It’s easy to pigeon-hole actor Ricardo Montalbán as the linen-suit-clad-master of Fantasy Island, or the car-pitchman in TV commercials in the 80’s.
As is often the case though, an actor isn’t just his most recent role.
While Montalbán’s later roles weren’t exactly earth shattering, his Hollywood career actually had a huge impact..
Montalbán parlayed early success as a leading man of Mexican cinema into a Hollywood contract in the late ’40s as the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio’s resident “Latin lover” opposite Esther Williams….
Decades later, he campaigned actively to improve the variety of parts available to Hispanic and Latino actors. This was crucial, he said, at a time when “the only Hispanics children could see were banditos, peons and gigolos.”
more in the Sante Fe New Mexican
