Ricardo Montalbam (November 25, 1920 - January 14, 2009)

Ricardo Montalban will forever be remembered as Mr. Roarke the mysterious man in white who made dreams come true on the ABC series "Fantasy Island." The series ran from 1978 to 1984 and only added to the growing legion of fans that Montalban already had. He began in the 1940's appearing on the silver screen and made several film appearances between 1942 and 1950. In the 1950's he made the switch to television and appeared on such programs as "General Electric Theater", "Celebrity Playhouse", "The Ford Televison Theatre", "Climax!", "Wagon Train", "Playhouse 90", "Death Valley Days" and "Bonanza." The 1960's saw him on such shows as "Ironside", "The Danny Thomas Hour", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "Ben Casey" and "The Dick Powell Show." In 1967 he appeared as Khan Noonien Singh in an episode of "Star Trek." He would later reprise the role for the 1982 motion picture Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. In the 1970's he appeared on "Gunsmoke" and "Hawaii Five-O" and even had a run in with the queen of comedy herself, Lucille Ball in an episode of "Here's Lucy." In the 1980's he returned to his villianous side when played business tycoon Zachary Powers on "The Colbys" from 1985 to 1987. The "Dynasty" spin-off revolved around the rich and powerful Colby family which was headed up by Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck, Stephanie Beacham and Katharine Ross. The following year Montalban made his final motion picture appearance playing the evil Vincent Ludwig in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad. In the 1990's he could be seen on "Murder, She Wrote", "The Golden Palace", "Chicago Hope" and "The Love Boat: The Next Wave." During his final years he appeared on such animated programs as "Spy Kids", "Kim Possible" and "Family Guy." His appearance on "Family Guy" in January of 2008 would prove to be his final television appearance. Montalban also appeared on the Broadway stage at times in the 1950's and the 1970's. From 1975 to 1978 he could be seen in the Chrysler's Cordoba Sedan commercials commenting on the "fine Corinthian leather." In a career that spanned more than sixty-five years Ricardo Montalban never failed to show his true talent, true charm and most of all his true ability to be sincere fine gentlemen.

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