Mel Ferrer, 90, the tall, darkly handsome star of such classic films as “Lili,” “War and Peace” and “The Sun Also Rises,” as well as producer and director of movies starring his wife, Audrey Hepburn, died Monday at his ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif., family spokesman Mike Mena said.
Ferrer’s most impressive film role came in 1953 in “Lili.” He played a crippled carnival puppeteer with whom a French orphan (played by Leslie Caron) falls in love.
He also won critical acclaim as Luis Bello in Robert Rossen’s “The Brave Bulls” and starred opposite Hepburn in 1956’s “War and Peace.” In later years, he turned more to directing and producing for movies and TV.
He and Hepburn had become engaged in 1954 when they appeared together in the New York play “Ondine.” They married later that year. The pair divorced in 1968, and Ferrer married his fourth wife, Elizabeth Soukhotine, in 1971. She survives him.
In all, he appeared in more than 100 films and made-for-television movies, directed nine films and produced nine more.
Paul Sills, 80, founder of Chicago’s famed improvisational comedy group “The Second City,” died early Monday at his home in Baileys Harbor, Wis., of complications from pneumonia, his wife, Carol, said.
Sills helped found the comedy institution in 1959, along with its precursor “The Compass Players.” “Second City” helped launch the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Stephen Colbert and Mike Myers. The group marks its 50th anniversary next year.
Sills was inspired by his late mother, Viola Spolin, who created hundreds of improvisational games used to train generations of actors. Sills followed in her footsteps and was known as a guru of improvisation. He also created the New Actors Workshop in New York in 1987 along with director Mike Nichols and colleague George Morrison.
Sills’ play, “Story Theatre,” was nominated for a Tony Award in 1971.
