Ricardo Montalban and Georgiana Young Marriage Profile

The 63-year marriage of Ricardo Montalban and Georgiana Young was one of Hollywood's longest marriages.

NYTimes.com: "Both Roman Catholics, they remained one of Hollywood's most devoted couples."
Source: "Ricardo Montalban, Actor, Dies at 88." NYTimes.com. 1/14/2009.

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban Merino: November 25, 1920 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Georgiana Belzer Young: September 30, 1923 in Los Angeles, California.

Georgiana: November 13, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.

Ricardo: January 14, 2009 at his home in Los Angeles. Ricardo was 88 years old and died from "complications of advancing age" according to his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith.

There are differing stories on how Georgiana and Ricardo met. Loretta Young, her half-sister, wrote Georgiana and Ricardo met on a blind date, but that Ricardo had first noticed Georgiana on a magazine cover and in a movie. Another version is that the couple met through Georgiana's sister Sally Blane and her director husband Norman Foster.

According to an article written in 1950, Ricardo carried Georgiana's picture in his billfold and kept a scrapbook about her for many years before he met her.
Source: Grady Johnson. "Ricardo's Sentimental Secret." San Antonio Light. 7/16/1950. page 95 of The American Weekly.

Georgiana and Ricardo were secretly married in Tia Juana, Mexico on October 26, 1944. They honeymooned in Mexico. Their secret marriage was revealed in news reports in early March 1945.

Ricardo and Gorgiana raised four children together. They had six granchildren.

• Victor Montalban: Born in 1945.
• Mark Montalban: Born in 1947.
• Laura Montalban: Born in 1949. Clothing designer.
• Anita Montalban: Born in 1952.

Ricardo and Georgiana had a home built in the Hollywood Hills.

Ricardo about their home in the Hollywood Hills: "It is a fusion of the two countries most important to me-America and Mexico, but even that is not really the important thing. Above all, it is our home."
Source: Sam Burchell. "Echoes of Mexico Ricardo Montalban's Home Represents a Fusion of Cultures." Los Angeles Times Magazine. 6/26/1988. pg. 26.

Occupations:

Ricardo: Actor, director, founder of a nonprofit organization, the Nosotros Foundation

Georgiana: Actress, professional model.

Martha Smilgis: "Montalban attributes part of the success of his 33-year marriage to adopting the rhythm method of birth control after the arrival of their fourth child. "It's one of the wisest policies the Catholic Church ever made," he explains. "The 10 days of abstinence awakens passion." ... Montalban explains of his marital vows, "I have an intellectual commitment. I play by the rules. Why say 'until death do you part' unless you plan to do it?"
Source: Martha Smilgis. "Cast off in Hollywood, Ricardo Montalban Lands Safely on 'Fantasy Island'" People.com. 4/17/1978.

Buffalo News: "A Montalban is married to Loretta Young's sister, Georgianna, and together the long-married couple are among the few everyone in Hollywood likes. A major movie producer said, "Ricardo is not only charming, he's vibrant and charismatic and the best raconteur in Hollywood."
Source: "Irrepressible, Not Stupid." Buffalo News. 1/30/1994. pg M.10.

Desert News: "He is sorry that in the first 30 years of his career he spent a total of seven years away from hoe on movie sets around the world."
Source: "Ricardo Montalban He Regrets He Never Won a Big Role." Desert News. 12/29/1988.

Joan Wester Anderson: "However, when this, her final [The Story of Alexander Graham Bell] film was shown in Mexico, a young man would fall in love with her face on the screen, and life would never be the same for her again."
Source: Joan Wester Anderson. Forever Young: The Live, Loves, and Enduring Faith of a Hollywood Legend. pg 101.

Martha Smilgis: "He carried Georgiana's picture in his wallet and once trailed her in his car, "but lost her in traffic." She now recalls a "good-looking kid" following her, "but in those days it wasn't nice to pick someone up in cars." They finally met on a blind date. Georgiana was skeptical. "I thought, 'Oh boy, here comes another disaster.' " "I proposed that night," says Ricardo. "She was a bit hesitant. It took a week to persuade her."
Source: Martha Smilgis. "Cast off in Hollywood, Ricardo Montalban Lands Safely on 'Fantasy Island'" People.com. 4/17/1978.

Laura: "Montalban's wife, Georgiana Young -- the half-sister of Loretta Young -- passed away in November 2007. The Montalbans shared one of the most charming love stories in Hollywood history. The stories vary slightly -- some versions have him falling in love with her photo in a magazine, and Ricardo himself writes of first spotting her in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) and at a distance at the Church of the Good Shepherd. What is certain is that Ricardo happened to meet Georgiana's sister and brother-in-law, Sally Blane and Norman Foster, when Foster was directing movies in Mexico, and a meeting with Georgiana was arranged. The Montalbans married just days after that first meeting, a marriage which lasted until Georgiana's death over 63 years later."
Source: Ricardo Montalban Dies at 88. Laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com. 1/14/2009.

Ricardo on what debonair means: "To me it means love of neighbor ... To always be considerate of others' feelings, to practice good manners ... Of course, you must know how to treat women ... A gentleman must not dress up too much or too little ... He should try to make everyone around him feel comfortable. Just modest ... No, no, you cannot buy debonair ... It has nothing to do with possessions ... Whatever it is, it has to be completely natural. You cannot be aware of it or else it disappears. I never tried to be debonair. I am who I am."
Source: Dan Neil. "A Gentleman, Naturally." Los Angeles Times Magazine. 11/6/2005. pg I.11.