name	Gene Tierney
birth name	Gene Eliza Tierney
birth date	November 19, 1920
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
death date	November 06, 1991
death place	Houston, Texas, U.S.
years active	1940–80
occupation	Actress
spouse	}}

Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of ''Laura'' (1944) and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1945).

Other notable roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in ''Heaven Can Wait'' (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in ''The Razor's Edge'' (1946), Lucy Muir in ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947), Ann Sutton in ''Whirlpool'' (1949), Maggie Carleton McNulty in ''The Mating Season'' (1951) and Anne Scott in ''The Left Hand of God'' (1955). Certain of her film-related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access.

Early life

Tierney was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavina Taylor. She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood “Butch” Tierney, Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia “Pat” Tierney. Her father was a prosperous insurance broker of Irish descent, her mother a former gym teacher.

Tierney attended St. Margaret’s School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Her first poem, entitled “Night,” was published in the school magazine, and writing verse became an occasional pastime during the rest of her life. She then spent two years in Europe and attended the Brillantmont finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French.

Tierney returned to the U.S. in 1938 and attended Miss Porter's School. On a trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios. The director Anatole Litvak, who was so taken by the seventeen-year-old’s beauty, told her that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the low salary.

Tierney’s coming-out party as a debutante occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old. She was bored with society life and decided to pursue a career in acting. Her father felt “If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theatre.” Tierney studied acting at a small Greenwich Village acting studio in New York with Benno Schneider.

Career

Broadway

In Tierney’s first part on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in ''What a Life!'' (1938). A ''Variety'' magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I’ve ever seen!" At the same time, she was an understudy for ''The Primrose Path'' (1938). The next year, she appeared in the role as Molly O' Day in the Broadway production ''Mrs. O' Brien Entertains'' (1939). ''The New York Times'' critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest." That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in ''Ring Two'' (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts, Jr. of the ''New York Herald Tribune'' wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career, that is if cinema does not kidnap her away."

Tierney’s father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career (He later went on to steal all of her money). Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She also met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her, but she was from a well-to-do family and was not impressed by Hughes' wealth. He did, however, become a lifelong friend. A cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, saying “a thinner face is more seductive.” Tierney then wrote to ''Harper’s Bazaar'' for a diet, which she followed for the next twenty-five years. Years later Tierney was quoted as saying, "I love to eat. For all of Hollywood's rewards, I was hungry for most of those twenty-five years." Tierney was offered the lead role in ''National Velvet'' but production was delayed. ''National Velvet'' would be produced at MGM in 1944.

Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project; so, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in ''The Male Animal'' (1940). In ''The New York Times'', Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given". She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday.

''The Male Animal'' was a hit, and Tierney was featured in ''Life'' magazine. She was also photographed by ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Collier's Weekly''.

Two weeks after ''The Male Animal'' opened, one evening before the curtain went up, there was a rumor that Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox had flown in from the coast and was in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to make a note of Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." It was Tierney. Zanuck was not easily convinced that the two women were one and the same. Tierney was quoted after the fact, "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."

Film career

Hollywood called once again, Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox. Her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Elenore Stone in Fritz Lang's western ''The Return of Frank James'' (1940), opposite Henry Fonda. A small role as Barbara Hall followed in ''Hudson's Bay'' (1941) with Paul Muni.

Also, in 1941, Tierney co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's comedy ''Tobacco Road'', along with the title role in ''Belle Starr'', Zia in ''Sundown'' and Victoria Charteris a.k.a. Poppy Smith in ''The Shanghai Gesture''. The following year, she played Eve in ''Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake'', along with the dual role as Susan Miller a.k.a. Linda Worthington in Rouben Mamoulian's screwball comedy film ''Rings on Her Fingers'', Kay Saunders in ''Thunder Birds'' and Miss Young in ''China Girl''.

Top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's classic 1943 comedy ''Heaven Can Wait'' as Martha Strable Van Cleve signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career, as her popularity increased. Tierney recalled during the production of ''Heaven Can Wait'', "Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it — but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously." In 1944, she starred in what became her most famous role: the intended murder victim, Laura Hunt, in Otto Preminger's film noir ''Laura'', opposite Dana Andrews. After playing Tina Tomasino in ''A Bell for Adano'' (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland, opposite Cornel Wilde, in the film version of the best-selling Ben Ames Williams novel ''Leave Her to Heaven'', a performance that won her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (1945). ''Leave Her To Heaven'' was 20th Century-Fox's most successful film of the 1940s.

In 1946, Tierney starred as Miranda Wells in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's debut film as a director in ''Dragonwyck'', along with Walter Huston and Vincent Price. That same year, she starred in another critically praised performance as Isabel Bradley, opposite Tyrone Power, in ''The Razor's Edge'', an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel. She followed that with her role as Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947), which many critics and film scholars have noted to be her greatest performance (besides ''Laura'') for which she did not receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The following year, Tierney co-starred once again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy film ''That Wonderful Urge'' (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with ''Laura'' director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir ''Whirlpool'', co-starring Richard Conte and José Ferrer (1949).

Tierney gave memorable performances in two other film noirs (both in 1950) — Jules Dassin's ''Night and the City'' and Otto Preminger's ''Where the Sidewalk Ends''.

In 1951, Tierney was loaned to Paramount Pictures and gave a memorable comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's classic ensemble screwball comedy film ''The Mating Season'' with John Lund, Thelma Ritter and Miriam Hopkins. This was also the year Tierney gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the Warner Bros. film ''Close to My Heart'' (1951) with Ray Milland. The film is about a couple trying to adopt. Tierney felt this was her best role in a half-dozen years, as it touched the chords of her own experience. The film addressed the issue of "nature versus nurture" and opened an early conversation about the adoption process. Later in her career she would be reunited with Milland in ''Daughter of the Mind'' (1969), which has a cult following.

