Ricardo Cortez
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).
Filmography (108 Appearances)
Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
Complicated Women
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
The Last Hurrah
This Is Your Life
Bunco Squad
Mystery in Mexico
Blackmail
The Locket
The Inner Circle
Make Your Own Bed
Tomorrow We Live
Rubber Racketeers
Who Is Hope Schuyler?
I Killed That Man
World Premiere
A Shot in the Dark
Romance of the Rio Grande
Murder Over New York
Charlie Chan in Reno
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
City Girl
Breakdowns of 1937
West of Shanghai
The Californian
Her Husband Lies
Breakdowns of 1936
Talk of the Devil
The Case of the Black Cat
Postal Inspector
The Walking Dead
Man Hunt
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
Frisco Kid
Special Agent
Manhattan Moon
Shadow of Doubt
The White Cockatoo
I Am a Thief
The Firebird
A Lost Lady
The Man with Two Faces
Hat, Coat and Glove
Wonder Bar
Hollywood Newsreel
Mandalay
The Big Shakedown
The House on 56th Street
Big Executive
Torch Singer
Midnight Mary
Broadway Bad
Flesh
The Phantom of Crestwood
Thirteen Women
Is My Face Red?
Symphony of Six Million
No One Man
Men of Chance
Reckless Living
Bad Company
Transgression
Big Business Girl
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
The Maltese Falcon
White Shoulders
Behind Office Doors
Illicit
Ten Cents a Dance
Her Man
Montana Moon
The Lost Zeppelin
The Phantom in the House
Midstream
New Orleans
The Younger Generation
Excess Baggage
Prowlers of the Sea
Ladies of the Night Club
Woman of Destiny
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
By Whose Hand?
Mockery
New York
The Eagle of the Sea
The Sorrows of Satan
The Cat's Pajamas
Volcano
Torrent
Not So Long Ago
The Pony Express
In the Name of Love
The Spaniard
The Swan
Argentine Love
This Woman
The City That Never Sleeps
Feet of Clay
The Bedroom Window
A Society Scandal
The Next Corner
The Call of the Canyon
Hollywood
Children of Jazz
Sixty Cents an Hour
The Gentleman from America