He rides onto the set of Heaven Help Us like a friendly Aztec king. The voice is still rich and strong, the shoulders proud and broad and the head of white curls shines like an angel – the role, incidentally, that he’s playing on the series. But Ricardo Montalban is acting this one sitting down.
Last year, the actor, who at 72 was still playing tennis three times a week, suffered hemorrhaging of the spine. On July 27, 1993, he underwent a 91/2-hour operation that left him without mobility or feeling in his legs.
“They tell me it’s going to be a long time before it heals. But in the meantime, [series producer) Aaron Spelling called me and said, ‘Ricardo, I’m doing this series about an angel guiding these two people through life, and I would like you to be the voice of that angel.”
At first, the actor says, Spelling planned to keep the audience guessing. “He said, ‘I won’t even give you credit on the screen. Your voice is quite well-known, so it’ll be fun. That way, we can bring a recorder to the house and do voice-overs while you’re recuperating.”
After he accepted the role of the celestial Mr. Shepherd, Montalban said Spelling “called me and said, ‘Some of the distributors would like to see you on the screen. How do you feel about that?’ I said, ‘Let me ask my doctor.”‘ The physician urged his patient to agree. He thought it would help lift his depression. Then Montalban learned that the show would be produced in San Antonio. Again, he sought medical permission. “My doctor said, ‘Do it. The more challenges, the better for your mentality.’ So here I am.”
ON TV
Program: Heaven Help Us
With: Ricardo Montalban
Airs: 7 p.m. Sunday, WBFS-Ch. 33.