After appearing opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in ''Way of a Gaucho'' (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year she starred as Dorothy Bradford in ''Plymouth Adventure'', opposite Spencer Tracy at MGM, during which she had a brief romance with. Tierney then played Marya Lamarkina, opposite Clark Gable, in ''Never Let Me Go'' (1953), which was filmed in England. She found Gable patient and considerate, but lonely and vulnerable, as he was still mourning the death of Carole Lombard. She remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artists' ''Personal Affair'' (1953), which was released that same year. While Tierney was in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father, Aga Khan III. Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in a film noir film as Iris Denver in ''Black Widow'' (1954) with Ginger Rogers and Van Heflin.

Health Issues

During 1953, Tierney's mental health problems were becoming harder for her to hide; she dropped out of ''Mogambo'' and was replaced by Grace Kelly. While playing Anne Scott in ''The Left Hand of God'' (1955), opposite Humphrey Bogart, Tierney’s long string of personal troubles finally took its toll. She said that “Bogey could tell that I was mentally unstable.” (Bogart himself had a sister who suffered from mental illness, to whom he was close.) During the production he fed Tierney her lines and encouraged her to seek help. Worried about her mental health, she consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments Tierney attempted to flee but was caught and returned. She became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming that it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.

In 1957 Tierney was seen by a neighbor as she was about to jump from a ledge. The police were called and she was admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas on December 25. She was released from Menninger the following year after a treatment that included - in its final stages - working as a sales girl in a large department store (where she was recognized by a customer, resulting in sensational newspaper headlines).

Later that year 20th Century-Fox offered her a lead role in ''Holiday for Lovers'' (1957), but the stress proved too great. Days into production she was forced to drop out of the film and was readmitted to Menninger.

Comeback

Tierney made a screen comeback in ''Advise and Consent'' (1962), co-starring with Franchot Tone. A year later, she played Albertine Prine in ''Toys in the Attic'', followed by the International production of ''Las cuatro noches de la luna llena'' (1963) with Dan Dailey. She received overall critical praise for her performances. Tierney's career turn as a solid character actress seemed to be on track. She played Jane Barton in ''The Pleasure Seekers'' (1964), then again retired.

Tierney came back to star in the television movie ''Daughter of the Mind'' (1969) with Don Murray and Ray Milland. Her final performance was in the TV miniseries ''Scruples'' (1980).

Personal life

Tierney married twice, first to costume and fashion designer Oleg Cassini on June 1, 1941. She and Cassini had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (born October 15, 1943 died September 11, 2010) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (born November 19, 1948).

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. Daria was born prematurely in Washington, D.C., weighing only three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. Because of Tierney's illness, Daria was also deaf, partially blind with cataracts and had severe mental retardation. Tierney's grief over the tragedy led to many years of depression and may have begun her bipolar disorder. Some time after the tragedy surrounding her daughter Daria's birth, Tierney learned from a fan who approached her for an autograph at a tennis party that the woman (who was then a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps) had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with rubella to meet Tierney at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. In her autobiography, Tierney related that after the woman had recounted her story, she just stared at her silently, then turned and walked away. She wrote, "After that I didn't care whether ever again I was anyone's favorite actress." Biographers have theorized that Agatha Christie used this real-life tragedy as the basis of her plot for ''The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side''. The incident, as well as the circumstances under which the information was imparted to the actress, is repeated almost verbatim in the story. Tierney's tragedy had been well-publicized for years previously. During this time, Howard Hughes, an old friend, saw to it that Daria received the best medical care available, paying for all of her medical expenses. Tierney never forgot Hughes' acts of kindness.

Tierney separated from Cassini, challenged by the marital stress of Daria's condition, but they later reconciled and had a second daughter, Tina. During her separation, during the filming of ''Dragonwyck'', she met a young John F. Kennedy, who was visiting the set. They began a romance that ended the following year, when Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. Tierney then reconciled with Cassini, but they divorced on February 28, 1952. "Cassini promised in his 1952 divorce from Gene Tierney that he would write a will leaving both of his daughters half of his fortune".

In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his election victory; she later admitted that she had voted for Richard Nixon, saying, "I thought that he would make a better president."

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who was married to Hedy Lamarr from 1953 to 1960. Tierney and Lee married in Aspen, Colorado on July 11, 1960, and lived in Houston, Texas. She loved life in Texas with Lee and became an expert contract bridge player. In 1962, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in ''Return to Peyton Place'', but she became pregnant and dropped out of the project. She later miscarried.

Tierney's autobiography, ''Self-Portrait'', in which she candidly discussed her life, career and mental illness, was published in 1979.

On February 17, 1981, Tierney was widowed when Lee died after a long illness.

Gene Tierney died in 1991, shortly before her 71st birthday, of emphysema in Houston, Texas. She had started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice because "I sound like an angry Minnie Mouse." She became a heavy smoker, which contributed to her death. She is interred next to Lee in the Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor Gregory Peck with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival Spain for their body of work.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Tierney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Credits in theatre, film, and television

+ List of Broadway theatre credits
! Year	! Title	! Format/genre	! Role	! Staged by
1938	''What A Life!''	Original Play, Comedy	Walk on, Water carrier
1938	''''	Original Play, Drama/Comedy	Understudy
1939	''Mrs O' Brian Entertains''	Original Play, Comedy	Molly O' Day
1939	''Ring Two''	Original Play, Comedy	Peggy Carr
1940	''''	Original Play, Comedy	Patricia Stanley

