Ricardo Cortez
Acting • Born 1900-09-17 – Died 1977-04-28
Biography
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).
Filmography
108 credits
Tomorrow We Live
Movie • 1942
The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin
The Phantom of Crestwood
Movie • 1932
Gary Curtis
The Walking Dead
Movie • 1936
Nolan
Charlie Chan in Reno
Movie • 1939
Dr. Ainsley
Hollywood
Movie • 1923
Ricardo Cortez
White Shoulders
Movie • 1931
Lawrence Marchmont
The Maltese Falcon
Movie • 1931
Sam Spade
The Locket
Movie • 1946
Drew Bonner
Blackmail
Movie • 1947
Ziggy Cranston
Bunco Squad
Movie • 1950
Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
Murder Over New York
Movie • 1940
George Kirby
In the Name of Love
Movie • 1925
Raoul Melnotte
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
Movie • 1939
Fabian
The House on 56th Street
Movie • 1933
Bill Blaine
Midnight Mary
Movie • 1933
Leo
Torch Singer
Movie • 1933
Tony Cummings
The Inner Circle
Movie • 1946
Duke York
Special Agent
Movie • 1935
Alexander Carston
The Man with Two Faces
Movie • 1934
Ben Weston
Thirteen Women
Movie • 1932
Police Sergeant Barry Clive
The Last Hurrah
Movie • 1958
Sam Weinberg
Make Your Own Bed
Movie • 1944
Wilson / Fritz Alden
Mockery
Movie • 1927
Dimitri
Bad Company
Movie • 1931
Goldie Gorio
The Big Shakedown
Movie • 1934
Dutch Barnes
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
Movie • 1936
George Lambert
Symphony of Six Million
Movie • 1932
Felix
Ten Cents a Dance
Movie • 1931
Bradley Carlton
Illicit
Movie • 1931
Price Baines
Transgression
Movie • 1931
Don Arturo de Borgus
Montana Moon
Movie • 1930
Jeff
Big Business Girl
Movie • 1931
Robert J. Clayton
I Killed That Man
Movie • 1941
Roger Phillips
Flesh
Movie • 1932
Nicky
Torrent
Movie • 1926
Don Rafael Brull
Wonder Bar
Movie • 1934
Harry
Behind Office Doors
Movie • 1931
Ronnie Wales
Her Man
Movie • 1930
Johnnie
The Case of the Black Cat
Movie • 1936
Perry Mason
The Gentleman from America
Movie • 1923
Frisco Kid
Movie • 1935
Paul Morra
I Am a Thief
Movie • 1934
Pierre Londais
Postal Inspector
Movie • 1936
Inspector Bill Davis
Hat, Coat and Glove
Movie • 1934
Robert Mitchell
The Bedroom Window
Movie • 1924
Robert Delano
The Phantom in the House
Movie • 1929
Paul Wallis
The Younger Generation
Movie • 1929
Morris Goldfish
City Girl
Movie • 1938
Charles Blake
Is My Face Red?
Movie • 1932
William Poster
Men of Chance
Movie • 1931
Johnny Silk
The Sorrows of Satan
Movie • 1926
Geoffrey Tempest
No One Man
Movie • 1932
Bill Hanaway
West of Shanghai
Movie • 1937
Gordon Creed
The White Cockatoo
Movie • 1935
Jim Sundean
Mystery in Mexico
Movie • 1948
John Norcross
Shadow of Doubt
Movie • 1935
Sim
Romance of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1941
Ricardo de Vega
A Lost Lady
Movie • 1934
Ellinger
The Firebird
Movie • 1934
Herman Brandt
The Lost Zeppelin
Movie • 1929
Tom Armstrong
The Californian
Movie • 1937
Ramon Escobar
Her Husband Lies
Movie • 1937
J. Ward Thomas
Broadway Bad
Movie • 1933
Craig Cutting
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
Movie • 1927
Paris
Mandalay
Movie • 1934
Tony Evans
The Spaniard
Movie • 1925
Don Pedro de Barrego
The Eagle of the Sea
Movie • 1926
Captain Sazarac
The Swan
Movie • 1925
Dr. Walter, the Tutor
Feet of Clay
Movie • 1924
Tony Channing
Woman of Destiny
Movie • 1928
Yoanes Etchegarry
Reckless Living
Movie • 1931
Curly
The Pony Express
Movie • 1925
Jack Weston
Excess Baggage
Movie • 1928
Val D'Errico
Hollywood Newsreel
Movie • 1934
Himself
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Movie • 1960
Self
Man Hunt
Movie • 1936
Frank Kingman
Rubber Racketeers
Movie • 1942
Gilin
Breakdowns of 1936
Movie • 1936
Self
A Shot in the Dark
Movie • 1941
Phillip Richards
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
Movie • 1931
Self
Children of Jazz
Movie • 1923
Ted Carter
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
Movie • 1986
Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
Manhattan Moon
Movie • 1935
Dan Moore
New York
Movie • 1927
Michael Angelo Cassidy
Breakdowns of 1937
Movie • 1937
Self
New Orleans
Movie • 1929
Jim Morley
Complicated Women
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
The Next Corner
Movie • 1924
Don Arturo
Who Is Hope Schuyler?
Movie • 1942
Anthony Pearce
Talk of the Devil
Movie • 1936
Ray Allen
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
Movie • 1936
The Call of the Canyon
Movie • 1923
Larry Morrison
The Cat's Pajamas
Movie • 1926
This Woman
Movie • 1924
Whitney Duane
Midstream
Movie • 1929
James Stanwood
World Premiere
Movie • 1941
Mark Saunders
Not So Long Ago
Movie • 1925
Billy Ballard
A Society Scandal
Movie • 1924
Harrison Peters
Big Executive
Movie • 1933
Victor Conway
Argentine Love
Movie • 1924
Juan Martin
Volcano
Movie • 1926
Stéphane Séquineau
The City That Never Sleeps
Movie • 1924
Mark Roth
Ladies of the Night Club
Movie • 1928
George Merrill
Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
Prowlers of the Sea
Movie • 1928
Carlos De Neve
Sixty Cents an Hour
Movie • 1923
William Davis
By Whose Hand?
Movie • 1927
Agent X-9
This Is Your Life
TV • 1952
Self