Tragic Details About Modern Family Star Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson has become a celebrated actor. He was nominated for several Emmy Awards for his role as Mitchell on the highly-rated sitcom "Modern Family." A champion of stage and screen, he also won a Tony Award in 2022 for his part in the play "Take Me Out." He has spent time on reality TV competitions, including "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." He's even released a cookbook!

When he's not acting, Ferguson is most likely fighting for causes he believes in. He started a non-profit organization with his husband in 2012 called "Tie The Knot." The non-profit revolved around selling a line of fashionable bow ties to raise money for initiatives that support same-sex marriage.

Fans know his recognizable red hair and beard, but there is a lot more that you may not know about the star. And many would be surprised to know that the red-haired actor has suffered from tragedy throughout his life and career.

A freak accident could have been the end of Jesse Tyler Ferguson's run as an actor. In 2013, Ferguson tried to stifle a sneeze on the set of "Modern Family," which resulted in the actor hemorrhaging a vocal cord. Medical professionals demanded that he go on vocal rest. But Ferguson was still in the middle of filming an episode for the show's fifth season. He begged producers to let him rest his voice so that he wouldn't damage it further. "I was like, 'You don't understand, if I do this, it is costing me my career!' I was so mad. Like, I had tears welling up my eyes," Ferguson recalled during an August 2024 episode of his podcast "Dinner's On Me." Luckily, the crew obliged, and the episode was shot with Ferguson silently delivering his lines.

While Ferguson's voice did heal, he still isn't satisfied with the episode that was filmed during his injury. He explained that he had to go back and record the vocals for the episode weeks later. "It was terrible ... I look like a ventriloquist is operating my voice. I do not look like I'm speaking," he said.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson has been unapologetically truthful about his sexuality and is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. He rose to fame playing one half of a same-sex couple on "Modern Family" and is an advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Ferguson has been married to his husband, Justin Mikita, since 2013.And he is close friends with other queer celebrities like Luke Macfarlane, who is also gay.

But coming out to his family took some time. Ferguson reflected on how he knew his sexuality from an early age but did not tell his parents until years later. He revealed on "Oprah's Next Chapter" that it took three separate conversations for his father to accept that he was gay. "He would conveniently kind of forget. The last one was he asked if I had a girlfriend," Ferguson said. "I was like, 'Dad, I'm gay. Do we really have to go back to this every time?'" However, looking back, Ferguson said his father just needed time to adjust. "It was a process for him as well. He had to figure out how to deal with having a son that wasn't [his] ideal son," he said. Although he first came out to his parents at 17, it wasn't until he was 21 that his father started to understand. 

November 2024 was a difficult time for Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his family. The actor revealed on Instagram that he spent the night of Thanksgiving in the emergency room as one of his sons was sick. (Ferguson and his husband have two sons: Beckett, born in 2020, and Sullivan, born in 2022.) While Ferguson did not confirm which of his sons required a trip to the hospital, he confirmed that his son was fine. Unfortunately, Ferguson's "Modern Family" co-star Julie Bowen had also spent the night in the hospital with her own son.

The timing for the holiday hospital stint could not have been worse for Ferguson, whose mother passed away earlier that same week. On Thanksgiving Day, he posted a tribute to his mom on Instagram with a throwback photo of his mother watching him take his first steps as a small boy. "We said goodbye to her on Tuesday November 25. Today I give thanks that I was able to be with her in her final moments on this earth. You only get one mom and I'm glad she was mine," Ferguson captioned the sweet picture.

Like many celebrities, Jesse Tyler Ferguson appeared on the show "Who Do You Think You Are?" to find out more about his family history. During his 2014 appearance on the show, it was revealed to Ferguson that an ancestor of his was accused of committing a vicious crime. Ferguson discovered that his paternal great-grandfather was accused of murdering his aunt!

Ferguson was shocked to learn about the scandal in his family line. "It was overwhelming," he told People. "[On the show], usually there's this big reveal, this important part of the puzzle, near the end of the episode. And here we are dealing with it in the beginning." Ferguson reflected on how his accused relative raised his grandmother, who he loved dearly. "I can't imagine anyone who was bad who could raise such a wonderful person," he said. Although some of what he learned was disturbing, Ferguson also felt learning about his great-grandfather helped him feel closer to his grandmother. 

In 2021, Jesse Tyler Ferguson revealed on Instagram that he had a skin cancer scare. Luckily, he shared the news after his doctors had already removed the cancerous skin. He posted a selfie with a bandage on his neck, encouraging people to get regular dermatology checkups. He implored fans to take care of their skin, saying, "They took a bit of skin cancer that they found. Don't worry, I got it early and I'm gonna be just fine. (and, wear sunscreen! SPF 1000 for me!)"

This wasn't the first time that Ferguson had a touch of skin cancer removed. The fair-skinned actor shared in 2015 on Instagram that he got a cancerous mole removed from his face. He thanked his doctors for "taking the cancer out of my face" and joked that the "Modern Family" makeup team had quite a task in covering up any scars from the procedure.

Cancer prevention is a topic close to Ferguson's heart as his husband battled cancer when he was just a teenager. "He was diagnosed when he was 13 and that's sort of an age when you don't really realize what's going on," Ferguson explained to E! News in 2014 while supporting the Stand Up for Cancer initiative. So, cancer screening and treatment is something that their whole family takes very seriously.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson's husband, Justin Mikita, was involved in a deadly traffic altercation in 2014. The collision was between Mikita and motorcyclist Nick Trela. (At the time, Trela was engaged to the daughter of actress Kirstie Alley.) Trela tragically passed away from injuries he sustained during the crash. The crash happened when Mikita crossed the double yellow line, attempting to turn left.

However, Mikita was not charged for the event. Authorities determined Trela was partly to blame because he was speeding. Mikita's legal team also claimed that eyewitnesses saw Mikita turn at a legal break in the yellow line. Speaking to TMZ, Mikita said, "This is a horrible tragedy. I want to respect the family and the process, so I am not going to discuss any details of the accident." Trela's family filed a lawsuit against Mikita in 2015, suing him for wrongful death. Although he was not criminally charged, it was still a tragic incident for all families involved.