Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became widely known for performances in genres from crime and drama to musicals and comedy.
Later in his career, Montalbán portrayed Armando in the Planet of the Apes film series from the early 1970s, starring in both Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). As the villain Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced human, he guest-starred in the original Star Trek television series (1967) and starred in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
During the 1970s and 1980s, Montalbán was a spokesman for Chrysler for thirteen years, featured in their automotive commercials and advertisements, notably those in which he extolled the "rich Corinthian leather" used in the Cordoba's interior.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Montalbán played Mr. Roarke on the television series Fantasy Island (1977–1984). He won an Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries How the West Was Won (1978), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993. Montalbán was professionally active into his eighties, providing voices for animated films and commercials, and appearing as Grandfather Valentin in the Spy Kids franchise.
Early life Montalbán was born on November 25, 1920, in Mexico City, and grew up in Torreón, the son of Spanish immigrants Ricarda Merino Jiménez and Genaro Balbino Montalbán Busano, a store manager, who raised him as a Catholic. He was born with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his spine."Ricardo Montalban tribute" YouTube, acceptance speech video of Easter Seals Lifetime Achievement Award Montalbán had a sister, Carmen, and two brothers, Pedro and Carlos. As a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles to live with Carlos. They moved to New York City in 1940, and Montalbán earned a minor role in the play Her Cardboard Lover.
Career Short films In 1941, Montalbán appeared in three-minute musicals produced for the Soundies film jukeboxes. He appeared in many of the New York–produced Soundies as an extra or as a member of a singing chorus (usually billed as Men and Maids of Melody), although he had the lead role in He's a Latin from Staten Island (1941), in which he (billed simply as "Ricardo") played the title role of a guitar-strumming gigolo, accompanied by an offscreen vocal by Gus Van.
Mexican films Later in 1941, Montalbán returned to Mexico after learning that his mother was dying. There, he acted in a dozen Spanish-language films and became a star in his homeland.
He had an uncredited appearance in a version of The Three Musketeers (1942) starring Cantinflas. He can be glimpsed in El verdugo de Sevilla (1942), The Saint That Forged a Country (1942) starring Ramon Navarro, and La razón de la culpa (1943).
Stardom in Mexico Montalbán became a star in Mexico in Santa (1943), which was directed by a Hollywood immigrant, Norman Foster. He followed it with a support role in Cinco fueron escogidos (1943).
Foster gave him a second lead role in The Escape (1944) aka La Fuga. Montalban had the star role in Cadetes de la naval, Nosotros, and The Hour of Truth (all 1945), the latter a bullfighting drama also directed by Foster.
Montalban was in The House of the Fox (1945), Pepita Jimenez (1946), and Fantasía ranchera (1947).
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Montalbán's films had been seen by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who were looking for someone to play a bullfighter opposite Esther Williams in Fiesta (1947), shot in Mexico. Montalbán was cast and the movie was very popular; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed him to a long-term contract..
The studio re-teamed him with Williams in On an Island with You (1948). He had a dance number in the Frank Sinatra musical The Kissing Bandit (1948), then did a third film with Williams, Neptune's Daughter (1949), in which they dueted on "Baby It's Cold Outside".
Montalbán's first leading role was in the film noir Border Incident (1949) with actor George Murphy, directed by Anthony Mann. It was one of a number of lower budgeted films made at the studio under Dore Schary and earned a small loss. Montalbán was the first Hispanic actor to appear on the front cover of Life magazine on November 21, 1949. "I was king for a week," he said later. "I thought the offers would flood in, but after a week—nothing."
Montalban was one of several soldiers in the William Wellman war film Battleground (1949), a huge success at the box office. He was given another star role in Mystery Street (1950), playing a detective in a film noir directed by John Sturges. It was a box office disappointment.
Sturges also directed Right Cross (1950) with Montalbán, Dick Powell and June Allyson. Montalbán and Jane Powell made the musical Two Weeks with Love (1950), which was a minor hit.
Universal borrowed Montalbán and Cyd Charisse for a swashbuckler, The Mark of the Renegade (1951). Back at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was second billed to Clark Gable in Across the Wide Missouri (1951), directed by Wellman. The film was a big hit, although Montalbán was injured during shooting.
The studio teamed him and Shelley Winters in My Man and I (1952) where he played a laborer under the direction of Wellman; it didn't sell well at the box office.
Montalbán was one of several names in Sombrero (1953), shot in Mexico. Montalbán was Lana Turner's leading man in Latin Lovers (1953). Both films lost money and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer let him go.
He later said, "I played caricatures of what a Latin is supposed to be like. In reality, we are family men. I should have had the courage of Dolores Del Rio who returned to Mexico and made her best movies there."Dignity first with Ricardo Montalban goes from Mr. Roarke to the Colby crew with class: [SA1 Edition] Jim Bawden Toronto Star. Toronto Star February 22, 1986: F10.
B movies, television, and Broadway
Montalbán did a swashbuckler for Sam Katzman, The Saracen Blade (1954), then returned to Mexico to star in Untouched (1954).
