January 16, 2009

Ricardo Montalban, 88

EVER since I was a child, I've always had a crush on Ricardo Montalban. His dark, earthy Latino looks made me weak in the knees (oo, bata pa lang ako, malandi na ako!). I don't recall the titles of his earlier films but I remember watching one with Shelley Winters in it. Sexy pa sya non.

Montalban became the stereotypical Latin lover who would sweep any woman off her feet, which I think to this day, all Latino actors try to emulate in their respective films (y tu Antonio Banderas).

The last time I saw Montalban, as perhaps many of you, was in Fantasy Island ("de plen! de plen!") where he played the resort manager, Mr. Roarke, who made everyone's wishes come true. Ay, di pala manager yun, concierge! (I think it is probably because of Mr. Montalban that I had grown to love hotel concierges, haha.)

Oh, another memorable Montalban film is the epic Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan. He played exiled villain Khan with so much intensity and aplomb, I was actually rooting for him instead of Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Muntik na mabuang si Capt. Kirk dito. It is also the film where Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) dies in the end. (Can you tell I'm a trekkie?)

Anyhoo, I leave you with this gem.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Montalban epitomized the suave host image; and he did a great job in Wrath of Khan! he will be missed