Editing Ricardo Montalbán (section)

===B movies, television, and Broadway===
Montalbán did a swashbuckler for [[Sam Katzman]], ''[[The Saracen Blade]]'' (1954), then returned to Mexico to star in ''[[Untouched (film)|Untouched]]'' (1954).

He travelled to Italy to make ''[[The Queen of Babylon]]'' (1954) with [[Rhonda Fleming]], then returned to Mexico to make the US-financed ''[[A Life in the Balance]]'' (1955) with [[Anne Bancroft]]. He bought a story for himself, ''Green Shadows'', but it appears not to have been made.<ref>Looking at Hollywood: Ricardo Montalban Will Do Planter Who Fights Commies; Hedda Hopper. Chicago Daily Tribune March 23, 1954: a2.</ref>

Montalbán began working in television, guest-starring on shows such as ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', ''[[The Ford Television Theatre]]'', ''[[Celebrity Playhouse]]'', ''[[Climax!]]'', ''[[The 20th Century-Fox Hour]]'' (versions of ''Broken Arrow'' and ''Five Fingers''), ''[[Chevron Hall of Stars]]'', ''[[Wagon Train]]'', and ''[[Schlitz Playhouse]]''.

In 1955, he appeared on Broadway in ''[[Seventh Heaven (musical)|Seventh Heaven]]'' with [[Gloria DeHaven]] but it ran for only forty-four performances. In Hollywood, he appeared in the thriller for Allied Artists, ''[[Three for Jamie Dawn]]'' (1956).

Montalbán returned to Italy for ''[[Desert Warrior (1957 film)|Desert Warrior]]'' (1957), then had his first role in an "A" Hollywood film for a number of years in ''[[Sayonara (film)|Sayonara]]'' (1957), in which he played a Japanese dancer. He later said, "I was and still am very pleased with my performance and very much saddened by this picture. I was hoping for an Academy Award nomination, but unfortunately, most of my scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor."<ref name="ind"/>

From 1957 to 1959, Montalbán starred in the Broadway musical ''[[Jamaica (musical)|Jamaica]]'', singing several light-hearted [[Calypso music|calypso]] numbers opposite [[Lena Horne]], which ran for 555 performances.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} His performance earned him a Tony Award nomination.<ref>FILMLAND EVENT: Ricardo Montalban Will Return Here
Los Angeles Times April 8, 1959: A11.</ref>

Montalbán continued to guest-star on shows such as ''[[Colgate Theatre (1949 TV series)|Colgate Theatre]]'' and ''[[Playhouse 90]]''. When ''Jamaica'' ended, he guest-starred in ''[[Riverboat (TV series)|Riverboat]]'', ''[[Adventures in Paradise (TV series)|Adventures in Paradise]]'', ''[[Startime (1959 TV series)|Startime]]'', ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', ''[[Bonanza]]'', ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''The Christophers'', ''[[The Dinah Shore Chevy Show]]'', ''[[The Loretta Young Show]]'' (several times), ''[[Zorro (1957 TV series)|Zorro]]'', ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[Checkmate (US TV series)|Checkmate]]'', ''[[Cain's Hundred]]'', and ''[[The Lloyd Bridges Show]]''.

Montalbán could also be seen in ''[[Let No Man Write My Epitaph]]'' (1960); the TV remake of ''[[Rashomon (1960 film)|Rashomon]]'' (1960) directed by [[Sidney Lumet]]; ''[[Rage of the Buccaneers]]'' (1961), an Italian swashbuckler in which Montalbán had a lead role alongside [[Vincent Price]]; ''[[Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man]]'' (1962); ''[[The Reluctant Saint]]'' (1963) with [[Maximillian Schell]]; and ''[[Love is a Ball]]'' (1963) with [[Glenn Ford]], playing a French duke. He was the Native American leader [[Little Wolf]] in ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964) directed by John Ford, did the TV version of ''[[The Fantasticks (1964 film)|The Fantasticks]]'' (1964), and returned to Mexico to make ''[[¡Buenas noches, año nuevo!]]'' (1964).<ref>Ricardo Montalban Career Checkered: Images of Swashbuckler, Dancer Hard to Live Down; Scheuer, Philip K., Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1963: D7.</ref>

He was mostly seen, though, on television in ''[[Alcoa Premiere]]'', ''[[The Dick Powell Theatre]]'', ''[[Ben Casey (TV series)|Ben Casey]]'', ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (TV series)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]'', ''[[The Lieutenant (TV series)|The Lieutenant]]'', ''[[The Great Adventure (U.S. TV series)|The Great Adventure]]'', ''[[Slattery's People]]'', ''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]'', ''[[The Rogues (TV series)|The Rogues]]'', ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]'', ''Dr. Kildare'', and ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]''<ref>RICARDO MONTALBAN NO LONGER TYPE CAST
Los Angeles Times December 1, 1964: D16.</ref>

Montalbán had supporting roles in ''[[The Money Trap]]'' (1965) with Ford, directed by [[Burt Kennedy]], ''[[Madame X (1966 film)|Madame X]]'' (1966) with Turner for producer [[Ross Hunter]], and ''[[The Singing Nun (film)|The Singing Nun]]'' (1966) with [[Debbie Reynolds]] at MGM.

He guest-starred in ''[[The Long, Hot Summer (TV series)|The Long, Hot Summer]]'', ''[[Daniel Boone (1964 TV series)|Daniel Boone]]'', ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'', ''Insight'', ''[[Combat!]]'', ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'', ''Hawaii Five-O'' (playing a Japanese-American crime boss <ref>{{Citation |last=Ganzer |first=Alvin |title=Samurai |date=1968-10-17 |work=Hawaii Five-O |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0598132/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |others=Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Zulu}}</ref>), and ''[[Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre]]''.

In 1965, he toured in ''[[The King and I]]''. {{" '}}I think every actor loves the stage,' he said in 1991. 'The pros are that it is the actor's medium; there's no way your scene is going to end up on the cutting-room floor, and it's up to you to get and keep the attention of the audience by the truth of your performance.{{'"}}<ref>Ricardo Montalban is very selective about new roles Series: NEWSMAKERS REVISITED: [CITY Edition], Horning, Jay.; St. Petersburg Times, April 21, 1991: 11A.</ref>

He appeared in the television films ''[[Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966 film)|Alice Through the Looking Glass]]'' (1966) (for which his fee was $10,000,<ref name="call"/> equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|10000|1966|r=-3}}}} today.{{Inflation-fn|US}}) and ''[[Code Name: Heraclitus]]'' (1967), and the features ''[[The Longest Hundred Miles]]'' (1967), ''[[Sol Madrid]]'' (1968), and ''[[Blue (1968 film)|Blue]]'' (1968). He also guest-starred on "[[Space Seed]]", an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''. "I'm like a doctor on 24-hour call," he said in a 1967 interview. "I don't turn anything down."<ref name="call">Ricardo Montalban Quite a Character---in Many Roles; Paul Henninger, Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1967: d16.</ref>

Montalbán also starred in radio, such as on the internationally syndicated program ''Lobo del Mar'' (''Seawolf''), in which he was cast as the captain of a vessel that became part of some adventure at each port it visited. This 30-minute weekly show aired in many Spanish-speaking countries until the early 1970s.