Ferrer was born in the town of Elberon Long Branch, New Jersey, in a family of mixed Cuban-Irish descent. His father, Dr. Jose Maria Ferrer (1857-1920), was born in Cuba, had a Spanish pedigree, and was an authority on the treatment of pneumonia, being the chief of staff of the St. Vincent Hospital in New York. His American mother, Mary Matilda Irene (née O'Donoghue, 1878-1967), was the daughter of coffee broker Joseph J. O'Donoghue, the city's New York City Commissioner, founder of the Coffee Exchange. A staunch opponent of Prohibition, the sister of actor Irene Ferrer was elected in 1934 to chair the New York Civil Rights Committee. Among the best works of Ferrera is often called the film "Wait for the Dark" (1967).
Origin and family
Ferrer had two sisters and a brother. His elder sister was Dr. M. Irene Ferrer, a cardiologist and educator known for helping improve her cardiac catheter and electrocardiogram. She died in 2004 in Manhattan, New York, at the age of 89 from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
His brother, Dr. Jose M. Ferrer, born in 1912, was a surgeon. He died in 1982 at the age of 70 after complications of abdominal surgery. His other sister, Theresa (Terry) Ferrer, was the editor of the religion department of the New York Herald Tribune and Newsweek magazines. This family is in no way connected with the actors Jose and Miguel Ferrer, they are only namesakes.
The family of his mother, O'Donoghue, came from Ireland, was distinguished by pronounced Catholic traditionalism. Aunt Mela Ferrera, Maria Louise O'Donoghue, was considered the "papal countess", was a leading figure in American Catholic charitable organizations. At one time, Pope Pius XI even gave permission to install a private chapel in her apartment in New York.
early years
Mel Ferrer received his private education at Bovée School in New York (his classmates included future writer Louis Auchinloss) and the Canterbury Preparatory School in Connecticut, before attending Princeton University before his second year. After the second year, he left the university to devote more time to acting. He also worked as the editor of the small newspaper Vermont, and wrote a children's book, Tito Hats (Garden City Publishing, 1940).
Theatrical period
Actor Mel Ferrer began performing on stage during the summer holidays as a teenager, and in 1937 even won the Theater Intime Award for the best new play written by a student. The play was titled “In the meantime, it’s time to work”, it was played together with a college student, Francis Pilchard, who became Ferrer’s first wife that same year.
At the age of twenty-one, he performed on the Broadway stage as a chorus and dancer, debuting there as an actor two years later. He managed to play in two unsuccessful musicals - “You Never Know” and “Where I Am”.
Start a movie career
His first roles were in the films "The Good Lady" (1940) and Cue for Passion (1940) directed by Otto Preminger.
After fighting polio, Ferrer worked as a disc jockey in Texas and Arkansas and moved to Mexico to work on the Tito Hat novel, published in 1940.
Mel Ferrer later signed a contract with Columbia Pictures as a director, along with several other “promising guys” who also wanted to become directors. Among them were Fred Sears, William Castle, Henry Levine, and Robert Gordon.
Among the films he worked on were the following: “Louisiana Heyrid” (1944), “They Live in Fear” (1944), “Sergeant Mike” (1944), “Together Again” (1944), “Meeting with Miss Bobby Knox "(1944)," Let's move on "(1944)," Ten cents "," Dance "and" A Thousand and One Nights "(1945). Some of them were rated B, but others, such as Thousand and One Nights, were considered more prestigious.
In the end, he returned to Broadway, where he played in the Strange Fruit (1945-46), a play based on the novel by Lillian Smith.
Mel Ferrer worked as an assistant director on the set of the movie "The Fugitive" (1947), shot by John Ford in Mexico. Together with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Joseph Cotten, he founded the Playhouse La Jolla studio in Los Angeles.
Ferrer truly made his screen debut, starring in the Lost Boundaries (1949), playing an African American who runs after white. The film was controversial in terms of artistic value, but was loved by critics and viewers.
Ferrer played a supporting role in the film Born to Be Bad (1950), directed by Nicholas Rey. In the same year, he instructed actress Claudette Colbert during the filming of The Secret Rage (1950), and later helped direct the films Racket (1951) and Macau (1952). Ferrer then starred as a bullfighter in the movie Brave Bulls (1951) for Robert Rossen in Colombia.
