Mel Ferrer, the tall, fine-boned actor whose regal air and cultured voice lent distinction to such period pieces as Scaramouche and War and Peace, died on June 2 in Santa Barbara of natural causes. He was 90.

He was born Melchor Gaston Ferrer on August 25, 1917, in Elberon, New Jersey. The son of a Cuban doctor, Ferrer was a both an actor and dancer on Broadway before he came to Hollywood, where he co-founded the La Jolla Playhouse with Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire. After a try at film directing with the obscure drama A Girl of the Limberlost (1945), he made his film debut in John Ford's The Fugitive (1947) before landing his first lead, as a light-skinned black doctor who passes for white in a small New England town, in Lost Boundaries (1949). As with other strong "racial" dramas that year (Home of the Brave and Pinky), the film drew praise for its bold theme and especially for Ferrer's sensitive performance.

It was the start of an interesting career, particularly in the 50s, where he was well-suited for such costume epics as The Brave Bulls (1951), Scaramouche (1952), and Knights of the Round Table (1953). He had a charming respite from all that when he played a puppeteer who falls for a waifish orphan (Leslie Caron) in the lovely carnival romance Lili (1953). Afterwards, he starred in some major literary film adaptations (War and Peace [1956], The Sun Also Rises [195])), and returned to film direction – with his then wife Audrey Hepburn in the strange but intriguing jungle romance Green Mansions (1959).

He showed a flair for farce in the hit comedy Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and was a welcome sight on many hit shows: Marcus Welby, M.D., Police Story, Ellery Queen before he slid into a series of low-budget Italian horror films which can be judged by their titles: The Island of the Fishmen (1979), Doomed to Die, City of the Walking Dead (both 1980). Yet on a positive note, his career rebounded strongly when he was cast as Phillip Erikson, Jane Wyman's clever and devious attorney, in the popular prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest (1981-84). Ferrer was married five times, including 14 years with Audrey Hepburn (1954-68). He is survived by his current wife, Lisa, five children and several grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole