Miguel Ferrer had one of those faces that sticks in your mind for life. One supposes that, with such a quality, it’s no wonder that Ferrer was often cast in the role of villain or antagonist. And who can imagine anyone else in such roles as Bob Morton in RoboCop, Carl Quigley in Blank Check or, most important of all, Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks?
As the son of Hollywood legends José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, Miguel was no stranger to show business from an early age, yet didn’t begin getting regular roles on TV until his mid-20s. It was indeed RoboCop that cemented him as a shady and vile character type, though traces of humanity shined through occasionally in Albert Rosenfield, particularly after taking a punch from Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) in response to his aggressively brusque manner.
No matter what degree of nefarious Ferrer was playing, however, an audience could always look to him for top-notch drama, lending the kind of seriousness to the occupation of acting that very few appear capable of in the proverbial new school.
Ferrer’s death from esophageal cancer seems to mark a steady stream of dead and or/waning’d health famous people that’s carried over from 2016 (Larry Steinbachek included), and only further leads one to believe that maybe this whole Twin Peaks reboot idea was ill-advised from the start–it might have been the reprised role that sent him over the edge. In any case, goodnight sweet Miguel.
