He had an uncredited appearance in a version of The Three Musketeers (1942) starring Cantinflas.

There, he acted in a dozen Spanish-language films and became a star in his homeland. Later in 1941, Montalbán returned to Mexico after learning that his mother was dying. He appeared in many of the New York–produced Soundies as an extra or as a member of a singing chorus (usually billed as Men and Maids of Melody), although he had the lead role in He's a Latin from Staten Island (1941), in which he (billed simply as 'Ricardo') played the title role of a guitar-strumming gigolo, accompanied by an offscreen vocal by Gus Van. In 1941, Montalbán appeared in three-minute musicals produced for the Soundies film jukeboxes. They moved to New York City in 1940, and Montalbán earned a minor role in the play Her Cardboard Lover. As a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles to live with Carlos. Montalbán had a sister, Carmen, and two brothers, Pedro and Carlos.

He was born with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his spine. Montalbán was born on November 25, 1920, in Mexico City, and grew up in Torreón, the son of Spanish immigrants Ricarda Merino Jiménez and Genaro Balbino Montalbán Busano, a store manager, who raised him as a Catholic. Montalbán was professionally active into his 80s, providing voices for animated films and commercials and appearing as Grandfather Valentin in the Spy Kids franchise. He won an Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries How the West Was Won (1978), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993. Roarke on the television series Fantasy Island (1977–1984).

During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a spokesman in automobile advertisements for Chrysler, including those in which he extolled the 'rich Corinthian leather' used for the Cordoba's interior. As the villain Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced human, he starred in both the original Star Trek television series (1967) and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Later in his career, Montalbán portrayed Armando in the Planet of the Apes film series from the early 1970s, starring in both Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a variety of genres, from crime and drama to musicals and comedy. Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG ( / ˌ m ɒ n t əl ˈ b ɑː n/ Spanish: Novem– January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor.

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