With his half-century career as a film and television actor, Ricardo Montalbán is one of the most well-known and popular actors of Hispanic heritage. Although he had a distinguished career as an actor in feature films, he is best known for his starring role in the Fantasy Island television series and for his years of commercials promoting Chrysler automobiles.

Montalbán was born on November 25, 1920, in Mexico City, to Spanish immigrant parents. It was after moving to Los Angeles to attend Fairfax High School that Montalbán discovered the theater and began acting in high school plays. In 1940, he moved to New York to pursue a career in acting and made his debut on Broadway in Her Cardboard Lover. Afterwards, he returned to Mexico and began a career in film there, making more than two dozen movies. His 1942 film...