Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze[1][2][3] or Jacob Krantz;[4] September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.[3][5]
American actor (1900–1977)
For the American mathematician, see Ricardo Cortez (mathematician).
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Krantz in New York City to Morris and Sarah (Lefkovitz) Krantz.[6] Along with his brother Stanley Cortez (born Stanislaus Krantz), he was raised in a Jewish family in New York City.[7] (Vienna has been incorrectly cited as his birthplace.)[note 1][7][8] He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City.[2][9]
Prior to entering the film business, he was an amateur boxer and worked on Wall Street as a runner.[3]
Career
Acting
Hollywood executives changed his name from Krantz to 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. When it began to circulate that Cortez was not actually Latin, the studios attempted to pass him off as French before a final Viennese origin story was promoted.[citation needed]
Cortez directed seven films for 20th Century Fox from 1938 through 1940, all of them "program pictures made on a shoestring for the express purpose of filling the bottom half of the mandatory double bill ..."[10] His first film as director was Inside Story, which was assigned to Cortez in the spring of 1938 but was not released until 1939. He also directed Chasing Danger, The Escape (1939), Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939), City of Chance (1940), Free, Blonde and 21 (1940), and Girl in 313 (1940).[10]
Personal life
Cortez married silent film actress Alma Rubens on February 8, 1926. They had previously married on January 30, but it was invalid due to Rubens's divorce not being finalized. The couple separated in 1930, and she had sued him for divorce when she died of pneumonia on January 21, 1931.[10][11] Cortez married Christine Conniff Lee on January 8, 1934, but they divorced in 1940.[citation needed]
After retiring from the film business in the late 1950s, Cortez returned to New York, and began working as a stockbroker for Salomon Brothers on Wall Street.[citation needed]
Death
Cortez died in Doctors Hospital in New York City in 1977 at age 77[8] and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.[citation needed]
Recognition
Cortez has a star at 1500 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.[12]
Filmography
The Fringe of Society (1917) (scenes deleted) (film debut)
Cortez' obituary in The New York Times cites Vienna as his birthplace, and the book A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 describes him as "Jacob Kranze, Viennese émigré".
References
"Did Sigrid Gurie Hoax Sam Goldwyn?". The Des Moines Register. Iowa, Des Moines. May 8, 1938. p.49. Retrieved August 18, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
Grandon, Robert (July 25, 1932). "Jacob Kranze Gives Clark Gable a Run". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. Publishers Syndicate. p.4. Retrieved August 18, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
Skolsky, Sidney (June 21, 1934). "Tintypes". Daily News. New York, New York City. News Syndicate Co., Inc. p.50. Retrieved August 18, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
Letter of the Department of Health, City of New York, 8 October 2000. mentioned in: Rudolf Ulrich (Hrsg.): Österreicher in Hollywood. Neuauflage, Verlag Filmarchiv Austria, Wien 2004, ISBN3-901932-29-1, p. 597
"Ricardo Cortez, Actor in Movies, 77". The New York Times. New York, New York City. United Press International. April 29, 1977. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
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