Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in the 1987 film RoboCop. Other film roles include Harbinger in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Quigley in Blank Check, Eduardo Ruiz in Traffic (2000) and Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3 (2013). Ferrer's notable television roles include FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield on Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017), Dr. Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan (2001–2007) and NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger on NCIS: Los Angeles (2012–2017).
Ferrer also performed voice acting in animated projects, including Shan Yu in Mulan (1998), Tarakudo on Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2005), Vandal Savage in Young Justice (2010–2012), and Delgado in Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (2011).
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Early life
Ferrer was born on February 7, 1955, in Santa Monica, California. He was the oldest of five children born to Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer and American singer Rosemary Clooney.
Ferrer's siblings were sisters Maria and Monsita, and brothers Gabriel (later the husband of singer Debby Boone) and actor Rafael. He also had an older half-sister, Letty (Leticia) Ferrer, from his father José's prior marriage to Uta Hagen. Ferrer was an older cousin of actor George Clooney and nephew of journalist Nick Clooney.
Ferrer was raised in Hollywood and Beverly Hills and attended Beverly Hills High School. As a teenager, his interests tended toward music; he played the drums on Keith Moon's Two Sides of the Moon. After high school, Ferrer studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
Career
Ferrer's friend Bill Mumy cast him as a drummer in the series Sunshine, his first television role. Ferrer was also Mumy's bandmate in Seduction of the Innocent, a band that also consisted of Steve Leialoha and Max Allan Collins. Sharing a love of comics Ferrer and Mumy co-created Comet Man and Trypto the Acid Dog plus co-wrote the Marvel Graphic Novel The Dreamwalker.
Ferrer began his acting career in the early 1980s, making guest appearances on episodic television. He played the younger version of his father's character on Magnum, P.I. in 1981. In 1983, he was given a small part as a waiter in The Man Who Wasn't There. He also had a minor role in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) as the U.S.S. Excelsior first officer. In 1984, he directed the Mark Medoff play When Ya Coming Back, Red Ryder? at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. He had a major role in the 1987 action film RoboCop as the corporate executive Bob Morton, the young, ambitious executive of Omni Consumer Products' Security Concepts and project leader of the RoboCop program.
Ferrer's notable later roles include a sinister biker in Valentino Returns, an overzealous engineer in DeepStar Six (1989), a resourceful vigilante in Revenge (1990), Commander Arvid Harbinger in the comedy Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Lloyd Henreid in the Stephen King miniseries The Stand (1994), and a drug informant in Traffic (2000). He occasionally took 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 Rosenfield in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Ferrer played a super-villain called "The Weatherman" in the 1997 TV pilot Justice League of America. Later in the same year, he provided the voice for a similar character, the Weather Wizard, in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Speed Demons". In 1999, Ferrer voiced Aquaman in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "A Fish Story". The same year, at the 41st Grammy Awards, Ferrer was nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in Disney's The Lion King II, "Simba's Pride Read-Along". He was also the protagonist of the American rock band Toto's music video for the song "I Will Remember", appearing alongside actor Edward James Olmos.
Death
On January 19, 2017, Ferrer died at his Santa Monica home from complications of throat cancer at the age of 61. At the time of his death, Ferrer was married to producer Lori Weintraub. He had two sons and two stepsons.
Legacy
Miguel O'Hara, the alter ego of the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man 2099, was named after Ferrer by his friend, writer Peter David, who co-created the character.
The Young Justice episode "Evolution" was dedicated to Ferrer. Following Ferrer's death, David Kaye took over his role as Vandal Savage as well as his role as Jonathan Rook/Stretch Monster in Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters.
