José Ferrer | |
---|---|
Ferrer in 1952
|
|
Born |
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón January 8, 1912 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Died | January 26, 1992 Coral Gables, Florida |
(aged 80)
Cause of death | Colon cancer |
Occupation | Actor, director |
Years active | 1935–1992 |
Spouse(s) |
Uta Hagen (1938–48) Phyllis Hill (1948–53) Rosemary Clooney (1953–61 and 1964–67) Stella Magee (1977–1992) |
Children | Leticia (Letty) Ferrer (b. 1940) Miguel Ferrer (1955–2017) Maria Ferrer (b. 1956) Gabriel Ferrer (b. 1957) Monsita Ferrer (b. 1958) Rafael Ferrer (b. 1960) |
Awards | National Medal of Arts (1985) |
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992), known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, theatre and film director. He was the first Puerto Rican actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor, to win an Academy Award (in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac).
In 1947, Ferrer won the Tony Award for his theatrical performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, and in 1952, he won the Distinguished Dramatic Actor Award for The Shrike, and also the Outstanding Director Award for directing the plays The Shrike, The Fourposter, and Stalag 17.
Ferrer's contributions to American theatre were recognized in 1981, when he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1985 he received the National Medal of Arts from Ronald Reagan, becoming the first actor to receive that honor. On April 26, 2012, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp in Ferrer's honor in its Distinguished Americans series.
Ferrer was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of María Providencia Cintrón, who was from the small coastal town of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer from San Juan. He was the grandson of Gabriel Ferrer Hernandez, a doctor and advocate of Puerto Rican independence from Spain. He studied at the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey. In 1933, Ferrer completed his bachelor's degree at Princeton University, where he wrote his senior thesis on "French Naturalism and Pardo Bazán". Ferrer was also a member of the Princeton Triangle Club.