+ List of film credits, including directors and principal cast members
Year	! Title	! Role	! Director	Other cast members	Notes
1940	''''	Eleanor Stone		Henry Fonda	Technicolor
1949		Barbra Hall
1941		Ellie Mae Lester
1941		Belle Starr			Technicolor
1941		Zia		Bruce Cabot
1941	''''	Victoria Charteris akaPoppy Smith		Walter Huston
1942	''Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake''	Eve		Tyrone Power	Sepia tone (sequences)
1942	''Rings on Her Fingers''	Susan Miller (aka Linda Worthington)		Henry Fonda
1942		Kay Saunders			Technicolor
1942		Miss Young
1943		Martha Strabel Van Cleve		Don Ameche	Technicolor
1944
1945	''''	Tina Tomasino		John Hodiak
1945	''Leave Her to Heaven''	Ellen Brent Harland
1946		Miranda Wells Van Ryn
1946	''''	Isabel Bradley Maturin
1947	''	Lucy Muir
1948	''''	Anne Gouzenko		Dana Andrews
1948	''That Wonderful Urge''	Sara Farley		Tyrone Power
1949		Ann Sutton
1950	''Night and the City''	Mary Bristol		Richard Widmark
1950	''Where the Sidewalk Ends''	Morgan Taylor (Paine)		Dana Andrews
1951	''''	Maggie Carleton McNulty
1951	''On the Riviera''	Lili Duran		Danny Kaye	Technicolor
1951	''	Marcia Stoddard		Glenn Ford
1951	''Close to My Heart''	Midge Seridan		Ray Milland
1952	''Way of a Gaucho''	Teresa		Rory Calhoun	Technicolor
1952	''Plymouth Adventure''	Dorothy Bradford			Technicolor
1953		Marya Lamarkina		Clark Gable
1953		Kay Barlow
1954		Iris Denver		Ginger Rogers	CinemaScope, Deluxe color
1954	''''	Baketamon			CinemaScope, Deluxe color
1955	''''	Anne Scott		Humphrey Bogart	CinemaScope, Deluxe color
1962		Dolly Harrison			Panavision
1963		Albertine Prine		Dean Martin
1963	''Las cuatro noches de la luna llena''			Dan Dailey	English title: ''Four Nights of the Full Moon''
1964	''''	Jane Barton		Ann-Margret	CinemaScope, Deluxe color

+ List of television credits, including co-stars
! Year	! Title	! Role	Other cast members	Notes
1947	''Sir Charles Mendl Show''	Herself	Host: Sir Charles Mendl
1953		Herself	Host: Ed Sullivan	Episode #6.33
1954	''26th Academy Awards''	Herself	Host: Donald O'Connor, Fredric March	Presenter: Costume Design Awards
1957	''What's My Line?''	Herself	Host: John Charles Daly	Episode: August 25, Mystery guest
1960	''General Electric Theater''	Ellen Galloway	Host: Ronald Reagan	Episode: "Journey to a Wedding"
1969	''''	Faye Simpson	Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.	Episode: "Conspiracy of Silence"
1969	''Daughter of the Mind''	Lenore Constable	Ray Milland	TV movie
1974	''''	Herself	Host: Merv Griffin
1979	''''	Herself	Host: Merv Griffin
1980	''''	Herself	Host: Johnny Carson
1980	''''	Herself	Host: Mike Douglas
1980	''Dinah!''	Herself	Host: Dinah Shore
1980		Harriet Toppington	Lindsay Wagner	TV Mini-series
1999		Herself (archive material)		"Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait", biographical documentary, March 26

Quotes

About Tierney

By Tierney

Cultural references

Tierney was ranked number 71 in ''Premiere Magazine'''s list of "The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time". They said, "Tierney, a classic beauty, may at first seem too elegant to be a sex symbol, but her Oscar-nominated performance as the femme fatal in ''Leave Her to Heaven'' firmly establised her sexy cred. Plus, Tierney owned her look. She didn't let studio executives mess with her hair color or length, and refused to fix a slight overbite, earning extra sexy points for confidence."

When Grauman's Chinese Theatre resumed cement handprints and footprints after World War II ended in 1945, Tierney was the first actress asked to continue the tradition.

A tribute to her popularity was a famous skit referring to Tierney. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed a comedy routine in which Lewis (in boxing shorts and gear) states he's fighting Gene Tierney. Martin corrects Lewis and suggests that he must mean Gene Tunney (the heavyweight boxing champion). Lewis then quips, "You fight who you wanna fight, I'm fight'n who I wanna fight; I'm fight'n Gene Tierney." Contrary to some published reports, Gene's birth name was never "Jean." Tierney was named after a beloved uncle, who died young as told in her autobiography, ''Self-Portrait''.

In House Arrest, a third-season episode of ''M*A*S*H*'', Henry Blake remarks while watching ''Leave Her to Heaven'' that "Cornel Wilde just kissed Gene Tierney." Hawkeye Pierce replies, "If he's straightened out that overbite, I'll kill him."

Tierney was the heroine of a novel, ''Gene Tierney and the Invisible Wedding Gift'', written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1947. While the heroine is identified as a famous actress, the stories are entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenage audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions," 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that featured a film actress as heroine. Tierney negotiated a unique contract with a raise every six months, and she was to be given half a year off—with written notice to the studio—to appear on Broadway.

References

Works referenced

External links

Gene Tierney: the Official Web Site

Gene Tierney at The Biography Channel

Gene Tierney: A Biography by Michelle Vogel

Category:American film actors Category:20th-century actors Category:American radio actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Hollywood history and culture Category:American people of Irish descent Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Category:1920 births Category:1991 deaths

br:Gene Tierney ca:Gene Tierney de:Gene Tierney es:Gene Tierney eu:Gene Tierney fr:Gene Tierney id:Gene Tierney it:Gene Tierney nl:Gene Tierney ja:ジーン・ティアニー no:Gene Tierney oc:Gene Tierney pl:Gene Tierney pt:Gene Tierney ru:Тирни, Джин sr:Џин Тирни sh:Gene Tierney fi:Gene Tierney sv:Gene Tierney zh:珍·泰妮

bgcolour	silver
name	Preston Foster
birth date	August 24, 1900
birth place	Pitman, New Jersey, U.S.
death date	July 14, 1970
death place	La Jolla, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor
years active	1929–1967
spouse	Gertrude Warren (1926-1945) (divorced) childSheila Darcy (1946-1970) (his death) }}

Preston Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970) was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled ''Two Seconds'' starring Edward J. Pawley. Some of his notable films include: ''Doctor X'' (1932), ''I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang'' (1932), ''Annie Oakley'' (1935), ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' (also 1935), ''The Informer'' (1935) (as the head of the organization), and ''My Friend Flicka'' (1943).

