Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban

Birth : 1920-11-25, Mexico City, Mexico

Death : 2009-01-14

History

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG ( November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning seven decades (motion pictures from 1943 to 2006) and multiple notable roles. During the mid-1970s, Montalbán was most notable as the spokesman in automobile advertisements for the Chrysler Cordoba, in which he famously extolled the "soft Corinthian leather" used for its interior. He also advertised the Chrysler New Yorker. From 1977 to 1984, he became famous as Mr. Roarke the main star in the television series Fantasy Island. He played Khan Noonien Singh in both the 1967 episode "Space Seed" of the first season of the original Star Trek series, and the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He won an Emmy Award in 1978 for his role in the mini series How the West Was Won and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993. Into his 80s, he continued to perform, often providing voices for animated films and commercials, and appearing in several Spy Kids films as "Grandfather Valentin". Date of Death 14 January 2009, Los Angeles, California  (congestive heart failure)

Profile

Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo Montalban

Movies

I Know Catherine, The Log Lady
Self (archive footage)
An authorized feature documentary about Catherine E. Coulson, best known as the Log Lady in David Lynch & Mark Frost's "Twin Peaks".
Perdida
This film traces the unbelievable true story of the Calderón family, who built grand movie palaces in Mexico and the U.S., employing thousands to produce incomparable, hugely successful, and often reprehensible populist-genre films that were utterly and uniquely Mexican.
The Ant Bully
Head of Council (voice)
Fed up with being targeted by the neighborhood bully, 10-year-old Lucas Nickle vents his frustrations on the anthill in his front yard ... until the insects shrink him to the size of a bug with a magic elixir. Convicted of "crimes against the colony," Lucas can only regain his freedom by living with the ants and learning their ways.
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Grandfather
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Grandfather
Exploring the further adventures of Carmen and Juni Cortez, who have now joined the family spy business as Level 2 OSS agents. Their new mission is to save the world from a mad scientist living on a volcanic island populated by an imaginative menagerie of creatures. On this bizarre island, none of the Cortez's gadgets work and they must rely on their wits--and each other--to survive and save the day.
Behind the Planet of the Apes
Himself
Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of the science fiction masterpiece. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history.
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
Self
This documentary is hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and they take us through the history of Trek. We also get to see bloopers from the original series and the current space program and how progression has been in reality, hosted by LeVar Burton.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Vincent Ludwig
When the incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Cannonball Run II
King
When a wealthy sheikh puts up $1 million in prize money for a cross-country car race, there is one person crazy enough to hit the road hard with wheels spinning fast. Legendary driver J.J McClure enters the competition along with his friend Victor and together they set off across the American landscape in a madcap action-adventure destined to test their wits and automobile skills.
Fatima
Himself
This 60-minute documentary uses the reported miracle at Fatima in 1917 as a springboard for an examination of the relationship between religion and science in the 20th century. Participants include: Pope John Paul II, James H. Billington, philosopher Paul Kurtz, and writers Malcolm Muggaridge and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. It is hosted by Ricardo Montalban.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Khan Noonien Singh
It is the 23rd century. The Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers and Admiral James T. Kirk seems resigned to the fact that this inspection may well be the last space mission of his career. But Khan is back. Aided by his exiled band of genetic supermen, Khan - brilliant renegade of 20th century Earth - has raided Space Station Regula One, stolen a top secret device called Project Genesis, wrested control of another Federation Starship and sets out in pursuit of the Enterprise, determined to let nothing stand in the way of his mission: kill Admiral Kirk... even if it means universal Armageddon.
