'Fantasy Island' Star Ricardo Montalban Dies at 88

Montalban suffered a spinal injury in a horse fall while making a 1951 Clark Gable Western, "Across the Wide Missouri," and thereafter walked with a limp he managed to mask during his performances.

In this May 27, 1983 file photo, actors Ricardo Montalban, seated, and Christopher Hewitt are shown...

In this May 27, 1983 file photo, actors Ricardo Montalban, seated, and Christopher Hewitt are shown on the set of the television series "Fantasy Island," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The Mexican-born actor, who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died at his home in Los Angeles, City Council President Eric Garcetti said Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009. He was 88. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, file)

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Despite the constant pain that grew worse as the decades wore on, the actor was able to take a role in an Aaron Spelling TV series, "Heaven Help Us." Twice a month in 1994, he flew to San Antonio for two or three days of filming as an angel who watched over a young couple.

And when asked to play the grandfather in "Spy Kids 2" and "Spy Kids 3," Montalban told filmmaker Robert Rodriguez in his self-effacing way: "I'm old. I'm in a wheelchair. And I have a Mexican accent. Three strikes and you're out," recalled Joel Brokaw, another of the actor's spokesmen.

"But Robert Rodriguez idolized Ricardo, and came up to his home in the Hollywood Hills to convince him to do the role," Brokaw said. He did, and despite his obvious pain while waiting to do a scene, "something miraculous would happen," Brokaw said. "As soon as Rodriguez said 'Action,' his pain would completely disappear, time and time again. I asked him about this. He smiled and said, 'It's impossible for my mind to do two things at once.'"

Montalban is survived by daughters Laura and Anita, sons Victor and Mark and six grandchildren.

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AP entertainment writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this story.

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