Ricardo Montalban - Biography

Last Editor: morganlefay				Ricardo Montalban Biography -   Name : Ricardo Montalban Birth name : Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán Merino Born : November 25, 1920 (1920-11-25) in Mexico City, Mexico Profession : Actor, director Died : January 14, 2009 Place of death : Los Angeles, California, United States Spouse(s) : Georgiana Young (1944-present) Notable roles : Mr. Roarke in Fantasy Island Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Height : 6' (1.83 m)

Ricardo Montalban Trivia -

In 1993, he had a 9 1/2 hour surgical operation on his spine to repair an old back injury he received while filming Across the Wide Missouri (1951). He has been in constant pain ever since and confined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic. He was half-brother-in-law of Polly Ann Young, Sally Blane and Loretta Young, half-uncle of Judy Lewis and Christopher Lewis. He agreed to reprise his role of "Khan" in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) for only $100,000 because he loved the role so much. He was nominated for Broadway's 1958 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Jamaica." He was the only "Star Trek" movie villain who previously appeared on "Star Trek" (1966). He played Khan Noonien Singh in the "Star Trek" (1966) episode "Space Seed" and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). He appeared in episodes of three different series with Madlyn Rhue: "Bonanza" (1959), "Star Trek" (1966) and "Fantasy Island" (1978). They played husband and wife in the first two of these. In 1970, he founded the non-profit organization "Nosotros" whose goal is "to help fulfill the goals of persons of Spanish-speaking origin in the motion picture and television industry". In 1999, he purchased an old Hollywood theater designed by the well-known architect John C. Austin which was built in 1927: "...conceiving a plan to rebuild this theater to benefit the diverse community and to build a state-of-the-art school to compliment this live theater". He plays a Japanese gangster in the "Hawaii Five-O" (1968) episode "Hawaii Five-O: Samurai (#1.4)" (1968). The eye makeup is so binding Montalban cannot blink. As a result the continuous shots of Montalban are always short. The effect is a little jarring. Most people blink when they move their head to readjust their eyes. Montalban never does when moving his head on camera, giving the character a sort of drugged or Zombie appearance. In any case, he neither looks nor sounds Japanese. He is best remembered by the public for his starring role as "Mr. Roarke" on "Fantasy Island" (1978). He had four children with Georgiana Young. Sons: Victor Montalban, Mark Montalban (b. 1947); Daughters: Laura Montalban (clothing designer, b. 1949) and Anita Montalban (b. 1952). Fantasy Island TV intro (1978): "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)" Theatrical Trailer :

Ricardo Montalban Detailed Biography -

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán Merino (born November 25, 1920) is a Mexican/American television, theatre and film actor. He is known as a spokesperson in late '70s advertisements for Chrysler Cordoba (in which he famously extols the "Corinthian leather" used for its interior), and for playing Mr. Roarke in the television series Fantasy Island and Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Montalbán was born in Mexico City to Ricarda Merino and Jennaro Montalbán, a store manager. He had a brother, Carlos, and a sister, Carmen. Montalbán is a practicing Catholic and has said that his religion is "the most important thing in his life". Montalbán has frequently portrayed Asian characters - mostly of Japanese background(in Sayonara and the Hawaii Five-O episode Samurai). Montalban has stated that when he first arrived in Hollywood, studios wanted to change his name to Ricky Martin. His first leading role was the 1949 film Border Incident, with actor George Murphy. During the 1950s and 1960s he was one of only a few actively working Hispanic actors. Many of his early roles were in Westerns in which he played character parts, usually as an "Indian" or as a "Latin Lover". In 1950, he was cast against type, playing a Barnstable Cape Cod police officer in the film noir movie Mystery Street. In 1957, he played the role of "Nakamura" in the film Sayonara. From 1957 to 1959 he starred in the Broadway musical Jamaica, singing several light-hearted calypso numbers opposite Lena Horne. In 1975, he was chosen as the television spokesman for the new Chrysler Cordoba. The car became a successful model, and over the following several years, was heavily advertised; his mellifluous delivery of a line praising its "soft Corinthian leather" upholstery, often misquoted as "rich Corinthian leather", became famous and was much parodied, and Montalban subsequently became a favorite subject of impersonators. Eugene Levy, for example, frequently impersonated him on SCTV. In 1986, he was featured in a magazine advertisement for the new Chrysler New Yorker. Montalban's best-known television role was perhaps that of Mr. Roarke in the television series Fantasy Island, which he played from 1978 until 1984. For a time, the series was one of the most popular on television, and his character as well as that of his sidekick, Tattoo (played by Hervé Villechaize), became pop icons. His other best-known role was that of Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which was a reprisal of his role in a 1967 episode of Star Trek entitled "Space Seed". There were some questions initially as to whether Montalban had prosthetic muscles applied to his chest during filming of Star Trek II to make him appear more muscular, on account of his being over 60 years old at the time. Montalban and many individuals associated with the production of Star Trek II have disputed this, most notably Leonard Nimoy in his book I Am Spock, citing the fact that he was always physically active and worked out regularly, and those really were his muscles. Montalban took a significant pay cut to play Khan, because he enjoyed playing the character so much. Montalbán has appeared in many diverse films including The Naked Gun as well as two films from both the Planet of the Apes and Spy Kids series. In addition, he has appeared in multiple musicals, such as 1966's The Singing Nun, also starring Debbie Reynolds. Over the course of his long career, he has played lead roles or guest starred in dozens of television series. Since 1993, Montalban has had to use a wheelchair after a long-unresolved spinal injury from the 1951 film Across the Wide Missouri recurred. In several interviews and public speeches, Montalbán has described "the five stages of the actor", which are as follows: Montalbán did a voiceover for a Taco Bell commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLI. In the commercial, one lion suggests to another to roll his Rs in a manner that is "sexy, like Ricardo Montalbán" while pronouncing carne asada. This segues to a voiceover featuring the actor.