Theatre (Othello) and Ferrer (Iago) in the 1943
Theatre Guild production of
Othello Ferrer's first professional appearance as an actor was at a "showboat" theater on Long Island in the summer of 1934. In 1935, Ferrer was the stage manager at the Suffern Country Playhouse, operated by
Joshua Logan, whom Ferrer had known at Princeton.
Ruth Gordon and
Helen Hayes recommended him to the theatrical producer
Jed Harris. Ferrer made his
Broadway debut in 1935 in
A Slight Case of Murder which ran for 69 performances. He was also seen in
Stick-in-the-Mud (1935) and
Spring Dance (1936). Ferrer's first big success was in
Brother Rat (1936–38) which ran for 577 performances.
In Clover only ran for three performances.
How to Get Tough About It (1938) also had a short run, as did
Missouri Legend (1938). ''Mamba's Daughters
(1939) ran for 163 performances. 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 huge personal success in the title role of ''
Charley's Aunt'' (1940–41), partly in
drag, under the direction of
Joshua Logan. It went for 233 performances. Ferrer then replaced
Danny Kaye in the musical ''
Let's Face It!'' (1943).
Theatre director and Cyrano Ferrer made his debut on Broadway as director with
Vickie (1942) in which he also starred. It only had a short run. He played
Iago in
Margaret Webster's Broadway production of
Othello (1943–44), which starred
Paul Robeson in the
title role, Webster as
Emilia, and Ferrer's wife,
Uta Hagen, as
Desdemona. That production still holds the record for longest-running repeat performance of a
Shakespearean play presented in the United States, going for 296 performances (it would be revived in 1945). Ferrer produced and directed, but did not appear in,
Strange Fruit (1945–46), starring
Mel Ferrer (no relation). Among other radio roles, Ferrer starred as detective
Philo Vance in a 1945 series of the same name.
Cyrano de Bergerac Ferrer may be best remembered for his performance in the title role of
Cyrano de Bergerac, which he first played on
Broadway in 1946. Ferrer feared that the production would be a failure in rehearsals, due to the open dislike for the play by director
Mel Ferrer (no relation), so he called in
Joshua Logan (who had directed his star-making performance in ''
Charley's Aunt'') to serve as "play doctor" for the production. Logan wrote that he simply had to eliminate pieces of business which director Ferrer had inserted in his staging; they presumably were intended to sabotage the more sentimental elements of the play that the director considered to be corny and in bad taste. The production became one of the hits of the 1946/47 Broadway season, winning Ferrer the first Best Actor
Tony Award for his depiction of the long-nosed poet/swordsman. On January 9, 1949, Ferrer made his television debut when he starred in
The Philco Television Playhouses one-hour adaptation of the play. Ferrer directed, but did not appear in,
As We Forgive Our Debtors (1947), which ran 5 performances. There was another short run for
Volpone (1947) which Ferrer adapted and played the title role.
Early films Ferrer made his film debut in the Technicolor epic
Joan of Arc (1948) as the weak-willed Dauphin opposite
Ingrid Bergman as Joan. Ferrer's performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. At the
City Center, he acted 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 ran for 219 performances. He performed two shows for
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse on TV in 1949: Cyrano, playing the title role, and an adaptation of
What Makes Sammy Run?, playing Sammy Glick (adapted by
Paddy Chayefsky). Ferrer returned to Hollywood to appear in
Otto Preminger's
Whirlpool (1950), supporting
Gene Tierney, and
Richard Brooks'
Crisis (1950), opposite
Cary Grant.
