Ricardo Montalban, known to a generation as Mr. Roarke from “Fantasy Island,” died yesterday at the age of 88. Cause of death has not been released, but his son-in-law Gilbert Smith said Montalban’s health had been deteriorating over the last several days.
Montalban was born in Mexico City, Mexico on November 25, 1920. He starred in many Spanish language films before making his American film debut in Fiesta in 1947 alongside Cyd Charisse and Esther Williams.
(This work, Fiesta, is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice.)
In 1951, Montalban suffered a spinal cord injury while working on Across the Wide Missouri with Clark Gable. The injury would plague him for a long time afterward. Montalban also began making appearances on such television shows as “Celebrity Playhouse,” “Schlitz Playhouse of Stars,” “Playhouse 90,” and “Death Valley Days.” In the ‘60s, he appeared on four episodes of “Dr. Kildare,” two episodes of “Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” and one episode of the original “Star Trek.” His great screen presence made him a popular pitchman as he appeared in ads for Maxwell House Coffee and Chrysler.
In 1977, Montalban starred the made-for-television film “Fantasy Island” about a mysterious man (Mr. Roarke) and his diminutive assistant (played by Herve Villechaize) who helped people to make their fantasies come true. Montalban always greeted the guest with the standard line “My dear guests, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island.” While pretty high on the cheese factor, the film became a successful television show and ran for seven seasons. While “Fantasy Island’ was still on the air, Montalban appeared in another famous role – as Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
While he was often cast as a stereotypical Latin lover, he loved to appear in comedies. He starred in Cannonball Run II and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. He also ventured out into children programmed later in life, appearing as the grandfather in two Spy Kids movies, the voice of the Head of Council in The Ant Bully and the voice of El Encantador in an episode of “Dora the Explorer.”
Montalban also served as the founder and president of Nosotros, an organization to help fight for the rights of Latinos in Hollywood.