Jose Ferrer

About Jose Ferrer

Protean Broadway actor-director-producer whose noteworthy stage performances include Iago to Paul Robeson's "Othello" (1942), a Tony-winning "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1946) and the prince in the Noel Coward musical, "The Girl Who Came to Supper" (1964).

Ferrer made his Hollywood debut in "Joan of Arc" (1948) and, thanks to his sonorous voice and urbane manner, excelled at playing pedants and snobs, like the pompous Nazi professor in Mel Brooks's 1983 remake of "To Be or Not to Be". He proved his versatility, though, as the murderous hypnotist in "Whirlpool" (1949), the defending officer in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), the sadistic Turkish bey in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and the ham actor in "Enter Laughing" (1966).

Ferrer's work as a film director has been generally undistinguished, one exception being his scathing look at the TV industry, "The Great Man" (1956). He was married to actress Uta Hagen (1938-48) and singer Rosemary Clooney (1953-66), and his son is character actor Miguel Ferrer.

Partners

Wife

Phyllis Hill. married on June 19, 1948, just days after his divorce from Uta Hagen; divorced in July 1953; died on January 1, 1993 at age 72; daughter of actor Peggy Johnson Hill

Wife

Uta Hagen. Married on December 8, 1938; divorced in June 1948; wrote books including "Respect for Acting"; had one daughter together

Wife

Rosemary Clooney. married on July 13, 1953; divorced in 1962; remarried in 1963; divorced a second time in 1966; had five children together; noted pop songstress of the 1950s; made comeback on TV and nightclubs in the 1980s

Wife

Stella Daphne Magee. fourth wife

Education

Princeton University, Princeton , New Jersey

Career Milestones

Organized a successful cruise ship band, the Pied Pipers, while a college student

Recorded hit duets, "Man" and "Woman" with Rosemary Clooney in the mid-1950s

1918

First visited the United States for an operation on his palate; family later moved to the USA when he was six

1934

Made professional debut on a showboat on Long Island

1935

Broadway debut in "A Slight Case of Murder"

1935

Joined Joshua Logan's Suffern (New York) stock company as assistant stage manager

1940

First major stage role in Broadway revival of "Charley's Aunt"

1941

Broadway directing debut, Marcel Pagnol's "Topaz"

1942

Played Iago to Paul Robson's Othello on Broadway

1945

Broadway producing debut, "Strange Fruit" (also director)

1945

Turned down lead in Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend"

1946

Film debut as narrator of short, "Bolivia"

1948

Film acting debut (feature) in "Joan of Arc"

1949

Starred in TV version of his 1947 stage triumph, "Cyrano de Bergerac"; also starred in 1950 film version

1955

Film directing debut, "The Shrike" (also actor)

1958

Co-writing debut, "Oh, Captain" on Broadway (also director)

1990

Final stage performance opposite Mandy Patinkin in the RSC's musical "Born Again" (based on Ionesco's "Rhinoceros")

1990

Last American stage appearance at the Paper Mill Playhouse's revival of the Harold Rome musical "Fanny" in Millburn, New Jersey

1991

Planned to return to Broadway in the spring of 1992 to star opposite Judd Hirsch in Herb Gardner's "Conversations with My Father"; forced to bow out due to illness