RIP Ricardo Montalban

Actor Ricardo Montalban died today at his Los Angeles home. He was 88.

When the average geek thinks of Montalban they probably picture Khan, the over-the-top Klingon bad guy in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But since I think Star Trek is generally retarded, and I watched waaaay too much TV that I didn’t really fully understand as a kid, I will always picture him as Mr. Rourke, your host and guide on Fantasy Island.

See, as a child I had a hard time getting to sleep. I would lay awake until the wee hours of the morning (actually, “would” implies that’s changed, which isn’t exactly the case…). So my pediatrician, bless her heart, proscribed a television for my bedroom! I’m not sure this was the most responsible proscription ever, but it certainly planted the seed for my pop culture obsessions. I remember laying in bed watching Heart to Heart, The Fall Guy, The A-Team, and of course, Fantasy Island.

At the time I really had no idea what the show was all about. People would come to this island, a midget dwarf short guy would yell “De plane boss, de plane!”, then an incredibly charming guy with an accent that belied his mundane name, Mr. Rourke, would welcome people to the island and make their dreams come true. For some reason I didn’t think this was strange at all. I loved it. In fact I’m surprised I never asked for a white suit to wear on Halloween. Anyway, my point is, Ricardo Montalban will always be Mr. Rourke to me, and not some fake-chested alien.

Oh, and he was the bad guy in Naked Gun, a noble role indeed.