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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
September 17, 1900
Died
April 28, 1977
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As
- Jacob Krantz
- Jack Crane
Ricardo Cortez
0.3 Popularity
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).
Known For
3.0
Self (archive footage)
Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
2014
6.7
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003
8.0
Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
1986
6.0
Self
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960
7.2
Sam Weinberg
The Last Hurrah
1958
6.4
Self
This Is Your Life
1952
5.9
Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
Bunco Squad
1950
5.8
John Norcross
Mystery in Mexico
1948
3.9
Ziggy Cranston
Blackmail
1947
6.3
Drew Bonner
The Locket
1946
Credits
Stars of the Silver Screen - Greta Garbo
as Self (archive footage)
2014
3.0
Complicated Women
as Self (archive footage)
2003
6.7
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
as Self as Don Rafael Brull (archive footage)
1986
8.0
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
as Self
1960
6.0
The Last Hurrah
as Sam Weinberg
1958
7.2
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
6.4
Bunco Squad
as Tony Weldon / Anthony Wells
1950
5.9
Mystery in Mexico
as John Norcross
1948
5.8
Blackmail
as Ziggy Cranston
1947
3.9
The Locket
as Drew Bonner
1946
6.3
The Inner Circle
as Duke York
1946
5.2
Make Your Own Bed
as Wilson / Fritz Alden
1944
5.8
Tomorrow We Live
as The Ghost, Alexander Caesar Martin
1942
4.3
Rubber Racketeers
as Gilin
1942
4.3
Who Is Hope Schuyler?
as Anthony Pearce
1942
4.5
I Killed That Man
as Roger Phillips
1941
6.0
World Premiere
as Mark Saunders
1941
5.0
A Shot in the Dark
as Phillip Richards
1941
5.0
Romance of the Rio Grande
as Ricardo de Vega
1941
3.8
Murder Over New York
as George Kirby
1940
6.1
Charlie Chan in Reno
as Dr. Ainsley
1939
6.3
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
as Fabian
1939
5.5
City Girl
as Charles Blake
1938
6.0
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
1937
6.0
West of Shanghai
as Gordon Creed
1937
5.4
The Californian
as Ramon Escobar
1937
0.0
Her Husband Lies
as J. Ward Thomas
1937
5.5
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
1936
0.0
Talk of the Devil
as Ray Allen
1936
0.0
The Case of the Black Cat
as Perry Mason
1936
6.6
Postal Inspector
as Inspector Bill Davis
1936
6.2
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936
1.0
The Walking Dead
as Nolan
1936
6.3
Man Hunt
as Frank Kingman
1936
0.0
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
as George Lambert
1936
5.6
Frisco Kid
as Paul Morra
1935
6.8
Special Agent
as Alexander Carston
1935
6.2
Manhattan Moon
as Dan Moore
1935
0.0
Shadow of Doubt
as Sim
1935
6.2
The White Cockatoo
as Jim Sundean
1935
5.4
I Am a Thief
as Pierre Londais
1934
6.0
The Firebird
as Herman Brandt
1934
5.5
A Lost Lady
as Ellinger
1934
5.6
The Man with Two Faces
as Ben Weston
1934
6.6
Hat, Coat and Glove
as Robert Mitchell
1934
5.5
Wonder Bar
as Harry
1934
5.9
🎬
Hollywood Newsreel
as Himself
1934
4.0
Mandalay
as Tony Evans
1934
5.6
The Big Shakedown
as Dutch Barnes
1934
5.6
The House on 56th Street
as Bill Blaine
1933
4.6
Big Executive
as Victor Conway
1933
0.0
Torch Singer
as Tony Cummings
1933
5.2
Midnight Mary
as Leo
1933
6.8
Broadway Bad
as Craig Cutting
1933
4.6
Flesh
as Nicky
1932
5.6
The Phantom of Crestwood
as Gary Curtis
1932
5.9
Thirteen Women
as Police Sergeant Barry Clive
1932
6.3
Is My Face Red?
as William Poster
1932
4.7
Symphony of Six Million
as Felix
1932
5.4
No One Man
as Bill Hanaway
1932
6.0
Men of Chance
as Johnny Silk
1931
5.8
🎬
Reckless Living
as Curly
1931
3.0
Bad Company
as Goldie Gorio
1931
4.6
Transgression
as Don Arturo de Borgus
1931
3.4
Big Business Girl
as Robert J. Clayton
1931
6.0
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
as Self
1931
6.0
The Maltese Falcon
as Sam Spade
1931
6.3
White Shoulders
as Lawrence Marchmont
1931
0.0
Behind Office Doors
as Ronnie Wales
1931
4.7
Illicit
as Price Baines
1931
5.6
Ten Cents a Dance
as Bradley Carlton
1931
6.8
Her Man
as Johnnie
1930
5.1
Montana Moon
as Jeff
1930
4.2
The Lost Zeppelin
as Tom Armstrong
1929
4.8
The Phantom in the House
as Paul Wallis
1929
4.0
Midstream
as James Stanwood
1929
0.0
New Orleans
as Jim Morley
1929
0.0
The Younger Generation
as Morris Goldfish
1929
6.7
Excess Baggage
as Val D'Errico
1928
0.0
Prowlers of the Sea
as Carlos De Neve
1928
0.0
Ladies of the Night Club
as George Merrill
1928
0.0
Woman of Destiny
as Yoanes Etchegarry
1928
0.0
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
as Paris
1927
3.5
Mockery
as Dimitri
1927
6.7
New York
as Michael Angelo Cassidy
1927
0.0
The Eagle of the Sea
as Captain Sazarac
1926
0.0
The Sorrows of Satan
as Geoffrey Tempest
1926
6.7
The Cat's Pajamas
1926
0.0
Volcano
as Stéphane Séquineau
1926
0.0
Torrent
as Don Rafael Brull
1926
6.9
Not So Long Ago
as Billy Ballard
1925
0.0
The Pony Express
as Jack Weston
1925
5.9
In the Name of Love
as Raoul Melnotte
1925
0.0
The Spaniard
as Don Pedro de Barrego
1925
0.0
The Swan
as Dr. Walter, the Tutor
1925
6.0
Argentine Love
as Juan Martin
1924
0.0
This Woman
as Whitney Duane
1924
0.0
The City That Never Sleeps
as Mark Roth
1924
0.0
Feet of Clay
as Tony Channing
1924
0.0
The Bedroom Window
as Robert Delano
1924
0.0
A Society Scandal
as Harrison Peters
1924
0.0
The Next Corner
as Don Arturo
1924
0.0
The Call of the Canyon
as Larry Morrison
1923
0.0
Hollywood
as Ricardo Cortez
1923
8.5
Children of Jazz
as Ted Carter
1923
0.0
The Gentleman from America
1923
0.0