NAME: Ricardo Montalban
BORN: 25/11/1920
BIRTH PLACE: Mexico City, Mexico
BIOGRAPHY
Born Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino in Mexico City, Montalban launched his film career in the early 1940s. After a series of romantic leads and a promising stage career, he left his native Mexico for the US, and a contract with MGM studios.
He went on to star opposite Cyd Charisse in the musical ‘Fiesta’ in 1947 – a role which would see him forever cast as a Latin Lover. He was to team up with Charisse again in the musical ‘On an Island With You’ in 1948, before finally branching out as an agent, intent on avenging the death of a colleague, in ‘Border Incident’.
In 1976, Montalban picked up an Emmy for his role in the TV mini-series ‘How the West Was Won’. However, he is perhaps best remembered for playing the suave Mr. Roarke in the cult US television series ‘Fantasy Island’.
The 1980s saw Montalban return to movie screens as Khan in the Star Trek epic ‘The Wrath of Khan’ - a role he had previously taken up on the original TV series. Having completed his autobiography, ‘Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds’, he recently appeared in ‘Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams’