Ricardo Cortez was credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.
13 Facts About Ricardo Cortez
2.
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Krantz in New York City to Sarah and Morris Krantz.
3.
Hollywood executives changed his name from Krantz to Ricardo Cortez to capitalize on his handsome Latin-like features and the popularity of the silent film era's "Latin lovers" such as Rudolph Valentino, Ramon Novarro and Antonio Moreno.
4.
When it began to circulate publicly that Ricardo Cortez was not actually Latin, the studios attempted to pass him off as French before a final Viennese origin story was promoted.
5.
Ricardo Cortez began his career playing romantic leads, and when sound cinema arrived, his strong delivery and New York accent made him an ideal heavy.
6.
Ricardo Cortez played opposite Joan Crawford in Montana Moon, and was the first actor to portray Sam Spade in the original pre-Code version of The Maltese Falcon ; the latter film was later overshaded by the 1941 remake with Humphrey Bogart in the lead.
7.
Ricardo Cortez co-starred with Charles Farrell and Bette Davis in The Big Shakedown, and with Al Jolson and Dolores del Rio in Wonder Bar.
8.
In 1936, Ricardo Cortez replaced Warren William as Perry Mason in The Case of the Black Cat.
9.
Ricardo Cortez directed Chasing Danger, The Escape, Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence, City of Chance, Free, Blonde and 21, and Girl in 313.
10.
Ricardo Cortez married silent film actress Alma Rubens on February 8,1926.
11.
Ricardo Cortez married Christine Conniff Lee on January 8,1934, but they divorced in 1940.
12.
Ricardo Cortez died in Doctors Hospital in New York City in 1977 at age 77 and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
13.
Ricardo Cortez has a star at 1500 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.