Mel Ferrer's older brother José was a doctor who followed in his
Father's footsteps, but he achieved an even more distinguished medical
career, becoming the head of surgery at the Bellevue Hospital, the
Columbia Medical Center and the Harlem Hospital. He was also an
associate dean at the Columbia University's College of Physicians and
Surgeons and served a term as president of the
prestigious New York Academy of Medicine.
The eldest of the four driven Ferrer children, he
seems to have been the perfect son in every way. Born in New York City
in 1912,
he was educated at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn., received
his B.A. from Princeton University in 1934 and obtained his medical
degree from Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1938, the
same medical school his father had attended. He was a major in the Army
Medical Corps during World War II and received a Bronze Star for his
service in the Luzon campaign. He married socialite Mary Schumacher in 1939 and
had five children, of whom the eldest - José M. Ferrer, III - became the editor
of Time Magazine and along with his wife was long prominent in New York
politics and society.
His relationship with his younger brother Melchor
seems to have been warmly tolerant, as well. Although Mel followed his
brother to Canterbury School and later to Princeton, the similarities
cease after that. When Mel dropped out of Princeton in 1937 and eloped
to Mexico, his family cut him off. Of some significance, he was not in
his brother's large wedding party and indeed, he is not even listed as
in attendance, but since the date of the wedding - June 1939 - coincides
with Mel's first theatrical efforts, it's probable that Mel's horrified
mother is behind the exclusion.
Mel Ferrer always spoke of his brother with great
affection and loved to confuse people over whether he was related to José
Ferrer, the actor by admitting he did have a brother named José Ferrer.
Interestingly enough, José Ferrer, the actor, attended Princeton at the
same time as José Ferrer, the doctor - and they even knew each other!
Years later when Mel and José, the actor, became friends on Broadway,
José, the doctor, proudly sat in the audience. According to Mel, his
brother even attended many of his Princeton efforts.
There are also numerous stories (mostly from Audrey Hepburn biographies)
of Dr. Ferrer helping his brother when he had polio during the 1940s,
but the dates are a bit unclear, given that the elder Ferrer would have been
at war during the years in question. Oddly, many of those reports have
the medical assistance coming from Mel's father, and that, of course,
couldn't be true, so this fact remains unverified. It does indicate,
however, that the two brothers remained close despite Mel's fall from
grace within the family. Mel's relationship with his family seems to
have mended somewhat during his marriage to Audrey Hepburn, and she
became close friends with Jose's wife, as well as with Jose's oldest son
and his wife.
Dr. Ferrer was the first of the four Ferrer children
to pass away. He died of complications following abdominal surgery on
December 24, 1982, at the relatively young age of 70. His younger
brother would die of similar causes but would survive him by over 25
years.
