Ricardo Cortez
Age: 76 | From: New York City, New York, USA
Person Details
Birthday: 1900-09-19 03:31:56
Death: 1977-04-28 03:31:56
Aliases: Jacob Krantz , Jack Crane
Gender: Male
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 88
TV Involvements: 1
Most Famous Work
Biography
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).
Most Famous Work
This Is Your Life
(1952) Self
The Walking Dead
(1936) Nolan
The Last Hurrah
(1958) Sam Weinberg
The Maltese Falcon
(1931) Sam Spade
Thirteen Women
(1932) Police Sergeant Barry Clive
The Locket
(1946) Andrew 'Drew' Bonner
The Big Shakedown
(1934) Dutch Barnes
Torrent
(1926) Don Rafael BrullActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Self (archive footage) | |
| 1986 | Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage) | |
| 1960 | Self | |
| 1958 | Sam Weinberg | |
| 1952 | Self | |
| 1950 | Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells | |
| 1948 | John Norcross | |
| 1947 | Ziggy Cranston | |
| 1946 | Andrew 'Drew' Bonner | |
| Duke York | ||
| 1944 | Wilson / Fritz Alden | |
| 1942 | The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin | |
| Gilin | ||
| Anthony Pearce | ||
| 1941 | Roger Phillips | |
| Mark Saunders | ||
| Phillip Richards | ||
| Ricardo de Vega | ||
| 1940 | George Kirby | |
| 1939 | Dr. Ainsley | |
| Fabian | ||
| 1938 | Charles Blake | |
| 1937 | Self | |
| Gordon Creed | ||
| Ramon Escobar | ||
| J. Ward Thomas | ||
| 1936 | Self | |
| Ray Allen | ||
| Perry Mason | ||
| Inspector Bill Davis | ||
| N/A | ||
| Nolan | ||
| Frank Kingman | ||
| George Lambert | ||
| 1935 | Paul Morra | |
| Alexander Carston | ||
| Dan Moore | ||
| Sim | ||
| Jim Sundean | ||
| 1934 | Pierre Londais | |
| Herman Brandt | ||
| Ellinger | ||
| Ben Weston | ||
| Robert Mitchell | ||
| Harry | ||
| Himself | ||
| Tony Evans | ||
| Dutch Barnes | ||
| 1933 | Bill Blaine | |
| Victor Conway | ||
| Tony Cummings | ||
| Leo Darcy | ||
| Craig Cutting | ||
| 1932 | Nicky | |
| Gary Curtis | ||
| Police Sergeant Barry Clive | ||
| William Poster | ||
| Felix | ||
| Bill Hanaway | ||
| 1931 | Johnny Silk | |
| Goldie Gorio | ||
| Don Arturo de Borgus | ||
| Robert J. Clayton | ||
| Self | ||
| Sam Spade | ||
| Lawrence Marchmont | ||
| Ronnie Wales | ||
| Price Baines | ||
| Bradley Carlton | ||
| 1930 | Johnnie | |
| Jeff | ||
| 1929 | Tom Armstrong | |
| Paul Wallis | ||
| James Stanwood | ||
| Jim Morley | ||
| Morris Goldfish | ||
| 1928 | Val D'Errico | |
| Yoanes Etchegarry | ||
| 1927 | Paris | |
| Dimitri | ||
| Michael Angelo Cassidy | ||
| 1926 | Captain Sazarac | |
| Geoffrey Tempest | ||
| N/A | ||
| Stéphane Séquineau | ||
| Don Rafael Brull | ||
| 1925 | Billy Ballard | |
| Jack Weston | ||
| Raoul Melnotte | ||
| Don Pedro de Barrego | ||
| Dr. Walter, the Tutor | ||
| 1924 | Juan Martin | |
| Whitney Duane | ||
| Tony Channing | ||
| Robert Delano | ||
| Harrison Peters | ||
| Don Arturo | ||
| 1923 | Larry Morrison | |
| Ricardo Cortez | ||
| N/A | ||
| Curly | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Directing
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Director | |
| Director | ||
| Director | ||
| 1939 | Director | |
| Director | ||
| Director | ||
| Director | ||
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
