Sorta OT: RIP Khan/Mr. Roarke and Number Six

[lazypadawan]

It was reported today that Ricardo Montalban, who played Khan on Star Trek and the mysterious Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island, has passed away at age 88. While Trek fans know him best as Khan, yours truly will always remember him in his white suit urging, "Smiles, everyone, smiles!" as the new batch of visitors to Fantasy Island disembarked from the seaplane. It wasn't a real Saturday night without The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, which were once aired back to back. (Give me a break, I was 8 years old.) The other thing that sticks out in my mind about Montalban is his car commercials in the 1980s when he went on about that luxurious "Corinthian leather." There was much more to Montalban's long career than that but for a whole generation of t.v. viewers, he was the guy who hung out with the little fella whose catch phrase was, "De plane, de plane!"

Fandom has lost another t.v. cult favorite today, Patrick McGoohan, perhaps best known for starring as Number Six on the 1960s British drama The Prisoner. Admittedly, it's an odd show...think of it as James Bond meets Lost in an eccentric English-style village...but it remains an influence on high-concept t.v. even to this day (see: Lost).

Comments

[may-child.livejournal.com]

That is so sad. I loved Mr. Montalban in "Wrath of Khan" and the first "Naked Gun" movie. Sometimes I'd watch "Fantasy Island" just long enough for him to say, "Velcome to Fahntasy Island!" and then switch the channel.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

How could I forget The Naked Gun?

[darth-pipes.livejournal.com]

RIP, Ricardo Montalban.

Montalban was one of those actors who could say anything and still be tremendously entertaining. I don't remember Fantasy Island all that well but I'll always remember him as Khan. Not to mention his fun turn in The Naked Gun.

Along with Robert Stack and Ricardo Montalban, he'll be one of the celebrities I'll miss the most.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Good ol' Robert Stack. He was on the t.v. version of The Untouchables back in the '50s but I remember him more from Unsolved Mysteries.

[darth-pipes.livejournal.com]

The other celebrity I forgot to name was Tony Randall.

[jawajames.livejournal.com]

so when i read your header, i thought "Number Six" from Battlestar Galactica (Tricia Helfer), and thought.. no way, i would have heard that she died. but whew, it was Number Six from the Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan, whose death i had hear about.

Montalban was a class act.
Ceti eels should be placed at half mast!