Ricardo Montalban: 1920 - 2009

Wednesday was a sad day; Ricardo Montalban passed away at the age of 88. To today's movie fan, he's best known as the tremendous Star Trek villain, Khan Noonien Singh, featured both on the original series and famously in the second and best Trek movie. To others, he will be remembered as Mr. Roarke, the white-suited boss of Fantasy Island. But that show's consistent success in the late 1970s and early 1980s was a career rebirth for Montalban, who had been working in Hollywood for over 30 years by that point. His first noteworthy performance was opposite Esther Williams in Fiesta released in 1947. He suffered a spinal injury while making Across the Wide Missouri with Clark Gable, which came back into Montalban's life around 15 years ago. It would ultimately confine the graceful actor to a wheelchair. In 1970, while still securing good roles, Montalban helped create Nosotros, a collection of Latino actors that fought to improve the representation of Latinos in film, as well as to increase the standing of Latino actors within the film community. As for the role on Fantasy Island, on which Montalban starred for six years, he said in a 1978 interview that he figured out the dark appeal of Mr. Roarke:

"Was he a magician? A hypnotist? Did he use hallucinogenic drugs? I finally came across a character that works for me. He has the essence of mystery, but I need a point of view so that my performance is consistent. I now play him 95 percent believable and 5 percent mystery. He doesn't have to behave mysteriously; only what he does is mysterious."

Montalban was a class act, by all accounts a smart, generous, kind professional. But he was also Khan:

Comments

[coffee]

Ricardo Montalban must have been a contender for Lady's Man of the year at least a few times during his lifetime