Film stardom Ferrer then played the title role in
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), directed by
Michael Gordon and produced by
Stanley Kramer. Ferrer won the Best Actor Oscar, becoming the first actor to win the Oscar for the same role which won him the Tony. The film was widely seen although it lost money. After winning the Oscar, Ferrer was received with fanfare in Puerto Rico which included the appearance of his friend and fellow actor
Juano Hernández and was hosted by the governor. Ferrer donated the Oscar to the
University of Puerto Rico (UPR), and it was subsequently stolen in 2000. Ferrer returned to Broadway for a revival of
Twentieth Century (1950–51) which he directed and starred in, opposite
Gloria Swanson; it went for 233 performances. Immediately following, he produced and directed, but did not appear in,
Stalag 17 (1951–52), a big hit running for 472 performances. Even more popular was
The Fourposter (1951–53) in which he directed
Hume Cronyn and
Jessica Tandy; it ran for 632 performances. Ferrer returned to cinema screens in the comedy
Anything Can Happen (1952), directed by
George Seaton, where Ferrer played an immigrant. More popular was
Moulin Rouge (1952) in which Ferrer played the role of
Toulouse-Lautrec under
John Huston's direction. Ferrer received 40% of the profits as well as his third and final Oscar nomination. Despite not being an activist and having been interviewed by the HUAC, Ferrer's stances placed him at odds with the
American Legion, which disapproved the content of
Moulin Rouge. Back on Broadway, Ferrer directed and starred in
The Shrike (1952), which ran for 161 performances. His next two shows were as director only:
Horton Foote's
The Chase (1952) only had a short run but
My Three Angels (1953–54), went for 344 performances. Ferrer had another cinema hit with
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) starring
Rita Hayworth. Ferrer briefly revived some of his shows at the City Centre in 1953: Cyrano,
The Shrike,
Richard III, ''Charley's Aunt''. ,'' released in 1954 He returned to films with
The Caine Mutiny (1954) for Kramer, co-starring with
Humphrey Bogart and
Van Johnson, playing defense lawyer Barney Greenwald; the film was a huge hit. Greenwald's
Jewish faith, so prominent in the novel that it informed his judgments of the U.S.S. ''Caine's'' officers, was downplayed in the film, as Ferrer, being Puerto Rican, was nominally
Roman Catholic. Also popular was
Deep in My Heart (1955) where Ferrer played
Sigmund Romberg, and which made a profit of over $1 million.
Film director Ferrer made his debut as film director at Universal with an adaptation of
The Shrike (1955), in which he also starred opposite
June Allyson. He decided to work on this film after becoming frustrated that he was only being cast in stereotypical roles that degraded Latinos to the prejudices of the era. Ferrer co-wrote, directed and starred in the film
The Great Man (1956), at Universal. He directed and starred in two films for MGM:
I Accuse! (1958), where he played
Captain Alfred Dreyfus, and
The High Cost of Loving (1958) a comedy with
Gena Rowlands. Both flopped at the box office. Back on Broadway, Ferrer co-wrote and directed the stage musical
Oh, Captain! (1958) with
Tony Randall, which only had a short run. He directed and starred in
Edwin Booth (1958), playing the title role; it was not a success. In 1958, Ferrer narrated the children's album
Tubby the Tuba, which was nominated for the
Best Recording For Children at the
1st Annual Grammy Awards. Ferrer took over the direction of the troubled musical
Juno (1959) from
Vincent J. Donehue, who had himself taken over from
Tony Richardson. The show, which starred
Shirley Booth, folded after 16 performances and mixed to extremely negative critical reaction. However, he followed it directing the original stage production of
Saul Levitt's
The Andersonville Trial (1959–60), about the trial following the revelation of conditions at the infamous
Civil War prison. It was a hit and featured
George C. Scott, running for 179 performances. Around this time, Ferrer also appeared in television in episodes of
General Electric Theater and
The United States Steel Hour.
20th Century Fox Ferrer signed a contract with
20th Century Fox to direct films. He made
Return to Peyton Place (1961) and
State Fair (1962), both of which were commercial disappointments. Ferrer had a key support role in the film
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) which was a huge success. Although Ferrer's performance was only small he said it was his best on screen. At Fox, he played an investigating police officer in
Nine Hours to Rama (1963). He also guest starred on
The Greatest Show on Earth. Ferrer returned to Broadway to star in
Noël Coward's musical
The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963–64) which ran for 112 performances. He narrated the first episode of the popular 1964
sitcom Bewitched, in mock documentary style. Ferrer went to Germany to make
Stop Train 349 (1963) with
Sean Flynn. He appeared in the 1964 French film ''
Cyrano et d'Artagnan'' directed by
Abel Gance. Back in Hollywood, Ferrer played
Herod Antipas in
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and was in
Ship of Fools (1965) for Stanley Kramer. A notable performance of his later stage career was as
Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation
Don Quixote in the hit musical
Man of La Mancha. Ferrer took over the role from
Richard Kiley in 1966 and subsequently went on tour with it in the first national company of the show. Tony Martinez continued in the role of
Sancho Panza under Ferrer, as he had with Kiley. Ferrer starred in
Carl Reiner's
Enter Laughing (1967) and did a production of
Kismet (1967) on TV. He went to Europe to do
Cervantes (1967) and appeared in
A Case of Libel (1968) for US TV. He also provided the voice of the evil Ben Haramed in the 1968
Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special
The Little Drummer Boy. In 1968 the IRS sent him a tax bill of $122,000 going back to 1962.
