Trivia of Ricardo Montalban

 Trivia of Ricardo Montalban (25 November 1920 - 14 January 2009)

*The youngest of four children to Castilian Spanish immigrants.He was born and raised in Mexico City.Montalbán moved to Los Angeles as a teen and lived with his much older brother Carlos Montalbán, who was then pursuing show business as both an actor and dancer.When he traveled with his brother to New York, he earned a bit part in the Tallulah Bankhead stage vehicle "Her Cardboard Lover" in 1940.

*His Hollywood leading debut was a robust bullfighter and twin brother of MGM star Esther Williams in musical movie 'Fiesta (1947)'.He co-starred with Esther Williams again in Island with You (1948) and Neptune's Daughter (1949).

*Had appeared with Cyd Charisse in six films: Fiesta (1947), On an Island with You (1948), The Kissing Bandit (1948), Mark of the Renegade (1951), Sombrero (1953) and Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976).

*Replaced his friend also rival in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Fernando Lamas in musical comedy film 'Latin Lovers (1953)' opposite Lana Turner whose at-that-time, had affair with Lamas.

*He had married Loretta Young's half-sister Georgiana Young in 1944, and appeared on his sister-in-law's television series The New Loretta Young Show (1962) several times.

*He play as villainous Blackfoot Indian chief in Across the Wide Missouri (1951) starring Clark Gable.During filming Ricardo Montalban was thrown from a horse and trampled. The resulting injury to his spine left him in constant pain for the rest of his life which increased as he aged, eventually leading to a 9-1/2 hour operation in 1993 in an unsuccessful attempt to correct the damage. The operation left him paralyzed from the waist down.

*He memorably portrayed galaxy arch-villain Khan Noonien Singh in the original Star Trek television series (1967) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) movie.He agreed to reprise his role of Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) for only $100,000 because he loved the role so much. He also watched the original series episode "Space Seed" to recall Khan, worried that he would sound like Mr. Roarke.

*He was awarded Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II in 1998; the highest honor bestowed upon a layperson in the Roman Catholic Church.