Space For Women
Narrator
Designed for class instruction and career education, and to prove that space exploration isn’t just for the boys. The film interviews women employed in the space transportation programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and shows the variety of positions that they hold as electrical engineers, aerial photography analysts, safety specialists and astronaut mission specialists. It notes how the women obtained their training and qualified for their positions. Astronaut Anna Lee Fisher, Dr. Patricia Cowings, Shirley Chevalier, Sue Norman, Sharon Orkansky, Brenda Willis, and Astronaut Catherine Sullivan are profiled. Narrated by Ricardo Montalban. Winner of NAACP Image Award For Picture Of The Year
Where Dreams Come True
Narrator
Directed by African American William Greaves and narrated by actor Ricardo Montalban, Where Dreams Come True is a 1979 NASA film highlighting the contributions of women and minorities and encouraging more to consider a career at the agency. The documentary includes interviews with astronaut-scientists Kathryn Sullivan and Ronald McNair, research psychologist Patricia Cowings, engineer Ruben Ramos, and former astronaut and deputy administrator Frederick Gregory. Much of the work depicted in this film relates to the fledgling Space Shuttle program - which was two years away from its first mission.
El asalto al castillo de la Moncloa
Felipe (archive footage)
In the style of Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?", this is a comedic redubbing of "Los Amantes del desierto (1957)" that became a spoof of the Spanish political situation of its day.
Return to Fantasy Island
Mr. Roarke
A second feature-length pilot film for the wish-fulfillment series sees six lucky people having their dreams fulfilled on the luxury resort island. Career woman Margo Dean's assistant, Lowell Benson, hopes to romance her; Brian and Lucy Faber want to see the daughter they gave up for adoption; Janet Fleming, who lost her memory on her honeymoon, wants to relive it to cure her amnesia.
Captains Courageous
Manuel
A spoiled little rich boy learns what life is really like after he falls overboard in the middle of the ocean and is picked up by a crusty old sea captain.
Mission to Glory: A True Story
Gen. Lafuente
Father Kino , a 17th-century Jesuit missionary, dedicated his life to helping Native Americans in the Southwest by teaching them agricultural skills as well as building missions and spreading Christianity. An explorer, astronomer and map maker, Father Kino surmounted numerous challenges as he journeyed through California, Arizona and Mexico.
Joe Panther
Turtle George
A young Seminole indian boy comes of age outside the Florida Everglades by trying to enter the establishment (white man's world). He gets work as crew member on (Brian Keith's) fishing boat, hunts for alligators and has cathartic encounters with bad guys trying to bring illegal aliens into Florida on fishing boats.
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Silent Film Star
A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.
The Mark of Zorro
Captain Esteban
The swishing fop Don Diego de la Vega becomes the swashbuckling masked hero Zorro when tyranny threatens his people in nineteenth-century California.
Wonder Woman
Abner Smith
A super-hero uses her powers to thwart an international spy ring.
Fade-In
Himself
A sophisticated Hollywood film editor, on location for a film she is working on, falls for a local cowboy who is hired to work on the film.
The Train Robbers
The Pinkerton Man
A gunhand named Lane is hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe, to find gold stolen by her husband so that she may return it and start fresh.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Armando
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, a chimpanzee named Caesar resurfaces after almost twenty years of hiding from the authorities, and prepares for a revolt against humanity.
Fireball Forward
A hard-nose general takes over a division with a bad combat record.
The Face of Fear
Sergeant Frank Ortega
A young Iowa schoolteacher, thinking she is dying of leukemia, goes to San Francisco, where she hires a mob killer to take her life. However, she soon changes her mind, and with the help of the local police, tries to find the killer before he fulfills his part of the bargain.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Armando
The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a spacecraft. Intrigued by their intelligence, humans use them for research - until the apes attempt to escape.
Centinelas del Silencio
Sentinels of Silence is a 1971 short documentary film on ancient Mexican civilizations. The film was directed and written by Mexican filmmaker Robert Amram, and is notable for being the first and only short film to win two Academy Awards.
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
Al Matteo
After his wife is murdered, a veteran cop quits the police department and becomes a priest. Several years later he is assigned to a parish where he meets the man who killed his wife -- and discovers that the killer was gunning for him instead. The first of two feature-length pilots for the series "Sarge."
The Deserter
Natachai
A young cavalry officer finds his woman tortured by the Apaches and blames the Army for not properly protecting the outpost, so becomes a deserter and an avenger, stalking and killing Indians without warning.
The Aquarians
Dr. Luis Delgado
A scientist and his team of underwater explorers search for the culprit who has stolen the world's supply of nerve gas and hidden it somewhere in the ocean.
