Mel Ferrer

Actor/director/producer 'Mel Ferrer' (qv) was born Melchor Gaston Ferrer on August 25, 1917, in Elberon, New Jersey. The son of a Cuban-born surgeon and a Manhattan socialite, he went to prep school and attended Princeton University. From the age of 15 he worked in summer stock. After Princeton he became an editor on a small Vermont newspaper and wrote a children's book, "Tito's Hats." He became a chorus dancer on Broadway in 1938 in two musicals and made his New York debut as an actor two years later. After a bout with polio he started in radio as a disc jockey in Texas and Arkansas and rose to producer-director of top-rated shows for NBC in New York. He made a modest debut as a director at Columbia with the low-budget _The Girl of the Limberlost (1945)_ (qv), then returned to acting on Broadway to star in 'Lillian Smith' (qv)'s "Strange Fruit." He was 'John Ford' (qv)'s assistant on _The Fugitive (1947)_ (qv).Ferrer made his screen acting debut in _Lost Boundaries (1949)_ (qv). He is best remembered for the role of the lame puppeteer in _Lili (1953)_ (qv) and as Prince Andrei in _War and Peace (1956)_ (qv). He directed 'Claudette Colbert' (qv) in _The Secret Fury (1950)_ (qv) and 'Audrey Hepburn' (qv) - his wife at the time - in _Green Mansions (1959)_ (qv). Ferrer produced the hit _Wait Until Dark (1967)_ (qv), also with Hepburn. In the following year, the couple separated and ultimately divorced. Since 1960 had been producing and acting mainly in Europe.::Courtesy of the Falcon Crest Homepage