Best known in the role of the mysterious concierge
Mr. Roarke on the TV series "Fantasy
Island
." Ricardo has
played many different types of ethnic roles including a Japanese
character, Nakamura in the Oscar-winning "Sayonara,"
alongside the Best Supporting Actress Miyoshi Umeki.
He also
played Manuel Fidello, the Portuguese sailor in the 1977 TV version of "Captians
Courageous." (the same role that Spencer Tracy played
in the 1937 movie classic) And
one of his most memorable ethnic roles, the role of the genetically
enhanced Sikh, Khan Noonian Singh from the "Star Trek" episode
"Space Seed," a role which he would reprise 15 years later in
memorable fashion in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
Ricardo, seeing the kinds of roles that are usually handed out to Latino actors, wanted
to improve the range of roles Latino actors can play in the
Hollywood
establishment. So he
established an organization to that end called 'Nosotros'
(Ourselves) which with Ricardo's clout could help Latino actors to land
roles that go beyond the Latino background, or improve the portrayal of
Latino characters as well. Nosotros and the Montalbán Foundation
eventually bought the historic Doolittle Theater in
Hollywood
and renamed the theatre in his honor in 2004.
.In the mid-1980's,
he narrated the documentary 'Fatima' about the Fatima
Apparitions of 1917
In 1962 He
played the role of Don Raspi in a film about St. Joseph of Cupertino, the
'flying saint,' "The Reluctant Saint."
