Mexican actor of Spanish ancestry whose career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for many different performances in a variety of genres, from crime and drama to musicals and comedy.
Among his notable roles was Armando in the Planet of the Apes film series from the early 1970s, wherein he starred in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972).
Ricardo Montalbán played Mr. Roarke on the television series Fantasy Island (1977–1984), and Khan Noonien Singh in both the original Star Trek series (1967) and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). He won an Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries How the West Was Won (1978), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993.
Montalbán was professionally active into his 80s, when he provided voices for animated films and commercials, and appeared as Grandfather Valentin in the Spy Kids franchise. During the 1970s and ’80s he was a spokesman in automobile advertisements for Chrysler.
Montalbán, the son of Spanish immigrants, was born with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his spine. He had a sister and two brothers.
Montalbán married actress and model Georgiana Young (born Georgiana Paula Belzer, 30 September 1923) in 1944. Georgiana was the half-sister of actresses Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young and Loretta Young. After 63 years of marriage, Young died from undisclosed causes on 13 November 2007, aged 84. Her death preceded Montalbán’s by one year and two months. They had four children together, Laura, Mark, Anita and Victor.
His autobiography, Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds, was published in January 1980 by Doubleday. On 14 January 2009, Montalbán died at his home in Los Angeles at age 88 from congestive heart failure.
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