CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Jose Ferrer
For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.
Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.
In celebration and appreciation of Hispanic Heritage Month, we here at the Showplace are honoring the tremendous achievements and accomplishments of trailblazing entertainers of Latin origin.
This week…Jose Ferrer.
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January, 8, 1912. In 1924, his family moved to New York and he was raised at a Swiss boarding school before earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Princeton University.
While attending graduate school for Romance Languages at Columbia University in the mid-1930s, Ferrer began performing in stage productions in Long Island. Over the next ten years, Ferrer not only starred in a number of increasingly larger stage productions–ultimately appearing on Broadwayin the early 1940s–but also began producing and directing.
Three of his most notable stage roles include the title role in the critically acclaimed Charlie’s Aunt, Iago in the Broadway production of Othello, and taking over the starring role from Danny Kaye in Let’s Face It!
Ferrer earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in his first-ever film role playing opposite Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 epic, Joan of Arc. Ferrer continued to star in (and often direct) a number of successful films, radio plays and stage productions for several years.
Ferrer’s biggest film contribution came playing the titular character in 1950’s Cyrano de Burgerac directed by Stanley Kramer. Ferrer had won a Tony Award by playing the same character on Broadway and won the Oscar playing Cyrano on the big screen. In doing so, Ferrer became the first Hispanic to win a Best Actor Academy Award.
Ferrer continued to star in and direct high profile films and plays for the next several years. Highlights include the original Moulin Rouge, Miss Sadie Thompson (along with Rita Hayworth), Anything Can Happen and The Caine Mutiny, co-starring with Humphrey Bogart and Van Johnson.
Between 1952-53, Ferrer also directed the highly successful Stalag 17 along with directing fellow legends Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in The Fourposter. Those two plays earned over 1100 performances!
1953 was also the year Ferrer married Rosemary Clooney (just before she reached stardom with White Christmas)–the first of two times the pair were married.
Ferrer made his film directorial debut in 1955’s The Strike and added screenwriting to his resume with The Great Man a year later.
He continued to act, direct, produce and write plays and films throughout the rest of his life. In 1991, he was cast in a Broadway play, Conversations with My Father, but withdrew due to poor health. He passed on a few months later.
Ferrer’s contributions to American theatre were recognized in 1981, when he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1985, he became the first actor ever to receive the newly created National Medal of Arts.
Posthumously, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) renamed its Tespis Award to the HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Award. The United States Postal Service issued a stamp in Ferrer’s honor in its Distinguished Americans series.
Be on the lockout for Jose Ferrer in the groundbreaking, award-winning title role film version of Cyrano de Burgerac on RCN TV. To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
