Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Khan-Mr. Roarke Dead at 88

Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on ABC's "Fantasy Island," has died. He was 88.

Montalban died Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home of complications related to old age, said his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith.

In my humble opinion, the best role Montalban ever played was that of Khan Noonien Singh in both the 1967 "
Space Seed" episode of the first season of the original Star Trek series, and the 1982 film Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Agreed to reprise his role of Khan in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan for only $100,000 because he loved the role so much.

He was a great actor from a great generation that will be missed.

below the quote is a clip from

"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" - Khan quoting from Melville's Moby Dick as he activated the Genesis device in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan


2 comments:

Law and Order Teacher said...

TT,
That was fun. I remember taking my son to see that Star Trek. Great post. Hope all is well.

Texas Truth said...

Law and Order Teacher: Thanks for the comment and for your words of support. I have been so busy and as a result I have not been able to post as often as I want. I will try to fill in the gaps as I go along.