José Ferrer's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Another World Reuben Moreno The Danny Kaye Show José Ferrer Bridges to Cross Morris Kane

Main Movie Roles 1984 - Dune 1983 - To Be or Not to Be 1980 - The Big Brawl 1979 - The Fifth Musketeer 1978 - The Swarm 1978 - Dracula's Dog 1977 - The Sentinel 1976 - The Big Bus 1967 - Cervantes 1967 - Enter Laughing 1965 - The Greatest Story Ever Told 1965 - Ship of Fools 1963 - Nine Hours to Rama 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia 1954 - The Caine Mutiny 1954 - Deep in My Heart 1953 - Miss Sadie Thompson 1952 - Moulin Rouge 1950 - Cyrano de Bergerac 1949 - Whirlpool 1948 - Joan of Arc

BIOGRAPHY:

Ferrer was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Maria Providencia Cintron and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer. He studied in the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey.[2] In 1933, he graduated from Princeton University, where he wrote a senior thesis, French Naturalism and Pardo Bazán; he was also a member of the Princeton Triangle Club.Ferrer made his Broadway debut in 1935. In 1940, he played his first starring role on Broadway, the title role in Charley's Aunt, Ferrer had a decade-long first marriage to famed actress and acting teacher Uta Hagen (1938–1948), with whom he had a daughter, Leticia ("Lettie") Ferrer. His second wife was dancer/actress Phyllis Hill (1948–1953). His third marriage was to the singer Rosemary Clooney, actor George Clooney's aunt. The couple had five children: Miguel Jose (born February 7, 1955); Maria P (born August 9, 1956); Gabriel V (born August 1, 1957), Monsita T (born October 13, 1958) and Rafael F (born March 23, 1960). Ferrer and Clooney married in 1953, divorced in 1961, and remarried in 1964, only to divorce again three years later. Their son, Gabriel Ferrer, is married to singer Debby Boone, daughter of Pat and Shirley Boone.
He was the cousin of the tennis player Gigi Fernández.
At the time of his death, he was married to Stella Magee, whom he had met in the late sixties. Ferrer died following a brief battle with colon cancer in Coral Gables, Florida in 1992 and was interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan in his native Puerto Rico.



TRIVIA:

• Shares the distinction with actors 'Fredric March' (qv), 'Helen Hayes (I)' (qv) and 'Ingrid Bergman (I)' (qv) of being the first winners of acting Tony Awards when the annual event was established in 1947
• The producers of the _"Batman" (1966)_ (qv) television series originally wanted him to play The Joker. His nephew, 'George Clooney' (qv), went on to play Batman himself decades later.
• Was writer-director 'Billy Wilder' (qv)'s first choice to play the lead in _The Lost Weekend (1945)_ (qv). The studio wanted 'Cary Grant' (qv) or a comparable matinée idol in the lead. When it became apparent Paramount would not greenlight the film with Ferrer in the part, Wilder gave in and looked for a star, but the role was considered too unsympathetic and was rejected by most of the male stars of the day. Wilder finally cast 'Ray Milland' (qv) in the part. A reluctant Milland, who was ambivalent about taking the part lest it hurt his career, won an Oscar. An actor's actor, Ferrer got his revenge five years later by copping his own Oscar for _Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)_ (qv).
• One of only eight actors to have won both the Tony and the Oscar for the same role on stage and film. The others are 'Yul Brynner' (qv) (_The King and I (1956)_ (qv)), 'Rex Harrison (I)' (qv) (_My Fair Lady (1964)_ (qv)), 'Anne Bancroft (I)' (qv) (_The Miracle Worker (1962)_ (qv)), 'Joel Grey' (qv) (_Cabaret (1972)_ (qv)), 'Paul Scofield (I)' (qv) (_A Man for All Seasons (1966)_ (qv)), 'Shirley Booth' (qv) (_Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)_ (qv)), and 'Jack Albertson' (qv) (_The Subject Was Roses (1968)_ (qv)).
• Former brother-in-law of 'Nick Clooney' (qv).
• He played Iago opposite the Othello of 'Paul Robeson' (qv) in the 1943 Broadway production of "Othello", the longest-running Shakespearean production in the history of Broadway. The record remains unbroken to this day.
• Fluent in both English and Spanish; also had a good knowledge of French.
• Attended Princeton University. There he performed with the Princeton University Triangle Club, whose alumni also include 'James Stewart (I)' (qv), 'F. Scott Fitzgerald' (qv), 'Brooke Shields' (qv) and 'David E. Kelley (I)' (qv).