He starred on the television drama, ''Waterfront'' (1954–1955), playing the role of Captain John Herrick. Foster has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was sometimes credited in movies as ''Preston S. Foster''. His first wife was stage actress Gertrude Warren (1926–1945; divorced). He had one daughter, Stephanie. He was married to his second wife, actress Sheila Darcy, from 1946 until his death.

During World War II while serving with the United States Coast Guard, he rose to the rank of Captain, Temporary Reserve. He eventually held the honorary rank of Commodore in the U.S. Coast Guard.

After the war and before his productive movie career, Foster became a singer of some note. In 1948 Foster created a trio with himself, Gene Leis and Foster’s wife, actress Sheila Darcy. Gene arranged the songs, and they played on radio and in clubs, appearing with Orrin Tucker, Peggy Ann Garner and Rita Hayworth.

Partial filmography

''Two Seconds'' (1932)

''Doctor X'' (1932)

''The Last Mile'' (1932)

''Life Begins'' (1932)

''I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang'' (1932)

''Ladies They Talk About'' (1933)

''Elmer, the Great'' (1933)

''Corruption'' (1933)

''Sensation Hunters'' (1933)

''Hoop-La'' (1933)

''Heat Lightning'' (1934)

''The Informer'' (1935)

''The Last Days of Pompeii'' (1935)

''Annie Oakley'' (1935)

''Love Before Breakfast'' (1936)

''The Plough and the Stars'' (1936)

''First Lady'' (1937)

''Army Girl'' (1938)

''Submarine Patrol'' (1938)

''Up the River'' (1938)

''North West Mounted Police'' (1940)

''Secret Agent of Japan'' (1942)

''A Gentleman After Dark'' (1942)

''Little Tokyo, U.S.A.'' (1942)

''Thunder Birds'' (1942)

''American Empire'' (1942)

''My Friend Flicka'' (1943)

''Guadalcanal Diary'' (1943)

''Thunderhead, Son of Flicka'' (1945)

''The Valley of Decision'' (1945)

''The Harvey Girls'' (1946)

''Ramrod'' (1947)

''I Shot Jesse James'' (1949)

''The Big Cat'' (1949)

''Tomahawk'' (1951)

''The Big Night'' (1951)

''Kansas City Confidential'' (1952)

''I, the Jury'' (1953)

''The Time Travelers'' (1964)

External links

Category:American film actors Category:American stage actors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:United States Coast Guard officers Category:1900 births Category:1970 deaths Category:actors from New Jersey

fr:Preston Foster it:Preston Foster

name	Walter Pidgeon
birth name	Walter Davis Pidgeon
birth date	September 23, 1897
birth place	Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
death date	September 25, 1984
death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor
years active	1926–78
spouse	Edna (Muriel) Pickles (1919–21) (Her Death)-1 Child Ruth Walker (1931–84) (His Death) }}

Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian actor who starred in many motion pictures, including ''Mrs. Miniver'', ''The Bad and the Beautiful'', ''Forbidden Planet'', ''Advise and Consent'' and ''Funny Girl''.

Early life

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Pidgeon was the son of Hannah (née Sanborn), a homemaker, and Caleb Burpee Pidgeon, a merchant who owned a men's clothing store. Pidgeon attended local schools, followed by the University of New Brunswick, where he studied law and drama. His university education was interrupted by World War I, and he enlisted in the 65th Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery. Pidgeon never saw combat, however, as he was severely injured in an accident. He was crushed between two gun carriages and spent 17 months in a military hospital. Following the war, he moved to Boston, where he worked as a bank runner, at the same time studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music. He was a classically trained baritone.

Career

Discontented with banking, Pidgeon moved to New York City, where he walked into the office of E. E. Clive, announced that he could act and sing, and said was ready to prove it. After acting on stage for several years, he made his Broadway debut in 1925.

Pidgeon made a number of silent movies in the 1920s. However, he became a huge star with the arrival of talkies, thanks to his singing voice. He starred in extravagant early Technicolor musicals, including ''The Bride of the Regiment'' (1930), ''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' (1930), ''Viennese Nights'' (1930) and ''Kiss Me Again'' (1931). He became associated with musicals; however, when the public grew weary of them, his career began to falter. He was relegated to playing secondary roles in films like ''Saratoga'' and ''The Girl of the Golden West''. One of his better known roles was in ''The Dark Command'', where he portrayed the villain (loosely based on American Civil War guerrilla William C. Quantrill) opposite John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and a young Roy Rogers.

It was not until he starred in ''How Green Was My Valley'' that his popularity rebounded. He then starred opposite Greer Garson in ''Blossoms in the Dust'', ''Mrs. Miniver'' (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, ''The Miniver Story''. He was also nominated in 1944 for ''Madame Curie'', again opposite Garson. His partnership with her continued in the 1950s, and concluding with ''Scandal at Scourie'' in 1953.

Although he continued to make films, including ''Week-End at the Waldorf'' and ''Forbidden Planet'', based on Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'', Pidgeon returned to work on Broadway in the mid-1950s after a twenty-year absence, and was featured in ''Take Me Along'' with Jackie Gleason. He continued making films, playing Admiral Harriman Nelson in 1961's ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', in Walt Disney's ''Big Red'' (1962), and in Otto Preminger's ''Advise & Consent''. His role as Florenz Ziegfeld in ''Funny Girl'' (1968) was well received. He also played Casey, James Coburn's sidekick in ''Harry in Your Pocket'' (1973). In addition, Pidgeon guest-starred in many television programs, including ''Perry Mason'', ''Breaking Point'', ''The F.B.I.'', and ''Marcus Welby, M.D.''.

