Ricardo Cortez
Actor/Actriz
112
Películas
1
Series
Ricardo Cortez (September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American film actor who began his career during the silent film era.
Born Jacob Krantz in New York City into a Jewish family, he worked on Wall Street in a broker's office and as a boxer before his looks got him into the film business. 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. When rumour began to circulate that Cortez was not actually Spanish, the studios tried to pass him off as a different type of Latin, French, before they finally admitted his (supposedly) Viennese origin.
Cortez appeared in over 100 films. He played opposite Joan Crawford in Montana Moon in 1930, played Sam Spade in the original The Maltese Falcon in 1931, co-starred with Charles Farrell and Bette Davis in The Big Shakedown and Wonder Bar (with Al Jolson and Dolores del Río) in 1934. He also played Perry Mason in the 1936 film The Case of the Black Cat. Although he began his career playing romantic leads with actresses like Greta Garbo, when sound cinema arrived, his powerful delivery and New York accent made him an ideal villain and conman, and he switched from sex symbol to character actor.
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 for Solomon Brothers on New York's 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).
Como Actor/Actriz
This Is Your Life
Self
Wonder Bar
Harry
New York
Michael Angelo Cassidy
Midstream
James Stanwood
Blackmail
Ziggy Cranston
Midnight Mary
Leo
Big Executive
Victor Conway
Frisco Kid
Paul Morra
New Orleans
Jim Morley
Transgression
Don Arturo de Borgus
The Walking Dead
Nolan
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
White Shoulders
Lawrence Marchmont
Flesh
Nicky
Hollywood
Ricardo Cortez
A Lost Lady
Ellinger
Mandalay
Tony Evans
Special Agent
Alexander Carston
World Premiere
Mark Saunders
The Locket
Drew Bonner
El último hurrah
Sam Weinberg
Postal Inspector
Inspector Bill Davis
Behind Office Doors
Ronnie Wales
The Firebird
Herman Brandt
Volcano
Stéphane Séquineau
The Maltese Falcon
Sam Spade
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Murder Over New York
George Kirby
The Big Shakedown
Dutch Barnes
Thirteen Women
Police Sergeant Barry Clive