Black Water Gold
Alejandro Zayas
A scuba team, a marine archaeologist and a Mexican historian join forces to reach the wreck of an historic Spanish galleon before a well-armed commercial expedition does.
The Pigeon
John Stambler / Kane
A private eye is hired to protect a young woman who has a black book on a crime syndicate.
Sweet Charity
Vittorio
Taxi dancer, Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life.
The Desperate Mission
Joaquin Murieta
A man who has lost everything joins others paid to convey a wealthy man's wife - and a mysterious treasure - to safety in San Francissco.
Blue
Ortega
A young man is torn between the woman he loves and his loyalty to his father, the leader of a mexican gang.
Sol Madrid
Jalisco
Government agent Sol Madrid travels to Mexico with hooker Stacey to bring mobster Villanova and drug kingpin Dietrich to justice.
The Longest Hundred Miles
Father Sanchez
During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, an assorted group of refugees, including an American soldier, an Army nurse, a priest and a group of local children, try to make their getaway aboard a rattletrap, creaky bus.
Code Name: Heraclitus
Janacek
A man who dies on an operating table is brought back to life, but he has total amnesia. A government agent decides that he would make a perfect undercover operative.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
The White King
Alice returns to Wonderland through the looking glass in this TV musical.
The Singing Nun
Father Clementi
Belgian nun Sister Ann is sent to another order where she's at first committed to helping troubled souls, like Nichole and little Dominic. When Father Clementi hears Sister Ann's uplifting singing style, he takes her to a talent contest. Sister Ann is signed to a record deal and everyone is listening to her lighthearted songs. She is unprepared for her newfound fame (like appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show) and unwanted side effects, including a wrongful attraction to an old friend.
Madame X
Phil Benton
A woman married to a wealthy socialite, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who had been romantically pursuing her, and is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity to save the reputation of her husband and infant son. She wanders the world, trying to forget her heartbreak with the aid of alcohol and unsavory men, eventually returning to the city of her downfall, where she murders a blackmailer who threatens to expose her past. Amazingly, she is represented at her murder trial by her now adult son, who is a public defender. Hoping to continue to protect her son, she refuses to give her real name and is known to the court as the defendant, "Madame X."
The Money Trap
Pete Delanos
A cop turns to crime to keep his spoiled sexy young wife happy. When the money starts coming in his partner was in on the action.
¡Buenas noches, año nuevo!
Fernando
Backstage comedy; singer-dancer and her songwriter husband pretend to have an open relationship, because it makes them look smart and modern.
The Fantasticks
El Gallo
Neighboring widowers plot to romantically unite their son and daughter by pretending to feud and forbidding the two children to associate with each other. Their scheme works and the two youngsters fall head-over-heels in love. To end their "feud" the fathers hire a bandit and his henchmen to fake an abduction and allow the son to rout the assailants. The plan works, but the two love birds discover that requited love is much less exciting than forbidden romance and they break off their relationship. Matt, the son, resolves to see the world and receives a severe buffeting, while Luisa, the daughter, has an unhappy romance with the bandit, who steals her most precious possession, her mother's necklace. Matt returns, sadder but wiser, and the two former lovers reunite.
Cheyenne Autumn
Little Wolf
A reluctant cavalry Captain must track a defiant tribe of migrating Cheyenne.
Love Is a Ball
Duke Gaspard Ducluzeau
Etienne makes a good living out of marrying off poor but titled young men to rich but untitled young ladies. Millicent is now in his sights on the Riviera, and Grand Duke Gaspar is the bait. But what if Millicent starts to fancy planted chauffeur John instead, and Gaspar takes a shine to Etienne's secretary Janine?
The Reluctant Saint
Don Raspi
The Reluctant Saint is based on the life of Saint Joseph of Cupertino who was sent to work at a monastery circa 17th century Italy because his mother believed him too simple for anything else.
