page_title: Ricardo Montalbán
section_title: MGM
hierarchical_section_title: Ricardo Montalbán / Career / MGM
caption_attribution_description: Cropped screenshot of Ricardo Montalban from the trailer for the film Fiesta
context_page_description: Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Meriño, KSG was a prominent actor in American television and film. Born in Mexico, Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for many 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 and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Khan Noonien Singh the augmented being in both the original Star Trek series and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
  Ricardo Montalbán played Mr. Roarke on the television series Fantasy Island. He won an Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries How the West Was Won, 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, including those in which he extolled the "rich Corinthian leather" used for the Cordoba's interior.
context_section_description: Montalban's films had been seen by MGM who were looking for someone to play a bullfighter opposite Esther Williams in Fiesta (1947), shot in Mexico. Montalban was cast and the movie was very popular; MGM signed him to a long term contract.
  The studio re-teamed him with Williams in On an Island with You (1948). He had a dance number in the Frank Sinatra musical The Kissing Bandit (1948), then did a third film with Williams, Neptune's Daughter (1949), in which they dueted on "Baby It's Cold Outside".
  Montalban's first leading role was in the film noir Border Incident (1949) with actor George Murphy, directed by Anthony Mann. It was one of a number of lower budgeted films made at the studio under Dore Schary and earned a small loss. Montalban was the first Hispanic actor to appear on the front cover of Life magazine on November 21, 1949. "I was king for a week," he said later. "I thought the offers would flood in, but after a week—nothing."
  Montalban was one of several soldiers in the William Wellman war film Battleground (1949), a huge success at the box office. He was given another star part in Mystery Street (1950), playing a detective in a film noir directed by John Sturges. It was a box office disappointment.
  Sturges also directed Right Cross (1950) with Montalban, Dick Powell and June Allyson. Montalban and Jane Powell made the musical Two Weeks with Love (1950), which was a minor hit.
  Universal borrowed Montalban and Cyd Charisse for a swashbuckler, The Mark of the Renegade (1951). Back at MGM he was second billed to Clark Gable in Across the Wide Missouri (1951), directed by Wellman. The film was a big hit, although Montalban was injured during shooting.
  The studio teamed him and Shelley Winters in My Man and I (1952) where he played a laborer under the direction of Wellman; it was a big flop.
  Montalban was one of several names in Sombrero (1953), shot in Mexico. Montalban was Lana Turner's leading man in Latin Lovers (1953). Both films lost money and MGM let him go.
  He later said, "I played caricatures of what a Latin is supposed to be like. In reality, we are family men. I should have had the courage of Dolores Del Rio who returned to Mexico and made her best movies there."
caption: As Mario Morales in Fiesta
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