Ferrer Jose

A versatile actor with equal success played both on the stage and in films, director and producer of Broadway productions, Jose Ferrer (full name - Jose Vincente Ferrer de Otero and Cintron) was born on January 8, 1909 in Santurce (Puerto Rico). The decision to become a professional actor came to him while studying at Princeton University, and in 1935 he made his Broadway debut. Starting with small roles, Ferrer soon became one of the leading actors, and the range of roles he performed stretched more

A versatile actor with equal success played both on the stage and in films, director and producer of Broadway productions, Jose Ferrer (full name - Jose Vincente Ferrer de Otero and Cintron) was born on January 8, 1909 in Santurce (Puerto Rico). The decision to become a professional actor came to him while studying at Princeton University, and in 1935 he made his Broadway debut. Starting with small roles, Ferrer soon became one of the leading actors, and the range of roles he performed stretched from the main character in the comedy farce “Aunt Charlie” to Iago in Shakespeare’s “Othello”. Ferrer’s multifaceted talent brought him recognition not only of theatrical criticism, but also of the audience. In the early forties he began directing and a decade later, in 1952 he was awarded the Tony Theatre Award for staging three plays in the same season. His first film role was the French Dauphin in the historical drama Joan of Arc (1948, dir. Victor Fleming) with Ingrid Bergman. Participation in this film brought the actor the first Oscar nomination, but Ferrer received the coveted award only three years later, playing Cyrano de Bergerac in the film of the same name directed by Michael Gordon. In the fifties, the actor played his most famous roles - Toulouse-Lautrec in the drama Moulin Rouge (1952, dir. John Huston), dedicated to the life of the outstanding French artist, Lieutenant Greenwald in Kane's Rebellion (1954, dir. Edward Dmitrick) and composer Sigmund Romberg in the musical In the Deep of My Heart (1954). Drawing on his theatrical experience as a director, Ferrer made several films with his own participation: Shrike (1955), Heroes of Tiny Boats, The Great Man (both 1956), I Blame! and The High Price of Love (1958). Of these, the greatest recognition received in something reminiscent of the famous “Citizen Kane” Orson Welles drama “The Great Man”, in which he was engaged not only as an actor and director, but also as a screenwriter-co-author. These films were followed by Return to Peyton Place (1961) and the unsuccessful musical comedy State Fair (1962), which ended Ferrer's directorial career. He continued to play in the theater and act in films until the last days of his life. He was mostly known as a performer of character roles. Among the most famous films in which he had the opportunity to play are “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962, dir. David Lin), “The greatest story ever told” (1965, dir. George Stevens and David Lin), “Fedora” (1978, dir. Billy Wilder), “Sex comedy on a summer night” (1982, Woody Allen), “Dune” (1984, dir. David Lynch). In addition to working in film and theater, he was engaged in television productions of "Gideon's Pipe" and "Blood and Orchids", and also had a regular role in the comedy series "Newmart", which ran in the eighties. During his life, he was married several times, including actress Uta Hagen and popular jazz singer Rosemary Clooney. From his marriage to Clooney he had five children, their first child Miguel Ferrer later became a famous film actor.