I am late to post this, because of family matter and such (those pancakes will not make themselves, nor will the chicken dinner and pumpkin pie…) but I have to write something about Mr. Ricardo Montalban.
I grew up watching Montalban on Fantasy Island, and of course I knew him from other character roles on various films and TV series… but man, his work on Star Trek.
Khan.
If at some point someone goes and does a catalog of All Things Imagined in Heaven and Earth, they have to spend some time on the character of Khan Noonian Singh. He was far from the typical Big Bad Guy – in fact, if you look at the backstory that was presented in Star Trek II, you can make a convincing argument that he was the protagonist.
Khan was the “good guy.”
The motivation, the history, it was there, in the script (thank you, again, Nicholas Meyer)… but DAMN – Montalban played it for all it’s worth. Shatner, as an actor, should consider himself lucky that they never really had a scene “together” in Trek II – because Montalban was playing the part on a Completely Different Level. He had become a better actor since the last time they worked together, in the original series. Shatner… not so much.
In fact, I continually argue the point that the apex of Trek, the point in the bell curve that we will never see again, was Star Trek II, because it had all the elements working perfectly – like an orchestra in full harmony. And the lead performance was that of Ricardo Montalban. Any attempt to recapture that magic without him (Nemesis, I’m looking at you) will fail. Once you hit the top, the only place to go is downhill.
You combine that iconic work with his personality, which, from all I have read, was the most friendly and charming as a human being is allowed to be on this planet – and you have a fantastic person. One that I am sad to say I did not have the chance to meet.
But, of course, we still have his work. And, as someone once mentioned, “He’s not dead. Not as long as we remember him.”
We will definitely remember him.