‘NCIS’ boss Miguel Ferrer dies at 61

Miguel Ferrer, who brought stern authority to CBS’s “NCIS: Los Angeles” and, before that, NBC’s “Crossing Jordan,” has died. He was 61. CBS said Ferrer (left) died Thursday of throat cancer at his Los Angeles home.

He had played investigative 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, Calif., Ferrer was the son of Academy Award-winning actor José Ferrer and singer-actress Rosemary Clooney, and a cousin of George Clooney, who issued a statement Thursday.

“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 . . . We love you, Miguel. We always will.”

Ferrer also recorded with a number of bands as a studio musician before becoming an actor, and toured with his mom and Bing Crosby.