Pidgeon was active in the Screen Actors Guild, and served as president from 1952-1957. As such, he tried to stop the production of ''Salt of the Earth'', which was made by a team blacklisted during the Red Scare. He retired from acting in 1978.

Walter Davis Pidgeon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6414 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life

Pidgeon married twice. In 1919, he wed Edna (Muriel) Pickles, who died during the birth of their daughter, also named Edna, in 1921. In 1931, he married his secretary, Ruth Walker, to whom he remained married until his death. They had no children.

He died of a stroke in Santa Monica, California, in 1984, two days after his 87th birthday. In accordance with his wishes, his body was donated to the UCLA Medical School for medical research.

Selected filmography

''Miss Nobody'' (1926)

''The Gorilla'' (1927)

''Bride of the Regiment'' (1930)

''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' (1930)

''Viennese Nights'' (1930)

''Going Wild'' (1930)

''Kiss Me Again'' (1931)

''Rockabye'' (1932)

''The Kiss Before the Mirror'' (1933)

''Saratoga'' (1937)

''The Girl of the Golden West'' (1938)

''The Shopworn Angel'' (1938)

''Too Hot to Handle'' (1938)

''Listen, Darling'' (1938)

''Man-Proof'' (1938)

''Society Lawyer'' (1939)

''6,000 Enemies'' (1939)

''Dark Command'' (1940)

''It's a Date'' (1940)

''Flight Command'' (1940)

''Design For Scandal'' (1941)

''Man Hunt (1941)

''Blossoms in the Dust'' (1941)

''How Green Was My Valley'' (1941)

''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942)

''White Cargo'' (1942)

''Madame Curie'' (1943)

''Mrs. Parkington'' (1944)

''Week-End at the Waldorf'' (1945)

''The Secret Heart'' (1946)

''Holiday in Mexico'' (1946)

''If Winter Comes'' (1947)

''Julia Misbehaves'' (1948)

''Command Decision'' (1948)

''That Forsyte Woman'' (1949)

''The Red Danube'' (1949)

''The Miniver Story'' (1950)

''The Unknown Man'' (1951)

''Calling Bulldog Drummond'' (1951)

''Million Dollar Mermaid'' (1952)

''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952)

''Scandal at Scourie'' (1953)

''Dream Wife'' (1953)

''Executive Suite'' (1954)

''The Last Time I Saw Paris'' (1954)

''Hit the Deck'' (1955)

''The Glass Slipper'' (1955) (Narrator)

''Forbidden Planet'' (1956)

''These Wilder Years'' (1956)

''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1961)

''Advise and Consent'' (1962)

''Big Red'' (1962)

''Warning Shot'' (1967)

''Funny Girl'' (1968)

''The Vatican Affair'' (1968)

''The Mask of Sheba'' (1970)

''Skyjacked'' (1972)

''The Neptune Factor'' (1973)

''Harry in Your Pocket'' (1973)

''Two-Minute Warning'' (1976)

''Sextette'' (1978)

See also

Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

References

External links

New York Times obituary

Walter Pidgeon TCM biography

Category:1897 births Category:1984 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:Canadian film actors Category:Actors from New Brunswick Category:Canadian silent film actors Category:Canadian stage actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Deaths from stroke Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:New England Conservatory alumni Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:People from New York City Category:People from Saint John, New Brunswick Category:People from Santa Monica, California Category:University of New Brunswick alumni

an:Walter Pidgeon ca:Walter Pidgeon de:Walter Pidgeon es:Walter Pidgeon fr:Walter Pidgeon id:Walter Pidgeon it:Walter Pidgeon nl:Walter Pidgeon ja:ウォルター・ピジョン no:Walter Pidgeon pl:Walter Pidgeon pt:Walter Pidgeon sh:Walter Pidgeon fi:Walter Pidgeon sv:Walter Pidgeon

name	Don Ameche
birth name	Dominic Felix Amici
birth date	May 31, 1908
birth place	Kenosha, Wisconsin
death date	December 06, 1993
death place	Scottsdale, Arizona
occupation	Actor
years active	1935–1993
spouse	}}

Don Ameche (May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an Academy Award winning American actor.

Personal life

Ameche was born Dominic Felix Amici in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the son of Barbara, who was of Irish and German descent, and Felix Ameche, an immigrant from Italy whose original surname was "Amici." He had three brothers, Omberto (Bert), James (Jim Ameche), and Louis and three sisters, Jane, Elizabeth and Catherine. Ameche attended Marquette University, Loras College and the University of Wisconsin, where his cousin Alan Ameche played football and won the Heisman Trophy in 1954. Ameche had gone to university to study law but found theatricals far more interesting and so decided on a stage career.

Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986. They had six children. One, Ron Ameche, owned the restaurant "Ameche's Pumpernickel" in Coralville, Iowa. Ameche's younger brother, Jim Ameche, was also an actor in radio and films. His other brother, Bert, was an architect who worked for many years for the U.S. Navy in Port Hueneme, California and for the US Postal Service in Los Angeles, California, before retirement.

Death

Ameche died on December 6, 1993, at his son Don Jr's house in Scottsdale, Arizona of prostate cancer, at the age of 85. He was cremated and his ashes are buried at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, also known as St. Philomena's Cemetery, in Asbury, Iowa.

