Mel Ferrer
Mel Ferrer turns 101 years today. He is one of my favourite actors and I love his acting style.
He has a very peaceful air about him. His tone of voice, his smile and his gestures are mesmerising. I always feel sorry for his characters, even if his character is a villain, I can't help but root for him.
Love this picture of Mel and Audrey, taken in 1957. Audrey wanted to fly to Mel's location in South of France to surprise him for his birthday but she was detained on the set of "Funny Face" in Paris at the time, so Mel flew to her instead and she made him a chocolate cake. Oh the goodtimes...
You can get to know Mel a little through this simplified timeline.
Ferrer's Biography:
Melchor Gaston Ferrer was born on 25th August, 1917, in New Jersey to a Cuban American surgeon and an Irish American socialite. He had two sisters and a brother.
Ferrer had a priviledged upbringing, attending a private school, then prep school then Princeton University.
In 1937, he married his first wife, whom he met in Princeton. They had one child together who died in infancy.
After graduating, he worked at a small newspaper.
In 1938, he worked as a chorus dancer in broadway.
In 1939, he divorced his first wife.
In 1940, he debuted as an actor in New York but contracted polio, so he became a disc jockey. It was around the same time he wrote a children's book, titled "Tito's Hat". Ferrer also married his second wife that year and had two children - a daughter and a son - with her.
In 1944, he divorced his second wife and remarried his first and they had two more children - a daughter and a son.
In 1945, he turned to directing, then went back to acting on stage.
In 1949, he made his first screen acting in "Lost Boundaries".
In 1953, he divorced for the third time. That's when Gregory Peck decided to introduce him to his co-star, Audrey Hepburn and they hit it off.
In 1954, he married Hepburn and they had one son together.
In the 1950s, he started concentrating on directing with successful films like "The Secret Fury" and "Green Mansions".
In the 1960s, he started acting only in Europe and went into producing with "Wait Until Dark".
In 1968, he and Hepburn divorced.
In 1971, he married for the fifth and final time.
In 2008, he died of heart failure.
He has a very peaceful air about him. His tone of voice, his smile and his gestures are mesmerising. I always feel sorry for his characters, even if his character is a villain, I can't help but root for him.
Love this picture of Mel and Audrey, taken in 1957. Audrey wanted to fly to Mel's location in South of France to surprise him for his birthday but she was detained on the set of "Funny Face" in Paris at the time, so Mel flew to her instead and she made him a chocolate cake. Oh the goodtimes...
You can get to know Mel a little through this simplified timeline.
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Melchor Gaston Ferrer was born on 25th August, 1917, in New Jersey to a Cuban American surgeon and an Irish American socialite. He had two sisters and a brother.
Ferrer had a priviledged upbringing, attending a private school, then prep school then Princeton University.
In 1937, he married his first wife, whom he met in Princeton. They had one child together who died in infancy.
After graduating, he worked at a small newspaper.
In 1938, he worked as a chorus dancer in broadway.
In 1939, he divorced his first wife.
In 1940, he debuted as an actor in New York but contracted polio, so he became a disc jockey. It was around the same time he wrote a children's book, titled "Tito's Hat". Ferrer also married his second wife that year and had two children - a daughter and a son - with her.In 1944, he divorced his second wife and remarried his first and they had two more children - a daughter and a son.
In 1945, he turned to directing, then went back to acting on stage.
In 1949, he made his first screen acting in "Lost Boundaries".
In 1953, he divorced for the third time. That's when Gregory Peck decided to introduce him to his co-star, Audrey Hepburn and they hit it off.
In 1954, he married Hepburn and they had one son together.
In the 1950s, he started concentrating on directing with successful films like "The Secret Fury" and "Green Mansions".
In the 1960s, he started acting only in Europe and went into producing with "Wait Until Dark".
In 1968, he and Hepburn divorced.
In 1971, he married for the fifth and final time.
In 2008, he died of heart failure.
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Mel Ferrer was and is one of the the most underrated actors of all time. I think if he was given better films or at least if he had taken more chances, he would've been higher ranking then and maybe better known now. But I guess acting was stressful for him because he once said:
"I curl up inside and freeze when I have to act. I much prefer sitting on the sidelines and trying to get the best out of other people."
What are your favourite Ferrer films?
Mine are:
Mine are:
- War and Peace (1956)
- The World, The Flesh and The Devil (1959)
I can watch anything he's in and not feel bored but I picked only the best.
"Wait Until Dark" (1967) is one of my favourite films and knowing he produced it made me love it even more. Plus Audrey was starring!
P.S I couldn't find any childhood pictures of Mel's, incase you were thinking.
P.S I couldn't find any childhood pictures of Mel's, incase you were thinking.
Maybe it was stressful for him because he wasn’t confident enough...but he sure was one of the most talented. I wish he knew that, maybe it would’ve changed a lot.
ReplyDeleteMy favourites are the same exactly.
I was going to add Mayerling, but the fact that Audrey Hepburn’s character knew he was married really ruined the film for me. They should’ve made her clueless about it in the beginning at least.
Those are the things that upset me! hehe So many films were ruined for careless scripts. I wish it was a cinematic film too.
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