Crossing Jordan

Background:

Entering show business as a drummer, Miguel Ferrer turned to acting in the early 1980s and was best recognized while playing Dr. Garret Macy, the Chief Medical Examiner and the title role's boss, on the NBC drama series starring Jill Hennessy, "Crossing Jordan" (2001-2007). He also had regular roles in the TV series "Broken Badges" (1990-1991), "Twin Peaks" (1990-1991), "Shannon's Deal" (1990-1991), "On the Air" (1992), "LateLine" (1998-1999) and "Bionic Woman" (2007). As for film, Ferrer, who is often typecast in roles as a villain, won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in the Steven Soderbergh acclaimed crime drama film "Traffic" (2000). He also appeared in such films as "RoboCop" (1987), "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (1992), "The Harvest" (1993), "Silver City" (2004), "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004) and "The Man" (2005). This intense character actor will lend his voice to the upcoming film "Noah's Ark: The New Beginning."

On a more personal note, this 6' player, the oldest son of Academy Award winner José Ferrer and jazz artist Rosemary Clooney and the cousin of actor George Clooney, has been married twice, previously to actress Leilani Sarelle and presently to Lori Weintraub. He has three sons.

Famous Family

Childhood and Family:

The oldest of five of Puerto Rican Academy Award winning actor José Ferrer (1909-1992) and his third wife, American jazz artist Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), Miguel José Ferrer was born on February 7, 1955, in Santa Monica, California. His siblings are Maria Providencia Ferrer (born in 1957), Gabriel Vicente Ferrer (born in 1959; married to singer-actress Debby Boone), Monsita Teresa Botwick (born in 1960), and Rafael Francisco Ferrer (born in 1956; also an actor), and his cousin is actor George Clooney, who is also his best friend. He also has one half-sister, Leticia Thyra Ferrer (born in 1940; an actor in New York City), from his father's previous marriage with German-born American actress and acting teacher Uta Hagen.

From 1991 to 2003, Ferrer was married to actress Leilani Sarelle, with whom he has two sons, Lucas (born in June 1993) and Rafael (born in 1996). He also fathered a son, Jose Robert, with Kate Dornan, daughter of Robert Kenneth Dornan. Ferrer married his second and present wife, Lori Weintraub, on September 2, 2005.

Ferrer, who studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse, was close friends with actress Dominique Dunne and served as a pallbearer at her funeral. He is also a long-time friend of Carrie Fisher and helped her prepare for her “Star Wars” (1977) audition.

Ferrer, whose childhood hero was Batman, is an avid golfer and skier. He helps organize a golf tournament fund raiser for the UCLA Children's Hospital every year. Ferrer is portrayed by Richard Quinn in the TV movie “Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story” (1982).

On what he learned from his mother, Rosemary Clooney, Ferrer explained, “She lived an example. That's what she taught us all; that you're never as great as they say you are, and you're never as bad as they say you are. And that we're all just people; just people with great jobs.”

Twin Peaks

Career:

Born to famous parents, Miguel Ferrer was raised in Hollywood and was inspired to play the drums at age eight after watching Little Ricky play on "I Love Lucy." He decided to become a professional drummer after watching Ringo Starr perform with the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and toured with several bands during his late teens. He participated in recording sessions before eventually being selected as one of three drummers to play drums on Keith Moon's 1975 solo album, “Two Sides of the Moon,” with Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.

In the mid 1970s, Ferrer was urged to act by former child actor, friend and fellow musician Bill Mumy. He then played a drummer in the NBC sitcom "Sunshine." He followed it up with guest starring roles in an episode of CBS’ drama series "Magnum, P.I." and NBC’s police series starring Erik Estrada, "ChiPs."

Ferrer made his feature debut with "Heartbreaker" (completed 1981; released 1983), a romantic drama directed by Frank Zuniga in which he co-starred with Michael D. Roberts. Afterward, he appeared in "The Man Who Wasn't There" (1983), "Truckin' Buddy McCoy" (1984), "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984), "Flashpoint" (1984) and "Lovelines" (1984). He was also spotted as a guest in the TV series "Cagney & Lacey," "Hill Street Blues," "T.J. Hooker," "Trapper John, M.D.," "Houston Knights" and "Hotel."

In 1987, Ferrer had his breakthrough feature supporting role as Robert Morton in "RoboCop" (1987), the Paul Verhoeven directed film featuring Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, and Ronny Cox. He subsequently was cast in the films "Deep Star Six" (1989) and "Valentino Returns" (1989) and was seen on television in the made-for-television movies "Downpayment on Murder" (1987), "C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf" (1988), "Badlands 2005" (1988) and "Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North" (1989). Additionally, he played guest roles in an episode of "Hooperman" and "Miami Vice."

