José Vincente 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.
Ferrer was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Maria Providencia (née Cintron) and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer. In 1933 he graduated from Princeton University, where he wrote a senior thesis, French Naturalism and Pardo Bazán; he was also...
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José Vincente 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.
Ferrer was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Maria Providencia (née Cintron) and Rafael Ferrer, an attorney and writer. 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.
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,...
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