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M Entries Patrick Macnee Chris Marker William Marshall Ross Martin Richard Matheson Roddy McDowall Leo McKern Lee Meriwether Ricardo Montalban Billy Mumy Eddie Murphy   MONTALBAN, RICARDO (1920– ). Mexican actor. SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND HORROR FILM CREDITS Acted in: "The Dove Affair" (1964), "The King of Diamonds Affair" (1966), episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Alice through the Looking Glass (Alan Handley 1966); "The Night of the Lord of Limbo" (1966), episode of The Wild, Wild West; "Space Seed" (1967), episode of Star Trek; "Snowball in Hell" (1967), episode of Mission Impossible;The Aquarians (tv movie) (Don McDougall 1970); Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Don Taylor 1971); Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson 1972); Wonder Woman (tv movie) (Vincent McEveety 1974); Fantasy Island (tv movie) (1977); Fantasy Island (tv series) (1978-84); Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Nicolas MEYER 1982). With a different producer, and different writers, Fantasy Island could have been a fascinating program; a team of Gene RODDENBERRY and Rod SERLING, for example, would have found many intriguing stories to tell about an enigmatic rogue apparently gifted with the magical power to make people's dreams come true. But even a science fiction critic must avoid discussing fantasies; in reality, Fantasy Island was produced by Aaron Spelling, and written by nonentities, and it was a mindless, offensive spectacle of nonstop inanity. And one of the many talented performers that it wasted was Ricardo Montalban, who somehow conveyed a certain air of charm and mystery as Mr. Roarke while acting out some of the stupidest scripts even seen on television. (As is often the case, one gains new appreciation for an actor after observing somebody else attempt his part—in this case, Malcolm MCDOWELL in the insufferable revival of the series [1998-99], whom no sane person would prefer to the original.) Montalban's other noteworthy science fiction role came in the Star Trek episode, "Space Seed," where he was evocative as a genetically-engineered superman, harsh and arrogant but still attractive and admirable. In a series much given to unproblematic melodrama, his performance struck an unusual note of moral ambiguity. Yet the role was unaccountably coarsened into standard villainy for the second Star Trek film, The Wrath of Khan, and his acting there was hardly remarkable. Along with other work in television, Montalban was also convincing as a sympathetic human in Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. More recently, after damaging his credibility with a series of much-parodied car commercials, Montalban has primarily worked off the screen, promoting the cause of better roles for Hispanic and Latino actors; the problems he confronts are well illustrated by the fact that the most famous performances by this obviously Hispanic actor were as men named Roarke and Khan.

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