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man
Major Padula
Young and restless Nick Adams, the only son of a domineering mother and a weak but noble doctor father, leaves his rural Michigan home to embark on an eventful cross-country journey. He is touched and affected by his encounters with a punch-drunk ex-boxer, a sympathetic telegrapher, and an alcoholic advanceman for a burlesque show. After failing to get a job as reporter in New York, he enlists in the Italian army during World War I as an ambulance driver. His camaraderie with fellow soldiers and a romance with a nurse he meets after being wounded propel him to manhood.
Rage of the Buccaneers
Captain Gordon, the Black Buccaneer
Gordon, The Black Pirate, battles the slavery trade.
Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark
Claudius (voice, English dub)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle.
Let No Man Write My Epitaph
Louie Ramponi
Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him to pursue his piano-playing talent in hopes that it will bring him a better life. Nellie's neighbors, like the alcoholic ex-lawyer who secretly loves her, help her in keeping Nick away from Louie, the resident drug dealer. But a chance meeting between Nick and Louie could change things forever.
Sayonara
Nakamura
Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brando) is reassigned to a Japanese air base, and is confronted with US racial prejudice against the Japanese people. The issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with Japanese women, in defiance of US military policy. Ordinarily an officer who is by-the-book, Gruver must take a position when a buddy of his, an enlisted man Joe Kelly (Red Buttons) falls in love with a Japanese woman Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki) and marries her. Gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony.
Los amantes del desierto
Prince Said
Omar Sultan's army has been defeated. However, Prince Said, son of the Sultan died, encourages people to form an army and fight again to Ibrahim. The town gets excited and running quickly, while crossing the desert, they encounter the enemy caravans and raid without knowing that one of them is Fatima, daughter of Ibrahim, who poses as a singer of the harem. Said, dazzled by the beauty of the girl, released. But soon after, Fatima, who also doesn´t know the origin of the robber, sees him again, and among them born a strong attraction.
Three for Jamie Dawn
George Lorenz
An unscrupulous attorney attempts to rig the jury vote in a murder trial. Released in 1956.
A Life in the Balance
Antonio Gómez
A widower's young son leads the police to a killer of sinners in Mexico City.
The Queen of Babylon
Amal
In this Biblical epic, a brave Chaldean rebel takes on his evil nemesis, a cruel Assyrian king. En route to his fateful meeting, the rebel hides in the humble hut of a luscious peasant girl.
Untouched
Federico Vascon
With the purpose of using barbasco roots in the production of cortisone, a pharmaceutical company sends a scientist to investigate the possibilities of exploitation in Veracruz, but the man gets lost in the jungle and lives a strange romantic adventure in a remote location called Paradise.
The Saracen Blade
Pietro Donati
Based on the book of the same name by Frank Yerby. Pietro is an orphan who is raised by a family friend in 15th century Italy. When the friend is killed by the same nasty baron who murdered Pietro's father as he led the peasants in revolt against the baron's tyranny, Pietro vows vengeance against the entire family. This will prove difficult, since he's been in love with the daughter of the nasty baron since he was a child and wants to marry her.
Latin Lovers
Roberto Santos
An heiress searches for true love while vacationing in Brazil.
Sombrero
Pepe Gonzales
Mexican love stories follow a dying man, a bullfighter's sister and lovers from feuding villages.
My Man and I
Chu Chu Ramirez
In California, a Mexican-American is falsely accused of killing the farmer he was working for after the racist farmer stiffed his immigrant employee with a bad check.
The Million Dollar Nickel
Himself
Short subject anti-communist 'documentary' in which foreign-born movie stars such as Leslie Caron and Ricardo Montalban urge the audience (in their native tongues, subtitled) to write letters home speaking of how wonderful life in the United States is.
Across the Wide Missouri
Ironshirt
In the 1830's beaver trapper Flint Mitchell and other white men hunt and trap in the then unnamed territories of Montana and Idaho. Flint marries a Blackfoot woman as a way to gain entrance into her people's rich lands, but finds she means more to him than a ticket to good beaver habitat.
The Mark of the Renegade
Marcos Zappa
An agent of Mexico poses as a pirate to foil a would-be emperor in 1820s California.
