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Ricardo Cortez
Acting
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…
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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).
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BODY OF WORK
Ricardo Cortez's Filmography
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Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
as Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
as Self (archive footage)
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
as Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
as Self
The Last Hurrah
as Sam Weinberg
Bunco Squad
as Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
Mystery in Mexico
as John Norcross
Blackmail
as Ziggy Cranston
The Locket
as Drew Bonner
The Inner Circle
as Duke York
Make Your Own Bed
as Wilson / Fritz Alden
Tomorrow We Live
as The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin
Rubber Racketeers
as Gilin
Who Is Hope Schuyler?
as Anthony Pearce
I Killed That Man
as Roger Phillips
World Premiere
as Mark Saunders
A Shot in the Dark
as Phillip Richards
Romance of the Rio Grande
as Ricardo de Vega
Murder Over New York
as George Kirby
Charlie Chan in Reno
as Dr. Ainsley
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
as Fabian
City Girl
as Charles Blake
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
West of Shanghai
as Gordon Creed
The Californian
as Ramon Escobar
Her Husband Lies
as J. Ward Thomas
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
Talk of the Devil
as Ray Allen
The Case of the Black Cat
as Perry Mason
Postal Inspector
as Inspector Bill Davis
The Walking Dead
as Nolan
Man Hunt
as Frank Kingman
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
as George Lambert
Frisco Kid
as Paul Morra
Special Agent
as Alexander Carston
Manhattan Moon
as Dan Moore
Shadow of Doubt
as Sim
The White Cockatoo
as Jim Sundean
I Am a Thief
as Pierre Londais
The Firebird
as Herman Brandt
A Lost Lady
as Ellinger
The Man with Two Faces
as Ben Weston
Hat, Coat and Glove
as Robert Mitchell
Wonder Bar
as Harry
Hollywood Newsreel
as Himself
Mandalay
as Tony Evans
The Big Shakedown
as Dutch Barnes
The House on 56th Street
as Bill Blaine
Big Executive
as Victor Conway
Torch Singer
as Tony Cummings
Midnight Mary
as Leo
Broadway Bad
as Craig Cutting
Flesh
as Nicky
The Phantom of Crestwood
as Gary Curtis
Thirteen Women
as Police Sergeant Barry Clive
Is My Face Red?
as William Poster
Symphony of Six Million
as Felix
No One Man
as Bill Hanaway
Men of Chance
as Johnny Silk
No Poster
Reckless Living
as Curly
Bad Company
as Goldie Gorio
Transgression
as Don Arturo de Borgus
Big Business Girl
as Robert J. Clayton
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
as Self
The Maltese Falcon
as Sam Spade
White Shoulders
as Lawrence Marchmont
Behind Office Doors
as Ronnie Wales
Illicit
as Price Baines
Ten Cents a Dance
as Bradley Carlton
Her Man
as Johnnie
Montana Moon
as Jeff
The Lost Zeppelin
as Tom Armstrong
The Phantom in the House
as Paul Wallis
Midstream
as James Stanwood
New Orleans
as Jim Morley
The Younger Generation
as Morris Goldfish
Excess Baggage
as Val D'Errico
Prowlers of the Sea
as Carlos De Neve
Ladies of the Night Club
as George Merrill
Woman of Destiny
as Yoanes Etchegarry
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
as Paris
By Whose Hand?
as Agent X-9
Mockery
as Dimitri
New York
as Michael Angelo Cassidy
The Eagle of the Sea
as Captain Sazarac
The Sorrows of Satan
as Geoffrey Tempest
The Cat's Pajamas
Volcano
as Stéphane Séquineau
Torrent
as Don Rafael Brull
Not So Long Ago
as Billy Ballard
The Pony Express
as Jack Weston
In the Name of Love
as Raoul Melnotte
The Spaniard
as Don Pedro de Barrego
The Swan
as Dr. Walter, the Tutor
Argentine Love
as Juan Martin
This Woman
as Whitney Duane
The City That Never Sleeps
as Mark Roth
Feet of Clay
as Tony Channing
The Bedroom Window
as Robert Delano
A Society Scandal
as Harrison Peters
The Next Corner
as Don Arturo
The Call of the Canyon
as Larry Morrison
Hollywood
as Ricardo Cortez
Children of Jazz
as Ted Carter
Sixty Cents an Hour
as William Davis
