I will admit right here and now that I've always been fascinated by Ricardo Montalban. He was always so smooth and collected. As I child, I wanted to go to "Fantasy Island" just so I could listen to the sophisticated man in the fine tuxedo speak in that deep, rich voice about, I don't know, leather maybe? I could never imagine what his words would be, I could just hear the voice saying them. Paradox all the way, baby.
And then there was "Wrath of Khan." Others may disagree but I will contend that there has never been a better "Star Trek" baddie than Khan. How the producers ever fit the egos of both Montalban and Shatner into the same little movie, with them chewing off all those delicious pieces of scenery, is beyond me. I watch it now and all I can think is, "The manly men, they 'splode!"
Also, and perhaps most important of all, Montalban had the most amazing chesticular muscles ever shown on screen. I always believed they were fake -- pec implants formed from genuine Corinthian leather -- but many, many people have convinced me they were actually his own bulging manly space muscles to which I say, "Well done, Mr. Montalban, well done."
These pecs - so huge, they had their own zip code.And without Montalban's character, we never would have had the legendary cry of "Khaaaaan!!!!!!!!" also known as The Single Best Shatner Moment in the History of The Shatnerian Universe.
In all sincerity, I'll miss Mr. Montalban but I'll never forget him. I can't resist adding "or his pecs," and frankly, I think he'd be okay with that.
