...mel ferrer - death of cad...

Hollywood lost another classic star - Mel Ferrer (25th August 1917 - 2nd June 2008), passed away at 90. Ferrer died of heart failure. He is known for playing villians and cads, but occasionally the leading men, but none as famous as being a leading man in the late Audrey Hepburn's life...as husband and wife (1954 - 1968).

The versatile Ferrer (not related to Jose Ferrer, who married songstress Rosemary Clooney, the auntie of George Clooney), was born to a Cuban surgeon and a Manhattan socialite. He worked in summer stock, as an editor, wrote children's book, became a chorus dancer on Broadway, a disc jockey on radio and also a producer-director.

He made his film acting debut in 1949's "Lost Boundries". He was in Joan Fontaine's "Born To Be Bad" (1950), starred in Columbia's "The Brave Bulls" (1951) story about matadors, as one of Marlene Dietrich's leading men in "Rancho Notorious" (1952) and playing his first villian role, as a Marquis in a very colourful "Scaramouche" (1952) showing off his fencing skills with Stewart Granger fighting for the hand of Janet Leigh. The lanky Ferrer was King Arthur to Robert Taylor's Lancelot in "Knights Of The Round Table" (1953) and suffered as a lame puppeteer pining for waif Leslie Caron in the semi-musical "Lili" in the same year. Another famous role - Prince Andrei in the epic "War And Peace" 1956, co-starred with then wife Audrey Hepburn. He later directed her in "Green Mansions" (1959) and produced for her "Wait Until Dark" (1967). He went on to appear in many more films and TV, most notably guest starred in Jane Wyman's famous soap "Falcon Crest" in the 80s.