Ricardo Montalban and Patrick McGoohan R.I.P

Although both McGoohan and Montalban had successful film careers, both in cult films that have stood the test of time and box office smashes, it is their television roles that many people remember them the most for. Patrick McGoohan starred in the worldwide TV smash hit Danger Man, billed outside of the UK and other countries as Secret Agent, a forerunner to the Bond movies, which was brought back from a lengthy hiatus to capitalize on Bond’s popularity.

McGoohan had been approached for the role, but turned it down because he didn’t like the character, but after the end of the series he immediately launched into his next series, the short lived series The Prisoner. The Prisoner, which ran for only 17 episodes, about a man, a former British secret agent that is being held captive on a small island, who is perpetually trying to escape from his prison called “the village”, like a lot of people try to escape from overdraft fees through payday loans. The show became a cult phenomenon, which many remember him for.

McGoohan also starred in some serious Hollywood hits, such as Ice Station Zebra, A Time to Kill, and also as the treacherous English king in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, as well as portraying the prison warden in Escape From Alcatraz, alongside Clint Eastwood. He had numerous other roles which he is remembered for, such as in the underground classic Scanners.

From Fantasy Island to space villain

Ricardo Montalban, perhaps the best known Mexican American actor of all time, started off in the late 40s and early fifties, playing character roles in film and television, including one appearance in a hit science fiction TV series that would later boost his career into overdrive. He made his big break in the late 1970s, as the star of the TV show Fantasy Island, which ran for six years.

His most well known film role came when a largely unknown writer decided to bring back a character he played for one episode in the late 60s for the smash hit sci-fi film Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn. Montalban had been Kahn for one episode during the original series’ run, and the writers wanted a profound villain, resurrecting the character, and also the franchise, as it is the most successful film of all Star Treks. He would also go on to star in the Naked Gun series, and also in the Spy Kids franchise. His TV ads for the Chrysler Cordoba also made his legendary screen presence endeared to the public.

Long and illustrious careers

Both men will surely be missed. Along with long bodies of work, a lot of which was very good and well known, both were known as men of principle and rigorous ethics. Though they weren’t perhaps the best known names on the A List, they were certainly amongst its elite. So if you need to sort out a villainous expense that is about to put your finances out to sea, payday loans can get you the freedom you need.