From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miguel José Ferrer (born February 7, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor mostly known for villainous roles, notably Bob Morton, the designer of the titular character in RoboCop (1987), the short-tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks and Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3. He also voiced the villainous Hun leader Shan Yu in Mulan (1998). Non-villainous roles include Dr. Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan.
Early life
Ferrer was born in Santa Monica, California, the oldest of five children of Puerto Rican Academy Award-winner José Ferrer and American singer Rosemary Clooney. Ferrer’s siblings are Maria, Gabriel, Monsita, and Rafael, also an actor. Ferrer was raised in Hollywood, and as a teenager his interests shifted toward music. He played the drums on Keith Moon’s Two Sides of the Moon. Ferrer’s friend, Bill Mumy (“Will Robinson” on the television classic Lost In Space), cast him as a drummer in the series Sunshine, his first television role.
Career
Ferrer began his career in the early 1980s making guest appearances on episodic television. In 1983, he was given a small part as a waiter in The Man Who Wasn’t There. He also had a small part in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) as the Excelsior helm officer. He had a major role in the 1987 action movie RoboCop as aspiring, cocaine-snorting corporate executive Bob Morton. Since then, Ferrer has been cast in many major movies, usually in the role of flamboyant villains with a sense of humour. Ferrer’s notable roles include a sinister biker in Valentino Returns, an overzealous engineer in DeepStar Six, a resourceful vigilante in Revenge, Commander Arvid Harbinger in the comedy Hot Shots! Part Deux, Lloyd Henreid in the Stephen King mini series The Stand, and a drug informant in Traffic. He has occasionally taken on lead parts as well, such as The Harvest and The Night Flier.
In the early 1990s, Ferrer appeared on three primetime TV series simultaneously: as D.A. Todd Spurrier in Shannon’s Deal (1989–1991), as Cajun cop Beau Jack Bowman in Broken Badges (1990–1991), and as cynical, wittily abrasive FBI forensics specialist Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks (1990–91). Ferrer reprised the role of Albert in the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He played another medical examiner on the small screen, Dr. Garret Macy, in the television crime/drama series Crossing Jordan (2001–07).
Ferrer performed as the voice of the Heretic leader in the video game Halo 2, as well as the protagonist, Jack, in the video game BioShock. In 1999, at the 41st Grammy Awards, he was nominated for “Best Spoken Word Album for Children” in Disney’s The Lion King II, “Simba’s Pride Read-Along”. In 2003, Ferrer made his New York stage debut in the off-Broadway production of The Exonerated.
Ferrer played a supervillain called The Weatherman in the failed 1997 TV pilot, Justice League of America. Later in the year, Ferrer provided the voice for a similar character, Weather Wizard, in the Superman: The Animated Series episode “Speed Demons”. Ferrer also voiced Aquaman in another Superman: Animated episode, “A Fish Story”. Ferrer has also provided voice-over roles in the TV series Robot Chicken (2006) and American Dad! (2007).
Ferrer played Jonas Bledsoe on NBC’s short-lived update of the Bionic Woman series. Ferrer also starred in another short-lived NBC series, Kings, in 2009 as a military commander of Gath. He played Los Angeles Police Lieutenant Felix Valdez in the 2011 Lifetime police procedural drama, The Protector. Also in 2011 he started a multiple episode guest role on the final season of Desperate Housewives.
He currently has a recurring role in NCIS: Los Angeles as NCIS assistant director Owen Granger. On February 6, 2013 Miguel Ferrer was promoted to a series regular for the fifth season. He also appeared in the 2013 film Iron Man 3 as the Vice-President.
Personal life
He is divorced from actress Leilani Sarelle and has two sons, Lukas and Rafael, from that marriage, and a son Jose Robert from a relationship with Kate Dornan. He has been married to Lori Weintraub since 2005. His brother Gabriel Ferrer is married to singer Debby Boone. Gabriel and Debby are the parents of young artist Gabi Ferrer and her twin, Dustin Ferrer. His other brother, Rafael Ferrer, is also an actor. He is actor George Clooney’s cousin on his mother’s side.
