Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino was born in Mexico City on November 25, 1920. He came to the United States just prior to entering high school. He attended Belmont High School in Los Angeles until learning enough English to transfer to the more prestigious Fairfax High School, also in Los Angeles, where he appeared in a number of school plays.
It was while performing in high school that he came to the attention of talent scouts at MGM, who offered him a contract. He spent the first few years of his career playing in Spanish-language films before finally getting a chance to dance with Cyd Charisse in Fiesta (1947). His first featured role was in Battleground (1949), and his first starring role in Border Incident (1949). By the late 1940s he had become the most famous Hispanic face in Hollywood, even though he was still relegated to playing primarily small ethnic roles -- he played everything from a bandito to a native American, and even an Oriental character or two.
On October 26, 1944, Montalban married Georgiana Young, the sister of actress Loretta Young, who gave him exposure on her television show. The couple had four children. (Georgiana died on November 13, 2007.)
Montalban made frequent guest appearances on television from the 1950s through the 1990s, including repeated appearances on "The Virginian" and a recurring role as Damon West on "Dr. Kildare." He was also a song and dance man in several musicals, and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1958 as Best Actor (Musical) for his role in Jamaica.
In 1966, Montalban played a villainous super-human on an episode of "Star Trek," which at the time had few viewers and was in danger of being cancelled. Twelve years later, he agreed to reprise the role in the second "Star Trek" feature film, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, the only villain from the television series to appear in a Star Trek movie.
Montalban is, probably, best remembered for his role as Mr. Roarke on the television series "Fantasy Island," which ran from 1977 to 1984. He was also the commercial spokesman for the Chrysler Corporation for many years, delivering the trademark line "fine Corinthian leather." In 1978, he won an Emmy for "How the West Was Won." He also starred as Zach Powers in the series "The Colbys," which aired from 1985 to 1987.
Montalban suffered a severe injury to his spine while making Across the Wide Missouri in 1951, and has suffered serious pain ever since. He underwent a major operation in 1993 in hopes of alleviating the pain, but the operation failed and he has been confined to a wheelchair since. He has continued to work, however, primarily in voice-over roles but occasionally live-action ones as well.
Always grateful for being the first Hispanic to become a major Hollywood personality, Montalban has worked hard to give other Hispanics the same opportunity. In 1970 he founded Nosotros, an organization whose goal is to help fulfill the goals of persons of Spanish-speaking origin in the motion picture and television industry (to learn more, see the organization's website at www.nosotros.org). In 1999, he purchased an old Hollywood theater and rebuilt it into a state-of-the-art theater school and theater. Re-opened in 2004, it now houses the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival.
Filmography
Fiesta (1947)
On an Island with You (1948)
The Kissing Bandit (1948)
Neptune's Daughter (1949)
Border Incident (1949)
Battleground (1949)
Mystery Street (1950)
Right Cross (1950)
Two Weeks: With Love (1950)
Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
Latin Lovers (1953)
Sayonara (1957)
Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960)
Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
The Reluctant Saint (1962)
Love Is A Ball (1963)
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
The Money Trap (1965)
The Singing Nun (1966)
Madame X (1966)
Sweet Charity (1969
The Deserter (1971)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
The Train Robbers (1973)
Wonder Woman (1974)
The Mark of Zorro (1974)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
Star Trek: The Wrath of
Khan (1982)
Cannonball Run II (1984)
The Naked Gun: From the
Files of Police Squad!
(1988)
Spy Kids 2: Island of
Lost Dreams (2002)
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
The Ant Bully (voice--2006)
Memoir
Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds (1980)
Questions or comments about this page?
The Internet Movie DataBase. www.imdb.com/name/nm0001544/
Hollywood.com. www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Ricardo_Montalban/193635