Ricardo Montalban has died

Posted on January 14th, 2009 by ecthompson md

Veteran actor Ricardo Montalban has died at the age of 88. Although many people will remember him from the hit TV show Fantasy Island, I will always remember him for his unforgettable role in Star Trek II — The Wrath of Khan.

Fantasy Island was a interesting show. The concept was that rich folks could go to this island and live out their lifelong fantasy. Mr. Roarke, Ricardo Montalban, was the master of ceremonies. He would welcome these guests to the island, inviting them to have a good time, but invariably one person or couple would have their fantasy go terribly wrong. They would learn some important moral point and would be forever grateful that their fantasy was over. The show was clearly different for its time. There wasn’t always a happy ending. Yet, Mr. Roarke was always charming.

The Wrath of Khan was one of the best Star Trek movies of all time. The first movie was all about special effects and really disappointed many Star Trek fans, myself included. The second movie resurrected a character from the TV series, Khan. The script had that famous banter among McCoy, Spock and Captain Kirk and it had great special effects (for its time). Ricardo Montalban played the perfect villain to Captain Kirk. If you have a chance, pick up the movie.

I’m not coming close to doing this man or his career justice.  You can read more here and here.

Tags: Movies // 1 Comment »

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    Dos Equis should have hired Ricardo Montalban to do a few ads for them, he could have done their “most interesting man in the world” bit perfectly (he has a Spanish accent too)

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