip AllanSegment: "Luxurieux point ne seras"
The Longest DayMaj. General Robert Haines
Marco Polo Unfinished
1963CharadeMan Smoking Cigarette in NightclubUncredited
1964Paris When It SizzlesCostume Party Jekyll & Hyde
The Fall of the Roman EmpireCleander
Sex and the Single GirlRudy
Juan Bautista de La Salle
1966El Greco
1967Wait Until DarkRadio Announcer (voice)Uncredited
1972A Time for LovingDr. Harrison
1973Dalton Harvey
1974The AntichristMassimo Oderisi
1975BranniganFields
District Attorney Mannino
The Suspicious Death of a MinorPolice Superintendent
The NetAurelio Morelli
1976Harvey Wood
The Black CorsairVan Gould
1977GangbusterPeseti, the Boss
1978Seagulls Fly LowRoberto Micheli
The Pyjama Girl CaseProfessor Henry Douglas
Sheriff
King Eurich
Colonel Stone
The Fifth FloorDr. Sidney Coleman
Vera's husband
1979ScreamersRadcliffeU.S. cut only
The VisitorDr. Walker
The Great Alligator RiverJoshua
1980Eaten Alive!Professor Carter
General Murchison
1981Lili MarleenDavid Mendelsson
Sheriff
1982A Thousand Billion DollarsCornelius A. Woeagen
Stephan Mathiesen
1984A Soft SunsetFranz Bollenstein
1991Eye of the WidowFrankenheimer


Filmmaking credits
1944Louisiana Hayride As dialogue coach
They Live in Fear
Together Again
Meet Miss Bobby Socks
1945Let's Go Steady
Ten Cents a Dance
A Thousand and One Nights
The Girl of the Limberlost Directorial Debut
1947The Fugitive As directorial assistant
1950The Secret Fury
Vendetta Replaced
1951The Racket Uncredited; directed additional scenes
1952Macao Uncredited; directed one day of reshoots
1959Green Mansions
1965 Also writer
1966El Greco
1967Wait Until Dark
1971The Night Visitor
1972Embassy


Television

Actor
1953–1954OmnibusChairman of the Board / Jeff Talbot2 episodes
1957Producers' ShowcaseCrown Prince RudolphEpisode: "Mayerling"
ITV Play of the Week Episode: "Lost Boundaries"
1959Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheatreMarshal Monty ElstrodeEpisode: "The Ghost"
Rendezvous Episode: "London in the Spring"
1963Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler TheatrePeter CarringtonEpisode: "The Fifth Passenger"
1973Jerry ParksEpisode: "Requiem for a Falling Star"
CarolaGen. Franz von ClodiusTelevision film
TenaflyCharlie RushEpisode: "Pilot"
SearchJohn RickmanEpisode: "Suffer My Child"
1974Police StoryDr. RossEpisode: "Wyatt Earp Syndrome"
Marcus Welby, M.D.CarloEpisode: "Designs"
1976Ellery QueenBrandon ChildsEpisode: "The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger"
Origins of the MafiaArmando Della MorraEpisode: "La legge"
1977Hawaii Five-OEmil Radick / Father Neill2 episodes
Alex KramerEpisode: "Everybody Pays the Fare"
The Fantastic JourneyAppoloniusEpisode: "Funhouse"
Lanigan's RabbiMike RushmoreEpisode: "In Hot Weather, the Crime Rate Soars"
The New Adventures of Wonder WomanFritz GerlichEpisode: "Anschluss '77"
Logan's RunAnalogEpisode: "Man Out of Time"
Sharon: Portrait of a MistressDavidTelevision film
1978Black BeautyNicholas SkinnerTelevision miniseries
How the West Was WonHale Burton3 episodes
The Return of Captain NemoDr. Robert CookTelevision film
1979Return of the SaintDr. Paolo BrogliEpisode: "Vicious Circle"
Episode: "Who Is the Missing Woman?"
1979–1980DallasHarrison Page2 episodes
1980Top of the HillAndreas HeggenerTelevision film
HagenPooleEpisode: "The Straw Man"
The Memory of Eva RykerDr. SanfordTelevision film
Fugitive FamilyAnthony DuranoTelevision film
1981Behind the ScreenEvan HammerEpisode: "Pilot"
1981–1984Phillip Erikson54 episodes
1982Moriarity / Lord CollingwoodEpisode: "The Case Against Mr. Roarke/Save Sherlock Holmes"
One Shoe Makes It MurderCarl CharnockTelevision film
1984Finder of Lost LovesGeorge MatthewsEpisode: "Forgotten Melodies"
1985SeducedArthur OrloffTelevision film
HotelGarrett Hardy / Anthony Palandrini2 episodes
The Love BoatJack Powers2 episodes
Glitter Episode: "Nightfall"
1985–1989Murder, She WroteMiles Austin / Eric Brahm2 episodes
1986Peter the GreatFrederickTelevision miniseries
Outrage!Judge Michael LengelTelevision film
Judge ElkinsTelevision miniseries
1989Wild Jack Television miniseries
1989–1990Christine CromwellDoctor4 episodes
1995Catherine the GreatPatriarchTelevision film
1998Stories from My Childhood (voice)Episode: "Pinocchio and the Golden Key"


Theatre credits
1939American Landscape Abraham CohenLydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann Arbor
Captain Brassbound's Conversion American Bluejacket
1940Kind Lady Peter StanardPlayhouse Theatre, Broadway
Cue for Passion Reporter, Broadway
1945–46Strange Fruit Tracy Deen
1946–47Cyrano de Bergerac , Broadway
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
1947 La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego
1949Command Decision
The Importance of Being Earnest
Ring Round the Moon
1950
1951The Voice of the Turtle Bill Page
1952Strike a Match
1952–53 U.S. tour
1954Ondine Hans von Wittenstein zu Wittenstein46th St. Theatre, Broadway

Radio credits
1952Hound of Heaven
1953Radio TheaterUndercurrent


Notes

External links

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