Ferrer made his Hollywood debut in JOAN OF ARC (1948) and, thanks to his sonorous voice and urbane manner, excelled at playing pedants and snobs, like the pompous Nazi professor in Mel Brooks's 1983 remake of TO BE OR NOT TO BE. He proved his versatility, though, as the murderous hypnotist in WHIRLPOOL (1949), the defending officer in THE CAINE MUTINY and composer Sigmund Romberg in MGM's lavish biopic DEEP IN MY HEART (both 1954), the sadistic Turkish bey in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962), and the ham actor in ENTER LAUGHING (1967).
Ferrer's work as a film director was generally undistinguished, one exception being his scathing look at the TV industry, THE GREAT MAN (1956). He was married to actress Uta Hagen (1938-48) and singer Rosemary Clooney (twice: 1953-61, 1964-67), and his son is character actor Miguel Ferrer (b. 1955: ROBOCOP, 1987; REVENGE, 1990; "Twin Peaks" 1990, etc.). He was the uncle of actor/director George Clooney.
Ferrer has the distinction of being the first actor to be nominated for a single Academy Award (Best Actor) for a film in which he portrayed two different characters -- MOULIN ROUGE (1952). This is in contrast to Fredric March's Oscar® win as Best Actor in the 1931 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. March played two characters who were actually both sides of the same personality, as opposed to Ferrer, who portrayed both Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his father, the Comte de Toulouse-Lautrec, in MOULIN ROUGE. In addition, Ferrer is the only actor to win an Oscar® statuette, a Tony® Award and an Emmy® nomination for playing the same character. He won the 1950 Oscar and the 1946 Tony for his performance as Cyrano de Bergerac, and was nominated for an Emmy for playing the role on television in 1955.
Nominated for Supporting Actor 1948: JOAN OF ARC
Actor 1950: CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Nominated for Actor 1952: MOULIN ROUGE
3 nominations, 1 Award