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