Vaudeville and films

Ameche had done well in college dramatics and when a lead actor for a stock company production of Excess Baggage did not turn up, a friend persuaded him to stand in for the missing actor. He enjoyed the experience and got a juvenile lead in Jerry For Short in New York, followed by a tour in vaudeville with Texas Guinan, until Guinan dropped him from the act, dismissing him as "too stiff." He made his film debut in 1935 and by the late 1930s, had established himself as a leading actor in Hollywood. He appeared in such films as ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (1938), as the title character in ''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' (1939). It led to the use of the word, "ameche," as slang for telephone in common catchphrases, as noted by Mike Kilen in the ''Iowa City Gazette'' (December 8, 1993): "The film prompted a generation to call people to the telephone with the phrase: 'You're wanted on the Ameche.'" Another highlight was co-starring with Gene Tierney in Ernest Lubitch's ''Heaven Can Wait'', a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Ameche played so many roles based on real people that on one of his radio broadcasts Fred Allen joked that "Pretty soon, Don Ameche will be playing Don Ameche." Soon afterwards, in ''It's in the Bag!'', which starred Allen, Ameche indeed played himself in a bit part.

Radio and television

Ameche was a major radio star, heard on such shows as ''Empire Builders'', ''The First Nighter Program'', ''Family Theater'' and the ''Betty and Bob'' soap opera. Following his appearances as announcer and sketch participant on ''The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show'', he achieved memorable success during the late 1940s playing opposite Frances Langford in ''The Bickersons'', the Philip Rapp radio comedy series about a combative married couple. It began on NBC in 1946, moving to CBS the following year.

He also enjoyed a substantial Broadway career, with roles in ''Silk Stockings'', ''Goldilocks'', ''Holiday for Lovers'', ''Henry, Sweet Henry'' and ''Our Town''.

Ameche's best-known television role came between 1961 and 1965, when he traveled throughout Europe with a television videotape unit and camera crew to cover a different European resident circus or ice show that was taped for presentation on a weekly series titled ''International Showtime'' on NBC television. Ameche was present at each circus or ice show taped for the series, and was seen as host and commentator. His "anchor position" was in the grandstands at the particular show being taped.

He also guest starred in many television series, including NBC's ''The Polly Bergen Show'' and ABC's ''The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom'' and Jack Palance's circus drama, ''The Greatest Show on Earth'', which aired in the 1963-1964 season. In the latter 1960s and early 1970s, Ameche directed the NBC television sitcom ''Julia'', starring the African American actress Diahann Carroll.

After the release of two 1970 comedies, ''The Boatniks'' and ''Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?'', Ameche was absent from theatrical films for the next 13 years. His only appearance in cinema during that time was in ''F For Fake'', Orson Welles' documentary on hoaxes, when 20th Century-Fox mistakenly sent Welles newsreel footage of Ameche misidentified as footage of Howard Hughes.

Ameche and fellow veteran actor Ralph Bellamy were eventually cast in John Landis' ''Trading Places'' in 1983, playing rich brothers intent on ruining an innocent man for the sake of a one-dollar bet. In an interview some years later on ''Larry King Live'', co-star Jamie Lee Curtis said that Ameche, a proper old-school actor, went to everyone on the set ahead of time to apologize when he was called to say the "F-word" in the film. The film's success and their comedic performances brought them both back into the Hollywood limelight. Ameche's next role, in ''Cocoon'' (1985), won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continued working for the rest of his life, including in the sequel, ''Cocoon: The Return''. He earned good reviews for the David Mamet / Shel Silverstein penned ''Things Change''; the New York Times said that he showed "...the kind of great comic aplomb that wins actors awards for other than sentimental reasons." In 1990, Ameche appeared in an episode of ''The Golden Girls'' as Rose Nylund's father. His last films were ''Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey'' (1993) and ''Corrina, Corrina'' (1994), completed only days before his death.

For his contribution to radio, Ameche received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6313 Hollywood Boulevard and a second star at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard for his television work.

Filmography

Features

''Clive of India'' (1935)

''Dante's Inferno'' (1935)

''Sins of Man'' (1936)

''Ramona'' (1936)

''Ladies in Love'' (1936)

''One in a Million'' (1936)

''In Old Chicago'' (1937)

''Love Is News'' (1937)

''Fifty Roads to Town'' (1937)

''You Can't Have Everything'' (1937)

''Love Under Fire'' (1937)

''Happy Landing'' (1938)

''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (1938)

''Josette'' (1938)

''Gateway'' (1938)

''The Three Musketeers'' (1939)

''Midnight'' (1939)

''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' (1939)

''Hollywood Cavalcade'' (1939)

''Swanee River'' (1939)

''Lillian Russell'' (1940)

''Four Sons'' (1940)

''Down Argentine Way'' (1940)

''That Night in Rio'' (1941)

''Moon Over Miami'' (1941)

''Kiss the Boys Goodbye'' (1941)

''The Feminine Touch'' (1941)

''Confirm or Deny'' (1941)

''The Magnificent Dope'' (1942)

''Girl Trouble'' (1942)

''Something to Shout About'' (1943)

''Heaven Can Wait'' (1943)

''Happy Land'' (1943)

''Wing and a Prayer'' (1944)

''Greenwich Village'' (1944)

''It's in the Bag!'' (1945)

''Guest Wife'' (1945)

''So Goes My Love'' (1946)

''That's My Man'' (1947)

''Sleep, My Love'' (1948)

''Slightly French'' (1949)

''Fire One'' (1954)

''Phantom Caravan'' (1954)

'' Athena'' (1954)

''A Fever in the Blood'' (1951)

''Rings Around the World'' (1966) (documentary)

''Picture Mommy Dead'' (1966)

''Shadow Over Elveron'' (TV, 1968)

''The Boatniks'' (1970)

''Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came'' (1970)

''Trading Places'' (1983)

''Cocoon'' (1985)

''A Masterpiece of Murder'' (TV, 1986)

''Pals'' (1987)

''Harry and the Hendersons'' (1987)

''Coming to America'' (1988)

