Birth Day: 1900-09-17
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
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).
Credits
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As Self (archive footage) -
As Self (archive footage) -
As Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage) -
As Self -
As Sam Weinberg -
As Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells -
As John Norcross -
As Ziggy Cranston -
As Drew Bonner -
As Duke York -
As Wilson / Fritz Alden -
As Gilin -
As The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin -
As Anthony Pearce -
As Phillip Richards -
As Roger Phillips -
As Mark Saunders -
As Ricardo de Vega -
As George Kirby -
As Fabian -
As Dr. Ainsley -
As Charles Blake -
As Ramon Escobar -
As Self -
As Gordon Creed -
As J. Ward Thomas -
As Inspector Bill Davis -
As Nolan -
As George Lambert -
As Frank Kingman -
As Self -
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As Perry Mason -
As Ray Allen -
As Sim -
As Dan Moore -
As Paul Morra -
As Jim Sundean -
As Alexander Carston -
As Herman Brandt -
As Ellinger -
As Ben Weston -
As Pierre Londais -
As Harry -
As Robert Mitchell -
As Dutch Barnes -
As Himself
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As Tony Evans -
As Tony Cummings -
As Leo -
As Victor Conway -
As Bill Blaine -
As Craig Cutting -
As Felix -
As Police Sergeant Barry Clive -
As Bill Hanaway -
As Nicky -
As William Poster -
As Gary Curtis -
As Goldie Gorio -
As Curly
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As Johnny Silk -
As Don Arturo de Borgus -
As Sam Spade -
As Ronnie Wales -
As Lawrence Marchmont -
As Bradley Carlton -
As Price Baines -
As Self -
As Robert J. Clayton -
As Johnnie -
As Jeff -
As James Stanwood -
As Jim Morley -
As Tom Armstrong -
As Morris Goldfish -
As Paul Wallis -
As George Merrill -
As Carlos De Neve -
As Val D'Errico -
As Yoanes Etchegarry -
As Agent X-9 -
As Michael Angelo Cassidy -
As Paris -
As Dimitri -
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As Don Rafael Brull -
As Geoffrey Tempest -
As Captain Sazarac -
As Stéphane Séquineau -
As Billy Ballard -
As Don Pedro de Barrego -
As Raoul Melnotte -
As Dr. Walter, the Tutor -
As Jack Weston -
As Mark Roth -
As Robert Delano -
As Juan Martin -
As Whitney Duane -
As Harrison Peters -
As Don Arturo -
As Tony Channing -
As Larry Morrison -
As Ricardo Cortez -
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As William Davis -
As Ted Carter