Two iconic stars. New York-born Patrick McGoohan died Tuesday. He was 80.
Mexican-born Ricardo Montalban died yesterday. He was 88.
Montalban was Mr. Roarke, who presided over a tropical island resort to "where visitors fulfilled their lifelong dreams", usually with lessons unexpectedly learnt.
Remember his welcoming remarks to arriving guests --"I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island."
McGoohan was prisoner Number Six trying to escape from the small enclave known only as The Village. His attempts made futile by a mysterious authority named Number One.
"Fantasy Island" was hugely popular when it aired from 1978 to 1984.
"The Prisoner" was a hit in the 60s. It was described as "surreal and cerebral". A "sci-fi tinged" spy series.
Their deaths, a day apart, have indeed evoked memories of two old television series about fantasy and dreams.
7 comments:
The plane..the plane..'
Your article suddenly brought back memories of my growing up years in Tuaran, Sabah.
Terasa sedih lak?
Hows all my old friends?
As a kid, I had always loved Fantasy Island. I looked forward to see who the guests were each week. Even though I was probably too little to understand each storyline and the metaphors involved, the series would always hold a special place in my heart.
Mr. Montalban will be greatly missed.
Is his sidekick, Tattoo still around? I wonder.
theta,
herve villechaize who played Tattoo died in 193, aged only 50. he shot himself.
he had medical and health problems. This led to erratic behaviour.
it's sad, i know.
theta,
whoops. i mean, 1993.
McGoohan thrilled Malaysian audiences as Danger Man, when TV was still in black and white in the early 60's.
TV was new then and I remember watching the news on my way back from games in the evening, at the Rediffusion store near my school, standing outside the doorway and marveling at the enunciations of newsreaders like J. Machado, Ali Thambyrajah,etal.
Dad wasn't yet ready, for whatever reason, to bring this idiot box into our living room.
Back to McGoohan. He insisted on several conditions before agreeing to do the show: all the fistfights should be different, the character would always use his brain before using a gun, and, much to the horror of the executives, no kissing.
The series gained almost cult like status to the neighborhood kids. Until Dr No came along.
It's a plane; it's a plane...
How wonderful it was to await this show every week..
I wish Mr Montalban a happy stay in the greatest fantasy (is-land) of all..heavenly-land.
May God bless him for his superb role in the Fantasy Island show which surely eased the weekly tensions of many living in this troubled world.
As for Tatoo..how sad the way he went off..but i wish him well too.
-The Plane.
Dos Equis should have hired Ricardo Montalban to do a few ads for them as their "most interesting man in the world" (he has a Spanish accent too, which fits perfectly)
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