He travelled to Italy to make The Queen of Babylon (1954) with Rhonda Fleming, then returned to Mexico to make the US-financed A Life in the Balance (1955) with Anne Bancroft. He bought a story for himself, Green Shadows, but it appears not to have been made.Looking at Hollywood: Ricardo Montalban Will Do Planter Who Fights Commies; Hedda Hopper. Chicago Daily Tribune March 23, 1954: a2.
Montalbán began working in television, guest-starring on shows such as General Electric Theater, The Ford Television Theatre, Celebrity Playhouse, Climax!, The 20th Century-Fox Hour (versions of Broken Arrow and Five Fingers), Chevron Hall of Stars, Wagon Train, and Schlitz Playhouse.
In 1955, he appeared on Broadway with Gloria DeHaven in a musical adaptation of Seventh Heaven, but it ran for only forty-four performances. In Hollywood, he appeared in the thriller for Allied Artists, Three for Jamie Dawn (1956).
Montalbán returned to Italy for Desert Warrior (1957), then had his first role in an "A" Hollywood film for a number of years in Sayonara (1957), in which he played a Japanese dancer. He later said, "I was and still am very pleased with my performance and very much saddened by this picture. I was hoping for an Academy Award nomination, but unfortunately, most of my scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor."
From 1957 to 1959, Montalbán starred in the Broadway musical Jamaica, singing several light-hearted calypso numbers opposite Lena Horne, which ran for 558 performances. His performance earned him a Tony Award nomination.FILMLAND EVENT: Ricardo Montalban Will Return Here Los Angeles Times April 8, 1959: A11.
Montalbán continued to guest-star on shows such as Colgate Theatre and Playhouse 90. When Jamaica ended, he guest-starred in Riverboat, Adventures in Paradise, Startime, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Christophers, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Loretta Young Show (several times), Zorro, The Untouchables, Checkmate, Cain's Hundred, and The Lloyd Bridges Show.
Montalbán could also be seen in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960); the TV remake of Rashomon (1960) directed by Sidney Lumet; Rage of the Buccaneers (1961), an Italian swashbuckler in which Montalbán had a lead role alongside Vincent Price; Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962); The Reluctant Saint (1963) with Maximillian Schell; and Love is a Ball (1963) with Glenn Ford, playing a French duke. He was the Native American leader Little Wolf in Cheyenne Autumn (1964) directed by John Ford, did the TV version of The Fantasticks (1964), and returned to Mexico to make ¡Buenas noches, año nuevo! (1964).Ricardo Montalban Career Checkered: Images of Swashbuckler, Dancer Hard to Live Down; Scheuer, Philip K., Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1963: D7.
He was mostly seen, though, on television in Alcoa Premiere, The Dick Powell Theatre, Ben Casey, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Lieutenant, The Great Adventure, Slattery's People, The Defenders, The Rogues, Burke's Law, Dr. Kildare, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.RICARDO MONTALBAN NO LONGER TYPE CAST Los Angeles Times December 1, 1964: D16.
Montalbán had supporting roles in The Money Trap (1965) with Ford, directed by Burt Kennedy, Madame X (1966) with Turner for producer Ross Hunter, and The Singing Nun (1966) with Debbie Reynolds at MGM.
He guest-starred in The Long, Hot Summer, Daniel Boone, The Wild Wild West, Insight, Combat!, Mission: Impossible, I Spy, Hawaii Five-O (playing a Japanese-American crime boss ), and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.
In 1965, he toured in The King and I. I think every actor loves the stage,' he said in 1991. 'The pros are that it is the actor's medium; there's no way your scene is going to end up on the cutting-room floor, and it's up to you to get and keep the attention of the audience by the truth of your performance.Ricardo Montalban is very selective about new roles Series: NEWSMAKERS REVISITED: [CITY Edition], Horning, Jay.; St. Petersburg Times, April 21, 1991: 11A.
He appeared in the television films Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966) (for which his fee was $10,000, equivalent to $ today.) and Code Name: Heraclitus (1967), and the features The Longest Hundred Miles (1967), Sol Madrid (1968), and Blue (1968). He also guest-starred on "Space Seed", an episode of Star Trek. "I'm like a doctor on 24-hour call," he said in a 1967 interview. "I don't turn anything down."Ricardo Montalban Quite a Character---in Many Roles; Paul Henninger, Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1967: d16.
Montalbán also starred in radio, such as on the internationally syndicated program Lobo del Mar (Seawolf), in which he was cast as the captain of a vessel that became part of some adventure at each port it visited. This 30-minute weekly show aired in many Spanish-speaking countries until the early 1970s.
Television movies Montalbán guest-starred in The Felony Squad, Ironside, It Takes a Thief, and The High Chaparral. He did the television films The Pigeon (1969), The Desperate Mission (1969) (playing Joaquin Murrieta), and Black Water Gold (1970), and had a supporting role in the big screen film version of Sweet Charity (1969).Theater: Actor Ricardo Montalban--still a Casanova type, Mary Daniels, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1969: a8.