Ricardo Montalban, the suave, gentlemanly host of "Fantasy Island," died today. I remember him well from watching the show as a kid, but I did not know that he was an activist on behalf of the rights of Latino actors:
"In 1970, Montalban organized fellow Latino actors into an organization called Nosotros (“We”), and he became the first president. Their aim: to improve the image of Spanish-speaking Americans on the screen; to assure that Latin-American actors were not discriminated against; to stimulate Latino actors to study their profession.
Montalban commented in a 1970 interview:
“The Spanish-speaking American boy sees Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid wipe out a regiment of Bolivian soldiers. He sees ‘The Wild Bunch’ annihilate the Mexican army. It’s only natural for him to say, ‘Gee, I wish I were an Anglo.”’"
Source AP (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28661103/)
Obituary from the LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-montalban15-2009jan15,0,3732229.story
