Ricardo Montalban, RIP
Earlier today, Ricardo Montalban, the excellent veteran actor, passed away in his home at the age of 88. His massive body of work reads like a history of 20th-century filmed entertainment, with appearances in everything from Bonanza to Hawaii Five-O to even Dora the Explorer. Perhaps best known for playing Fantasy Island's Mr. Rourke from 1978 to 1984, Montalban's memorable role as Khan Noonien Singh in the 1967 Star Trek episode, "Space Seed," would be reprised on the silver screen 15 years later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It's arguably the best Star Trek film, due in very large part to Montalban's mesmerizing performance. But for those of us of a certain age, he'll also be forever remembered for making the phrase "Corinthian Leather" part of the lexicon. And as you'll see after the jump, he did it with style. Rest in peace, Ricardo.
[Source: AP]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
MemphisNET 9:33PM (1/14/2009)
Rest in peace good sir.
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Randy 12:20AM (1/15/2009)
RIP - - - Thank you for the memories!
Welcome to Fantasy Island!
Flashpoint 7:34AM (1/15/2009)
KHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahn !!!!!!!!!
William 9:36PM (1/14/2009)
Rest in peace Ricardo. The man who redefined Corinthian leather. ;)
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thomas 9:50PM (1/14/2009)
defined*
UH2L 9:53PM (1/14/2009)
I used to be a big Chrysler fan as a kid so I remembered how he spoke on the commercials (even before seeing the video again). Remember when we had the attention span to watch 1 minute commercials? The Cordoba is a sharp looking car too. One of my all-time favorite 80's Chryslers is the Imperial here...
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/1981-83-imperial.jpg
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JimM 12:40PM (1/17/2009)
As a kid I used to love that model Imperial! Got to drive one years later and immediately understood why they didn't sell well... I think the exterior looks vaguely like a precursor to the Cadillac CTS.
Dan 12:19PM (1/18/2009)
I thought the same thing as a kid! I totally wanted one of those cars!
Even now I would totally take one!
garlinski 10:00PM (1/14/2009)
Corinthian Leather rocks! RIP
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yasz312 1:34AM (1/15/2009)
R.I.P Corinthian Leather Rocks On!
http://www.jobstaxi.com
Richard 10:01PM (1/14/2009)
"Khan!"
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Alex Nunez 10:02PM (1/14/2009)
http://www.khaaan.com/
Richard 10:04PM (1/14/2009)
Brilliant, Alex!
Well done!
Steve 7:41AM (1/15/2009)
Great Job Alex!!
I loved those commercials even though there was never Corithian leather. He made that car into a REAL LUXURY CAR!!
Que Dios Te Bendiga!
Rest in Peace Senor Moltalban.
Steve
Jeff 10:03PM (1/14/2009)
rest in peace sir.
but it is mind boggling that he calls the cordoba a great handling vehicle and the commercial shows the car in the mountain twisties.
hehe, i wonder if he drove todays M3 in 1975 what his coments would have been.
My god have we come a long way in vehicle handling. A Fusion of today is better than the Countach of yesteryear!
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Alex Nunez 10:10PM (1/14/2009)
Jeff, he calls it "the new small Chrysler."
It was a hair under 18 feet long.
Different times. Man, that car looks good in brown.
Farris 10:24PM (1/14/2009)
Alex, how the heck did you make the 18 feet part of your post italicized?
JN 10:29PM (1/14/2009)
It is laughable, 34 years out, isn't it?
But you have to remember that taken against the cars it was sold alongside -- the Newport, the New Yorker, the last of the big Imperials -- the Cordoba WAS a very good-handling car. And those that were powered by the 400 V-8 were surprisingly fast, too. Even the 360 wasn't bad.
Ricardo Montalban truly transcended generations. My dad thought his portrayal of Khan in 1967 was magnificent. I remember him best for the commercials and also on "Fantasy Island." My two older kids thought he was awesome as the grandfather in the "Spy Kids" movies, and the youngest two were graced with his voice in "Dora the Explorer."
Many, many millions of people are going to miss this legendary individual. I know I will.
Alex Nunez 10:28PM (1/14/2009)
Farris,
I know the secret handshake. (I can add HTML tags in the admin tool.)
bc 11:18PM (1/14/2009)
"It was a hair under 18 feet long."
And yet, weighed 15-125 lb less than 2009 Challenger V8/automatics.