Sad news; Ricardo Montalban has passed away at the age of 88. Hmmm, methinks he was actually a bit older than that from what my Mum tells me as she remembers seeing him in films when she was a teenager - and she herself is 80 this year…
But anyway, those of us who watched the show Fantasy Island in the 1980’s will know him as Mr Roarke. My kids know him from his appearance in the film Spy Kids.
Fantasy Island was one of those shows which catered particularly to aging and has-been stars of the stage and screen from yesteryear - just like Love Boat did. You often saw ex-cast members of The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family on both shows. Those who were glamorous stars of the 30’s and 40’s such as Sylvia Sidney, Ann Rutherford and especially Van Johnson found shows like Fantasy Island great vehicles for keeping their careers alive.
He married Georgiana Young, an actress, in 1944. They had four children. She was half-sister of the actresses Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, and Loretta Young, who nicknamed her Georgie. After 63 years of marriage, Georgiana Young de Montalbán died on November 13, 2007, at the age of 84.
He was a practicing Roman Catholic and once had said that his religion was the “most important thing” in his life. He was named a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by the Vatican in 1998.
His pint-sized co-star in Fantasy Island, Herve Villechaize, committed suicide with a shotgun in 1993.
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