Mel Ferrer

Mel went into wedlock 5 times. His first and third wife was Frances Gunby Pilchard who was an actress and sculptor. With her, he had two children, Pepa Philippa Ferer, and Mark Young Ferrer.

His second wife was Barbara C. Tripp and they had two children; Mella Ferrer and Christopher Ferrer.

Next, he married Audrey Hepburn (1954-1968) and they have a son named Sean Hepburn Ferrer.

Melchor Gaston Ferrer was born on 25th August, 1917 in the Elberon community, which is a part of Long Branch in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA to Cuban father and American mother. His father, late Dr. Jose Maria Ferrer, was a pneumonia specialist and was the chief of staff of St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City.

His mother, Mary Matilda Irene, was the daughter of a coffee broker and she was against all kinds of Prohibition and was named in 1934 in the New York City’s state chairman of the Citizen’s Committee for Sane Liquor Laws.

He went to Bovee School in New York and Canterbury Prep School in Connecticut. Later, he went to Princeton University but left it after his sophomore years to give more time to his acting.

Mel had three siblings. His brother, Dr. Jose M. Ferrer, was a surgeon and his elder sister, Dr. M. Irene Ferrer, was a cardiologist and an educator and his other sister, Teresa (Terry) Ferrer, was a religion editor of the New York Herald Tribune and an education editor of Newsweek.

Ferrer started working in summer stock when he was in his teens and went on to win the ‘Theatre Intime’ award for the play titled ‘Awhile to Work’. He then appeared on Broadway stage in 1938 as a chorus dancer in two musicals Cole Porter’s ‘You Never Know’ and the historical pageant ‘Everywhere I Roam’ and made his debut there as an actor two years later.

While suffering from polio, he started to work as a disc jockey in Arkansas and Texas. Later he moved to Mexico to work on a novel and he started to produce and direct for NBC.

Eventually, he returned to Broadway where he directed the 1946 stage production of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ and then got involved in motion pictures and directed more than 10 feature films and acted in more than eighty. He was later hired by Columbia Pictures as a dialogue coach and then got a chance to direct a melodramatic movie ‘The Girl of the Limberlost’ in 1945. He played a leading role in ‘Strange Fruit’.

He directed a highly successful revival play of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’. The critics praised Mel’s direction, and colorful production with vivid swordplay and the gorgeous staging of the movie final scene. As a producer he was very successful with the film titled ‘Wait Until Dark’ in 1967 starring Audrey Hepburn.

After spending time in Mexico he decided to form the La Jolla Playhouse with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Joseph Cotten and they would bring theatre on a summer season basis. Then he directed the Howard Hughes fiasco ‘Vendetta’ before making his most successful movie ‘The Secret Fury’ in 1950.

After their marriage, the couple was seen together in many films. In1956 Ferrer played the role of Prince Andrew in Raoul Walsh’s movie ‘War and Peace’ opposite Hepburn and Henry Fonda. He then directed Audrey in blockbuster movie like ‘Green Mansions’ (1959) which was based on W.H. Hudson’s novel set in the Amazonian jungle and telling the story of ‘Rima the Bird Girl’ and her sanctuary.

Ferrer again returned to acting in 1964 where he played a cameo role in the film ‘Paris When It Sizzles’ starring Audrey Hepburn. In 1967, he produced a movie version of the stage hit ‘Wait Until Dark’ again starring Hepburn who plays the role of a blind girl who defeats a gang of smugglers. This movie turned out as Hepburn’s major final success.