RICARDO MONTALBAN autograph signed photo Amigo

A vintage original signed autographed photo by Ricardo Montalban measuring 4 1/4x5 1/2 inches

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Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán Merino (November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican-born American television, theatre, and film actor. He had a career spanning decades and multiple notable roles. During the mid-to-late 1970s, he was the spokesperson in automobile advertisements for the Chrysler Cordoba (in which he famously extols the "soft Corinthian leather" used for its interior). From 1977 to 1984 he starred as Mr. Roarke in the television series Fantasy Island. He also played Khan Noonien Singh in both a 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, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993. Up until his 80s, he continued to perform, often providing voices for animated films and commercials.

 Early life

Montalbán was born in Mexico City, the son of Ricarda Merino and Jenaro Montalbán, a store manager.[1] He had a brother, actor Carlos Montalbán, and a sister, Carmen.[2]

 Career

Montalbán has stated that when he first arrived in Hollywood, studios wanted to change his name to Ricky Martin.[3] He has frequently portrayed Asian characters – mostly of Japanese background, as in Sayonara and the Hawaii Five-O episode "Samurai." 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 handful of 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 Cape Cod police officer in the film Mystery Street. In 1957, he played Nakamura in the Oscar-winning film Sayonara.

From 1957 to 1959 he starred in the Broadway musical Jamaica, singing several light-hearted calypso numbers opposite Lena Horne.

Montalbán also starred in radio, such as the internationally syndicated program "Lobo del Mar" (Seawolf), in which he was cast as the captain of a vessel which became part of some adventure at each port it visited. This 30-minute weekly show aired in many Spanish speaking countries until the early 70s.

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 the "soft Corinthian leather" upholstery of the car's interior, often misquoted as "fine or rich Corinthian leather," became famous and was much parodied, and Montalbán 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.

Montalbán's best-known television role was that of Mr. Roarke in the television series Fantasy Island, which he played from 1978 until 1984. For a while, 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. Another of his well-known roles was that of Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which he reprised a role that he had originated in the 1967 episode of Star Trek titled "Space Seed." There were some questions initially as to whether Montalbán had 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. Montalbán and others 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. The theory that those chest muscles were Montalban's own is furthered in the installment of the Biography series devoted to him, in which both William Shatner and Montalban's son say Ricardo worked out strenuously to achieve that look. Film clips and shots throughout the episode bolster these claims, as they evidence a man in fine physical shape even into his 70s.

Montalbán appeared in many diverse films including The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! as well as two films from both the Planet of the Apes and Spy Kids series. In addition, he appeared in various musicals, such as 1966's The Singing Nun, also starring Debbie Reynolds. Over the course of his long career, he played lead roles or guest starred in dozens of television series. Since 1993, Montalbán had to use a wheelchair after a long-unresolved spinal injury from the 1951 film Across the Wide Missouri recurred. In filming one scene, Montalban was reportedly thrown off a horse, knocked out, and walked on by another horse, leaving him with a spinal injury that troubled him for the rest of his life and grew more painful as he aged. In 1993, he underwent surgery, but it only made the pain worse. Montalban continued to work, usually delivering his lines from a wheelchair.

In several interviews and public speeches, Montalbán described "the five stages of the actor" as follows:

   1. Who is Ricardo Montalbán?
   2. Get me Ricardo Montalbán.
   3. Get me a Ricardo Montalbán type.
   4. Get me a young Ricardo Montalbán.
   5. Who is Ricardo Montalbán? [4]

 Personal life

He married Georgiana Young, an actress, in 1944; they had four children. She was half-sister of the actresses Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, and Loretta Young, who nicknamed her "Georgie". After 63 years of marriage, Georgiana Young de Montalbán died on November 13, 2007, at the age of 84.

Montalbán established the Nosotros Foundation, which attempted to highlight and recognize Latino participation in the arts and entertainment. In 1970, the foundation created the Golden Eagle Awards, an annual awards show that recognizes Latino stars,

He was a practicing Roman Catholic and once had said that his religion was the "most important thing" in his life.[5] He was named a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by the Vatican in 1998.[6] He remained a Mexican citizen by choice, having never applied for United States citizenship, though he lived there for most of his adult life.