''Things Change'' (1988)

''Cocoon: The Return'' (1988)

''Oddball Hall'' (1990)

''Oscar'' (1991)

''Folks!'' (1992)

''Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey'' (1993) (voice)

''Corrina, Corrina'' (1994)

Short subjects

''Screen Snapshots: Stars at the Tropical Ice Gardens'' (1939)

''Weekend in Hollywood'' (1947)

''Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night at 21 Club'' (1952)

References

Bibliography

External links

Steven Ameche, Entertainment Attorney">Walking With Don Ameche - Steven Ameche, Entertainment Attorney

Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American radio actors Category:American stage actors Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of German descent Category:People from Kenosha, Wisconsin Category:Deaths from prostate cancer Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Actors from Wisconsin Category:Cancer deaths in Arizona Category:American sports announcers Category:American horse racing announcers Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:National Radio Hall of Fame inductees Category:1908 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century actors

an:Don Ameche ca:Don Ameche cs:Don Ameche da:Don Ameche de:Don Ameche es:Don Ameche fr:Don Ameche it:Don Ameche he:דון אמיצ'י hu:Don Ameche nl:Don Ameche ja:ドン・アメチー no:Don Ameche pl:Don Ameche pt:Don Ameche ro:Don Ameche ru:Дон Амичи sk:Don Ameche sh:Don Ameche fi:Don Ameche sv:Don Ameche tl:Don Ameche yo:Don Ameche

name	José Ferrer
birth name	José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón
birth date	January 08, 1912
birth place	Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
death date	January 26, 1992
death place	Coral Gables, Florida, United States
occupation	Actor/Director
years active	1935–92
spouse	Uta Hagen (1938–48)Phyllis Hill (1948–53) Rosemary Clooney (1953–61; 1964–67) Stella Magee (19??–92, his death)}}

José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992), best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director. He was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award.

Early life

Ferrer was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Maria Providencia Cintron and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer. He studied in the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey. In 1933, he graduated from Princeton University, where he wrote a senior thesis, ''French Naturalism and Pardo Bazán''; he was also a member of the Princeton Triangle Club.

Career

Theater

Ferrer made his Broadway debut in 1935. In 1940, he played his first starring role on Broadway, the title role in ''Charley's Aunt'', partly in drag. He played Iago in Margaret Webster's 1943 Broadway production of ''Othello'', starring Paul Robeson in the title role, Webster as Emilia, and Ferrer's wife at the time, Uta Hagen, as Desdemona. It became the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play staged in the U.S., a record it still holds. His Broadway directing credits include ''The Shrike'', ''Stalag 17'', ''The Fourposter'', ''Twentieth Century'', ''Carmelina'', ''My Three Angels'', and ''The Andersonville Trial''.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Ferrer may be best-remembered for his performance in the title role of ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', which he first played on Broadway in 1946. Ferrer feared that the production would be a failure in rehearsals due to the open dislike for the play by director Mel Ferrer (who was not related to José), so he called in Joshua Logan (who had directed his star-making performance in ''Charley's Aunt'') to serve as "play doctor" for the production. Logan wrote that he simply had to eliminate pieces of business which director Ferrer had inserted in his staging; they presumably were intended to sabotage the more sentimental elements of the play that the director considered to be corny and in bad taste. The production became one of the hits of the 1946/47 Broadway season, winning Ferrer the first Best Actor Tony Award for his depiction of the long-nosed poet/swordsman (tied with Fredric March for Ruth Gordon's play about her own early years as an actress, ''''Years Ago''). He reprised the role of Cyrano onstage at the New York City Center under his own direction in 1953, as well as in two films: the 1950 film of Edmond Rostand's play directed by Michael Gordon and the 1964 French film ''Cyrano et d'Artagnan'' directed by Abel Gance.

Ferrer would go on to voice a highly truncated cartoon version of the play for an episode of ''The ABC Afterschool Special'' in 1974, and made his farewell to the part by performing a short passage from the play for the 1986 Tony Awards telecast.

Early films

Ferrer made his film debut in 1948 in the Technicolor epic ''Joan of Arc'' as the weak-willed Dauphin opposite Ingrid Bergman. Leading roles in the films ''Whirlpool'' (opposite Gene Tierney) (1949) and ''Crisis'' (opposite Cary Grant) (1950) followed, and culminated in the 1950 film ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He next played the role of Toulouse-Lautrec in John Huston's fictional 1952 biopic, ''Moulin Rouge''.

Later stage career

Beginning circa 1950, Ferrer concentrated on film work, but would return to the stage occasionally. In 1959 Ferrer directed the original stage production of Saul Levitt's ''The Andersonville Trial'', about the trial following the revelation of conditions at the infamous Civil War prison. It was a hit and featured George C. Scott. He took over the direction of the troubled musical ''Juno'' from Vincent J. Donehue, who had himself taken over from Tony Richardson. The show folded after 16 performances and mixed-to extremely negative critical reaction. The show's commercial failure (along with his earlier flop, ''Oh, Captain!''), was a considerable setback to Ferrer's directing career. Nor did the short-lived ''The Girl Who Came to Supper'' do much for his acting career. A notable performance of his later stage career was as Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote in the hit musical ''Man of La Mancha''. Ferrer took over the role from Richard Kiley in 1967, and subsequently went on tour with it in the first national company of the show.

Other filmwork

He portrayed the Rev. Davidson in 1953's ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' (a remake of ''Rain'') opposite Rita Hayworth; Barney Greenwald, the embittered defense attorney, in 1954's ''The Caine Mutiny''; and operetta composer Sigmund Romberg in the MGM musical biopic ''Deep in My Heart''. In 1955 Ferrer directed himself in the film version of ''The Shrike'', with June Allyson. ''The Cockleshell Heroes'' followed a year later, along with ''The Great Man'', both of which he also directed. In 1958 Ferrer directed and appeared in ''I Accuse!'' (as Alfred Dreyfus) and ''The High Cost of Loving''. Ferrer also directed, but did not appear in, ''Return to Peyton Place'' in 1961 and also the remake of ''State Fair'' in 1962.

