José Ferrer

American actor

Also known as: José Vincente Ferrer de Otero y Cintron

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 8, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: José Vincente Ferrer de Otero y Cintron

Born:: January 8, 1912, Santurce, Puerto Rico

Died:: January 26, 1992, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S. (aged 80)

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (1951); Academy Award (1951): Actor in a Leading Role; Golden Globe Award (1951): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama; Tony Award (1952): Best Actor in a Play; Tony Award (1952): Best Director; Tony Award (1952): Best Director; Tony Award (1952): Best Director; Tony Award (1947): Best Actor in a Play

Notable Works:: “Moulin Rouge”; “Return to Peyton Place”; “The Shrike”

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Deep in My Heart" (1954); "American Playhouse" (1988); "Bridges to Cross" (1985–1986); "Lam Gong juen: Fan fei jo fung wan" (1992); "General Electric Theater" (1959); "The Great Man" (1956); "Bewitched" (1964); "Starsky and Hutch" (1976); "Producers' Showcase" (1955); "Cyrano et d'Artagnan" (1964); "Old Explorers" (1990); "A Life of Sin" (1979); "Bloody Birthday" (1981); "Murder, She Wrote" (1984); "Hired to Kill" (1990); "Newhart" (1985–1987); "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1950); "Columbo" (1974); "I Accuse!" (1958); "The Fifth Musketeer" (1979); "The High Cost of Loving" (1958); "The Dream Merchants" (1980); "The Cockleshell Heroes" (1955); "The Caine Mutiny" (1954); "Verspätung in Marienborn" (1963); "Battle Creek Brawl" (1980); "Forever Young, Forever Free" (1975); "And They Are Off" (1982); "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982); "Anything Can Happen" (1952); "Magnum, P.I." (1981); "Fedora" (1978); "Another World" (1983); "Tales of the Unexpected" (1979); "The Name of the Game" (1970); "The Shrike" (1955); "El clan de los inmorales" (1975); "Whirlpool" (1949); "Blood Tide" (1982); "Joan of Arc" (1948); "Ship of Fools" (1965); "The Philco Television Playhouse" (1949); "The Love Boat" (1981–1986); "Enter Laughing" (1967); "The Swarm" (1978); "Banyon" (1971); "Hotel" (1984); "To Be or Not to Be" (1983); "Nine Hours to Rama" (1963); "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965); "The Sun and the Moon" (1990); "George Washington" (1984); "Quincy M.E." (1982); "The Evil That Men Do" (1984); "Cervantes" (1967); "Oye Willie" (1980); "The Being" (1983); "The United States Steel Hour" (1959); "Natural Enemies" (1979); "Teleplay" (1976); "American Playwrights Theater: The One-Acts" (1989); "Disneyland" (1987); "ABC Afterschool Specials" (1974); "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1956); "Dune" (1984); "The Big Bus" (1976); "Orson Welles' Great Mysteries" (1973); "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1963); "Crash!" (1976); "The Rhinemann Exchange" (1977); "Miss Sadie Thompson" (1953); "The Hughes Mystery" (1979); "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962); "Voyage of the Damned" (1976); "Moulin Rouge" (1952); "Matlock" (1986–1990); "Who Has Seen the Wind" (1977); "The French Atlantic Affair" (1979); "The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover" (1977); "Crisis" (1950); "Dracula's Dog" (1977); "The Sentinel" (1977); "Sesame Street" (1988); "Paco" (1976); "Fantasy Island" (1983)

José Ferrer (born January 8, 1912, Santurce, Puerto Rico—died January 26, 1992, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.) was an American actor and director best known for his Academy Award-winning performance in the title role of the film Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) and for his portrayal of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge (1952).

Ferrer, a graduate of Princeton University (1934), was a gifted pianist and had intended to become an architect before launching his acting career in 1935. He earned acclaim in the comic title role of the Broadway hit Charley’s Aunt (1940) before appearing as Iago with Paul Robeson in Othello (1943), which set an all-time record run for a Shakespearean play on Broadway to that time. Ferrer earned his first Tony Award in 1947 for his performance in Cyrano de Bergerac and won two more in 1952, one for directing the plays Stalag 17, The Fourposter, and The Shrike and the other for acting in The Shrike.

Following his motion-picture debut in Joan of Arc (1948), Ferrer appeared in Whirlpool (1949), Crisis (1950), The Caine Mutiny (1954), The Shrike (1955), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). As a director, he cast himself in starring roles in The Great Man (1956), I Accuse (1958), and The High Cost of Loving (1958). The last films he directed were Return to Peyton Place (1961) and State Fair (1962). During the 1970s and ’80s he was cast mainly as villains, mostly for television, and he made his final stage appearance in 1990.

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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Ferrar was married four times; among his wives were actress Uta Hagen and singer Rosemary Clooney. He was the first actor to receive the National Medal of Arts (1985).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by J.E. Luebering.