Mel Ferrer, actor, director, producer, and former husband of Audrey Hepburn passed away this week at the age of 90 after a long illness.
Mel was born in 1917 in New Jersey, the son of a doctor and socialite mother. He went to private schools and even attended Princeton University briefly. He originally wanted to be a writer, leaving Princeton to write a book in Mexico (the children’s book “Tito’s Hats”) and spending a year in New York as a book editor.
However, his tall, dark, and handsome looks soon landed him in acting, a field that many believe he wasn’t 100% comfortable with. Audrey once said, “Acting, at times, depresses Mel. Directing lifts him. He’s so relaxed at it that I just know it is the job he loves.” After Mel’s death, his son Mark said, “I don’t think he ever really wanted to be an actor. He had kind of a stunning face and it got him typecast.”
That typecasting lead him to appear in more than 100 films and made for television movies, including Lost Boundaries (in which he played a light skinned African American doctor), Scaramouche, Knights of the Round Table (in which he starred as King Arthur), and The Sun Also Rises.
He also starred as bullfighter Luis Bello in 1951’s The Brave Bulls. In 1956, he would star War and Peace as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, with his then real life wife Audrey Hepburn starring as Natasha Rostov. The two became engaged in 1954 while appearing together in “Ondine,” a New York play. Later that year, the couple married in Burgenstock, Switzerland.
Audrey was Mel’s third wife – he had previously been married to Frances Gunby Pilchard, Barbara C. Tripp, then remarried Pilchard before divorcing her a second time. Audrey and Mel would divorce in 1968, with the marriage producing one child (son Sean Hepburn Ferrer). Before their divorce, Mel would produce Audrey in one of her greatest roles, 1967’s Wait Until Dark. He would go on to produce another eight movies.
In 1971, Mel would marry his fourth and final wife, Elizabeth Soukutine, whom he would remain married to until his death. His is also survived by sons Mark, Peter, Sean, and Christopher, daughters Pepa and Mela, and several grandchildren.