Pepa Phillippa Ferrer is the daughter of the celebrated actor, director, and producer Mel Ferrer and Frances Gunby Pilchard, whom he had married twice. Born on August 19, 1941, Pepa has four siblings, Christopher, Mark, Mela, and Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Her strong family foundation comes from her paternal grandparents, José María Ferrer and Mary Matilda Irene O’Donohue, and maternal grandparents Louise Collier and Sewell Norris Pilchard Jr.
Her Father, Mel Ferrer
Mel Ferrer was born on August 25, 1917, in Elberon, New Jersey. He was of Spanish and Irish descent, with his father, Dr José María Ferrer, hailing from Havana, Cuba of Catalan ancestry. His mother, Mary Matilda Irene O’Donohue, was a daughter of a coffee broker, Joseph J. O’Donohue, who was also a founder of the Coffee Exchange and the Brooklyn-New York Ferry. His parents married on October 17, 1910, in New York. Sadly, Mel’s father passed away just three years after his birth in 1920. His mother, Irene, was an ardent opponent of Prohibition and was named in 1934 as the New York State Chairman of the Citizens Committee for Sane Liquor Laws.
Ramon Ferrer was born into a prestigious Roman Catholic family, the O’Donohues. His aunt was named a papal countess and his mother’s sister was granted permission by Pope Pius XI to install a private chapel in her New York City apartment. He had three accomplished siblings; his elder sister, Dr María Irené Ferrer, was a cardiologist and educator, his brother Dr Jose M. Ferrer a surgeon, and their younger sister Teresa Ferrer was a religion and education editor. Ferrer received a private education at the Bovée School in New York and Canterbury Prep School in Connecticut and attended Princeton University until his sophomore year when he decided to drop out and focus more on acting. He also worked as an editor at a small Vermont newspaper and wrote the children’s book, Tito’s Hats.
At the young age of twenty-one, he began his career on Broadway as a chorus dancer and was soon awarded the Theatre Intime award for the best new play by a Princeton undergraduate. This success led to a contract with Columbia Pictures where he directed films such as Louisiana Hayride, They Live in Fear, and A Thousand and One Nights. His acting credits include roles in Lost Boundaries, Scaramouche, Lili, Knights of the Round Table, War and Peace, and The Vintage, as well as appearances in television series such as The Farmer’s Daughter, Sex and the Single Girl, Falcon Crest, and Murder She Wrote. He also produced and starred in the biopic El Greco and the successful film Wait Until Dark. As a testament to his contributions to the motion picture industry, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On June 2nd, 2008, Mel Ferrer passed away at the age of 90.
Her half-brother Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Sean Hepburn Ferrer is an American film producer and author born on June 17th, 1960 in Lucerne, Switzerland. He is the son of Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer. Having worked in the film industry for 40 years, he directed and produced the documentary Racehoss in 2001, and executive produced the award-winning Australian miniseries Cloudstreet in 2011. He also created a series of charities dedicated to continuing his mother’s legacy and published the children’s book Little Audrey’s Daydream in 2020.