1970s Ferrer appeared in the
television films
The Aquarians (1970),
Gideon (1971) and
Crosscurrent (1971) and guest-starred on
The Name of the Game and
Banyon. Ferrer directed
The Web and the Rock (1972) on stage in New York and appeared in
The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973),
Orson Welles Great Mysteries (1973), and
Columbo. Around 1973, he narrated
A Touch of Royalty, a documentary on the life and death of
Puerto Rico's
baseball star
Roberto Clemente. Ferrer voiced both versions, Spanish and English. Ferrer voiced a highly truncated cartoon version of
Cyrano for an episode of
The ABC Afterschool Special in 1974. Ferrer appeared in
The Missing Are Deadly (1975),
Forever Young, Forever Free (1975),
Order to Assassinate (1975),
Medical Story (1975),
The Art of Crime (1975),
Truman at Potsdam (1976) (playing Stalin),
The Big Bus (1976),
Paco (1976).,
Voyage of the Damned (1976),
Crash! (1976),
The Sentinel (1977),
Zoltan, Hound of Dracula (1977),
Exo-Man (1977),
Who Has Seen the Wind (1977),
The Rhinemann Exchange,
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977),
Fedora (1978) from
Billy Wilder,
The Amazing Captain Nemo (1978) (in the title role), and
The Swarm. He guest starred on
Starsky and Hutch and
Tales of the Unexpected. During the Bicentennial, 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. Ferrer was a replacement cast member in a production of
David Mamet's
A Life in the Theatre (1977–78). He produced and starred in
White Pelicans (1978) and directed
Carmelina (1979) on stage but it only ran 17 performances. He was in
The Fifth Musketeer (1979), ''
The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979), Natural Enemies (1979), The French Atlantic Affair (1979), A Life of Sin, a 1979 film by Puerto Rican director Efraín López Neris which also starred Raul Julia, Míriam Colón and Henry Darrow, and Battles: The Murder That Wouldn't Die
(1980). He did The Merchant'' on stage in Canada.
1980s In 1980, he had a role as future Justice
Abe Fortas in the made-for-
television film version of
Anthony Lewis' ''
Gideon's Trumpet'', opposite
Henry Fonda in an
Emmy-nominated performance as
Clarence Earl Gideon. He also appeared in
Battle Creek Brawl (1980),
Pleasure Palace (1980),
The Dream Merchants (1980),
Magnum, P.I.,
Evita Peron (1981),
Berlin Tunnel 21 (1981),
Peter and Paul (1981) with
Anthony Hopkins,
Bloody Birthday (1981),
Woody Allen's ''
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) (a classy yet somewhat antagonistic university professor/author whose booming voice both begins and ends the film), Blood Tide (1982), Blood Feud
(1982), This Girl for Hire
(1983), The Being'' (1983) and
Mel Brooks's version of
To Be or Not to Be (1983). From 1982 to 1985, he was artistic director of the Coconut Grove Theatre in Miami. He guest-starred on
Quincy, M.E.,
Another World,
Fantasy Island,
Hotel,
The Love Boat,
Bridges to Cross, and
Murder, She Wrote. Ferrer was in
The Evil That Men Do (1984),
Samson and Delilah (1984), and
George Washington (1984). He was the Emperor in
Dune (1984) and was in ''
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985), Seduced
(1985), Covenant
(1985), Blood & Orchids (1986), Young Harry Houdini
, and The Wind in the Willows'' (1987). Ferrer made his farewell to Cyrano by performing a short passage from the play for the
1986 Tony Awards telecast. Although not the original actor to play the character, Ferrer, beginning in the third season, had a recurring role as
Julia Duffy's
WASPy father in the long-running television series
Newhart in the 1980s. In an interview given in the 1980s, he bemoaned the lack of good character parts for aging stars, and admitted that he now took on roles mostly for the money, such as his 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),
American Playhouse ("
Strange Interlude" with
Kenneth Branagh), ''
Mother's Day (1989), Matlock, Hired to Kill (1990), Old Explorers (1990) and The Perfect Tribute''. His final appearances in theater took place in
The Best Man (1988) and
All my sons (1990).
Lam Gong juen ji fan fei jo fung wan (1992) was Ferrer's final film.
Legacy • Ferrer was the first
Hispanic actor to win an
Academy Award. • In 2005, the
Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) renamed its Tespis Award to the
HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Award. • Ferrer was honored for his theatrical and cinematic works with an induction into the American Theatre Hall of Fame and a National Medal of Arts, becoming the first actor and Hispanic to be presented with the prestigious award. • Ferrer's sons Rafael Ferrer and
Miguel Ferrer, his daughter (Letty Ferrer), and his granddaughter
Tessa Ferrer also became actors and actresses. • Ferrer donated his Academy Award to the
University of Puerto Rico. The award was stolen after being misplaced during the remodeling of the university's theater. • On April 26, 2012, the
United States Postal Service issued a stamp in Ferrer's honor in its
Distinguished Americans series. ==Personal life==