 Death

Montalbán died on January 14, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 88.[7] The cause of death has not yet been officially identified, although son-in-law Gilbert Smith did say he died of "complications from advancing age".[8] [9]

 Filmography
Film
Year     Film     Role     Notes
1943     Santa     Jarameño    
1944     La Fuga     Teniente    
1947     Fiesta     Mario Morales    
1948     On an Island with You     Ricardo Montez    
The Kissing Bandit     Fiesta Specialty Dancer    
1949     Neptune's Daughter     José O'Rourke    
Border Incident     Pablo Rodriguez    
Battleground     Rodriguez    
1950     Mystery Street     Lieutenant Peter Morales     Alternative title: Murder at Harvard
Right Cross     Johnny Monterez    
1951     Across the Wide Missouri     Ironshirt (Blackfoot war chief)    
1951     Mark of the Renegade     Marcos Zappa
1952     My Man and I     Chu Chu Ramirez    
1953     Latin Lovers     Roberto Santos    
1954     The Saracen Blade     Pietro Donati    
1955     A Life in the Balance     Antonio Gómez    
1956     Three for Jamie Dawn     George Lorenz    
1957     Sayonara     Nakamura    
1962     Ernest Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man     Major Padula    
1963     Love Is a Ball     Duke Gaspard Ducluzeau     Alternative title: All This and Money Too
1964     Cheyenne Autumn     Little Wolf    
1965     The Money Trap     Pete Delanos    
1966     Madame X     Phil Benton    
The Singing Nun     Father Clementi    
1967     The Longest Hundred Miles     Father Sanchez
1968     Sol Madrid     Jalisco     Alternative title: The Heroin Gang
1969     Sweet Charity     Vittorio Vidal    
1971     The Deserter     Natachai    
Escape from the Planet of the Apes     Armando    
1972     Conquest of the Planet of the Apes     Armando    
1973     The Train Robbers     The Pinkerton man    
1982     Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan     Khan Noonien Singh    
1984     Cannonball Run II     King    
1988     The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!     Vincent Ludwig    
2002     Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams     Grandfather    
2003     Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over     Grandfather    
2006     The Ant Bully     The Head of Council     Voice
Television
Year     Title     Role     Notes
1956     General Electric Theater     Esteban     1 episode
1957     Wagon Train     Jean LeBec     1 episode
1958     Frances Farmer Presents     Tio     1 episode
1959     Adventures in Paradise     Henri Privaux     1 episode
1960     Death Valley Days     Joaquin Murietta     1 episode
1961     The Dinah Shore Chevy Show     Karl Steiner     1 episode
1962     Cain's Hundred     Vincent Pavanne     1 episode
1963     Ben Casey     Henry Davis     1 episode
1964     The Defenders     'Spanish John' Espejo     1 episode
1964     The Man from U.N.C.L.E.     Satine     1 episode
1966     Dr. Kildare     Damon West     4 episodes
1966     The Man from U.N.C.L.E.     Delgado     1 episode
1967     Star Trek     Khan Noonien Singh     1 episode - "Space Seed"
1967     Mission: Impossible     Gerard Sefra     1 episode - "Snowball In Hell"
1967     Combat!     Barbu     1 episode
1968     Ironside     Sgt. Al Cervantes     1 episode
1970     Gunsmoke     Chato     1 episode
1972     Here's Lucy     Prince Phillip Gregory Hennepin Of Montalbania     1 episode
1974     Wonder Woman     Abner Smith     Made for TV movie (pilot)
1975     Switch     Jean-Paul     1 episode
1976     Columbo     Luis Montoya     1 episode
1977     Police Story     Major Sergio Flores     1 episode
1978-1984     Fantasy Island     Mr. Roarke     124 episodes
1985-1987     The Colbys     Zachary "Zach" Powers     48 episodes
1986     Dynasty     Zachary "Zach" Powers     2 episodes
1990     B.L. Stryker     Victor Costanza     1 episode
1990     Murder, She Wrote     Vaacclav Maryska     1 episode
1991     Dream On     Alejandro Goldman     1 episode
1993     The Golden Palace     Lawrence Gentry     1 episode
1995-1996     Freakazoid!     Armondo Gutierrez (Voice)     4 episodes
1997     Chicago Hope     Col. Martin Nieves     1 episode
1998     The Love Boat: The Next Wave     Manuel Kaire     1 episode
2000     Buzz Lightyear of Star Command     Vartkes (Voice)     1 episode
2001     Titans     Mr. Sanchez     1 episode
2002     Dora the Explorer     El Encantador (Voice)     1 episode
2002-2007     Kim Possible     Señor Senior Sr. (Voice)     5 episodes
2008     Family Guy     The Cow     1 episode

 References

   1. ^ Ricardo Montalban Biography (1920-)
   2. ^ Ricardo Montalban Biography - Yahoo! Movies
   3. ^ 2002 Archive Interview of Ricardo Montalbán, Part 1 of 5
   4. ^ "Crowds Gather to Inaugurate Montalbán Theatre", www.startrek.com (5 November 2004). Retrieved on 14 January 2009.
   5. ^ "Ricardo Montalbán receives first Spirit of Angelus Award at student film festival". CatholicWeb.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-24.
   6. ^ Gallantry magazine online accessed January 14, 2009
   7. ^ "'Fantasy Island' star Ricardo Montalban dies at 88". Forbes.com.
   8. ^ "Ricardo Montalban dies at 88". Yahoo News/AP. Retrieved on 2009-01-15.
   9. ^ "Mexican-American actor Ricardo Montalban dies at 88". New York Daily News (January 15, 2008). Retrieved on 2009-01-15.