Montalban suffered from a painful spinal condition in his old age, but remained active in trying to raise the profile of Latinos in Hollywood.
Ricardo Montalban dies at 88; "Chrysler Cordoba Commercials" actor
Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times
Montalban suffered from a painful spinal condition in his old age, but remained active in trying to raise the profile of Latinos in Hollywood.
He was often cast -- and stereotyped -- as a Latin lover and later was best known as Mr. Roarke of 'Fantasy Island.' He was respected for his work to improve the roles and image of other Latino actors.
By Lorenza Muñoz January 15, 2009
Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on TV's "Fantasy Island," has died. He was 88.
Montalban died Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home of complications related to old age, said his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith.
Within the entertainment industry, Montalban was widely respected for his efforts to create opportunities for Latinos, although he and others believed that his activism hurt his career. In 1970, he founded the nonprofit Nosotros Foundation to improve the image and increase employment of Latinos in Hollywood.
"He paved the way for being outspoken about the images and roles that Latinos were playing in movies," said Luis Reyes, co-author of "Hispanics in Hollywood" (2000).
On Wednesday, actor Edward James Olmos called Montalban "one of the true giants of arts and culture."
"He was a stellar artist and a consummate person and performer with a tremendous understanding of culture . . . and the ability to express it in his work," Olmos told The Times.
Montalban was already a star of Mexican movies in the 1940s when MGM cast him as a bullfighter opposite Esther Williams in "Fiesta" and put him under contract. He would go on to appear alongside such movie greats as Clark Gable and Lana Turner.
When major film roles dried up for him in the 1970s, he turned to stage and eventually TV, where he was familiar to millions as the mysterious host whose signature line, opened the hit ABC show that aired from 1978 to 1984.
While "Fantasy Island" was renewing Montalban's career and giving him financial stability, he also won an Emmy for his performance as Chief Satangkai in the 1978 ABC miniseries "How the West Was Won."
In the 1970s and '80s, Montalban was also familiar to TV viewers as a commercial spokesman for Chrysler. He was later widely spoofed for his silky allusion to the of the Chrysler Cordoba, although no such leather existed.
While making "Fantasy Island," Montalban also gave one of his best movie performances -- as Khan Noonien Singh in the (1982), a follow-up to a beloved 1967 that also featured Montalban.
New Yorker magazine critic Pauline Kael said Montalban's performance as Khan "was the only validation he has ever had of his power to command the big screen."
Born Nov. 25, 1920, in Mexico City, Montalban was the youngest of four children of Castilian Spaniards who had immigrated in 1906 to the city, where Montalban's father owned a dry goods store.
Montalban came to Los Angeles as a teenager with his oldest brother, Carlos, who had lived in the city and worked for the studios.
"I felt as if I knew California already, because of the movies," Montalban said in "Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds," the 1980 autobiography he wrote with Bob Thomas.
Montalban studied English at Fairfax High School, where an MGM talent scout noticed him in a student play. He was offered a screen test, but his brother advised him against taking it and took him on a business trip to New York City.
The handsome Montalban soon found himself the star of a short film that was made to play on a screen atop a jukebox. That three-minute movie, which debuted at the Hurricane Bar in midtown Manhattan, led to small roles in plays.
When his mother's illness took him back to Mexico, Montalban got a one-line role in a parody of "The Three Musketeers," starring Cantinflas. Around that time, he also met Georgiana Belzer, a model and Loretta Young's sister, whom he married in 1944. She died in 2007.
Montalban intended to stay in Mexico, where his film career was taking off, but MGM wanted him for "Fiesta." In the 1947 musical, he had a memorable dance scene with a young Cyd Charisse.
"Fiesta" led to a contract at MGM, where he had a friendly rivalry with Fernando Lamas -- later Williams' husband off-screen -- as the studio's resident "Latin lovers." Bill Murray immortalized the duel between the two men with his classic "Saturday Night Live" skit, "Quien es mas macho, Fernando Lamas o Ricardo Montalban?"
Personal life
Montalbán was born in to Ricarda Merino and Jennaro Montalbán, a store manager. He had a brother, Carlos, and a sister, Carmen. Montalbán is a practicing and has said that his religion is "the most important thing in his life".
