AirLockAlpha.com

He flooded subspace communications with some of the best lines of "Moby Dick," and was considered one of Star Trek's best villains.

But the actor behind the villain, Ricardo Montalban, has died. He was 88.

Eric Garcetti, a Los Angeles city councilman, announced the actor's death during a meeting Wednesday, but did not disclose a cause of death.

Montalban made his debut in America after a solid career in Mexico in 1946 in the MGM film "Fiesta." But it would be a guest role he did on "Star Trek" in the late 1960s, of a superhuman mutant from the future named Khan, that would lead to one of his most memorable roles to genre fans. He would reprise the character in 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" playing an adversary to the Federation that no one else could ever top. Khan would create a string of Star Trek movie villains, some interesting like the Borg Queen in "Star Trek: First Contact," and others that could be better forgotten, like Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis."

Broader audiences would better know Montalban from his work as Mr. Roarke, the white suit-wearing manager of a tropical place known as "Fantasy Island," which ran from 1978 to 1984.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been set.

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