Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino (November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican-American actor.
Dividing his time between America and Mexico in The '40s, he became a major film star in Mexico, and found steady work in Hollywood, usually playing Latin Lover roles, as well as providing an English dub for various foreign films. In later years he was a familiar face as a prolific character actor, then finally achieved stardom in America in the 1970s alongside Hervé Villechaize, when Fantasy Island became a hit. He was also known as one of the best villains to ever grace the Star Trek franchise, Khan Noonien Singh, from the original episode "Space Seed" and his reprisal of the role in what's widely considered the finest of the original series films (if no finest Star Trek film overall), The Wrath of Khan. Montalbán himself came to regard the role of Khan as the finest of his career. He also had a key role in another science fiction franchise of the day, Planet of the Apes, playing the kindly circus manager Armando in Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
Younger tropers are most likely to remember him as Grandfather Valentin in Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, or as the voice of recurring Freakazoid! and Kim Possible villains Armondo Guitierrez and Señor Senior Sr., respectively.
Was a commercial spokesperson for Chrysler in the 1970s and '80s, which is where the (oft-repeated) catchphrase "rich Corinthian leather" comes from.
A longtime advocate for the Latino community in Hollywood, he started his own foundation, which purchased and restored the historic Vine Street Theatre in Hollywood (now called the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre).
Ricardo Montalbán on TV Tropes:
- Battleground (1949)
- Neptune's Daughter (1949)
- Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
- Sayonara (1957) (as a Japanese man)
- Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
- The Singing Nun (1966)
- Star Trek, episode "Space Seed" (1967)
- Sweet Charity (1969)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Columbo, episode "A Matter of Honor" (1976)
- Fantasy Island (series, 1978-1984)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (reprising his role from "Space Seed")
- The Naked Gun (1988)
- Freakazoid! (1995-1997)(series)(voice)
- Kim Possible (2002-2007)(series)(voice)
- Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
- The Ant Bully (2006)
- Family Guy, episode "McStroke" (2008)
- American Dad!, episode "Moon Over Isla Island" (2009; Final Role)