Hero Mel Ferrera fought Arthur Kennedy for the heart of Marlene Dietrich in Rancho Notorious (1952) directed by Fritz Lang.
Ferrer moved to MGM Studios, replacing Fernando Lamas as the villain in Scaramush (1952). The film, especially known for its long climactic duel between Ferrer and Stuart Granger, became a cult.
Meeting with Hepburn and further career
Ferrer met Audrey Hepburn at a party, and she wanted to play with him in a theatrical production or film. They played together in Ondine (1954) on Broadway, and later got married.
Ferrer went to Italy to shoot the film Prohibito (1954) and England to work on the film Oh ... Rosalind! (1955) directors Powell and Pressburger. Both films did not become widely known, but War and Peace (1956) was a great success. Ferrer played Prince Andrew, sharing the main roles with his then-wife Audrey Hepburn. In France, he promoted Ingrid Bergman to a leading role in Helen and Her Men (1956) under the leadership of Jean Renoir.
Ferrer and Hepburn wrote the script and directed the Mayerling (1957) film for American television. In some countries, theatrical performances were staged under this scenario.
Ferrer returned to MGM to film Vintage (1957) with actress Pierre Angeli, which was a big failure. He made two films for 20th Century Fox: an adaptation of The Sun Also Rises (1957) and the tape Fräulein (1958) - a military story with Dana Winter in the lead role.
1960s
Ferrer went to Italy to star in the film "Blood and Rose" - a film about vampires filmed by Roger Vadim in 1960. After the English horror film "Hands of Orlak" (1960), he shot the Italian adventure film "Squad of Black Lancers" (1962).
Mel Ferrer joined the acting team to work on the films The Devil, The Ten Commandments (1962) and The Longest Day (1962). Ferrer returned to television, working on the series Farmer's Daughter (1963-1966) with Inger Stevens in the title role. One of his best films, Wait for the Dark (1967), belongs to the same period.
1970s
Ferrer was the most famous director in the 1970s, working a lot in Italy. Among his significant works were Time of Love (1972), Antichrist (1974), Brannigan (1974) and Suspicious Death (1975). He also played a cheeky reporter in an episode of the series Colombo - Requiem for a Fallen Star (starring Anne Baxter).
In America, he played in the films Hi-Riders (1978), The Norseman (1978), Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979) and The Fifth Floor (1979). In 1979, he played Dr. Brogley in the episode "The Return of the Saint."
He also appeared in two films with Marisol, the star of Spanish cinema: Cabriola (as a director) and La chica del molino rojo (as an actor).
1980s and 1990s
He also appeared in the mini-series Peter the Great (1986) and Dream West (1986).
Subsequently, the Eye of the Widow (1991) and Catherine the Great (1995) joined the films of Mel Ferrer. For his contribution to the film industry, the illustrious actor and director has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The personal life of Mel Ferrer
Ferrer was married five times. From four wives he had six children.
Francis Ganby Pilchard is his first and third wife, an actress who became a sculptor. They married in 1937 and divorced in 1939 after their joint child was born. In 1940, he married Barbara C. Tripp, but their marriage did not last long. They had two children - daughter Mela Ferrer (born in 1943) and son Christopher Ferrer (born in 1944). He married his university love and first wife, Francis Ganby Pilchard, for the second time in 1944, but then they divorced again in 1953, after they had “acquired” two more joint children - Pep Philippe Ferrer and Mark Jung Ferrer (born in 1944).
Audrey Hepburn is an actress with whom he was married from 1954 to 1968, she gave him one child - the son of Sean Hepburn-Ferrer (born in 1960). Elizabeth Sukhotin from Belgium, with whom he was married from 1971 until her death in 2008, did not give him children. Prior to his marriage to Elizabeth Sukhotin in 1971, Ferrer also had a relationship with the 29-year-old interior designer Tessa Kennedy.
Death
A resident of Carpinteri, California, Ferrer died of heart failure at his Santa Barbara country house on June 2, 2008. He was 90 years old. The biography of Mel Ferrer reflects the customs and events of the harsh 20th century, which he experienced easily and safely.