Ricardo Montalban on AllMovie

Born in Mexico as Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino, Ricardo Montalban spent some of his youth in America and began his acting career in bit roles on Broadway. He debuted in Mexican films in 1941; after appearing in a number of productions he was signed in 1947 by MGM, which put him to work in "Latin lover" roles. After some time he managed to break out of this screen persona in non-romantic dramatic parts. Later Montalban began to perform on TV in a wide range of roles; he acted in many TV dramas, and was a semi-regular on The Loretta Young Show (Young was his sister-in-law). He remained sporadically busy in films, and also appeared in several Broadway plays; throughout his career he has continued to work onstage. He played the title role in a dramatic reading of Shaw's Don Juan in Hell which toured the U.S., costarring Agnes Moorehead and Paul Henreid. His greatest popularity came from his starring role on the TV series Fantasy Island and his appearances on The Colbys, although he continues to make occasional films. For his work in the TV movie How the West Was Won, Part II (1978), he won an Emmy. His brother is actor Carlos Montalban, best known to the public as a character in a long-running series of coffee commercials. He authored an autobiography, Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds (1980).