Miguel Ferrer made his final appearance on “NCIS: Los Angeles” just a month after his tragic death at the age of 61 on Jan. 19, 2017.
But even as Hollywood said goodbye to the popular character actor, the town also broke his heart over a battle with the Motion Picture Academy!
The veteran actor died taking a huge regret to the grave: He never recovered his father’s stolen Oscar — or could get the Academy to replace it!
Miguel’s beloved dad, Jose, made history in 1951, starring in “Cyrano de Bergerac” and becoming the first Hispanic actor to nab the statuette.
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But growing up with his Puerto Rican dad and songbird mom Rosemary Clooney, Miguel “never saw the thing” because the Oscar had been donated to the University of Puerto Rico, where it was stolen.
“I never laid eyes on it,” Miguel said. “It was not in the house. I have no idea why he had it [at the university] outside of the fact that he had great affection for the island and the people who live there.”
In 2000, eight years after Jose died from colon cancer, the golden award was stolen from the university’s theater!
Miguel appealed to the honchos at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a replacement. Incredibly, they refused!
“Their position was, ‘If it’s lost or stolen and the guy’s alive, we replace it,’ ” said Miguel, who was George Clooney’s cousin.
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“If the guy’s dead, it’s too bad!’”
“He was furious about the Academy’s refusal to replace his father’s award,” said an insider.
“It didn’t make any sense to him.”
Miguel lamented shortly before his passing: “My dad won an Oscar in 1951 with an un-Anglicized name — the first Hispanic to ever win an Oscar — and the Academy is so intractable to this day!”