Career
Montalban has stated that when he first arrived in Hollywood, studios wanted to change his name to Ricky Martin.
He has frequently portrayed Asian characters - mostly of Japanese background (as in Sayonara and the episode Samurai). His first leading role was the 1949 film , with actor . 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 police officer in the movie . In 1957, he played the role of "Nakamura" in the film .
From 1957 to 1959 he starred in the , singing several light-hearted numbers opposite .
In 1975, he was chosen as the television spokesman for the new . The car became a successful model, and over the following several years, was heavily advertised; his mellifluous delivery of a line praising its "soft " upholstery, often misquoted as "rich Corinthian leather", became famous and was much , and Montalban subsequently became a favorite subject of impersonators. , for example, frequently impersonated him on . In 1986, he was featured in a advertisement for the new .
Montalban's best-known television role was perhaps that of Mr. Roarke in the television series , 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 ), became pop icons. Another well known role was that of in , which was a reprisal of his role in a 1967 episode of entitled "". There were some questions initially as to whether Montalban had prosthetic muscles applied to his chest during filming of 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 in his book , 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 as well as two films from both the and series. In addition, he has appeared in multiple musicals, such as 1966's The Singing Nun, also starring . 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 recurred.
In several interviews and public speeches, Montalbán has described "the five stages of the actor", which are as follows:
Who is Ricardo Montalbán?.
Get me Ricardo Montalbán.
Get me a Ricardo Montalbán type.
Get me a young Ricardo Montalbán.
Who is Ricardo Montalbán?
Montalbán did a for a commercial that aired during . 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.
Filmography
Five Were Chosen () (a Spanish version was filmed the following year)
The Twig of Seville (1942)
The Reason of the Fault ()
Santa (1943)
Flight ()
Cadets of the Navy ()
We (1945)
The Hour of Truth (1945)
The House of the Fox (1945)
Pepita Jiménez ()
Ranch Fantasy ()
Fiesta (1947)
On an Island with You ()
The Kissing Bandit (1948)
Neptune's Daughter ()
(1949)
(1949)
()
(1950)
Two Weeks with Love (1950)
Mark of the Renegade ()
(1951)
The Million Dollar Nickel () (short subject)
My Man and I (1952)
Sombrero ()
Latin Lovers (1953)
The Saracen Blade ()
Untouched (1954)
A Life in the Balance ()
The Queen of Babylon (1955)
Three for Jamie Dawn ()
Desert Warrior ()
(1957)
Let No Man Write My Epitaph ()
Rage of the Buccaneers ()
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man ()
(1962)
()
()
Good Night, New Year (1964)
()
()
(1966)
Sol Madrid ()
Blue (1968)
()
The Deserter ()
(1971)
Sentinels of Silence (1971)
()
()
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood ()
Joe Panther (1976)
Mission to Glory: A True Story ()
()
()
()
()
()
() (voice)
Television
Operation Cicero ()
()
() (voice dubber in English version)
()
(The Dove Affair) (1964)
Code Name: Heraclitus ()
The Longest Hundred Miles (1967)
Samurai Hawaii Five-O, 1st Season, Guest Star ()
Fade-In ()
The Pigeon ()
The Desperate Mission (1969)
Black Water Gold ()
The Aquarians (1970) (unsold pilot)
Sarge ()
Fireball Forward ()
() (unsold pilot)
(1974)
McNaughton's Daughter ()
Executive Suite (1976-)
() (pilot for series)
(1977)
() (2nd pilot for series)
(-)
(1978) (miniseries)
(-)
Heaven Help Us () (canceled after 13 episodes)
(-) (voice)
(-present) (voice)
: The Missing Piece () (Wizard voice)
Broadway Musical
(-)
Ricardo Montalban on the David Letterman
Corinthian leather
From Wikipedia
Corinthian leather was a phrase invented for marketing use to describe the leather used in certain luxury cars in the . The first use of this term was to describe the leather in the , but the best known use of this term is from the advertising campaign for the , featuring celebrity spokesman .
According to one source, the term was created by employees of the advertising agency .
Corinthian Leather is a marketing term that does not actually indicate any particular type of leather. In fact, according to one reference, Chrysler's "Corinthian" leather was mass produced in a plant in (not ).
Example of 1975 Corinthian leather
Starship Cordoba
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