Public Appearances

Mel Ferrer's 30th Birthday Party
Pacific Palisades, California
August 25 1947

Mel Ferrer's wife Frances threw a huge party for him when he turned 30 years old. They were living in the beach area of Los Angeles at the time, comfortably part of the Hollywood scene. Although Mel was under contract to David O. Selznick, he had yet to appear as an actor on screen, so it seems unusual that his 30th birthday party would be widely covered in gossip columns of the day, but it was - probably because of his association with eccentric producer Howard Hughes, or perhaps because of his energetic theater work. He was mostly directing theater productions at the time, including "Heartsong" with Selznick's wife, and he was deeply involved in the initial organization of the La Jolla Playhouse with close friend Gregory Peck, which was in the middle of its very first season that Summer. Some of the people who attended the birthday bash included Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Charlie Chaplin, Clifton Webb and D.W. Griffith. One of the many gossip entries by Louella Parsons appears below:

Snapshots of Hollywood: Howard Hughes escorted Cyd Charisse in the Mel Ferrer Birthday party given by Mrs. Ferrer - but don't get excited, he was asked to take her.

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