RIP Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo Montalban (Associated Press photo)
Ricardo Montalban, of “Fantasy Island” and “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” fame, died Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home. He was 88.
The debonair Mexican-born actor’s death was announced at a city council meeting by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived, the Associated Press reports. Garcetti did not give a cause of death.
“What you saw on the screen and on television and on talk shows, this very courtly, modest, dignified individual, that’s exactly who he was,” Montalban’s longtime friend and publicist David Brokaw told the AP.
Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in “Fiesta,” and starred again with her in “On an Island with You” and “Neptune’s Daughter.”
Trekkies know Montalban best for playing the titular villain in the second “Star Trek” movie, widely regarded as one of the franchise’s best films. He originally played Khan in a 1967 episode of the TV series; he agreed to reprise the role in the 1982 movie for only $100,000 because he loved it so much, according to IMDB.
He also played the baddie in the spoof “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.”
In addition, Montalban was well known for his starring role on the popular TV show “Fantasy Island,” which aired from 1978-84. He played the enigmatic, white-suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over a tropical island where visitors were able to fulfill their lifelong dreams. His character was always accompanied by Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize), who called out the opening catchphrase “The plane! The plane!” when guests arrived.
Montalban won an Emmy for his supporting actor role in the 1978 miniseries “How the West Was Won.”
In recent years, Montalban did quite a bit of voiceover work on series ranging from “Dora the Explorer” to “Family Guy,” according to IMDB. He also played the grandfather in the “Spy Kids” sequels.
His IMDB profile lists more than 165 film and TV credits.
Montalban also was active in the theater. He starred on Broadway in the 1957 musical “Jamaica” opposite Lena Horne, receiving a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical.
He toured in George Bernard Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell,” playing the title role. In 1965, he appeared on tour in the Yul Brynner role in “The King and I.”
“The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District – where the next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts – stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer,” Garcetti said later in a written statement, according to the AP.
In 1970, Montalban organized fellow Latino actors into an organization called Nosotros (”We”), and he became the first president, according to the AP. The group’s goal was to improve the image of Spanish-speaking Americans in TV and movies, to guard against discrimination and encourage Latino actors to study the profession.
The AP obituary cites a 1970 interview in which he said, “The Spanish-speaking American boy sees Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid wipe out a regiment of Bolivian soldiers. He sees `The Wild Bunch’ annihilate the Mexican army. It’s only natural for him to say, `Gee, I wish I were an Anglo.’”
Montalban was born Nov. 25, 1920, in Mexico City, the son of parents who had emigrated from Spain. He was raised to speak Castilian Spanish, which brought the scorn of his classmates. His mother dressed him with old-country formality, including lace collars and short pants, he wrote in his 1980 autobiography, “Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds.”
“It is not easy to grow up in a country that has different customs from your own family’s.”
In Los Angeles, he attended Fairfax High School, but rather than seek his fortune in Hollywood, he did summer stock in New York. He returned to Mexico City and played leading roles in movies from 1941-45, which led to his MGM contract.
“Movies were never kind to me; I had to fight for every inch of film,” according to a 1970 interview cited by the AP. “Usually my best scenes would end up on the cutting-room floor.”
He fared better after parting ways with MGM in 1953, though he mostly played “ethnic roles,” such as a Japanese kabuki actor in “Sayonara” and an Indian in “Cheyenne Autumn.”
According to the AP, Montalban suffered a spinal injury in a horse fall while making the 1951 Western, “Across the Wide Missouri.” After that, he walked with a limp, which he managed to conceal in his performances, and suffered some subsequent health complications.
In 1944, Montalban married Georgiana Young, actress, model and younger sister of actress Loretta Young. Both Roman Catholics, they were one of Hollywood’s most devoted couples until her death in 2007. They had four children: Laura, Mark, Anita and Victor. Our thoughts go out to Montalban’s family, friends and fans.
- BAM
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KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!
You will be missed my ‘old friend.’