Miguel Ferrer dies at sixty-one

Actor Miguel Ferrer, (above) died on Thursday of cancer at his Los Angeles home. He was 61.

He had played assistant director Owen Granger on NCIS: Los Angeles since 2012. Before that, he played the chief medical examiner and gruff-but-supportive boss to series star Jill Hennessy for the six seasons of Crossing Jordan.

A native of Santa Monica, California, Ferrer was the son of Academy Award-winning actor Jose Ferrer and singeractor Rosemary Clooney, and a cousin of George Clooney, who issued a statement Thursday afternoon.

“Today, history will mark giant changes in our world,” Clooney said, “and lost to most will be that on the same day Miguel Ferrer lost his battle to throat cancer. But not lost to his family. Miguel made the world brighter and funnier and his passing is felt so deeply in our family that events of the day...pale in comparison. We love you Miguel. We always will,” the statement read.

Actor Mark Hamill, remembering Ferrer, also wrote, “RIP Miguel Ferrer-a great friend & a spectacular actor. I was dreading this weekend for a different reason & now THIS. So sad .... #TooSoon”.

“Miguel you were an amazing man. We enjoyed a lot of laughs over the years. More jokes than I can count. You brought so many people so much joy. Guess that’s why So many people shed tears today,” wrote Ferrer’s NCIS co-star LL Cool J on Instagram.

Ferrer is survided by his wife Lori and sons Lukas and Rafi.