José Ferrer

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José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992), also known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor and theatre and film director.

He was the first Puerto Rican-born actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor to receive an Academy Award (in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac). Ferrer received the Tony Award for his role as Cyrano de Bergerac in 1947, and he received the Outstanding Director Award for directing the plays The Shrike, The Fourposter, and Stalag 17. Ferrer's contributions to American theater were recognized in 1981, when he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

He received the National Medal of Arts from Ronald Reagan in 1985, becoming the first actor to be given the award.

Early life

Ferrer was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Mara Providencia Cintrón, a small coastal town in Puerto Rico, and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer from San Juan. He was Gabriel Ferrer Hernández's grandson, a physician and promoter of Puerto Rican independence from Spain. Elvira and Leticia were his two younger sisters.

In 1914, the family immigrated to New York. Ferrer attended Institut Le Rosey, a Swiss boarding school.

Ferrer completed his bachelor's degree in architecture at Princeton University in 1933, where he wrote his senior thesis on "French Naturalism and Pardo Bazán." Ferrer, a member of Princeton Triangle Club, played piano in a band called "José Ferrer and His Pied Pipers." Ferrer then studied Romance languages at Columbia University from 1934 to 1935.

Personal life

Ferrer was married five times and had six children

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Career

Ferrer's first professional appearance as an actor was at a "showboat" theater on Long Island in 1934.

Ferrer, 1935, was the stage manager of the Suffern Country Playhouse, which was operated by Joshua Logan, whom Ferrer knew at Princeton. Ruth Gordon and Helen Hayes recommended Jed Harris to Jed Harris.

Ferrer made his Broadway debut in 1935 in A Slight Case of Murder, which lasted 69 performances.

He may also be seen in Stick-in-the-Mud (1935) and Spring Dance (1936). Brother Rat (1936-38), Ferrer's first big success, attracted 577 performances. Only three appearances were granted in Clover. How to Get Tough About It (1938) — This was for a short run as well as the Missouri Legend (1938).

The Daughters of Mamba (1939) appeared in 163 productions. Ferrer followed it with Key Largo (1939–40) with Paul Muni and directed by Guthrie McClintic, which went for 105 shows and was later turned into a film.

Ferrer had a major success in the title role of Charley's Aunt (1940-41), who was partially dragging under Joshua Logan's direction. It was a success with 233 performances.

Danny Kaye was later removed from Ferrer's musical Let's Face It! (1943): In this period, 1943 to 1944.

Ferrer made his Broadway debut as director with Vickie (1942), in which he also appeared. It was only for a short time.

In Margaret Webster's Broadway performance of Othello (1943–44), he played Emilia, Webster as Emilia, and Ferrer's wife, Uta Hagen, as Desdemona. That performance also holds the record for the longest-running repeat performance of a Shakespearean play in the United States, having sold out in 296 shows (it will be revived in 1945).

Ferrer produced and directed, but did not appear in Strange Fruit (1945-46), starring Mel Ferrer (no relation).

Ferrer starred as detective Philo Vance in a 1945 series of the same name in addition to other radio appearances.

Ferrer may be best known for his appearance in Cyrano de Bergerac's title role, which he first appeared on Broadway in 1946. Ferrer was concerned that the play would be a failure in rehearsals due to director Mel Ferrer's open dislike for the role (no relation), so he brought Joshua Logan (who had staged his role in Charley's Aunt) to assist as "play doctor" for the project. Logan said he had to eliminate parts of company that director Ferrer had inserted in his production; they presumably were supposed to sabotage the more sentimental elements of the play, which the director deemed out of place and in bad taste. Ferrer received his first Best Actor Tony Award for his portrayal of the long-nosed poet/swordsman.

Ferrer helmed, but did not appear in As We Forgive Our Debtors (1947), which had five performances, but did not appear in As We Forgive Our Debtors (1947). Volpone (1947), which Ferrer adapted and interpreted in a short run, had another short run.

Ferrer appeared in Joan of Arc (1948) as the poor-willed Dauphin opposite Ingrid Bergman as Joan. Ferrer's appearance earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He appeared in revivals of Angel Street (1948) and The Alchemist (1948) and directed S. S. Glencairn (1948) and The Insect Comedy (1948) (also appearing in the latter).

