Miguel Ferrer - RIP

In shocking news today, actor Miguel Ferrer has died from throat cancer. He was 61 years old.

The son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, he followed in the family profession of acting, first starting off doing a hand full of small roles until his breakthrough performance as the ambitious corporate executive Bob Morton in Robocop. Though his somewhat sleazy character was generally more benevolent than his fellow colleagues, the role kicked off a series of bad guys that Ferrer could wisely handle, starting first with his scaredy-cat technician in Deepstar Six.

Ferrer spent most of the time working in television, where he was a prominent figure in several known shows. Many will clearly point to his recurring role as FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield in the cult classic Twin Peaks. Others will point to his long runs on the popular crime procedurals Crossing Jordan and NCIS: Los Angeles. And the rest will go with his role as Lloyd Henreid in the Stephen King adaptation of The Stand. I personally gravitate to his hilarious performance as the beleaguered and always furious network president Bud Budwaller on the underrated gem On The Air, another television show created and produced by David Lynch and Mark Frost.

His fantastic timbre gave him a second career in voice work, often taking roles in animated features and shows or reading for audio books. Some of his most notable roles in this field include the big bad Shan Yu in Mulan, Aquaman in Superman: The Animated Series, the Martian Manhunter in Justice League: The New Frontier, and Vandal Savage in Young Justice. Concluding his long association with DC Comics, his last performance will be Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke in the upcoming animated film adaptation Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. He was also set to reprise the role of Agent Rosenfield in the revival season of Twin Peaks.




This one really pains me as I always had a soft spot for him and would often brighten up whenever he appeared in a film, popped up on screen, or delivered a smooth or sinister line reading. I've often defended Shan Yu as a capable and memorable Disney villain mainly because of Ferrer; his reading of "How many men does it take to deliver a message?" always stick with me. And there's never a day that goes by without me remembering my absolute favorite Ferrer moment: where he kills a bunch of guys in Hot Shots: Part Deux and says with a big smile, "War: It's Fantastic!"

He will sorely be missed.