[Deathwatch] Ricardo Montalban, actor, 88

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

'Fantasy Island' star Ricardo Montalban dies at 88

By BOB THOMAS ? 27 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became
a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr.
Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at his home, a
city councilman said. He was 88. Montalban's death was announced at a
city council meeting by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the
district where the actor lived. Garcetti did not give a cause of death.


"What you saw on the screen and on television and on talk shows, this
very courtly, modest, dignified individual, that's exactly who he was,"
said Montalban's longtime friend and publicist David Brokaw.

Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to
Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther
Williams in "Fiesta," and starred again with the swimming beauty in "On
an Island with You" and "Neptune's Daughter."

But Montalban was best known as the faintly mysterious, white-suited
Mr. Roarke, who presided over a tropical island resort where visitors
were able to fulfill their lifelong dreams ? usually at the unexpected
expense of a difficult life lesson. Following a floatplane landing and
lei ceremony, he greeted each guest with the line: "I am Mr. Roarke,
your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island."

The show ran from 1978 to 1984.

More recently, he appeared as villains in two hits of the 1980s: "Star
Trek: The Wrath of Khan" and the farcical "The Naked Gun: From the
Files of Police Squad."

Between movie and TV roles, Montalban was active in the theater. He
starred on Broadway in the 1957 musical "Jamaica" opposite Lena Horne,
picking up a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical.

He toured in Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell," playing Don Juan, a performance
critic John Simon later recalled as "irresistible." In 1965 he appeared
on tour in the Yul Brynner role in "The King and I."

"The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District ? where the next
generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts
? stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer," Garcetti
said later in a written statement.

"Fantasy Island" received high ratings for most of its run on ABC, and
still appears in reruns. Mr. Roarke and his sidekick, Tattoo, played by
the 3-foot, 11-inch Herve Villechaize, reached the state of TV icons.
Villechaize died in 1993.

In a 1978 interview, Montalban analyzed the series's success:

"What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and
learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy, it becomes a reality, and
that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies
you learn to appreciate your own realities."

As for Mr. Roarke: "Was he a magician? A hypnotist? Did he use
hallucinogenic drugs? I finally came across a character that works for
me. He has the essence of mystery, but I need a point of view so that
my performance is consistent. I now play him 95 percent believable and
5 percent mystery. He doesn't have to behave mysteriously; only what he
does is mysterious."

In 1970, Montalban organized fellow Latino actors into an organization
called Nosotros ("We"), and he became the first president. Their aim:
to improve the image of Spanish-speaking Americans on the screen; to
assure that Latin-American actors were not discriminated against; to
stimulate Latino actors to study their profession.

Montalban commented in a 1970 interview:

"The Spanish-speaking American boy sees Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid wipe out a regiment of Bolivian soldiers. He sees `The Wild Bunch'
annihilate the Mexican army. It's only natural for him to say, `Gee, I
wish I were an Anglo.'"

Montalban was no stranger to prejudice. He was born Nov. 25, 1920, in
Mexico City, the son of parents who had emigrated from Spain. The boy
was brought up to speak the Castilian Spanish of his forebears. To
Mexican ears that sounded strange and effeminate, and young Ricardo was
jeered by his schoolmates.

His mother also dressed him with old-country formality, and he wore
lace collars and short pants "long after my legs had grown long and
hairy," he wrote in his 1980 autobiography, "Reflections: A Life in Two
Worlds."

"It is not easy to grow up in a country that has different customs from
your own family's."

While driving through Texas with his brother, Montalban recalled seeing
a sign on a diner: "No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed." In Los Angeles, where
he attended Fairfax High School, he and a friend were refused entrance
to a dance hall because they were Mexicans.

Rather than seek a career in Hollywood, Montalban played summer stock
in New York. He returned to Mexico City and played leading roles in
movies from 1941 to 1945. That led to an MGM contract.

Besides the Williams spectacles, the handsome actor appeared in
"Sombrero" (opposite Pier Angeli), "Two Weeks With Love" (Jane Powell)
and "Latin Lovers" (Lana Turner).

He also appeared in dramatic roles in such films as "Border Incident,"
"Battleground," "Mystery Street" and "Right Cross."

"Movies were never kind to me; I had to fight for every inch of film,"
he reflected in 1970. "Usually my best scenes would end up on the
cutting-room floor."

Montalban had better luck after leaving MGM in 1953, though he was
usually cast in ethnic roles. He appeared as a Japanese kabuki actor in
"Sayonara" and an Indian in "Cheyenne Autumn." His other films
included: "Madame X," "The Singing Nun," "Sweet Charity," "Escape from
the Planet of the Apes" and "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

Montalban was sometimes said to be the source of Billy Crystal's "you
look MAHvelous" character on "Saturday Night Live," though the
inspiration was really Argentinian-born actor Fernando Lamas.

In 1944, Montalban married Georgiana Young, actress and model and
younger sister of actress Loretta Young. Both Roman Catholics, they
remained one of Hollywood's most devoted couples. She died in 2007.
They had four children: Laura, Mark, Anita and Victor.

Montalban suffered a spinal injury in a horse fall while making a 1951
Clark Gable Western, "Across the Wide Missouri," and thereafter walked
with a limp he managed to mask during his performances.

In 1993, Montalban lost the feeling in his leg, and exhaustive tests
showed that he had suffered a small hemorrhage in his neck, similar to
the injury decades earlier. He underwent 9 1/2 hours of spinal surgery
at UCLA Medical Center.

Despite the constant pain, the actor was able to take a role in an
Aaron Spelling TV series, "Heaven Help Us." Twice a month in 1994, he
flew to San Antonio for two or three days of filming as an angel who
watched over a young couple.

In an interview at the time, Montalban remarked: "I've never given up
hope. But I have to be realistic. I gave my tennis rackets to my son,
figuring I'll never play again. But my doctor said, `Don't say that.
Strange things happen. You never know.'" 

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary