JOSE FERRER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Jose Ferrer was born on January 8th, 1912 in Santurce, Puerto Rico with the birth name José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón.  His parents were Maria Providencia Cintron and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer.  He first studied in the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey and then went on to graduate from Princton University.
 
Ferrer first got involved as an actor working on the stage and made his Broadway debut in 1935.  His first starring role on Broadway was in, "Charley's Aunt" followed by the Broadway production of, "Othello" in 1943.  His best remembered Broadway role was in the title role of, "Cyrano de Bergerac" in 1946 which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor. 
 
In 1948, he entered into the film industry with his film debut on, "Joan of Arc" for which he received his first Academy Award nomination,  followed by leading roles in the films, "Whirlpool" (1949) and "Crisis" (1950).  In the 1950's film version of the play, Rostand's Play" playing the same character, Cyrano de Bergerac" for which he had earned a Tony Award back in 1946, he now won the Academy Award for Best Actor.  This made him the first Hispanic actor to ever win an Oscar.   
 
During the mid 1950's he continued to work in the film industry but also returned to work on the stage on occasion.  He began to focus his attention on directing a number of stage productions which included, "Carmelina", "My Three Angels" and "The Andersonville Trial" to name a few.  In 1952 he won a Tony Award for directing three plays, "The Shrike", "Stalag 17" and "The Fourposter".    
 
A well remembered performance from his later stage career was as the character, Miguel de Cervantes in his fictional creation of, Don Quixote in the musical hit, "Man of La Mancha".  Some other well known films he did during the same decade were, " Moulin Rouge" (1952), "Miss Sadie Thompson" (1953) and  "The Caine Mutiny" (1954).  He received his second Best Actor nomination for his role in, "Moulin Rouge". 
 
Ferrer also did some work in radio and television.  One of his radio roles was in 1945 on a series, "Philo Vance" and he narrated the first ever episode of the popular series, "Bewtiched" (1964).  He also had a regular role on the television series, "Newhart" in the 1980's.      
 
Jose Ferrer was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981 and in 1985 was awarded the National Medal of Arts.  As a child he was a very talented pianist and he carried this talent through his adult years, even performing as an opera singer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as well as the Beverly Hills Opera.  
 
He was married a total of five times, but wife number three and four were to the same lady.  He first married Uta Hagen from 1938 through 1948 having one child together.  Marriage number two was from 1948 through 1953 to Phyllis Hill.  His Third and Fourth time to marry was to Rosemary Clooney from 1948 through May 9th, 1962 then marrying again only a year later from 1963 through 1967.  He had five more children with Rosemary.  His fifth and final marriage was to Stella Daphne Magee from 1977 through 1992 when he passed away.  
 
Ferrer passed away on January 26th, 1992 in Coral Gables, Florida following a brief battle with colon cancer.  He is interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan in his native Puerto Rico. 
 

Filmography

1992 Lam Gong juen ji fan fei jo fung wan
1989-1991 Another World
1991 The Perfect Tribute 
1990 Hired to Kill 
1990 Old Explorers 
1989 American Playwrights Theater: The One-Acts 
1989 Mother's Day
1988 Sesame Street 
1988 Strange Interlude
1985-1987 Newhart 
1987 The Wind in the Willows 
1987 Young Harry Houdini 
1987 The Sun and the Moon 
1986 Matlock 
1981-1986 The Love Boat
1986 Blood & Orchids
1986 Bridges to Cross
1985 Covenant 
1985 Seduced 
1985 Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil
1984 Murder, She Wrote
1984 Dune 
1984 George Washington
1984 Samson and Delilah
1984 The Evil That Men Do 
1984 Hotel
1983 To Be or Not to Be 
1983 Fantasy Island
1983 The Being
1983 This Girl for Hire
1983 Blood Feud
1982 Quincy M.E.
1982 Bloodtide 
1982 A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
1981 Bloody Birthday 
1981 Peter and Paul
1981 Berlin Tunnel 21 
1981 Evita Peron
1981 Magnum, P.I.
1980 Pleasure Palace
1980 The Big Brawl 
1980 The Dream Merchants
1971-1980 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1980 Battles: The Murder That Wouldn't Die
1979 The French Atlantic Affair
1979 Natural Enemies 
1979 The Fifth Musketeer
1979 Tales of the Unexpected
1979 The Hughes Mystery 
1979 A Life of Sin 
1978 The Swarm 
1978 Dracula's Dog 
1978 Fedora 
1978 The Return of Captain Nemo 
1977 The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover
1977 Who Has Seen the Wind 
1977 Exo-Man 
1977 The Rhinemann Exchange 
1977 The Sentinel
1977 Crash!
1977 Simple Gifts
1976 Voyage of the Damned
1976 Starsky and Hutch 
1976 Paco
1976 The Big Bus
1976 e'Lollipop
1975 The Art of Crime
1975 Medical Story
1975 Order to Assassinate 
1975 The Missing Are Deadly
1974 ABC Afterschool Specials )
1974 Columbo
1973 Great Mysteries 
1973 Kojak 
1971 Crosscurrent 
1971 Gideon 
1971 Banyon
1970 The Name of the Game 
1970 The Aquarians
1968 The Little Drummer Boy 
1968 A Case of Libel 
1967 Young Rebel 
1967 Kismet
1967 Enter Laughing
1965 Ship of Fools 
1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told
1964 Bewitched
1964 Cyrano et d'Artagnan
1963 The Greatest Show on Earth
1963 Stop Train 349
1963 Nine Hours to Rama 
1962 Lawrence of Arabia 
1961 Return to Peyton Place 
1960 No Place Like Home 
1959 The United States Steel Hour
1959 G.E. True Theater
1958 The High Cost of Loving 
1958 I Accuse! 
1956 The Great Man 
1955 The Cockleshell Heroes 
1955 Producers' Showcase
1955 The Shrike 
1954 Deep in My Heart 
1954 The Caine Mutiny
1953 Miss Sadie Thompson 
1952 Moulin Rouge
1952 Anything Can Happen 
1950 Cyrano de Bergerac 
1950 Crisis 
1950 The Secret Fury 
1949 Whirlpool 
1949 The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
1948 Joan of Arc