Ricardo Cortez
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).
Photos
Movies (114)
Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
2014 · Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003 · Self (archive footage)
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
1986 · Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960 · Self
The Last Hurrah
1958 · Sam Weinberg
Bunco Squad
1950 · Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
Mystery in Mexico
1948 · John Norcross
Blackmail
1947 · Ziggy Cranston
The Locket
1946 · Drew Bonner
The Inner Circle
1946 · Duke York
Make Your Own Bed
1944 · Wilson / Fritz Alden
Tomorrow We Live
1942 · The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin
Rubber Racketeers
1942 · Gilin
Who Is Hope Schuyler?
1942 · Anthony Pearce
I Killed That Man
1941 · Roger Phillips
World Premiere
1941 · Mark Saunders
A Shot in the Dark
1941 · Phillip Richards
Romance of the Rio Grande
1941 · Ricardo de Vega
Murder Over New York
1940 · George Kirby
Girl in 313
1940 · Director
Free, Blonde and 21
1940 · Director
City of Chance
1940 · Director
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
1939 · Director
The Escape
1939 · Director
Charlie Chan in Reno
1939 · Dr. Ainsley
Chasing Danger
1939 · Director
Inside Story
1939 · Director
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
1939 · Fabian
City Girl
1938 · Charles Blake
Breakdowns of 1937
1937 · Self
West of Shanghai
1937 · Gordon Creed
The Californian
1937 · Ramon Escobar
Her Husband Lies
1937 · J. Ward Thomas
Breakdowns of 1936
1936 · Self
Talk of the Devil
1936 · Ray Allen
The Case of the Black Cat
1936 · Perry Mason
Postal Inspector
1936 · Inspector Bill Davis
The Walking Dead
1936 · Nolan
Man Hunt
1936 · Frank Kingman
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
1936 · George Lambert
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936
Frisco Kid
1935 · Paul Morra
Special Agent
1935 · Alexander Carston
Manhattan Moon
1935 · Dan Moore
Shadow of Doubt
1935 · Sim
The White Cockatoo
1935 · Jim Sundean
I Am a Thief
1934 · Pierre Londais
The Firebird
1934 · Herman Brandt
A Lost Lady
1934 · Ellinger
The Man with Two Faces
1934 · Ben Weston
Hat, Coat and Glove
1934 · Robert Mitchell
Wonder Bar
1934 · Harry
Hollywood Newsreel
1934 · Himself
Mandalay
1934 · Tony Evans
The Big Shakedown
1934 · Dutch Barnes
The House on 56th Street
1933 · Bill Blaine
Big Executive
1933 · Victor Conway
Torch Singer
1933 · Tony Cummings
Midnight Mary
1933 · Leo
Broadway Bad
1933 · Craig Cutting
Flesh
1932 · Nicky
The Phantom of Crestwood
1932 · Gary Curtis
Thirteen Women
1932 · Police Sergeant Barry Clive
Is My Face Red?
1932 · William Poster
Symphony of Six Million
1932 · Felix
No One Man
1932 · Bill Hanaway
Men of Chance
1931 · Johnny Silk
Reckless Living
1931 · Curly
Bad Company
1931 · Goldie Gorio
Transgression
1931 · Don Arturo de Borgus
Big Business Girl
1931 · Robert J. Clayton
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
1931 · Self
The Maltese Falcon
1931 · Sam Spade
White Shoulders
1931 · Lawrence Marchmont
Behind Office Doors
1931 · Ronnie Wales
Illicit
1931 · Price Baines
Ten Cents a Dance
1931 · Bradley Carlton
Her Man
1930 · Johnnie
Montana Moon
1930 · Jeff
The Lost Zeppelin
1929 · Tom Armstrong
The Phantom in the House
1929 · Paul Wallis
Midstream
1929 · James Stanwood
New Orleans
1929 · Jim Morley
The Younger Generation
1929 · Morris Goldfish
Excess Baggage
1928 · Val D'Errico
Prowlers of the Sea
1928 · Carlos De Neve
Ladies of the Night Club
1928 · George Merrill
Woman of Destiny
1928 · Yoannès Etchegarray
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
1927 · Paris
By Whose Hand?
1927 · Agent X-9
Mockery
1927 · Dimitri
New York
1927 · Michael Angelo Cassidy
The Eagle of the Sea
1926 · Captain Sazarac
The Sorrows of Satan
1926 · Geoffrey Tempest
The Cat's Pajamas
1926
Volcano
1926 · Stéphane Séquineau
Torrent
1926 · Don Rafael Brull
Not So Long Ago
1925 · Billy Ballard
The Pony Express
1925 · Jack Weston
In the Name of Love
1925 · Raoul Melnotte
The Spaniard
1925 · Don Pedro de Barrego
The Swan
1925 · Dr. Walter, the Tutor
Argentine Love
1924 · Juan Martin
This Woman
1924 · Whitney Duane
The City That Never Sleeps
1924 · Mark Roth
Feet of Clay
1924 · Tony Channing
The Bedroom Window
1924 · Robert Delano
A Society Scandal
1924 · Harrison Peters
The Next Corner
1924 · Don Arturo
The Call of the Canyon
1923 · Larry Morrison
Hollywood
1923 · Ricardo Cortez
Children of Jazz
1923 · Ted Carter
Sixty Cents an Hour
1923 · William Davis
The Gentleman from America
1923
