CLC hosts program on legendary actor Ricardo Montalban

College of Lake County will soon host a multimedia presentation on late actor Ricardo Montalban, who was known for oozing class on the screen.

Dubbed “The Life and Legacy of Ricardo Montalban,” the event will run from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20 in room A162 at CLC’s flagship campus at 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake.

Led by CLC sociology instructors María José Tenuto and John Tenuto, the program is free and open to the public. It’s sponsored by the CLC Latino Alliance and the Social Sciences division.

One of the goals is to provide visitors with the social biography of Montalban, those who he was influenced by, and those he in turn influenced.

Film fans will recognize Montalban as Grandpa Avellan from the “Spy Kids” films or as Khan from the “Star Trek” film and TV series. Montalban starred in the popular 1970s TV show “Fantasy Island” and sang and danced in MGM musicals.

The Tenutos’ presentation will reveal lesser-known facts about the actor, such as his connection to the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” the lifelong disability that eventually forced him to use a wheelchair and how he founded Nosotros, the first Latino activism group in the U.S. for entertainers.

Montalban was the first Latino actor to have a U.S. theater named after him. The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles opened in May 2004 and fulfilled a 34-year quest by the star as part of work championing Hispanics in Hollywood.

In addition, he was bestowed the title of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and inspired a generation of actors, including Antonio Banderas and Edward James Olmos. He won the first Easter Seal Award, a Media Access Award and an Emmy award for his role in “How the West Was Won.”

For more information, contact María José Tenuto at mjtenuto@clcillinois.edu or (847) 543-2537.