Ricardo Cortez
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).
Known For
Credits
- 2003 · Complicated Women as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 · Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown as Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
- 1960 · Hedda Hopper's Hollywood as Self
- 1958 · The Last Hurrah as Sam Weinberg
- 1952 · This Is Your Life as Self
- 1950 · Bunco Squad as Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
- 1948 · Mystery in Mexico as John Norcross
- 1947 · Blackmail as Ziggy Cranston
- 1946 · The Locket as Drew Bonner
- 1946 · The Inner Circle as Duke York
- 1944 · Make Your Own Bed as Wilson / Fritz Alden
- 1942 · Tomorrow We Live as The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin
- 1942 · Rubber Racketeers as Gilin
- 1942 · Who Is Hope Schuyler? as Anthony Pearce
- 1941 · I Killed That Man as Roger Phillips
- 1941 · World Premiere as Mark Saunders
- 1941 · A Shot in the Dark as Phillip Richards
- 1941 · Romance of the Rio Grande as Ricardo de Vega
- 1940 · Murder Over New York as George Kirby
- 1939 · Charlie Chan in Reno as Dr. Ainsley
- 1939 · Mr. Moto's Last Warning as Fabian
- 1938 · City Girl as Charles Blake
- 1937 · Breakdowns of 1937 as Self
- 1937 · West of Shanghai as Gordon Creed
- 1937 · The Californian as Ramon Escobar
- 1937 · Her Husband Lies as J. Ward Thomas
- 1936 · Breakdowns of 1936 as Self
- 1936 · Talk of the Devil as Ray Allen
- 1936 · The Case of the Black Cat as Perry Mason
- 1936 · Postal Inspector as Inspector Bill Davis
- 1936 · Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs as
- 1936 · The Walking Dead as Nolan
- 1936 · Man Hunt as Frank Kingman
- 1936 · The Murder of Dr. Harrigan as George Lambert
- 1935 · Frisco Kid as Paul Morra
- 1935 · Special Agent as Alexander Carston
- 1935 · Manhattan Moon as Dan Moore
- 1935 · Shadow of Doubt as Sim
- 1935 · The White Cockatoo as Jim Sundean
- 1934 · I Am a Thief as Pierre Londais
- 1934 · The Firebird as Herman Brandt
- 1934 · A Lost Lady as Ellinger
- 1934 · The Man with Two Faces as Ben Weston
- 1934 · Hat, Coat and Glove as Robert Mitchell
- 1934 · Wonder Bar as Harry
- 1934 · Hollywood Newsreel as Himself
- 1934 · Mandalay as Tony Evans
- 1934 · The Big Shakedown as Dutch Barnes
- 1933 · The House on 56th Street as Bill Blaine
- 1933 · Big Executive as Victor Conway
- 1933 · Torch Singer as Tony Cummings
- 1933 · Midnight Mary as Leo
- 1933 · Broadway Bad as Craig Cutting
- 1932 · Flesh as Nicky
- 1932 · The Phantom of Crestwood as Gary Curtis
- 1932 · Thirteen Women as Police Sergeant Barry Clive
- 1932 · Is My Face Red? as William Poster
- 1932 · Symphony of Six Million as Felix
- 1932 · No One Man as Bill Hanaway
- 1931 · Men of Chance as Johnny Silk
- 1931 · Reckless Living as Curly
- 1931 · Bad Company as Goldie Gorio
- 1931 · Transgression as Don Arturo de Borgus
- 1931 · Big Business Girl as Robert J. Clayton
- 1931 · Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8) as Self
- 1931 · The Maltese Falcon as Sam Spade
- 1931 · White Shoulders as Lawrence Marchmont
- 1931 · Behind Office Doors as Ronnie Wales
- 1931 · Illicit as Price Baines
- 1931 · Ten Cents a Dance as Bradley Carlton
- 1930 · Her Man as Johnnie
- 1930 · Montana Moon as Jeff
- 1929 · The Lost Zeppelin as Tom Armstrong
- 1929 · The Phantom in the House as Paul Wallis
- 1929 · Midstream as James Stanwood
- 1929 · New Orleans as Jim Morley
- 1929 · The Younger Generation as Morris Goldfish
- 1928 · Excess Baggage as Val D'Errico
- 1928 · Woman of Destiny as Yoanes Etchegarry
- 1927 · The Private Life of Helen of Troy as Paris
- 1927 · Mockery as Dimitri
- 1927 · New York as Michael Angelo Cassidy
- 1926 · The Eagle of the Sea as Captain Sazarac
- 1926 · The Sorrows of Satan as Geoffrey Tempest
- 1926 · The Cat's Pajamas as
- 1926 · Volcano as Stéphane Séquineau
- 1926 · Torrent as Don Rafael Brull
- 1925 · Not So Long Ago as Billy Ballard
- 1925 · The Pony Express as Jack Weston
- 1925 · In the Name of Love as Raoul Melnotte
- 1925 · The Spaniard as Don Pedro de Barrego
- 1925 · The Swan as Dr. Walter, the Tutor
- 1924 · Argentine Love as Juan Martin
- 1924 · This Woman as Whitney Duane
- 1924 · Feet of Clay as Tony Channing
- 1924 · The Bedroom Window as Robert Delano
- 1924 · A Society Scandal as Harrison Peters
- 1924 · The Next Corner as Don Arturo
- 1923 · The Call of the Canyon as Larry Morrison
- 1923 · Hollywood as Ricardo Cortez
- 1923 · Children of Jazz as Ted Carter
- 1923 · The Gentleman from America as