LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ricardo Montalban, the
Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later
as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died
Wednesday morning at his home, a city councilman said. He was 88.
Montalban's death was announced at a city council meeting by president
Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived.
Garcetti did not give a cause of death.

"What
you saw on the screen and on television and on talk shows, this very
courtly, modest, dignified individual, that's exactly who he was," said
Montalban's longtime friend and publicist David Brokaw.

Montalban
had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in
1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in
"Fiesta," and starred again with the swimming beauty in "On an Island
with You" and "Neptune's Daughter."

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