Ricardo Cortez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ricardo Cortez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 September, 1899 Vienna, Austria |
Ricardo Cortez (September 18, 1899 – April 28, 1977) was a film actor who began his career during the silent film era. Born Jacob Krantz in Vienna, Austria into a Jewish family, Hollywood executives changed his name to Cortez to appeal to film-goers as a "Latin lover" to compete with such highly popular actors of the era as Rudolph Valentino, Ramon Novarro and Antonio Moreno. Cortez appeared in over 100 films including playing Sam Spade in the original The Maltese Falcon in 1931. He also played Perry Mason in the 1936 film, The Case of the Black Cat. Although he began his career playing romantic leads again with actresses like Greta Garbo, he found his greatest success playing smooth talking con men and villains.
Cortez was married to silent film actress Alma Rubens until her death of pneumonia in 1931.
When he retired from the film business, Cortez went to work as a stockbroker on Wall Street. He died in New York City in 1977 and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.
He was the older brother of noted cinematographer Stanley Cortez (born Stanislaus Krantz).