Ferrer had another Broadway hit with The Silver Whistle (1948–49), which had 219 performances. Cyrano, playing the title role, and an adaptation of What Makes Sammy Run? (adapted by Paddy Chayefsky) appeared on television in 1949. He appeared on television twice for The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse: Cyrano, playing Sammy Glick.

Ferrer returned to Hollywood to star in Otto Preminger's Whirlpool (1950), favoring Gene Tierney and Richard Brooks' (1950), opposite Cary Grant.

Ferrer appeared in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), directed by Michael Gordon and produced by Stanley Kramer, before being named in the title role. Ferrer received the Best Actor Award. The film was well attended, but it was losing money. Ferrer donated the Oscar to the University of Puerto Rico, but it was later stolen in 2000.

Ferrer performed in Twentieth Century (1950–51), which he directed and starred in, opposite Gloria Swanson; it was a total of 233 performances. He produced and directed immediately after, but he did not appear in, Stalag 17 (1951–52), a big hit with 472 performances. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy's performances made The Fourposter (1951-53), his first work; it ran for 632 performances.

Ferrer's film "Any Can Happen (1952), directed by George Seaton, where Ferrer played an immigrant.

In 1952, Moulin Rouge (1952), in which Ferrer appeared in Toulouse-Lautrec under John Huston's direction, was more popular. Ferrer received 40% of the company's earnings.

Ferrer produced and starred in The Shrike (1952), which appeared in 161 performances on Broadway.

His next two shows were only as director: Horton Foote's The Chase (1952) had a short run, but My Three Angels (1953–54), who went to 344 shows, went for 344.

Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) starring Rita Hayworth appeared in another cinema hit, Ferrer's Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). Ferrer briefly revived some of his shows at the City Centre in 1953: Cyrano, The Shrike, Richard III, Charley's Aunt.

With The Caine Mutiny (1954) for Kramer, co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Van Johnson, playing defense lawyer Barney Greenwald, the film was a huge success; he returned to film with The Caine Mutiny (1954) for Kramer (1954). Greenwald's Jewish faith, which was so prominent in the book, informed his opinions of the United States. Caine's cops were overplayed in the film, as Ferrer, a Puerto Rican, was nominally Roman Catholic.

Deep in My Heart (1955), where Ferrer played Sigmund Romberg, was also popular, and the project made more money than $1 million.

Ferrer made his film director debut at Universal with a film version of The Shrike (1955), in which he also appeared opposite June Allyson.

Ferrer then appeared Cyrano in a television episode of Producer's Showcase directed by Mel Ferrer and co-starring Claire Bloom.

He travelled to England to star in and direct a war film for Warwick Productions, The Cockleshell Heroes (1955), alongside Trevor Howard; it was a hit at the British box office.

Ferrer co-wrote, directed, and starred in the film The Great Man (1956), which was released on Universal. I Accuse! He produced and starred in two MGM films: I Accuse! The High Cost of Living (1958) a comedy with Gena Rowlands (1958), where he appeared as Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Both at the box office failed.

Ferrer co-wrote and directed the stage performance Oh, Captain! (1958) with Tony Randall, which was limited to a short run. Edwin Booth (1958), who was starring in the title role, was not a success; it was not a success.

Ferrer narrated Tubby the Tuba, the children's album that had been nominated for the Best Recording For Children at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1958.

Ferrer took over the troubled musical Juno (1959) from Vincent J. Donehue, who had himself taken over from Tony Richardson. After 16 performances and mixed-to-strong critical reaction, the performance, which starred Shirley Booth, collapsed.

However, he continued to direct the original stage production of Saul Levitt's The Andersonville Trial (1959–60), about the trial after learning of the conditions in the notorious Civil War jail. It was a success, and George C. Scott appeared in 179 performances.

Ferrer appeared in television shows in GM and The United States Steel Hour around this period.

Ferrer has signed a 20th Century Fox film producer to direct films. He returned to Peyton Place (1961) and the State Fair (1962), both of which were commercial disappointments.

Ferrer was a key supporter in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962), which was a huge success. Although Ferrer's appearance on camera was only modest, he said it was his best on screen.

In Nine Hours to Rama (1963), he served as an investigating police officer at Fox. He has appeared on The Greatest Show on Earth as a guest.

Ferrer returned to Broadway to perform in No.l Coward's musical The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963–64), which ran for 112 performances.

He narrated the first episode of the famous 1964 sitcom Bewitched in a parody film style.

Ferrer and Sean Flynn joined Stop Train 349 (1963) in Germany. He appeared in Abel Gance's 1964 French film Cyrano et d'Artagnan.