The early 1990s saw Ferrer star as Beau Jack Bowman on the CBS cop drama "Broken Badges," play the reoccurring role of Albert Rosenfield on David Lynch's cult serial drama "Twin Peaks," and the reoccurring role of Shannon's old adversary Todd Spurrier on the NBC drama series starring Jamey Sheridan, "Shannon's Deal." He also appeared in the 1990 films "Revenge" and "The Guardian,” starred in the miniseries "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story" (1990) and the TV movies "Murder in High Places" (1991), "In the Shadow of a Killer" (1992) and "Cruel Doubt" (1992).

In 1992, Ferrer was cast as a regular on David Lynch's short-lived period sitcom airing on ABC, "On the Air.” That same year, he also recreated the role of Albert Rosenfield for the feature "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me."

David Marconi's thriller "The Harvest" (1993) marked Ferrer's first feature lead in which he portrayed a screenwriter who gets involved in a murder mystery while on a research trip. During this time, he could also be seen in the films "Cigarettes & Coffee," "Point of No Return," "Hot Shots! Part Deux" and "Another Stakeout," as well as the made-for-television movie "Scam."

Ferrer was next featured in the films "Blank Check" (1994), "The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca" (1996), "The Night Flier" (1997), "Mr. Magoo" (1997), "Mulan" (1998) and "Where's Marlowe" (1998). On the small screen, he starred in the TV movies "Royce" (1994), "Incident at Deception Ridge" (1994), "Jack Reed: A Search for Justice" (1994), "A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story" (1994), "The Return of Hunter" (1995), "In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice" (1995), "Project: ALF" (1996), "Justice League of America" (1997) and "Brave New World" (1998), as well as the miniseries "The Stand" (1994) and "Stephen King's 'The Shining'" (1997). He also guest starred in "ER," "Tales from the Crypt" and "Fallen Angels." Additionally, he appeared in Toto’s music video "I Will Remember" (1995).

From 1998 to 1999, Ferrer co-starred as Victor Karp in the NBC midseason replacement sitcom "LateLine," alongside Al Franken, Megyn Price, and Sanaa Lathan. He also appeared as a guest in an episode of "Will & Grace" and lent his voice to multiple episodes of "Superman: The Animated Series." He also did voice-over work for trailers for the 1999 films “Magnolia” and “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.” Additionally, at the 41st Grammy Awards (1999), Ferrer was nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in “Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Read-Along.”

Entering the new millennium, Ferrer delivered a memorable turn as Eduardo Ruiz, the high stakes dealer posing as a fisherman who later become a drug informant, in the Steven Soderbergh acclaimed crime drama film "Traffic" (2000). His work in the film won him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture that he shared with cast members Michael Douglas, Benicio del Toro, Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Dennis Quaid. During this time, Ferrer also did voice over work for trailers for the 2000 films “U-571,” “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle” and “Romeo Must Die.” He also appeared in the made-for-television movie "L.A. Sheriff's Homicide" (2000) and guest starred in an episode of "3rd Rock from the Sun."

From 2001 to 2007, Ferrer co-starred in the NBC series starring Jill Hennessy, "Crossing Jordan," which won him an Imagen Award for Best Actor – Television. He was also nominated for an ALMA Award (for Outstanding Actor - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie) and a Prism Award (for Performance in a Drama Series Episode).

During his "Crossing Jordan" tenure, Ferrer acted in the films "Sunshine State" (2002), "Silver City" (2004), "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004) and "The Man" (2005). He also starred in the TV movies "Matisse & Picasso: A Gentle Rivalry" (2001), "Shadow Realm" (2002) and "Sightings: Heartland Ghost" (2002), and guest-starred in an episode of "Night Visions," "Robot Chicken," "The Batman" and "American Dad!" Additionally, he made his New York stage debut in the off-Broadway play “The Exonerated” (2003) and provided the voice of the Heretic Leader in the science fiction video game "Halo 2" (2004).

Following the unexpected cancellation of the show "Crossing Jordan," Ferrer co-starred as Jonas Bledsoe on NBC's eight episode science fiction television drama series starring Jaime Sommers, "Bionic Woman" (2007).

Recently, Ferrer voiced J'onn J'onzz, John Jones and Martian Manhunter in the direct-to-video animated film adaptation of the popular DC comic "DC: The New Frontier" limited series, "Justice League: The New Frontier" (2008). He was also spotted as a guest in an episode of "Medium" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

He is currently working on an upcoming animated film that retells the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, "Noah's Ark: The New Beginning," alongside Ben Kingsley, Michael Keaton, and Elliot Gould. He also plays drums and sings with the Los Angeles band "The Jenerators" with actor and co-founder Bill Mumy.

Awards:

• Imagen: Best Actor - Television, "Crossing Jordan," 2007

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, "Traffic," 2001