Ferrer's other notable film roles include the Turkish Bey in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), Herod Antipas in ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965), a budding Nazi in ''Ship of Fools'', a pompous professor in Woody Allen's ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), the treacherous Professor Siletski in the 1983 remake of ''To Be or Not to Be'', and Shaddam Corrino IV in ''Dune'' in 1984. However, in an interview given in the 1980s, he bemoaned the lack of good character parts for aging stars, and readily admitted that he now took on roles mostly for the money.

In 1980, he had a memorable role as future Justice Abe Fortas, to whom he bore a strong resemblance, in the made-for-television film version of Anthony Lewis' ''Gideon's Trumpet'', opposite Henry Fonda in an Emmy-nominated performance as Clarence Earl Gideon.

Radio and television

Among other radio roles, Ferrer starred as detective Philo Vance in a 1945 series of the same name.

On May 8, 1958, Ferrer guest starred on NBC's ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.''

Ferrer, not usually known for regular roles in TV series, had a recurring role as Julia Duffy's WASPy father on the long-running television series, ''Newhart'' in the 1980s. He also had a recurring role as elegant and flamboyant attorney Reuben Marino on the soap opera ''Another World'' in the early 1980s. He narrated the very first episode of the popular 1964 sitcom ''Bewitched'', in mock documentary style. He also provided the voice of the evil Ben Haramed on the 1968 Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special ''The Little Drummer Boy''. Ferrer would don the nose and costume of Cyrano for a last time in a TV commercial in the 1970s.

Legacy

In 2005, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) renamed its Tespis Award to the ''HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Award''.

Personal life

Ferrer had a decade-long first marriage to famed actress and acting teacher Uta Hagen (1938–1948), with whom he had a daughter, Leticia ("Lettie") Ferrer. His second wife was dancer/actress Phyllis Hill (1948–1953). His third marriage was to the singer Rosemary Clooney, actor George Clooney's aunt. The couple had five children: Miguel Jose (born February 7, 1955); Maria P (born August 9, 1956); Gabriel V (born August 1, 1957), Monsita T (born October 13, 1958) and Rafael F (born March 23, 1960). Ferrer and Clooney married in 1953, divorced in 1961, and remarried in 1964, only to divorce again three years later. Their son, Gabriel Ferrer, is married to singer Debby Boone, daughter of Pat and Shirley Boone.

He was the cousin of the tennis player Gigi Fernández.

At the time of his death, he was married to Stella Magee, whom he had met in the late sixties. Ferrer died following a brief battle with colon cancer in Coral Gables, Florida in 1992 and was interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan in his native Puerto Rico.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1948			Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1949		David Korvo
1950		Cyrano de Bergerac
1950		Raoul Farrago
1950	''''	José
1952		Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1952	''Anything Can Happen''	Giorgi Papashvily
1953	''Miss Sadie Thompson''	Alfred Davidson
1953	''Producers' Showcase'': "Cyrano de Bergerac"	Cyrano de Bergerac
1954		Sigmund Romberg
1954	''''	Lt. Barney Greenwald
1955	''''	Major Stringer
1955	''''	Jim Downs
1956	''''	Joe Harris
1958	''''	Jim 'Jimbo' Fry
1958	''I Accuse!''	Capt. Alfred Dreyfus
1961	''Return to Peyton Place''
1961	''Forbid Them Not''	Narrator
1962		Turkish Bey
1963	''Delay in Marienborn''	Cowan the Reporter
1963	''Nine Hours to Rama''	Supt. Gopal Das
1964	''Cyrano et d'Artagnan''	Cyrano de Bergerac
1965		Siegfried Rieber
1965	''''	Herod Antipas
1967		Hassan Bey
1967	''Enter Laughing''	Mr. Marlowe
1975	''''	Inspector Reed
1976	''''	Ironman
1976	''Forever Young, Forever Free''	Father Alberto
1976	''Paco''	Fermin Flores
1976	''Voyage of the Damned''	Manuel Benitez
1977	''''	Lionel McCoy
1977	''Who Has Seen the Wind''
1977	''''	Priest of the Brotherhood
1977	''Crash!''	Marc Denne
1978	''''	Dr. Andrews
1978	''Dracula's Dog''	Inspector Branco
1978		Doctor Vando
1978	''''	Captain Nemo
1979	''Natural Enemies''	Harry Rosenthal
1979	''''
1979	''''	Bishop
1980	''''	Domenici
1981	''Bloody Birthday''	Doctor
1982	''Blood Tide''	Nereus
1982	''''	Leopold
1983		Prof. Siletski
1983	''''	Mayor Gordon Lane
1984		Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
1984	''''	Dr. Hector Lomelin
1987	''''
1990	''Hired to Kill''	Rallis
1990	''Old Explorers''	Warner Watney
1992	''Laam Gong juen ji faan fei jo fung wan''

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

French immigration to Puerto Rico

List of Puerto Rican Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

Category:1912 births Category:1992 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American radio actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Cancer deaths in Florida Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Category:People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Puerto Rican actors Category:Puerto Rican film actors Category:RCA Victor artists Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients

an:José Ferrer (actor) ca:José Ferrer de:José Ferrer es:José Ferrer (actor) fr:José Ferrer (acteur) gl:José Ferrer it:José Ferrer he:חוזה פרר nl:José Ferrer ja:ホセ・フェラー no:José Ferrer pl:José Ferrer pt:José Ferrer ru:Феррер, Хосе sr:Хозе Ферер sh:José Ferrer fi:José Ferrer sv:José Ferrer tl:Jose Ferrer tr:José Ferrer yo:José Ferrer