Ferrer played Herod Antipas in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and was in Ship of Fools (1965) for Stanley Kramer.

In the hit musical Man of La Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote had a memorable role during his later stage appearance. Ferrer took over Richard Kiley's role in 1966 and then went on tour with it in the first national company of the show. As he had with Kiley, Tony Martinez continued in the role of Sancho Panza under Ferrer.

Ferrer appeared in Carl Reiner's Enter Laughing (1967) and performed Kismet (1967) on television. He went to Europe to perform Cervantes (1967) and appeared in A Case of Libel (1968) for US television. In the 1968 Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special The Little Drummer Boy, he also performed the voice of the evil Ben Haramed. The IRS sent him a $122,000 tax bill dating back to 1962.

Ferrer appeared in the television films The Aquarians (1970), Gideon (1971), and Crosscurrent (1971), and Banyon (1971).

Ferrer produced The Web and the Rock (1972), Orson Welles Great Mysteries (1973), and Columbo (1973).

Around 1973, he narrated A Touch of Royalty, a documentary about Puerto Rico's baseball star Roberto Clemente's life and death. Ferrer appeared in both Spanish and English.

Ferrer narrated a cartoon version of Cyrano for an episode of The ABC Afterschool Special in 1974.

Ferrer appeared in The Missing Are Dead (1975), Forever Young, Forever Free (1975), The Art of Injuration (1975), Crash! (1977), The Sentinel (1977), Exo-Man (1977), Who Has Seen the Wind (1977), Joltan, Hound of Dracula (1977), Exo-Man (1977), Billy Wilder's Private Files (in the title role), and The Swarm (1978). He appeared on Starsky and Hutch, Tales of the Unexpected, as a guest.

Ferrer narrated the world premiere of Michael Jeffrey Shapiro's A Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 for narrator and orchestra with Martin Rich leading the Philharmonic Symphony of Westchester during the Bicentennial.

Ferrer was a replacement cast member of David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre (1977-78). He produced and appeared in White Pelicans (1978) and directed Carmelina (1979) on stage, but it only ran 17 shows.

He appeared in The Fifth Musketeer (1979), Natural Enemies (1979), The French Atlantic Affair (1979), A Life of Sin (1979), A Life of Sin, a 1979 film starring Puerto Rican filmmaker Efran López Neris, a 1979 film starring Raul Julia, Mriam Colón, and Henry Darrow (1980). On stage in Canada, he appeared as The Merchant.

In 1980, he appeared in the made-for-television film adaptation of Anthony Lewis' Gideon's Trumpet, opposite Henry Fonda in an Emmy-nominated role as Clarence Earl Gideon.

(2000) This Girl for Hire (1981) and Mel Brooks' version of To Be or Not to Be (1983), Battle Creek Brawl (1980), The Dream Merchant (1980), Magnum, P.I., Evita Peron (1981), The Dream Merchants (1980), Peter and Paul (1981), A Midsummer Night (1981), To Be or Not to Be (1983), Robert and Jean (1982), The Being (1981), The Being (1981), A Midsummer Night (1981)

He was the artistic director of the Coconut Grove Theatre in Miami from 1982 to 1985.

She Wrote: He appeared on Quincy, M.E., Another World, Fantasy Island, Hotel, The Love Boat, Bridges to Cross, and Murder.

Ferrer appeared in The Evil That Men Do (1984), Samson and Delilah (1984), and George Washington (1984). He was the Emperor of Dune (1984), and was in Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985), Blood & Orchids (1985), Young Harry Houdini (1986), and The Wind in the Willows (1987).

Ferrer said his goodbyes to Cyrano by a short excerpt from the 1986 Tony Awards telecast.

Ferrer, the original actor to play the character, appeared in the long-running television series Newhart in the 1980s, although she was not the first actor to appear in the film.

In an interview with him in the 1980s, he complained about the lack of good character parts for elderly actors, but confessed that he now played principal roles in the horror potboilers The Swarm, in which he played a doctor and Dracula's Dog, in which he played a police inspector.

Ferrer's final performances include The Sun and the Moon (1987), The American Playhouse ("Strange Interlude"), Mother's Day (1989), Matlock, Hired to Kill (1990), and The Perfect Tribute (1990).

He was in a Broadway production Conversations with My Father (1991), but he was unable to attend due to his illness.

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