Two Weeks with Love
Demi Armendez
The Robinson family are spending two weeks of summer vacation at a resort in the Catskills. Older daughter Patti vies with her friend, Valeria, for the affections of Demi Armendez but Patti is at a disadvantage because her parents think she is too young for boys. But with Patti singing at an amateur show and a dance, her adventures in quest of Armendez ends happily.
Right Cross
Johnny Monterez
A sportswriter forms a ring triangle with a fight manager's daughter and her Mexican-American boxer.
Mystery Street
Peter Moralas
When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter Moralas teams with Boston police and uses forensics, with the help of a Harvard professor, to determine the woman's identity, how she died, and who killed her.
Battleground
Roderigues
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Border Incident
Pablo Rodriguez
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Neptune's Daughter
Jose O'Rourke
Scatterbrained Betty Barrett mistakes masseur Jack Spratt for Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the South American polo team. Spratt goes along with the charade, but the situation becomes more complicated when they fall in love. Meanwhile, Betty's sensible older sister Eve fears Betty's heart will be broken when Jose returns to South America. She arranges to meet with the real O'Rourke and love soon blossoms between them as well.
The Kissing Bandit
Fiesta Specialty Dancer
Ricardo, the milquetoast son of a Mexican bandit, would rather lead a quiet life in Boston. But the family would rather that he follow in his father's footsteps and become "The Kissing Bandit".
On an Island with You
Ricardo Montalban
A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend is just one of those disagreeing.
Fiesta
Mario Morales
When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.
Fantasía ranchera
Young composer in a small town where everyone is very nurturing of his talent finishes his first opera and goes to Mexico City to get it produced. Over half the movie is taken up with a performance of his masterpiece.
Pepita Jimenez
Luis Vargas
On March 22, four days after returning to his home in Andalusia, Luis de Vargas writes the first of his letters to his uncle and favorite professor at the seminary. He reports that his father intends to fatten him up during his vacation, to have him ready to return in the fall to finish his training for the priesthood. He mentions in passing that his father is courting a twenty-year-old, attractive widow, Pepita Jiménez; his father is fifty-five years old. Pepita had been married for only a short time to an eighty-year-old moneylender named Gumersindo. Luis is not eager to see his father marry again, but he promises his uncle not to judge Pepita before he knows her.
La casa de la zorra
The owner of an illegal gambling casino witnesses all the problems in the life of her dissolute son and finally acts in a way that'll help him rehabilitate himself.
Cadetes de la naval
Two young men go through military training, then enlist to fight in WWII
La Fuga
Teniente
A stagecoach full of conflictive passengers makes its dangerours way from Mexico to Veracruz during the days of the French Intervention.
Cinco fueron escogidos
Cinco fueron escogidos taking place in Slavko, a "peaceful town in Yugoslavia," with only Yugoslavians and Germans as characters, not a Mexican or Spaniard in sight. Another interesting point about Cinco fueron escogidos is the existence of an alternate version, shot in English with a different cast (at least in major roles). Sadly, this film, usually referred to as "Five Were Chosen" but sometimes called "Hostages" (not to be confused with the somewhat similar 1943 Hollywood movie with that title), appears to be lost. García Riera indicates the English-language version was screened in Mexico, at least for the press, but does not seem to have been released commercially in the Mexico or the USA. Since Herbert Kline was well-known for his leftist views, it's not surprising to note that many of the imported Hollywood actors were also left-leaning (and in fact more than one was blacklisted during the Red Scare era).
Santa
Jarameño
Santa is a beautiful and very humble young girl living in Chimalistac, a small and quiet spot south of the 1930's Mexico City. After Santa is cheated by arrogant soldier Marcelino, she's rejected by her family and friends and expelled of Chimalistac. Santa finds shelter in a whorehouse and becomes a cinic and bitter woman, mistreated by bullfighter "Jarameno" and silently loved by blind pianist Hipolito
The Three Musketeers
(uncredited)
Cantinflas and three friends return a stolen necklace to an actress who invites them to be extras at Clasa studios. While on the set, he falls asleep and dreams that he is d'Artagnan, fighting on behalf of Queen Anne.
He's a Latin from Staten Island
1941 Soundies short starring Ricardo Montalban