Corona | Coming Attractions

Ricardo Montalban, the veteran screen star of film and television, passed away this morning in his home of Los Angeles. He was 88 years old.

Montalban began his acting career in 1942 by starring in a succession of films in his native Mexico and then branching out to American cinema where he carved himself a career by playing Latin characters. After crafting memorable film roles in Neptune's Daughter, Sombrero and Battleground, Montalban followed it up by transitioning to television and had dozens of guest appearances on such well-known shows as The Ford Television Theater, Wagon Train, Playhouse 90, Bonanza and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. However, it was on one such guest appearance on a 1960s science fiction series called Star Trek that the charismatic actor played one of his most famous roles, that of the genetically engineered superman Khan Noonian Singh. It was a part that he would revisit 15 years later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and as testament to his performance, Khan is ranked by fans of Trek as perhaps the best crafted villain in the entire franchise.

Montalban also portrayed other memorable characters such as Armando, the guardian of talking ape Caesar in Escape From the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes; the villain in the first theatrical Naked Gun film; and he portrayed the Grandfather in all three of Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids films. His other internationally known role is that of Mr. Rourke, the mysterious host of Fantasy Island.

In an 1978 interview talking about the appeal of Fantasy Island, Montalban said, "What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities."

A tribute to the best adversary to ever face down Captain Kirk: