comment #1

MindlessObamaton says ...

As much as I usually can't stand Harry Knowles, I have to give him credit for his obit. He talks about when he met the man and instead of gushing over khan, he instead talked about all those old fims he had made back in the day. Fake or ont, maybe jsut trying to buter him up, I can believe when Knowles writes about how the old guy's face lit up at knowing a younger person had enjoyed those flicks. But he'll always be khan for most of us.

comment #2

Markj74 says ...

"Let them eat static..."

comment #3

Rich S. says ...

I love all the old "Latin lover" types like Cesar Romero and Montalban.

My favorite scene from Khan is when he's describing to Chekov what the space worms are going to do when he puts them in his ear. I love the way he turns the forceps around in little circles while he narrows his eyes and says "they twist around the cerebral cortex." That voice and that smoothness are pure gold.

comment #4

snacky says ...

I could be mistaken, but I think the actual line was "RICH Corinthian leather".

comment #5

MindlessObamaton says ...

That scene with the worms scared the crap out of the first time i saw it. I was 10, though.

comment #6

cinefan says ...

I would mention also his role in Naked Gun, one of the funniest movies from the past 25 years and he was quite effective in it.

comment #7

Randy W says ...

Finally some love for Vincent Ludwig.

comment #8

berg says ...

his muscular pecs in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (very impressive for a guy who was 61 years old) ....

I MAINTAIN that those pecs were make-up and prosthetic ... look closely and you never see the entire muscle mass, it is always surrounded by clothing and a necklace... I have seen WRATH theatrically twice in the last decade and I say it's a boob job

here is a youtube video of Williams and Montalban singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d4HVq7MwQg

It aint Baby It's Cold Outside ...

comment #9

dixiedugan says ...

Mystery Street and Border Incident, two good noirs that Ricardo acted in, as well as Battleground. He was a solid actor.

I don't know about prosthetic muscles...he was a pretty tall and lithe man. With his spinal injuries, his upper muscles may have been built up since he probably used a great deal of arm strength. I'm just guessing however.

comment #10

Monument says ...

Berg, you are correct sir, those were prosthetic pecs.

comment #11

George Prager says ...

The dude was larger than life.
I have a distinct memory of him being in this:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0779421/

And don't forget ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES and CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

comment #12

Joel says ...

In one of William Shatner's Trek memoirs, he states flat-out that those really were Ricardo's "enviable pecs."

comment #13

Edward says ...

I remember him on the Tonight Show and speaking English as an Hispanic person hears it. Hillarious gibberish. RIP.

comment #14

Ponderer says ...

From Wikipedia:

"There were some questions initially as to whether Montalbán had had prosthetic muscles applied to his chest during filming of Star Trek II to make him appear more muscular, on account of his being over 60 years old at the time. Montalbán and others associated with the production of Star Trek II have disputed this, most notably Leonard Nimoy in his book I Am Spock, citing the fact that he was always physically active and worked out regularly, and those really were his muscles. The theory that those chest muscles were Montalban's own is furthered in the installment of the Biography series devoted to him, in which both William Shatner and Montalban's son say Ricardo worked out strenuously to achieve that look. Film clips and shots throughout the episode bolster these claims, as they evidence a man in fine physical shape even into his 70s."

comment #15

rr3333 says ...

The hair, sadly, was not his, either in Fantasy Island or Star Trek. Him and Tony Bennett obviously shared the same hair guy.

Rest in peace my corinthian friend.

comment #16

berg says ...

Since no less an authority than WIKI has weighed in I will go with the majority opinion ... and when the ST relaunch takes off they will make the first sequel Wrath of Khan and get Mickey Rourke to play Khan ... those are really his muscles

comment #17

D.Z. says ...

Is this an omen about the Abrams Trek movie in the way that Guiness' death was a warning against the other two SW prequels?

comment #18

Tiny Tim says ...

Could we all please stop using "passed" as a
politically correct -- and grammatically incorrect --
way of saying "died"?

We are all going to die some day.

We are not going to "pass".

comment #19

Jake says ...

I believe Nicholas Meyer also states on the dvd commentary that it was indeed Montalban's real chest.

I've never understood why people would think otherwise, since the character wasn't dependent upon youth. He could've remained in the Ceti Alpha robe throughout the film and been just as effective.

It's obvious that Montalban simply kept himself in great shape. After all, he was pushing 50 when he first appeared in the original 1967 Trek episode. It seems likely that he regarded the role as a great opportunity, and wanted to be in the best shape possible. This is certainly more plausible than someone brainstorming, "Hey, maybe we should stick some plastic muscles on him!"

comment #20

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comment #21

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