Celebrity Death Watch 2009 - Khan and the Prisoner Escaping Their Earthly Confines
It's taken over a week, but the first two major celebrity deaths of 2009 have happened. Yesterday Patrick McGoohan died yesterday in Santa Monica after a brief illness. Today it was announced that the legendary Ricardo Montalbån passed earlier in the day.
I'm truly bummed out about both men, they were legends in their field, and will be sorely missed. McGoohan's The Prisoner is one of the best examples of short-form television ever produced. Sure, not EVERY episode is great, but the entire series was so well done, and so ingenious that it set trends for decades. It will be remade by AMC next season.
Montalbån was a well known actor in Spain and Mexico before transitioning to Hollyweird, and refused to change his name to suit the studio chiefs (they wanted him to be known as Rickey Martin, believe it or not). He appeared in dozens of films and on stage, but is probably best known for the 70's era TV show "Fantasy Island" where his Mister Roarke granted wishes and battled the devil alongside little person Herve Villacheze. Of course MY favorite role of his is as Khan Noonien Singh in the Star Trek episode "Space Seed" and it's sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where he quoted Melville with a straight face, while wearing an outlandish costume that showed off his awesome pecs.
I'm truly bummed out about both men, they were legends in their field, and will be sorely missed. McGoohan's The Prisoner is one of the best examples of short-form television ever produced. Sure, not EVERY episode is great, but the entire series was so well done, and so ingenious that it set trends for decades. It will be remade by AMC next season.
Montalbån was a well known actor in Spain and Mexico before transitioning to Hollyweird, and refused to change his name to suit the studio chiefs (they wanted him to be known as Rickey Martin, believe it or not). He appeared in dozens of films and on stage, but is probably best known for the 70's era TV show "Fantasy Island" where his Mister Roarke granted wishes and battled the devil alongside little person Herve Villacheze. Of course MY favorite role of his is as Khan Noonien Singh in the Star Trek episode "Space Seed" and it's sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where he quoted Melville with a straight face, while wearing an outlandish costume that showed off his awesome pecs.