Maria Montez

Maria Montez in a 1942 glamour sitting by photographer Ray Jones. She was born Maria Africa Gracia Vidal in the Dominican Republic on June 6, 1912, and raised in the Canary Islands. She came to America in the late 1930s with her first husband, a British Army officer whom she married at age 25. The marriage fizzled soon thereafter, and Montez went to New York to take a modelling job. Her photos came to the attention of several studio executives. She initially signed with RKO, but when the studio declined to pick up her option, Universal Studios put her under contract in 1940. Her first film for Universal was the sci-fi classic "The Invisible Woman" (1940), followed by "That Night in Rio" (1941) and "Raiders of the Desert" (1941). On account of her striking looks and exotic accent, the studio soon paired her with other "exotics" (Sabu and Turhan Bey), and usually with a more "home-style" hero (Jon Hall), in a series of lush Technicolor costume films situated in fantasy lands, including "Arabian Nights" (1942), "Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves" (1943), "White Savage" (1943), "Gypsy Wildcat" (1944), "Cobra Woman" (1944) and "Sudan" (1945). Hence she would be widely regarded as the “Queen of Technicolor”, along with Betty Grable and Maureen O’Hara. Montez eventually became discontented with the roles Universal offered her after the war. When she was cast in "The Exile" (1947), she found the role gave her only 20 minutes of screen time. She balked but later accepted the role rather than be suspended by the studio, but Montez had a stipulation in her contract giving her top billing. After getting out of her Universal contract, she began making films in Europe with quite a bit of success. Sadly, on September 7, 1951, Montez was found dead in the bathtub of her Paris home at age 39. Although no autopsy was performed, it was speculated that she had a heart attack.

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