Ricardo Montalban Dies at 88

Photo from source, LA Times

This was a cool guy. Forget Fernando Lamas, Ricardo Montalban was the one who looked marvelous. No matter what TV show or movie he was in, he was the coolest guy on the screen. Fantasy Island may have been escapist fare, but it was the smarter counterpart to its schedule-mate The Love Boat. By a mile. And The Colbys may have been a second-rate Dynasty, but Montalban was still cool in it. And as the villain in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! he chewed the scenery while Priscilla Presley and Leslie Nielson clowned it up.

But when I think of him, it isn't Mr. Roarke that comes to mind. It is Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which he was not only the coolest Star Trek villain ever, he provided William Shatner with one of his most remembered scenes EVER. "KHAAAAAAAN!!!"

He will be missed.

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Ricardo Montalban dies at 88; 'Fantasy Island' actor

Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on TV's "Fantasy Island," has died. He was 88. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times